Jaxon gestures to the outcropping, which now that I’m standing in front of looks much taller. A ball of unease sits heavy in my stomach as I imagine falling to my death from the top. I push the morbid thought from my mind.
Jax moves to the side of the wall. “This is one of our easier spots. It shouldn’t be too difficult, but I don’t want to move on to the harder ones until I know you can handle this one. I’ll start. Just follow the path I climb.”
I nod. He reaches for the first handhold and pulls himself up the rock wall. I watch him go higher, memorizing the spots he uses for handholds.
“You comin’?” he asks.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m comin’.”
“Don't rush it,” he says over his shoulder. “Make sure you have your next handhold before releasing your foot.”
I find the first handhold and hoist myself up, reminding myself that this is no different from rock climbing at the gym. I reach for the next spot and follow Jaxon.
“By the way,” he calls down. “I’m sorry to hear about what happened with Trey.”
I cringe. Why is he bringing that up? My first impulse is to tell him the truth about Trey. But I don’t owe Jaxon anything. Besides, if I follow JulieAnn’s plan, my relationship with Trey is going to make a comeback. “It’s fine,” I say.
“No, it’s not.” Jax adjusts his rope. “You deserve so much better than that creep. But I’m sure you told him as much, didn’t you?” He huffs a laugh. “I would have loved to see that play out.”
If it were a real relationship, then yeah, of course I wouldn’t put up with a cheater. But it’s a career move, not my heart. I can’t exactly tell Jax that though. “We had words,” I say, avoiding a direct answer.
He pauses
his climb and looks down at me. “But you're not staying with him, are you?”
I quickly avert my gaze to the next handhold. “Whether or not I’m still Trey’s girlfriend is none of your business.”
He turns away and continues climbing up. “You’re joking, right? Malia, he’s not worth your time. If he can’t see that you’re the best he’ll ever get, then he’s a fool.”
“He wouldn’t be the first fool I’ve come across. And you’re right about one thing, I’m definitely the best he’ll ever get.”
Jax is silent for a moment, and I wonder if I’ve crossed a line. He knows perfectly well that I was talking about him, but he’s the one who decided to bring up the subject of my love life. I just happened to finish it. The wind whips at my hair, pulling it from my makeshift braid. I shake the strands from my face. That’s when I realize we’ve climbed most of the rock wall. The conversation had distracted me from the fact that we were getting higher and higher, which brings on the realization that that’s exactly why Jax brought it up. And now I feel like a jerk for my verbal jab. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I don’t really want to talk about Trey right now. Even if it is giving me plenty of anger to fuel my climb.”
“Oh, I think you have plenty of anger without throwing Trey into the mix.”
Okay, I probably deserve that. But I do have plenty of reason to be angry with him, even if it stems from something that happened years ago. My muscles are starting to burn, and I’m breathing heavily now. “We both know that, while it might take a lot to get me angry, once I am, it takes hold. And believe me, Trey is on that list at the moment. Especially because his indiscretions could affect my career.”
“Having moments like that on display for all to see is pretty messed up.”
“Yeah, it pretty much is.”
“Almost as messed up as making plans for coffee and then not showing up.”
I stop and gaze up at him. He gazes down at me with raised eyebrows.
I tilt my head to the side. “What happened to this climb being strictly professional?”
He continues climbing. “I was just conversatin’ is all. Talkin’ purely hypothetical.”
Hypothetical my rear. I huff out a breath and reach for my next handhold. “Well, hypothetically, if someone were to stand up someone else, maybe they did it because they were given information about that person that they didn’t like. Something that was hurtful and downright messed up—a lot more messed up than not showing up for coffee.”
He’s silent. Yeah buddy, chew on that one for a while. I peer up and watch him climb for a moment, completely entranced by his movements. He certainly is a stunning male specimen Even if I hate him for what he did, I can appreciate the beauty and strength that is Jaxon Wyle. His large muscles flex and stretch, showcasing strength and agility in each movement. And somehow, he makes it look effortless.
He glances down and catches me staring at him.
“Everything okay down there?” he asks. “I can come back down if you need me to.”
I start moving again. “No, I’m fine. I’m just, um, watching where you’re finding handholds,” I lie.