Page 44 of These Reckless Hearts

I panic for about point three seconds until I feel the safety engage, and then I’m being held up by the miracle of straps and ropes. I kick off the rock face, pissed that I didn’t make it.

Lucas careens past me and hits the ground in a superhero stance that I’m secretly super jealous of. As soon as my feet touch the ground, I glare at him. “Remind me why we didn’t start my training on this earlier?”

He comes over, still connected to the hoists and wraps a piece of hair around my ears. “You’re so cute when you’re frustrated and mad.”

“Obviously I’m not doing it correctly, then,” I half growl, frowning at him.

His smile only widens. “Oh, you’re doing it correctly, I just happen to find you cute all the time, Wild Girl.”

I push away from him before he can steal a kiss and return to the wall. The instructor stands at my side and shows me how I got stuck, telling me a better path to take next time. I analyze it, using imaginary moves to track the path and see where I made the mistake.

Rock climbing is fun, but I am doing this for a purpose.

I start off again, and this time, I make it to the top. Lucas is already up there, one leg swung over the side. He beams at me. “I knew you could do it.”

I peer down where my instructor is smiling and giving me a thumbs up. “Yeah, but the actual rock we’re talking about climbing is three times the length of this and doesn’t have any fancy safety equipment.”

“Well, just because the face is that tall doesn’t mean the cave is going to be at the very top.” He gives me a placating grin. “This is only a precaution because we know damn well if we find the cave and you don’t get to go in it, you’re going to be super pissed. We want to prevent that from happening.”

“Aw, you know me so well,” I tease. I would never forgive myself if we actually found the treasure and I couldn’t bring it out myself. “Race you down?” I throw myself over the edge and grin through the split seconds of weightlessness until the bands pull taut. When I swing closer to the rock, I kick off and land on my feet, replicating Lucas’ superhero squat.

My instructor gives me a high five. After telling me what I did great and what I need work on, he suggests trying the first path I failed to see if I can complete it.

I accept his challenge and climb the wall until I get to my stuck point. This time, I make the jump, squeeze my fingers with all my might and flail around until my foot hits something solid. It’s more luck than anything else, but at least I make it to the top this time.

After I conquer the intermediary course, Lucas and I take a small break. We’ve been here all day, and my body is starting to feel it. My thighs are killing me, but most of all, my fingers are sore from the strain. Joints I didn’t realize I had ache from all the gripping I’m doing.

Lucas takes my hand and starts massaging my fingers. The round table we’re sitting at in the middle of the wide-open space gives us great views of other climbers. A couple of guys scale the expert level course—which has portions that stick out almost horizontally from the floor and then jut back in again. That’s the section that resembles the Superstitions in real life. I gulp, hoping we won’t find a cave worth scaling seated above something like that.

“Can you do that one?” I ask Lucas, gesturing toward the incredibly difficult section with my chin. Just as I do, the bell rings out at the top of the course and the person below calls out the climber’s time.

“Yeah, I’ve done it,” Lucas shrugs. “Honestly though, we’ve all gotten out of practice. Other things seemed like a better use of our time.”

My chest squeezes. “Is that so?”

He leans forward, nuzzling my cheek to whisper, “Way better. Much more fun. Much more...satisfying.”

“Are you trying to seduce me in the middle of a rock climbing facility?” I tease, the thought of it turning me on.

“What do you expect? I’ve been staring at your ass in that harness all day.”

“Tell you what....” I bite my lip. “You climb the expert level track and I’ll make it worth your while,” I singsong.

Shadows fall over Lucas’ face, making his honey-brown eyes spark. “In what way?”

“I’ll sleep in your room tonight,” I offer.

“Consider it done.”

He pulls me in for a quick kiss, then shoves a granola bar toward me. “You should eat.”

I pull my phone out of my bag while taking a bite. “I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Wyatt and Stone all day.”

Lucas glances away, avoiding my gaze. He’s done that every time I’ve brought them up. “I’m sure they’re just planning our next trip.”

I frown at him. They’re keeping something from me—I think. It may not necessarily be something bad, but the look on Lucas’ face and the way he checks his phone makes me wary.

In the next moment, he grins, easing my worries. His demeanor smooths out some of the tension gathering in the pit of my stomach. If there was something wrong, we wouldn’t be here. “You ready to watch me knock this out of the park?”

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