Page 70 of Like a Power Play (Greenrock University: Icebound #1)

My heart thunders in my chest as I trail a few paces behind her, eyes locked on the top of the towering ride. By the time I manage to tear my gaze away, Darcy’s already bought the tickets, pressing one into my hand with a triumphant grin.

“Are you excited?” she asks, her evergreen eyes scanning my face.

There’s one minor detail I may have "forgotten" to mention when I first brought up the Ferris wheel all those months ago.

I’m absolutely terrified of heights.

“Super,” I lie, my smile tugging a little too tight at the corners of my mouth.

My heart’s pounding faster with every step as we join the short line. I take a shaky breath, then another, wiping my sweaty palms down the front of my jeans.

Darcy’s brow creases. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “Nothing.” But my eyes flick up to the top of the now-slowly-turning wheel, and I gulp.

Darcy gasps. “Oh my god,” she whispers. “You’re scared of heights! "

“I’m not scared, ” I defend. The line shrinks as group after group loads into the cabins, the wheel creaking softly as it rotates. We inch closer to the operator, and panic begins to set in.

“Okay,” I blurt, turning toward her. “Yes. Fine. I’m scared of heights. Terrified , actually.”

Darcy throws a hand up. “Then why did you say you wanted to go?”

“I did!” I insist. “I mean—I do. But…” My voice trails off as I glance back up. The top of the wheel looks even higher now, and I swear, my ribcage is rattling from the intensity of my palpitating heart.

“Tickets, please,” the operator says, motioning us forward.

Darcy hands hers over, then turns to me. I don’t move.

I’m frozen.

Darcy looks down at my hand, threading her fingers between mine. “Where I go, you go.”

Despite the tremble in my chest, a soft smile tugs at the corners of my mouth at the reference. “Where I go, you go.”

She steps into the cabin first, sliding into the corner by the back window.

I put one foot in at a time, prying them from the pier like they’ve been cemented down.

I’m pretty sure I’m imagining the shake of the gondola as I step, but it doesn’t help solidify the muscles in my legs.

I quickly collapse onto the seat beside her, fingers clutching the edge of the bench.

“Hey,” she says, and my eyes flick up to meet hers. “It’s okay. You’re doing good.”

I nod, exhaling another shaky breath. When the wheel jerks to life, an embarrassing sound slips out of me, and my fingers sink deeper into the bench.

“Oh my god,” I whimper, watching the ground shrink beneath me. Darcy places her hand over mine again, squeezing.

“We’re okay,” she repeats. I nod again, like the more I do it, the more I’ll believe it.

It starts slow at first, just moving a few feet to funnel in the last of the line.

But once everyone is on board, it speeds up, and before I know it, I’m a hundred feet off the ground, breathing like I’m in dire need of a paper bag.

Darcy doesn’t let go of my hand the entire time.

After a few minutes, going round and round, the wheel jerks to a stop. My grip tightens, and my eyes squeeze shut.

“Peyton,” Darcy says. Hearing her say my name, my real name, does something indescribable to the inside of my body. Every organ, every nerve, perks up. “Look.”

I’m truthfully terrified, but my eyes flutter open anyway. Through the crystal-clear gondola window, the water stretches out forever. As the sun breaks through the heavy clouds, streaks of gold illuminate the waves, ant-sized ferries drifting in the distance.

“Woah,” I murmur.

Darcy’s smile grows. “And this way.”

She juts her chin in the opposite direction, and I follow her line of sight.

We're front-and-center of the city, and there are numerous skyscrapers reaching above us, but still, in here, with her, it all seems quiet. Windows upon windows decorate the view. I look at the buildings and think how wild it is that someone, right now, could be looking out at us the way we’re looking out at them.

“It’s so pretty,” I say, almost sounding surprised. I think I knew Seattle was pretty, but I guess I’ve never taken the time to really see it beyond the apartment. Beyond whatever views I’ve happened to catch while focusing on everything else. I never stopped to admire details.

Not until her.

“Yeah,” Darcy agrees, shifting closer. Right as I turn to look at her, the wheel jerks to life again. My body tenses as our gondola moves, and Darcy’s nose brushes against mine as our bodies sway with the movement.

“You okay?” she asks, her breath brushing against my lips.

I nod, swallowing. “Yeah,” I manage.

Darcy’s eyes flick between mine, then, without warning, drop to my mouth. She just stares, breath hitching, like she’s about to say something. But she doesn’t.

She leans in and kisses me.

It’s quick and soft. Just a simple, regular kiss, but then, nothing about Darcy is simple or regular. And nothing about her makes me feel simple or regular either.

When she pulls back, she looks bewildered. “Sorry, I—”

I cut her off. My hand finds the side of her face, and I kiss her like I mean it. Like I’ve wanted to for a while. Like I’ve never kissed another person.

With love.

Darcy tenses, just for a beat, then melts into it.

We don’t say anything else. We just kiss, all the way back down to the ground.