Page 84 of Fighting With Light

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she says, not remotely convinced. Walking back to right below her starting point, I get her rope looped in and then check it three times. I check the safety and then her main rope again. I attach the hook to her safety rope and then check that three times.

“Do you need to check my sports bra, too?” she quips.

I slap her butt as an answer and check her chalk bag, making sure she has enough. “You’re precious cargo, princess. I have to be extra careful with you.”

She rolls her eyes and pins her lips together, trying to hide that beautiful smile.

After double-checking that I’m hooked up with the other end of the rope looped through my harness, we’re good to go. “Whenever you’re ready,” I tell her. That’s not technically the correct way to start climbing, but I’m right here, and I’m ready to take her weight.

She looks up one more time, then nods to herself as she takes her first hold. She gets up about ten feet, and I can tell she’s tired. “Keep your feet on the rock and lean back like you’re going to sit in a chair to rest for a minute. I’ve got you.”

Aelia looks down.

“It’s okay,” I encourage her.

She slowly moves back as if to sit in a chair. I adjust my rope and use my weight as a counterbalance. When I was in Bali, there were a few guys that climbed who had to be at least my weight or over two hundred pounds. Some weren’t even fat, they were just giant dudes. Those were teeth gritters because if they did fall on the easiest climbs in the world, I knew I’d have one hell of a time not being launched into space or slicing my hands open with the rope trying to catch them. Aelia is a walk in the park.

She shifts and goes back to the hold she was resting from. “You good?” I yell up at her.

“Yeah,” she yells back. I keep my eyes on her, hoping she takes each hold that she should. She struggles a little toward the left end of the climb, where the rocks get a bit tricky and require lots of crimping.

She takes another hold and moves her foot and I knew it was the wrong one before she tried to put her foot there. As I watch her slip from the footholdand grab onto whatever she can reach, the world slows down. My hands tighten more around the rope holding onto her weight. I can barely see her wide eyes as her feet shuffle around to find a place to stick them.

The panic rises in my chest and I force it down as far as it will go. I have a good hold on her. I know what I’m doing. Everything is okay. Not much scares me these days, but I have to admit that was terrifying.

“Aelia,” I yell. She doesn’t answer right away and I almost tell her to come down immediately, thinking she hurt herself.

“I’m good! I’m going to keep climbing,” she yells.

I shake my head, smiling. She is something else. Aelia moves close to where she fell and picks a different foothold before bypassing the section she struggled on. “Yeah! That’s it!!” I shout. I whoop and I hope it’s encouraging for her as she takes her next steps.

We had to rest a few more times, but about an hour later, Aelia reached the top. She rappels down the side. The moment her feet hit the ground, I pick her up, spinning her around.

“You did it, baby. I’m so proud of you.” I grin and kiss her sweaty cheek.

She puffs out a breath and wipes her brow, getting dirt on her forehead. “I’m not going to lie. I wanted to quit a few times because that washard.”

“That’s what she said,” I mumble.

She gives me a look and pushes me back. “Really?”

I shrug bashfully.

“Sometimes, I swear you are a teenage boy living inside a grown man’s body.”

I laugh and tug her to me. “You weren’t complaining the other night about this grown man’s body.”

She rolls her eyes, but the corner of her mouth tips up. “You are ridiculous.”

“But you love it,” I quip and then realize what I said.

She stops blinking and freezes in my hold.

I cough and release her, grabbing some water and the snacks I had the resort pack for us. “Do you want a snack?”

She blinks a few times. “Yeah, sure, that sounds good.”

I grab the food from a pocket, and she sighs, looking at her hands. I spot a few blisters that will hurt tomorrow, but she’s otherwise unscathed. “My hands hurt,” she sighs.