Page 33 of Unrivaled

Max almost expected him to sit there pouting and not try the exercise again, but Grady surprised him. “I like the way you leave everything on the ice,” he said quietly. “You don’t take work home with you. I envy that.”

Oh Lord, what had Max unleashed? He pulled the towel from his shoulders, suddenly too warm, and cleared his throat. Whatever thatfeelingwas when Grady complimented him sincerely, it needed to go back in the box. “See? You’re coachable.”

Grady shot him an amused look. “I think you’re supposed to say thank you.”

“Oh,acceptingcompliments is a whole other ball game.” Not Max’s wheelhouse. He gestured. “Come on, next obstacle. The point of an active date is you don’t have to make small talk.”

“Didn’t you basically just say it’s my small talk that needs work?” Grady grumbled. But he got to his feet and gripped the bar for the Salmon Ladder.

Max’s mouth went dry.

Grady wasn’t a small guy, especially after spending a summer bulking up. His body was solid. He had to weigh 220. He exhaled and squared his shoulders before heaving himself and the bar upward.

The bar caught. Four more to go.

His body jolted with every step, but his grip held. So did Max’s attention. If hedidaccidentally win today, it wasn’t like Grady’s ass would be a consolation prize.

“As an FYI, you should definitely do this on all your first dates.”Damn.“It really plays to your strengths.”

Grady heaved himself up the final step of the ladder. “I’ll keep that… in mind.” He jumped for the rope and swung.

For a minute it looked like he wouldn’t make the transfer to the bouldering obstacle. He hit the wall and bounced off, as much as a six-foot-plus man could bounce. But on the second swing, he got a grip on the bar.

Now he was dangling from it, and Max could see the strain in his body. His shoulders ached in sympathy, and part of him wanted to cheer Grady on.

Another part of him knew that wasn’t the best way to motivate him.

“What, you’re not feeling it now, are you? Fingers cramping?”

Grady’s chest heaved, but he didn’t waste breath with a reply. He grabbed the first handhold and shimmied along the beam.

“There’s no shame in falling, you know. It’s more fun if we’re both wet.”

On the next handhold, Grady’s grip slipped. Max was sure he’d hit the pool, but he recovered and made the third grab.

Max needed to up his game or Grady was toast. “Bet your arms are tired. Or maybe not, I mean, you’ve been carrying your team for long enough—you’re probably used to it.”

Grady let out a muffled curse, but he finished the obstacle and dropped onto the second-last platform, then rolled onto his back. “What kind of date talk is that?” he panted.

“Motivational.”

Grady snorted and turned his face toward Max. “How do you figure?”

Max grinned. “What’s better than proving me wrong?”

“Trick question.”

“Exactly.”

After that, Grady’s ascent up the Warped Wall was almost anticlimactic. Max wolf-whistled while he made the victory V with his arms.

Mission accomplished.

Part one of the mission, at least.

Max scrubbed his hair again and dropped the towel in the industrial-size bin. Then he grabbed a spare set of rings and climbed onto the first platform.

“Hey!” Grady shouted across the gym. “What are you doing? I won!”

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