The river was calmer than I expected.
The city noise softened as I approached the walkway, lights reflecting on the water like scattered thoughts I couldn't quite organize. I arrived ten minutes early, pretending it was coincidence and not nerves.
I was watching the water when I felt him.
"You always this punctual?" Daniel asked.
I turned, and there he was — hands in his pockets, jacket slightly undone, eyes warm and unreadable all at once. Seeing him again sent a quiet shock through me, like my body had already memorized him.
"Only when I'm pretending not to be," I said.
He smiled. Not wide. Just enough.
We started walking side by side, close enough that our arms brushed occasionally. Each time it happened, my pulse skipped, and I wondered if he noticed.
"So," he said after a moment, "does the river calm you, or distract you?"
"Both," I replied. "It reminds me that things keep moving. Even when you feel stuck."
He glanced at me then. Really looked.
"I know that feeling," he said quietly.
Something in his voice shifted. Less casual. More honest.
We walked in silence for a bit, the kind that didn't feel awkward — just full. I found myself wanting to ask him questions I had no right to ask yet.
Why do you look like someone who's lost something important?
Why do you hesitate before saying my name?
Instead, I said, "You seem thoughtful."
He exhaled softly. "That's one word for it."
We stopped near the railing, the water flowing steadily beneath us. Daniel leaned forward slightly, resting his hands against the metal.
"Can I ask you something?" he said.
I nodded.
"Do you ever meet someone and feel like the timing is wrong from the start?"
My breath caught.
"Yes," I said slowly. "And it's usually the people who matter most."
His jaw tightened just slightly — a tell, I realized. He was holding something back.
He turned toward me then, closer than before. Close enough that I could smell his cologne, feel the warmth of him in the cool night air.
"I don't want to make this complicated," he said. "But I don't want to pretend I don't feel it either."
My heart pounded.
"Feel what?" I asked, even though I knew.
"This," he said quietly. "Whatever this is between us."
The world seemed to narrow to just us — the water, the lights, the space between his words and my response.
I should have stepped back.
I didn't.
Instead, I said the truth.
"I feel it too."
Something changed in his eyes then — relief, desire, and something darker beneath it all.
Something like guilt.
Daniel opened his mouth to speak again — and I knew whatever he was about to say would change everything.
What is Daniel hiding?
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