Page 15 of Rival Hearts
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“What is this place?” I ask Caleb hours later after he parks in front of a large warehouse lit up with bright lights. The parking lot is full, and there's a big sign on the front that says Capstone Climbing and Adventure, but I’m not exactly sure what that means.
“We need to mix things up a little.” Caleb grins before opening the driver's side door and rounding the Jeep to help me out. “Step out of our comfort zones and remember our boundaries—no shop talk for the rest of the night.”
The warehouse entrance leads to a massive space filled with adult-sized activities. Like the wall lined with an indoor rock climbing wall, colorful handles decorating the fake stone. Then there’s the supersized jungle gym that curves around the back of the building.
“This place is wild,” I say, my wide eyes soaking in everything at once.
“Right? I've never been here before, but it sounded fun when I googled date ideas.”
“You googled date ideas?” Why is that so charming? The vision of him hunched over his phone researching places to take me. It’s freaking cute as hell.
“I'm wooing you, remember?” He gently taps my temple with his knuckle. “And trying out a new place together sounded like an adventure.”
“You ever been rock climbing before?” Two people currently scale the floor to ceiling structure. Thirty feet above the ground, their twin athletic bodies bend and stretch for each handhold.
“Nope. You?”
“Do I seem like the type of girl who likes to climb rocks for fun?” He’s lucky I’m not afraid of heights or else this would be a total bust.
“You never know.” He shrugs then guides me to the welcome counter where a guy stands chatting to another employee. After paying the adventure fee, Caleb and I follow the guy to the rock wall where he gives us the safety spiel as we strap into our harnesses.
“I could get used to these.” Caleb gestures to the harness wrapped around his waist and thighs, an obvious vee framing his groin.
“Oh, it's a very sexy look,” I tease. “The women in Suitor’s Crossing won't know what hit them if they see you in that getup.”
“That's exactly what I'm going for… Though there’s really only one woman whose opinion matters.” He drops a quick kiss to my cheek before dipping his hand in a bag of chalk, removing a handful, then slapping it between his palms. A nuclear blast of dust erupts in the air, sending both of us into coughing fits.
“I don't think you're supposed to use that much,” I wheeze, caught between coughing out the particles of chalk in my throat and laughing at the absurdity of the situation.
“That dude didn't warn about chalk inhalation. You'd think that would be part of their safety protocol.”
“He probably thought it was common sense, since I assume most people don't grab enough chalk to scale El Capitan.”
“Someone watched Free Solo… But I'm a newbie and can't be blamed for my mistakes.” Once his breathing is under control, Caleb starts climbing, and I carefully hold his belaying rope, a little scared of letting him fall. “You good down there, Sierra Bear?”
“Yeah, just don't make any sudden movements. I don't want to slip.”
“That'd be a downer. Hate to end up in the emergency room on our date. I have different plans for tonight.” He looks down at me from above and winks. A flush of heat causes a light sheen of sweat to form on my skin.
I have different plans, too—ones that don’t involve an ER bed but my big comfy mattress at home.
Caleb rings the bell at the top of the rock wall, and then carefully rappels back down, so we can switch spots. “Think you can beat my time?” he asks, nodding to the clock next to us that showcases how quickly he climbed the wall in red digital numbers.
This may be my first rock climbing experience, but I’m a competitive woman, especially when it comes to Caleb. Just because we’ve called a truce on the business rivalry doesn’t mean the idea of beating him in competition has disappeared. It just makes the stakes much more interesting.
“You’re on. Loser buys victory smoothies.” The sound of blenders on the other side of the warehouse have been a constant background noise ever since we stepped foot into the building, and a pineapple mango smoothie will be the perfect prize for my win.
“Deal. Now, get to climbing, sweetcakes.”
My concentration falls to the wall in front of me, my eyes slowly mapping a path before reaching for the first hand hold. Caleb encourages me every step of the way, but I don’t waste my breath or precious time by responding. I’ve got the advantage of knowing the time to beat while Caleb moseyed up the wall still holding a conversation with me.
“Ten seconds!”
“Five, four, three—”
My fist snags the bell’s metal clapper, ringing it for all it’s worth. A couple of onlookers cheer at my victory as I push off from the rock wall in a slow descent, then Caleb embraces me in a bear hug that lifts my feet off the ground again.