Page 51 of One Last Run

Danica turned to look at her. “That’s... strangely very sweet.”

“Anyway, I wanted to make you lay on this freezing cold pond and look at the stars because... well, do you remember that app that I built? The night sky one, where you could simulate flying among the stars?” Pete asked.

Danica’s brow furrowed. “I remember it, but I don’t remember you ever finishing it.”

“I finished it after we graduated,” Pete said. “And then I sold it to a UK-based developer who was working on something similar.”

Danica’s eyebrows rose. “Really? That’s so cool. Are you still making apps, then?”

“Yes and no. Mainly no,” Pete said, her stomach twirling with nerves. It felt like she should be honest with Danica, but she also wasn’t exactly sure what to tell her.

“Ah, cryptic as ever,” Danica said, turning back to the sky.

“I negotiated a really, really good price for the night sky app, and I put most of it in savings, but I bought some Bitcoin. Gross, I know. At the time, Bitcoin was kind of dumb but a smart friend suggested it, so I bought it when it was fairly cheap, and then sold it at a good time.”

Danica's gaze sharpened. “How much Bitcoin did you buy?”

“Only about 1500. It was only about thirteen dollars for one at the time.”

Danica choked. “That’s a lot of money.”

“It was worth 20,000 dollars when I sold it,” Pete said quietly.

“You made 20,000 dollars off of Bitcoin? Holy shit.”

“No, I mean, each Bitcoin was worth 20,000 dollars.”

“So, you’re saying you sold 1500 Bitcoin for 20,000 dollars each?” Danica asked, pushing up onto her elbows. “That’s... a lot of money.”

Pete shrugged self-consciously. It was, indeed, a fuck ton of money, but she’d been living frugally to put almost all of it into the foundation. “I’ve wanted to tell you, but it makes me sound like some crypto tech bro, and?—”

A light shone on them, temporarily blinding her with a number of lumens second only to the sun itself. She held up her hand, shielding her eyes, as Danica cursed.

“We’re too pretty for ski jail,” Danica groaned, sitting up.

“Hey, the pond is closed at sunset!” a male voice called out.

“Sorry! We think she dropped her keys earlier,” Pete called out. They helped one another up and linked arms and shuffled off the ice toward the man with the blinding light, both of their heads ducked in the embarrassment of being caught.

“You can look in the morning,” the man said flatly. Extremely helpful.

“Sure, thanks,” Pete muttered, as they stepped foot back on the regular walking path.

“That was nice.” Danica wrapped an arm around Pete’s waist, holding her closer as they walked together. Pete held Danica close, thankful for the warmth of her. “I can’t believe you led me to believe your favorite constellation was Lepus when it wasn’t.”

“And I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were a multi-millionaire, so we’re even,” Danica said with a joking smirk.

“Not even, not even a little bit,” Pete said with a laugh. “And I’m not, actually... It’s kind of a long story.”

“You spent it all on blow and strippers already?” Danica asked, bending to adjust her boot.

“Yep. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Pete made a big show of sighing.

Danica stood again, wrapping her arm back around Pete. A small maniacal giggle was the only warning Pete got before something cold and wet began to slide down her neck and into her coat. Pete shrieked, arching her back to try to get the snow out of her shirt as quickly as possible.

Danica cackled. “Payback!” She ran a few steps ahead of Pete, laughing.

“Oh, you aresogetting it now,” Pete warned, chasing after her.

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