Page 56 of Pitcher Perfect
“Skylar,” Robbie said, his laugh more like a scrape.
“What?”
“Have I ever told you that whatever you’re thinking shows on your face?”
Impossible. She was a pitcher. A poker face was essential, and she’d sharpened the skill like a knife over the last decade. Dina remarked on it all the time. Was it possible that Robbie alone could discern her thoughts so easily without a word? No. Absolutely not. “What am I thinking about?”
“Not the challenge,” he snorted.
“Oh?”
“MyO. That’s what you’re thinking about.” He closed the already scant distance between them while running his tongue along his lower lip. “Guess it’s only fair since all I can think about is getting one out of you.”
“Oh.”
He hummed low in his throat. “There’s that word again.” His pupils had nearly eclipsed the green of his irises at this point. “I’ll give you as many as you can fucking stand, Skylar. Swear to God, just set me loose.”
There was no breath remaining in Skylar’s lungs when her parents blew the air horn.
Birds screeched out of the trees overhead, plunging her back into reality with a wheezing gasp, her spine snapping to attention. A monumental feat considering heat rolled through the lowest region of her belly like thunder, her skin hot and clammy. Another vision of Robbie hitting his peak threatened to garner her brain power once again, but she managed to stave it off with a wave of determination.Focus.
“Okay, teams,” boomed her father, turning sideways to indicate six ropes hanging from the cliff overhead. At the end of each one was a harness. “As we communicated in the challenge sheet,one member of the team will ascend to the top of the peak and retrieve the flag, bringing it down to their partner. That partner will then climb to the same spot and plant the flag. First team to stake their team colors in the soil wins. Are the instructions clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Madden and Elton said, approaching the line and attaching it to their harness with the metal carabiner, testing the hold. Skylar joined them, doing the same. Meanwhile, Robbie stayed where he was, the trench between his brows growing deeper by the second.
Her father frowned at Robbie. “Aren’t you going to attach yourself to the line, son?”
“Actually, no. He’s not,” Skylar answered on his behalf. “The rules stated that the first player must ascend to the top of the peak. But it didn’t specify how.”
Doug and Vivica traded a puzzled look. “I think it was abundantly clear that both players are required to climb,” blustered Doug.
“We read it differently, Dad,” Skylar said breezily.
“Wow. This is the first year you’ve felt the need to cheat, Sky,” Elton cut in. “But don’t worry, I’m sure it has nothing to do with your new partner.”
“Eat a dick, Elton,” she chirped back without missing a beat.
“Skylar!” Vivica was not pleased. “Language!”
Robbie’s appreciative laughter, however, cracked behind her, stealing a very immature giggle from Skylar’s throat. In her defense, there was usually no one on her side. Skylar versus the unrelenting torture of her older brother who never seemed to be admonished for teasing her. That was normal. During the rare times she’d broken down and cried when the sibling rivalry had gotten out of hand, her parents had ordered her in no uncertain terms to suck it up.
You’re tough, Sky.
You’re tougher than this.
This will only make you tougher.
Robbie standing behind her, laughing at her insult, might be a small thing to some people. But it was big and wonderful to her. She looked back at him over her shoulder to give him an appreciative smile, which, for some reason, made him appear... winded? Like he’d been socked in the gut? Clearly, his fear of heights was rearing its ugly head.
As soon as Doug blew the whistle, Robbie started to sprint.
Last night, he and Skylar had devised a plan—a terrible one, honestly, but his phobia of heights had left them little choice. In this outlandish scenario, he would run west as fast as possible to the path leading to the top of the rock face, which was a good quarter mile of uneven terrain away, thus avoiding the actual climb. He’d retrieve the flag from the top of the cliff, hopefully without spewing his guts, before running back and tagging in Skylar for her leg of the climb.
Not a foolproof plan. His muscles were already tensing at the prospect of seeing the ground from such a high height. And as he wove through trees and leapt over fallen branches, he could think of nothing but Skylar’s smile. How she’d looked at him right before the whistle blew. Like he was some kind of hero.
Something told him he was about to disprove that theory.
It burned like hell that Madden was probably halfway up the rock face by now, no fear holding him back. As if the guy needed one more advantage.
