Page 73 of Chasing Sunrise

The staff shuffled around, getting ready. Harper stepped next to Beau, her nose rosy red.

“Do you want to wait until tomorrow, Kasey?” She peered upward. “I don’t like how the sky looks.”

“What are you talking about? It’s a beautiful morning.”

“If we’ve learned anything this week, it’s that weather changes quickly here,” she insisted. “We might get showers.”

“You guys worry too much.” Kasey adjusted the harness.

“You don’t worry enough,” Beau responded. “Remember, you don’t have to secure your rope to every peg or bolt, but don’t skip more than one in a row.”

“Beau, I’ve free-climbed before. Hell, I’ve bouldered on the show.” He turned to Harper. “I’m going up today.”

He didn’t want to tell them he needed the distraction. Since their weekend together, he couldn’t get Amanda out of his head. Making love to her had ruined other women for him. He’d never felt more connected to a person.

Then she’d asked him not to tell her about his work. He understood she didn’t want to hear the dangers, but every time they spoke on the phone since he left, their conversations were strained. It was almost as if a wall had been erected between them. He wanted to share everything with her, not being able to irked him.

He and Beau ran a rope through the bolts closest to the ground and tied them to his harness.

“The cameramen and drone will capture what they can,” Harper explained. “But remember the camera on your head. We want an immersive experience for the viewers.”

“I will.”

“Ready?” she asked.

He nodded.

Simpson turned the camera on him. “Rolling.”

“Our route today is a seventh-grade climb with sixteen pitches and extended vertical stretches...” Kasey continued explaining other particulars only avid climbers would understand.

~

Two hours later, Kasey’sarms and legs shook and his stomach growled. The rock was wet, slimy, icy in spots, and slippery. Not to mention the tediousness of rope-soloing. He always experienced discomfort while performing a challenge. It was part of it. Part of the adrenaline, the excitement.

Except, he didn’t feel adrenaline.

Or excitement.

No rush.

The danger, the overcoming of a bold feat, had always been important to him. And for the first time in his life, he couldn’t understand why.

He carefully moved his burning fingers to the next crack, searching for a peg he’d spotted. Once he found it, he attached a quickdraw and ran the rope through it. He’d skipped securing the last one he’d seen.

The simple task drained him. Could the altitude be bothering him?

He took a breath and tried to drum up some enthusiasm. He’d been stoked to come to the Dolomites. But now the task aggravated him. It wasn’t the mountain’s fault, the climb was challenging and beautiful, exactly what he loved. He also couldn’t blame it on Harper’s betrayal. At first, her refusal shed a shadow on the show, but not now.

This was different.

He could only blame his uninspired attitude on how much he missed Amanda.

“Kasey?” Beau’s voice came over the headset. “You okay, man?”

Realizing he hadn’t moved in a couple of minutes, he said, “Needed a break.” Spying the next crevice, he reached out to grab it with the fingers on his left hand then brought over his right. He slid his left foot upward until he felt an indention in the rock.

He looked up, then down. Seeing he was more than two-thirds of the way up gave him renewed vigor. He glided his right foot upward. Feeling a gap, he jammed his toes into it and straightened his burning legs.

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