Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

ELIJAH REGRETTED HIS CHOICE to go all the way home and then back to the ski resort the moment his alarm went off at some ungodly hour of the morning. He chugged a coffee as he drove back to Vail Village, his brain too fuzzy to allow any space for wondering what the hell he was even doing.

But really, what the hell was he even doing?

Ty was … fun. Hot. Interesting. Easy to be around. But even with all of that, waking up at the crack of dawn just to see him again had to be a sign that Elijah was finally losing it.

Until Elijah saw him.

The moment Ty came jogging toward the car with a backpack and that brilliant, toothy smile of his, the doubt washed away. Elijah's heart thumped against his chest. The fear wasn't gone, not by a long shot, but it had to wage a difficult war against the warmth that spread through Elijah's body at the mere sight of Ty rushing over, all those buoyant brown curls bouncing around him.

Ty slid into the passenger seat and leaned over to kiss Elijah hello like they'd been dating for years and not for … well, technically never.

"Do you have a guidebook?" Ty said while Elijah's head was still swirling.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. It's in my bag, in the back. But we'll barely need it. I know the area."

"Sweet, I've got my very own tour guide. And all I had to do was suck his dick."

"I would have shown you around without that…"

Ty laughed and nudged Elijah's shoulder. "I know. I'm just messing with you."

How was this all so easy for Ty? Was that just how things were these days? Young people didn't like definitions, right? Elijah thought he'd heard that somewhere. So maybe this was all no big deal to Ty, just another fun adventure to tick off. Elijah certainly had no name for it. What was it called when you hung out with your one-night stand the next day? A hookup with platonic benefits?

Elijah pulled away from the curb and tried to concentrate on driving. He knew the way too well by now, however. He'd moved out here when he got serious about his climbing career and over the years that had meant a ton of outdoor bouldering at this location in particular. Driving down I-70 until it met 24 was automatic, which left way too much time for thinking.

"Do you have anything you want to try today?" he asked, hoping some climbing talk would ease the tension in the car.

"Not really," Ty said. "I don't think I'm gonna crush after a comp so I'm fine with whatever."

"Well, Return of the Jedi is a classic, if you've never touched that."

The gambit worked. They devolved into climbing talk, discussing difficulty grades, moves, approaches, their hopes for the day. A climber like Ty could tackle way harder problems than Return of the Jedi, which was rated a V8 on the difficulty scale. That was harder than your average everyday gym climber would likely accomplish, but well under the level a competition climber in constant training could hit. There were people out there climbing V12, V13, even higher in some extreme cases. Ty probably had a shot at some of those elite grades, but not today. Today was just a casual thing. Just like their hookup. Right?

All of a sudden, Elijah found himself stressing over it again. Was Ty climbing easier stuff today so he wouldn't discourage Elijah? Was Elijah holding him back? Was this a date or just two climbers doing what they did best? The youth might not like definitions, but Elijah could sure as hell use a little clarity about now.

It was a relief to finish the drive and park. Elijah itched to get out of the car and into the forest. He and Ty paused to shove their backpacks into large climbing pads. Outside, there were no soft mats to catch them. They had to carry their own protection on their backs, as well as their climbing shoes, food and water. Fortunately, the pads were light and had straps like a backpack, so once they shoved their gear into them, they could wear the whole bulky contraption and hike into the forest like lumbering refrigerators come to life.

Elijah and Ty shrugged the bulky pads onto their shoulders, then Elijah led the way into the forest and toward the rocks. The trees closed around them and the noise of the highway hushed to a distant murmur. Elijah breathed a sigh of relief. Something about being outside tromping through a forest in search of rocks always relaxed him in a way meditation and the legal marijuana in the state never quite could. The tension that had built up in the cramped car ride dissipated in the cool, fresh air, buried under the scent of leaves and sun and the ground crunching under their sturdy approach shoes.

Only a couple other climbers were around when they reached the rocks. That was pretty lucky. This area saw a lot of climbers, especially when there was also a competition in town. Today, Elijah and Ty got to throw down their pads, dig out their shoes, and warm up on some easy things with hardly another soul in sight. They climbed low grades at first, things either of them could "flash" by reaching the top on their first tries.

