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“I rebuffed her that time, but then she came at me a second time last weekend, while you were visiting with your friend.”
Erik was fishing. He was curious to know more about her friend, but didn’t want to come right out and ask.
“Uh-huh,” was all Trixie said, keeping him on the hook for now. His confession wasn’t done yet and she wanted to hear it all.
“I wasn’t so strong that day,” he continued. “Vanessa and I, we have a lot of history. She was really persistent, like out-to-prove something persistent. I’ve never seen her like that before.”
Trixie knew why. She had practically spelled out all of her shortcomings during that weekend. She was probably hell bent on proving her wrong.
“So why are you telling me this now?” Trixie asked, barely managing to keep the resentment out of her voice.
“Because of what I told you two weeks ago. Mainly that Vanessa and I weren’t a couple. I don’t want you to think we’ve been exclusive since then.”
Okay, that stung. Here Erik was, racked with remorse over not being more forthcoming about a single encounter while she was constantly bouncing back and forth between two men. Still, she had never made any grand statements about not seeing anybody else, while Erik had made a point of saying as much. More pointedly, his dalliance had been with Vanessa and her prodigious meat flaps. Erik knew they didn’t get along, even if the conversation hadn’t come up.
Trixie preferred to keep Vanessa beneath her notice, and now she was trapped in that stance, despite feeling like she might actually be a threat. Know matter what, she had to come clean about Cy, even if it meant pushing Erik towards Vanessa. Telling him was the right thing to do and she hated doing it.
“You aren’t the only one. I haven’t been exclusive to you either.”
Erik looked at her as if he had been slapped. The wind chose that moment to blow more insistently around them, buffeting them against the cliff side. Whether it was a chilly wind or a refreshing one, Trixie didn’t know yet.
“Think of it this way,” she added, “This is your chance to get rid of me. All you have to do is cut these ropes and I’ll plummet out of your life forever.”
Erik looked at the ropes in front of him and said nothing.
“Accidents happen. We’re all alone. Nobody would ever know,” she said with a sing-song voice.
Still no reaction from Erik.
“You’re not actually considering it, are you?” Trixie finally said, feeling like she had to ask.
“You wouldn’t deserve it.”
“I know, right?” she said, trying to keep their conversation light.
“I wanted to come clean with you on this climb, I just didn’t think you’d be doing the same with me. It was unexpected is all.”
“You did say that rock climbing brings out honesty.”
Erik smiled at that. “I did, didn’t I? Well there’s no point in stopping now.”
6. Primal Ignition
Erik turned away from the mountain and fixed his blue eyes on Trixie.
“I want you all to myself.”
Trixie let that hang in the air for moment, untouched, high above the ground. She didn’t even know how to respond. She wasn’t accustomed to dealing with such a possessive emotion, and so confidently expressed. Trixie didn’t usually get involved with men long enough for them to reach this point. Erik was putting himself out there, and she couldn’t say whether it was exciting or off-putting.
“I’m fickle,” she said.
“No you’re not. You know exactly what you want and you go for it.”
He was right about that.
“I’m selfish,” she added.
“You look out for yourself. Everybody does that. What else you got?” Erik taunted. He was being more intractable than usual.
