“Ready?” I ask, pausing by the door that exits the stairwell.
“If it means getting off these steps of death, then yes, I am.”
“So dramatic.” I chuckle, killing my flashlight, feeling her instantly tense next to me.
“Macallan.”
Before she can say more, I push open the door, leading her out onto the rooftop, which offers the most incredible view of campus. Only that’s not theviewI’m currently looking at.
I watch as Maisie’s eyes widen in surprise, releasing my hand to do a full three-sixty turn.
“This place is...”
“Pretty incredible, right?” I step up next to her, allowing myself a moment to look around. The sun is but a dull glow on the horizon now. It will only be minutes before night takes us, and then we will be sitting under a sky full of stars, if the clouds cooperate, of course.
“How did you know about this place?” she asks, crossing to the edge to look down. I stay a respectable distance away, mainly because I don’t like heights.
I like the view from up here, but I have no desire to lookdown.
“Some of the guys come here from time to time.” I gesture to a pile of beer cans in the corner, making a mental note to tell those fuckers they need to clean up after themselves.
“Nice.” She rolls her eyes at the mess.
“Not the cleanest bunch,” I agree.
“But... I thought you were taking me to dinner.” She turns fully to face me.
“I am.” I reach out my hand, watching her hesitate for only a few seconds before finally taking it.
Leading her around the side, I smile at the gasp that slips past her lips when she gets her first look at the picnic I planned for us. I’m happy to report that nothing seems to have moved in the hours since I brought everything up.
There’s a blanket spread out, an unlit lantern sitting in the middle, a blue cooler on the far side, which contains some sandwiches I picked up from her favorite deli, as well as a six-pack of beer. I had to track down Charlotte to ask what to get her, which was a very interesting conversation, to say the least. And by interesting, I mean she threatened to remove my favorite appendage if I did anything to hurt Maisie again. Quite the spitfire that one.
I tug on Maisie’s hand, guiding her to the blanket before offering her my other hand to help lower her to the ground. Once she’s settled, I drop down next to her, lighting the lantern so that once the last rays of sunlight have slipped away, we won’t be sitting in darkness.
“Beer?” I ask, opening the cooler.
“Sure.” She nods, accepting the bottle I hand to her after I’ve twisted off the cap.
After repeating the process with my own beer, I tip it to my lips, taking a long pull before setting it off to the side.
“I got sandwiches from Sub Hub.”
“That’s my—”
“Favorite. Yeah, I know.”
“And how could you possibly know that?”
“I may have paid a visit to a certain redhead who threatened to dismember me if I wasn’t on my best behavior.”
“You went to see Char?”
I nod. “I did.”
“Brave.”
“She is quite intense.”
