Page 29 of Entwined Hearts

“I’ll try anything. It must just be that I’ve been on sandstone all winter. Normally I don’t tear this bad.”

“You charged hard today,” I say, lifting my beer in salute. Watching her lithe, firm body moving so gracefully put me in a state of awe for most of the day. Since that summer in Yosemite, she’s gone from rising star to dominating her field. Nobody climbed as skillfully or as hard as Anya today. I can’t help but think Jake had something to do with this—I doubt he taught her anything, but maybe his determination and need for constant challenge pushed her. This is not a pleasant conclusion.

Anya doesn’t reply. “It felt terrific,” she says, sipping her beer. “I just kind of forgot about…everything.”

“I could tell,” I say, nodding.

“What, you think that’s bad?” she asks, turning sharply.

There goes that foot again.I try to backpedal. “No, I mean, if it’s what you need to do, then…”

Anya looks away. “When I’m climbing, everything feels right.”

“Having a passion is great.”

She watches me for a moment, then sips her beer. “Maybe it felt extra good today because I wasn’t thinking about Jake.”

My gut swings like a hammock full of chipmunks. “You guys talking at all?”

She huffs a loud sigh. “I tried calling last week. I know I shouldn’t have.”

“He didn’t answer?” I ask, trying to sound casual.

Anya shakes her head.

“It’s not that I want him back,” she says, looking down where her hands stir the water above her thighs. “I just don’t want to lose him as a friend.”

Here we go with the friend thing again. “Do you think that’s possible?” I ask. “To be friends?”

“It better be,” she says with a surprised laugh. “We’ve got to get up twenty-six pitches together this summer.” She raises her eyebrow. “You’ve gotta play nice, too.”

“So far, he’s the one with the problem.”

A dark look clouds her eyes, then she looks away.

“As far as I see it, I’ve got one job. Follow a beautiful woman up a wall while giving her whatever she needs to be successful.” I think about my secret purpose again, fighting the urge to grimace. I’m starting to wish I’d never agreed to Meghan’s plan. But would she have taken me on as an ambassador if I hadn’t?

I watch her face redden. “Whatever I need, huh?” Her gaze flicks my way.

“Your wish is my command,” I say, feeling my heart crash right up against my Adam’s apple.

A flash of mischief crosses her face. “Careful,” she says. “I can be very demanding.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And I can be very satisfying.”

There’s a precious second where I watch her mind go where I want it to.Oh, darlin’, if only you’d let me try, I think. But then, just like that, she pulls back.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” she says with a false haughty tone I immediately read as a cover-up for where we just were.

My heart hammers into my temples, but I cover it with a grin. “You do that.”

Eight

Anya

“Okay, I’m officially pruned,” Jo says.

“And I’m hungry,” Kabir says. “Shall we?” he asks, moving to the edge of the pool. Behind him, the broad, jagged Sierras, still striped with patches of melting snow, are turning a soft pink with the sunset.

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