After only a few minutes, Ty's eyes started wandering toward the harder climbs.

"If you're bored, you can hop on something harder," Elijah said. "It's not like I need a spot for this stuff."

"Nah, it's fine," Ty said.

Elijah was standing on a pad in his rock shoes, preparing to re-climb an easy route he'd already done twice. "I know this is probably slow for you, but us old folks need to warm up or we get injured."

Ty rolled his eyes. "If you don't stop calling yourself old I'm going to smack you. Everyone needs to warm up, I'm just impatient. You're being a positive influence right now. My coach would be so proud."

Elijah definitely didn't want to think about what Ty's coach would think of Elijah spending so much time with him, so he hopped back on the climb instead. He moved slowly and deliberately, sometimes skipping holds or intentionally putting his feet higher than he needed to just to get his body moving in interesting ways.

Somewhere along the way, he became keenly aware of Ty standing under him, just behind the pad, his hands up to spot Elijah in case he fell. It wasn't necessary. They both knew it. Short of an earthquake, Elijah wasn't falling off this boulder. Which left Elijah wondering if there was some sort of ulterior motive for Ty to be standing under Elijah, a motive that had more to do with the way climbers' butts looked when they flexed their glutes to stand up on a small hold and reach the top of a rock than safety.

Elijah made it to the top in a daze and shook himself. If he started thinking that way, he wouldn't survive this day. It was just friendly, after all. Right? Or maybe it was more than friendly? Was he allowed to flirt back if he caught Ty doing it? Would that be weird?

Elijah used the short walk off the boulder and back around the rock to where Ty waited to mentally slap himself.

"Ready for harder stuff?" he said. Normally, he might warm up longer than this, but clearly easy climbs were leaving him too much space for wandering thoughts.

"Hell yeah," Ty said with that dazzling smile Elijah was already learning to fear and love in equal measure.

They gathered up their gear and moved over to Return of the Jedi, a classic V8 that pretty much everyone climbed at some point if they came to Vail for bouldering. A massive boulder sat before a tree. It stretched out wider than it was tall, though it was still a good twelve feet of rock to get up. The climbing route started low, almost under the boulder itself, which maximized the amount of movement required to reach the top.

"Wow, this is awesome," Ty said.

He threw his stuff down and paced back and forth before the boulder. White chalk marks signaled the holds on the rock other climbers had used. Ty focused in on them, his hands already moving in the air to plot out his course through the route. Elijah could have offered him advice for how to get through the climb — it was far from the first time he'd climbed this route — but Ty was clearly absorbed in unlocking the puzzle himself. And there was something exciting about watching him work.

In the short time Elijah had known him, Ty's energy had radiated like the sun beating down through a cloudless sky. Ty seemed to flare out in all directions at once, easily pulled this way or that by the latest shiny enticement. But here in the forest, all that energy focused solely on the boulder before him.

It wasn't unlike the Ty Elijah had glimpsed during the competition. There, too, a sudden stillness had calmed the reckless exuberance, a quiet focus that was even more blinding than the chaos.

Ty broke from his trance to glance over his shoulder at Elijah. "You wanna go first?"

"Oh." Elijah blinked. "No, you should go. I've done this before. Give it a shot before I spoil the beta."

Ty plopped a pad under the climb and dropped onto it to tug his climbing shoes back on. Elijah set up the other pad in the likely fall zone toward the end of the climb. He would follow Ty as he went, holding up his hands so that if Ty suddenly blew off the climb, he'd hit Elijah's hands and land safely on a pad. One of the easiest ways to get hurt outside was simply falling and missing the pad, hence the need for spotters. Elijah wouldn't catch Ty or stop him from falling. He'd simply ensure that when Ty did fall, he landed on the cushions softening the forest floor.

That simple task became significantly more difficult when Ty stood and peeled off his shirt. Climbing shirtless was common enough, but it wasn't a particularly warm day, especially at this elevation, and they'd hardly even started. Maybe Ty was just showing off, taunting Elijah with the lean planes of his perfectly cut body. Youth meant every inch of him was slim and tight and muscled, with not an ounce of the softness creeping into Elijah's mid-section with each passing year.

When Ty got on the climb, his body only became more distracting.

