“What?” he asked.
“I really like having someone I can finally say that kind of thing to.”
Jesus, he was in deep. He’d gone climbing with a couple of girls before, but watching Veronica set her jaw and conquer that last stretch had made his heart swell and ache. He wanted to tell her he was proud of her, but you couldn’t say that to a woman you’d known for only a couple of weeks. He had nothing to do with how strong she was. And “You’re fucking awesome” wasn’t quite the sentiment he was going for.
So he bit the words back and winked. “You’ve been saving up a lot of filthy thoughts, have you?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, funny enough, I have all those things in my apartment right now. Booze.” He ticked them off on one hand. “A shower. And an orgasm. Maybe even several.”
“All for me?” she squealed.
“I’m seriously hoping you’ll share.”
“Okay, but you’d better not be lying about the liquor. I’m not kidding. And if you have a sippy cup so I can take it in the shower with me, even better.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her up, giving in to the urge to kiss her beautiful smile. “I’ve got vodka,” he murmured between kisses. “And orange juice. And maybe a thermos.”
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“I can work with that.”
Her neck was slick with sweat when he trailed his hand along her skin, and Gabe’s cock started to thicken. He wanted to lick her there. Lick her everywhere.
Someday, if she wanted to climb a few more times, he’d fuck her on the highest rock, under the sun and sky. He wanted that the way he wanted life. To be so utterly alone with her, inside her, the sun and breeze the only thing on their skin.
Someday. Before all the months left to him disappeared.
She got out her phone to take a few pictures of the wall they’d just rappelled down, and Gabe went to go coil ropes. He wasn’t smiling anymore. He didn’t know what to do. He’d meant to tell her the truth today, but it scared him. She’d probably break it off. At the very least, they’d have to have a discussion about where this was heading, and it was heading nowhere. Could he even ask her to be exclusive when it would last for only a few months?
The idea made his muscles tight. He rolled his neck, trying to ease out the knots. He didn’t want to stand by while she dated other guys. Hell, he didn’t even want to imagine moving back to New York and leaving her to have new experiences with other men. Sex. Sex on a hike. Sex and camping. Sex at the top of a climb.
Maybe they could date a little while longer before they had to talk about it at all. Was that manipulating her or just taking it slow? He couldn’t tell anymore.
He finished gathering the rope and they headed back to the rock face where they’d started, then packed up their gear and set off down the trail. Halfway to the trailhead, they passed a rock wall that had been empty during their hike up, but it was swarming with people now. Some stood on the ground controlling ropes that led up to anchors and then down to novice climbers.
“Wait,” Veronica said, “What’s that?”
“Top roping,” he answered.
She stopped in her tracks and stared at the scene for a moment, her eyes widening as each second passed. “What?” she finally gasped. “You mean we could have done that? It’s, like, thirty feet up at the most!”
“Oh, come on. You don’t want to do that. You did a full belay climb! Aren’t you proud of yourself?”
She stared bug-eyed at him, then looked back to the top ropers. “But I could have done that instead!”
“We can do it now if you want.”
“Fuck you!” she yelped.
Gabe tried to look contrite, but he couldn’t quite pull it off when he was laughing. “I’m sorry,” he gasped.
“Liar! You’re not sorry at all!”
“I told you I’d take you climbing, not to what amounts to a climbing gym. You did a real climb and you were a natural, just like I said.”
She glared at him, but all Gabe noticed was that the breeze had finally cooled her off and her nipples were hard beneath her tank top. She shook her head, drawing his gaze back up. “You’re not sorry and you’re ogling my breasts!”