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He laughs. “Stick with me, and you’ll eat well tonight. Couple more…”
“More?”
“I need more calories than you, remember?” He strokes my hair, letting his hand linger near my face.
“Oh right. I almost forgot how large you were for a minute.”
His eyes widen.
Yes, I did mean it like that,I think very hard at him. He seems to get the message because he smiles, in what appears to be a very self-satisfied way, before carefully storing the eggs.
Then he turns away. He keeps going. The next time he stops, I can see him studying the meadow on either side of the path.
I realize he wasn’t waiting for me, he was looking for nests. The grass comes up to my chest, and some stray flowers bob even higher. I don’t know what he sees, but by the time I catch up to him, he’s busy wrapping up some more eggs.
“Four this time.”
“Is that enough? For your large… body?”
He grins again. What the hell am I doing? I’m all but inviting him to lay me down and take me right now, on this dirt path, but that’s not really what I want. Well, I do, but I want more than that.
I like him. A lot. Too much? What I don’t want is to be a competition hookup.
“Where would you go to climb if you could go anywhere?”
“Are you talking about peak bagging again?”
“No. I just mean, where? What place is… closest to your heart? It doesn’t have to be the highest, it just has to be…”
“The one that touches you? The one you can really feel, here?”
He gently taps the middle of my chest. I nod. He turns and keeps walking. He doesn’t say anything, but I kind of appreciate him taking the time to think about it. He stops and turns.
“There is one place.” His voice is soft. “When I was a child, too young to climb but I saw people doing it. It’s by the sea. You can only get there by boat.”
“What were you doing there?”
He shrugs. “I was a kid. We took the boat ride. You know, keep the kid busy for the afternoon.” He turns, but I grab his hand.
“Tell me. All about it.”
“I think I forgot about it until just now.”
He cradles my hand. For a second, our eyes meet. A shot of energy shoots through me. Then he looks up at the sky.
“What do you remember?”
I keep my voice soft, although we are all alone. This feels sacred, like it needs to be respected and revered. If it’s important to him it’s important to me. I’m desperate for him to tell me, to share it with me, to let me in. Has he ever told anyone about this? Anyone at all?
He licks his lips and thinks. His mouth is partially open. I think about us kissing last night, his tongue exploring my mouth. I gave myself to him willingly, but I want something back now. I want him to tell me, to trust me.
“It’s beautiful. I… don’t want to describe it. I couldn’t do it justice with words. You have to see it with your own eyes. I’d love to see your reaction to it.”
“I’d like that. Maybe after the competition we could plan a trip. We seem… well suited to traveling together. So far, anyway.”
He squeezes my hand, and I squeeze it back.
“We do seem to work well together.”