He started low, sitting on the pad and grabbing the holds from that position. Sit starts required a good amount of core strength, and Ty certainly had that kind of power to spare. Everything in his lean torso tightened to aching perfection when he lifted himself off the pad. He bumped his right hand up a couple times so he could get out of that compact sitting position. It gave his lanky limbs a little more space to work as he crossed one hand over the other to match on a nice rail made of rock.

Ty paused, calculating the next move. Elijah followed him on the ground, moving to spot him. Would he work out the next foot movement or had he lost his way on the long climb?

Ty shuffled around, a bit unsure, but then threw his heel up beside his hands. It left him in a crazy position, both hands and one foot high while the other leg hung under him, almost like a sloth hanging from a branch. Ty was anything but slow and lazy as he dug his heel against the rock to take more weight out of his hands. His calf flexed, his arms flexed, his back flexed, his whole damn body flexed, and Elijah forgot all about spotting.

His mind flooded with images from the night of the comp — and the next morning. Someone who looked like this had really asked Elijah of all people to go home with him. Most people would probably think Elijah was mad for trying to run from this, but he couldn't possibly keep up with a young guy like this. Even in his prime, Elijah never looked this damn good.

Ty fell off the climb, jolting Elijah from his daydreams. Fortunately, he wasn't very high up. The fall was short and controlled. Ty landed with a thump and jumped right back to his feet to survey the climb.

"That heel hook is tougher than I expected," Ty said. "I think I need to shift it a little when I go for the next hold."

Elijah hesitated, fumbling to find his tongue. But Ty was already moving again, mapping out the climb, miming the movements as he paced back and forth before the boulder. He'd have it solved in a few more attempts at most, easily dominating a climb that had taken Elijah a couple sessions.

Sure enough, Ty solved the heel hook and moved on on his very next attempt. In a few more tries, he had the whole thing figured out and it was merely a matter sticking the last move. Ty threw for the top edge, fingers just grazing the edge. Then he threw his foot up as well, yet another high heel that stretched him out and put his whole body on display as he grunted to push himself over the lip and onto the top of the boulder.

He crawled to his feet and whooped from the top, smiling back down at Elijah. "Okay, I see why everyone loves that one," he said. "What awesome moves."

Elijah couldn't help smiling in return. Ty's grin was so bright, so infectious. Not smiling back would be like not returning a kiss.

Elijah put on his shoes while Ty hiked down the boulder. He had to think about something other than beautiful smiles and beautiful bodies and beautiful words rasped in the dark. Damn, I just want to ride you. Did Ty still feel that way or was it just the heat of the moment?

Elijah only got one shoe on before Ty returned. Elijah yanked the other on hastily and took his turn on the boulder. He'd climbed it plenty of times before, but today he couldn't seem to keep the moves straight. He fumbled around, coming off the rock thanks to stupid mistakes way more times than he should have before he finally reached the top.

He and Ty moved on to other climbs. The physical challenge helped clear Elijah's head. By the time they stopped to scarf down the sandwiches and snacks Elijah had made and packed for them, Elijah almost felt like this was just a normal day of climbing.

They pulled their pads under a boulder and hid from the sun there, leaning against cool stone and enjoying the shade. Even on a relatively mellow day, climbing and sun were a draining combination. They took down their food in seconds, but neither of them seemed inclined to jump out of the shade and get back on the rock just yet. A pleasant exhaustion was creeping into Elijah's limbs, leaving him heavier than the boulder at his back.

"Hey," Ty said beside him. "Thanks for taking me out here today."

When Elijah turned to regard him, the smile was softer, but no less stunning. If anything, the quietness of Ty's expression lent it more gravity, like this was some rare, precious thing Elijah was getting to see.

"It's no big deal," Elijah said. It might have been the most outrageous lie he'd uttered in his entire life. This day was anything but "no big deal."

"Well, it's a big deal to me," Ty said.

He leaned toward Elijah. Elijah found his lips parting before Ty even reached them. His eyes fluttered shut the instant before warmth met his mouth and spread through him in a slow tide, like ripples in slow motion.

"So thank you," Ty said again when he leaned away. "This is a really awesome day."

"It was fun," Elijah said. "This is a special place. Since I retired, I'm out here more and more."

