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She ducked her head and the heat wasn’t on me anymore. Thank the stars.

“I just…I don’t know. I never know what to write about if I don’t have someone telling me what to write. I know how that sounds. Like I need permission or something but it’s really that I’m not creative. I always think I’ve got this great idea and then I start writing it and it feels like something I already read, or I hit a part and don’t know how to continue and I just… stall out. I’ve never written more than a few chapters of anything. People who manage to finish writing whole books are like magic to me. I don’t know how they do it.” She shook her head.

I looked around and saw a rock that we could both sit on, so I walked toward it and sat. Sophie joined me.

“It’s…it’s one of the only things that I really like doing. I know how that sounds, but it’s true. My mind wanders a lot during work, so I have a lot of time to just kind of drift. And I guess it just kind of happened that I’d be imagining scenarios from some of my favorite shows. I mean, I’d read fanfic for years, but I didn’t have the confidence to actually write any of my own for a while. I’m not even sure if I’m good, or if I just happen to pick the right tropes and give my readers exactly what they’re expecting. Like, it wouldn’t matter if the writing was trash as long as one of them got injured and the other one said, ‘who did this to you?’ and then there was only one bed while they tended to their wounds.”

She giggled. “I would definitely read that fic, I don’t even care. I love all of that.”

I pointed at her. “Exactly! It doesn’t matter if the mechanics of the sentences are good as long as the vibes and tropes are there. Which can be a good thing, I guess. And I’m not getting paid, so it doesn’t matter in the long run if my grammar fucking sucks.”

A few more people passed us as we sat on the rock together.

“You know, I have a pretty good eye for grammar and typos. In case you need help with that. I would be happy to offer my services.”

I turned, raising my eyebrows. “Is that just a ploy to get a look at my fanfic?”

She grinned and the sunlight sparkled on the blonde strands of her hair. Her eyes really were spectacular. I bet she got complimented on them all the time. If I wasn’t careful, I’d dive headfirst into them and not come up for air.

“Maybe. But for real, Reid. I want to get a job in publishing, and it would be a good chance to get some practice working with a writer to see if editing might be something I’d want to do. It could be payment for giving me sapphic dating lessons.”

I did want to improve my fanfic. Readers were kind, but there were always a few who would get salty about typos. Like I wasn’t just a human with a keyboard who was writing all this shit FOR FREE. But Sophie’s offer was tempting. I knew she was smart as hell, so she could definitely whip my commas and sentences into shape.

She’d have to read my work to do that, though.

“Can I think about it?” I asked her. I wasn’t ready to hand over my work yet.

Technically, I had known Sophie since we were both teenagers, but trusting her with this was a big ask.

“Yeah, of course. It was just an idea. Don’t worry about it. I mean, I know I worry about everything, but you shouldn’t.” She bumped her shoulder with mine and then stood up, holding her hands out to me.

“Come on, let’s keep going.”

Setting my hands in hers, I let her pull me to my feet. Our touch lingered for a few seconds before I dropped her hands and started walking again.

The trail led through the woods to the top of a hill and a little lookout where people took pictures and rested before heading back to the trailhead.

Sophie and I sat down on the waterproof blanket I had stashed in my pack and pulled out snacks we’d brought.

“You come prepared,” Sophie said when I had to dig through my pack to find the bag of trail mix I’d packed.

“I try to. Anything can happen on a hike. I refuse to be that person on the news that got lost and then was found a few feet from the trail a day later. I couldn’t handle the embarrassment.” I opened the bag and held it out to her. She reached her hand in and grabbed some.

“Oh my god, yeah. I get that. Well, if you ever need a hiking buddy, I’m game. I’m not experienced or anything, but I’m absolutely up for it.” She munched on a chocolate candy and lay back on the blanket, closing her eyes. I had to stop myself from watching her too intently. It was hard, though. She was so gorgeous.

When I looked at her now, I didn’t see another version of Kaylee. I only saw Sophie. She was her own person and she was beautiful.

Her lips curved in a smile. “I can feel you staring.” She didn’t open her eyes though.

“You had a bug on your face,” I said, and that made her scream and sit up, swiping at her face.

I threw my head back and laughed.

Sophie realized I’d been kidding and sat back down. “Asshole.”

She shoved me, but she was laughing along with me.

Sophie sat next to me and bit her bottom lip. Shit, it was hard to look at her when she did that. Made me want to bite that lip for her.