Page 4 of Free Fall
“Exactly.”
But she doesn’t let it go. “Humans need other humans, and I hate to break it to you, kid, butyou’rehuman. Youneedrelationships.”
“I like getting off sometimes with a hot person, but otherwise, no. I don’t need anyone.”
I hold back from sayingI don’t even need youbecause it seems hurtful, even if it’s true. See? Peggy Jo has taught mesomesocial niceties.
“Dan, I don’t even know what to say to you.”
“Say it’s time to head down,” I reply, kneeling up to gather our things. “I’m ready.”
Peggy Jo doesn’t argue and by the time we’ve rapped the wall and are at the base again, I can tell she’s done with me for the day. I’m an acquired taste, and Peggy Jo is probably the only person on earth who’s had the chance to really acquire it. But even she gets quickly weary of what she sees as my “bullshit.” I’m hard to like, impossible to love.
I’m fine with that.
I prefer it that way.
*
Sejin
“Guys, c’mon,” Icall into the café’s break area without looking in. Lord knows I don’t want to see anything if I can help it. I sawwaymore than I wanted to a few days ago. Still, Celli and Gage are good co-workers when they aren’t in the back making out, leaving me to fend for myself with a shop full of customers.
Like now.
New love is cool and all, and one day I hope to experience it again for myself, but it’s also annoying to literally everyone else in the lovebirds’ lives. It must be, right? I can’t be the exception.
“I only have two hands and feet, and the place is packed. Put your lips away and help me.”
The only reason I refrain from telling them Pete doesn’t pay them to kiss and play doctor is because there’s yet another bearded, marginally dirty man standing by the counter looking greedy for caffeine.
The summer tourist season is wrapping up, and soon the autumn sports season is starting. The place is jammed with folks in from the campgrounds and freshly down from the granite walls of the valley. Chalk-dusted, calloused fingers distinguish the climbers from hikers usually, but so does the vibrant look intheir eyes—an almost holy radiance like they saw God up there on the wall, and they’re giddy from the vision.
Celli exits first, with pink cheeks and eyes that shine almost as much as the climbers’ do. She’s four years younger than me, short as can be, with curly, sun-streaked brown hair and a smile that crinkles her nose. I get what Gage sees in her, though I don’tgetit, being gay and all, but I can still fathom the appeal of her twinkling adorableness.
Gage, for his part, looks like a model or something, all cut cheekbones and dark, brooding eyes. His hair swoops down over his forehead, and he spends a lot of time tossing it back off his face. He moves like everyone wants him and if he were into me, I certainly would be open to a little bed-wrestling.
But alas. Apparently, straightreally isa rating on the Kinsey scale.
Still, he’s a good guy, and he’s good to Celli. They make each other happy, that’s for certain, and that’s sweet. But it’salsosweet when they do their jobs, and there’s no time like the present. I give Celli a scolding shake of my finger. She smiles sheepishly and takes over the counter, freeing me up to make drinks until Gage comes out to deliver them to tables—which he does after a few minutes spent calming down his dick.
We work hard for about two hours and then things slow enough for us to get a break. Sitting out on the patio together, waiting for the next influx of customers, we sip iced coffees and eat yesterday’s stale cinnamon rolls. We’re allowed to grab them from where Pete tucks them away in the freezer when he closes the place at night. They’re still tasty, and I love the texture of the icing when it’s congealed.
“Y’all are gross,” I tease as they steal a sticky smooch. “One day, I’ll find a man, and what a glorious day that’ll be!” I laugh. “Just wait. I’ll give as good as I got with you two. I’ll bring him to work, and you’ll both seeso much. You’ll gag daily.”
“She already does,” Gage says with a snide eyebrow lift.
“Ugh!” Celli whaps his arm, and I do too, because seriouslyugh. “And just for that, see if I ‘gag’ today.”
Gage chuckles, unrepentant.
“You’re nasty,” I say and pull my long hair up into a fresh ponytail, enjoying the light breeze on the back of my neck. “I’ll make you both pay.”
“Just as soon as you get a boyfriend,” Celli says on a laugh.
So much easier said than done. And maybe, just maybe, I don’t even want one. I mean, the fall seasonisabout to begin after all. Shortly there will be a flood of hot guys, some of whom will want to get busy with me after a day on the rocks. Why lock myself down?
Who am I kidding? I’dlovea boyfriend. But I’ll settle for hookups if I must.