Ty snuggled in closer at Elijah's side. Elijah set an arm around him. It was so natural, so instinctive, that he didn't even have time to flinch before he'd settled into the position. They were sweaty and smelly and exhausted, but neither of them seemed to care.

"That sounds nice," Ty said. "I kind of wish I could spend more time outside."

Elijah chuckled. "Enjoy the competitions while you can. It goes by quick."

"I guess so," Ty said. "It's kind of a whirlwind when you're training and traveling so much. But it's fun, too. I like it for now. Did you enjoy it?"

"Of course," Elijah said. "There wasn't much reason to do it unless you liked it back then."

"Back then. You talk like it was a hundred years ago."

"The sport has changed quickly. It might as well be a hundred years ago."

"It's not really that different, you know." Ty craned his neck to look up at Elijah. "Climbing is still climbing."

That was technically true, especially outside where it was just you against the rock, but competitions seemed to change their rules every year. Climbers used to have five minutes for each boulder problem, for example. And you could simply hang out on the climb and rest if you were clever enough to find a place to do so. If the timer ran out and you were on the wall, you got to keep climbing. Now it was a hard four-minute timer and when the clock ran out, that was it.

And that was only one change. Shoes, holds, technology, crowds, the internet — everything about the sport was changing all the time. It was all Elijah could do to keep up with the news.

"You know," Ty said, "you could probably get back into it. If you wanted to."

That startled Elijah out of his thoughts. Ty sat up beside him to meet his eyes.

"You're still really strong," Ty said. "And you clearly love the sport. Why not give it a shot again?"

"Are you serious?" Elijah said. "Because I'm thirty-five. I can't compete against eighteen-year-olds."

Ty rolled his eyes. "Most of the guys are in their twenties."

"Yeah, that's not really better."

"You're as fit as any of us. Just give yourself a chance." A smile picked at the corner of Ty's mouth. "Besides, if you get back into the comp circuit, I get to see you again."

I get to see you again.

The words rang in Elijah's chest. He shouldn't have gotten a thrill from such a simple suggestion, yet here he was lost for words yet again. Ty seized on the moment, climbing into Elijah's lap and sitting on his thighs to face him.

"I do want to see you again," Ty said, "if you're interested in that too."

Of course he was. How could he not be? Ty was gorgeous and fun and they shared a passion for climbing and being with him was so ridiculously easy it was like breathing.

"Come on," Ty said. "I'm sure you could get some sponsors to cover it. It would be a juicy story, at least. Elijah Reed getting back on the circuit. Who doesn't want to see that?"

"Me," Elijah said.

"Why not? You'll crush."

"What if I don't?" The insecurities started slipping out before Elijah could catch them. Having Ty in his lap like this left him defenseless in a way he hadn't anticipated. "What if I come back and make a fool of myself? I left on a low, but my career was still solid. I could ruin it by coming back as some washed up old man."

"So we'll train together. I'll make sure you're in tip top shape."

"Being in good shape can't overcome the fact that I've got at least a decade on most of the guys out there."

"You're being ridiculous," Ty said. "Comp climbs aren't V12s. They're closer to what we just did here today. And you did great on that."

"I've done that climb a dozen times."

"Still, it's obviously well within your range. The only thing you're really out of practice with is just climbing in the time limit. But we could totally get you ready for a comp by the end of the season. Plus, if you do it, we could travel together. Otherwise, I'll be all over Europe and Asia and won't get to see you until the season's over. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to wait that long."

Heat rumbled in Elijah's gut. He swallowed before he responded. "No, I don't want to wait that long either."

The smile that spread across Ty's mouth was too sweet not to lean forward and taste. Ty hitched a little closer during the kiss. By the time they parted, Elijah seriously wished they weren't in the middle of a popular climbing area.

It almost made him forget about the ludicrous idea that he could go back to competing.

"So you'll do it?" Ty said.

Elijah sighed, but he knew before he spoke that he couldn't deny the request, not with Ty sitting so close and looking at him like that.

"I'll consider it," he said.

Ty's smile spread and Elijah briefly wondered if he was deliriously staring straight into the sun. He had to be losing his mind, but sitting there beneath a boulder with Ty in his lap, he didn't really care.