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I eye him and shrug. I’m getting rather good at this. Who needs words when you can just flap your hands and wiggle your fingers?
“Yeah, that shrug isn’t working for me. I’d rather it be a nod, Eli.”
I pause again and then nod. Obviously, I’m having some kind of seizure and need to be checked out immediately. What is wrong with me?
I like him.
That’s what’s wrong.
I am doing things because I want to make him happy.
The last time I did that, my heart got wrenched from my chest and squished like a bug.
Luke doesn’t know the torment I’m in because he just smiles widely and clutches the back of my sweaty neck, squeezing it lightly. Just that one slight touch propels me forward. I tell myself that it’s because I want to get this over with, but really, I think it’s because I want him to be proud of me.
Oh hell.
I trudge forward, finding some inner strength, and when we finally make it to the last twenty steps, I pause and inhale deeply. I don’t know if my legs will carry me up to the top. I’m doomed to stay here for eternity. A helicopter will need to come to deliver me back to the hotel.
“You got this, Doc,” Luke says softly, reaching a hand toward me.
I stare at it, telling myself not to do it, but, of course, my mind doesn’t listen to reason. I just link my fucking fingers through his and light up inside when he squeezes them gently.
He pulls out his phone and holds it out in front of us. “Gonna document this momentous occasion.”
I roll my eyes as he hits the record button but we manage to take the last twenty steps together.
“Look at us,” Luke says to the camera, pulling my hand up to his lips and kissing it lightly. “We made it…smile, Eli.”
I glance over, grimacing, and Luke chuckles as we crest the top. I wobble over to a bench and sink down with an audible plop.
Luke follows me and sits down next to me, our thighs brushing.
“Hell,” I manage to breathe, and Luke chuckles, reaching into his bag and pulling out a beer. He pops the top, takes a long swig, and then hands it to me.
“Gotta have a celebratory drink, yeah? Packed it just for this occasion.”
I eye it and then think, what the hell, but don’t say it because I’m still catching my breath and cannot speak.
I take a small sip. Bitterness floods my tongue and I grimace.
“Good, huh?”
“Yeah,” I wheeze, and then we sit silently for a few minutes, as I watch as other people ascend the last steps. I gape as a few actually turn around and run right back down. That cannot be safe. They’re going to break their knees.
“Crazy, huh?” Luke says, leaning into me slightly.
“Yes, the more I learn about humanity, the less I understand.”
Luke chuckles and fiddles with his phone. I eye it and say, “Please send me that video. The one you took of us taking the last steps together.”
He swipes at his screen. “Done. Now tell me the truth, Eli. You gonna watch that video when you’re all alone?”
I hand him his beer. “Never.”
Luke smiles at me because he knows me too well, and then he glugs his beer down before placing the empty container back in his backpack.
“Alright, Eli, we got an hour to make it to the bottom,” he says, looking at his phone, and a miserable groan escapes my mouth.
