Page 19 of Love's a Glitch
Would I want to touch that flesh? Most likely. But he was only in San Diego temporarily and had made it clear he wasn’t into relationships, and that was totally fine.
Not to mention I was getting ahead of myself, and there were plenty of other things to be nervous about. Over the phone, things were easy, and I wanted to believe our chemistry—er,friendshipchemistry—would transfer to in-person interactions. If online dating had taught me anything, though, it was how rarely that happened.
People often had two versions, and the online one was usually superior.
Then again, there were evidently guys out there thinking the same about me.
It icked me out to think of wearing a helmet dozens of other heads had been crammed into, so I’d brought along the unicorn helmet I’d brought for bike rides and roller skating on the boardwalk. The first time I’d donned it, Cat asked me if I’d found it in the kids’ section. Since I had, I’d accused her of being jealous of my pink helmet with its tiny yellow horn and teal mohawk. I figured Luke might as well see the real me, and my obsession with unicorns was as real as it got. You know, for being based off a mythical creature.
While I was a total goofball and liked that about myself, I’d rather Luke see me for the first time in person without the helmet, so I decided to wait to don it. I sucked in a deep breath and strode toward the entrance.
Then there he was. I’d almost worried I wouldn’t recognize him, because let’s face it, people sent old or doctored photos all the time. For all I knew, the pictures Luke had sent were from years ago.
But he looked just like he did in the pictures, albeit a bit cleaner and slightly less scruffy. I enjoyed the scruff he had kept, though, and had to remind myself it’d be inappropriate to drag my hand over his beard.
As he aimed the smile spreading across his face directly at me, the real-life effect surpassed anything that could be achieved through a photo filter. I stutter-stepped, my foot catching something—or nothing, as there was only smooth cement beneath my feet.
“So, um, hi.” Smooth as sandpaper, that was me.
“Hi.” The wattage on Luke’s grin cranked to blinding. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes.” So much for playing it cool. “You just never know how it’s going to go when you meet someone, and I worried you’d be disappointed or let down by the real-life version of me.”
“I actually meant about climbing.”
“Oh. Then also yes.”
Luke huffed a laugh, reaching out and squeezing my hand as though it was totally natural, and all my blood rushed to the spot our fingers touched, wanting his attention as badly as I did. Bright side, at least I wasn’t turning this into an epic meeting I’d later relive and fantasize about. My thundering pulse called me a liar, evidently not understanding that was sarcasm. “I get what you mean. But you look just like your picture. Only without that dead weight next to you, ruining the view of the sunset.”
I cocked my head, his words taking me a moment to put together. “Oh, you mean Dillon was dead weight, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “Well, hey. You and my friends already agree, so that’s a good sign.”
My fingers launched a complaint against Luke letting them go, and I wondered how weird it’d be to snatch his hand back and tell him I was taught in kindergarten to hold hands for safety purposes.
Luckily, before I could embarrass myself and follow through, he pressed his hand to the small of my back and nudged me toward the entrance. He waved at the person in the booth. “This is my friend, Aaron. He and I grew up together, and spent many afternoons racing around the course. Aaron, Ellie.”
I didn’t get an identifier, and the two creases between Aaron’s eyebrows led me to believe he was as curious as what exactly I was to Luke as I was. Phone buddies with benefits? The benefits being adventure training, of course.
Seriously, my brain could just hush up anytime.
Luke slid a few papers my way. “I already signed us up, so all you have to do is let them make a copy of your ID and sign a couple of forms.”
“Ah, so when they scrape me off the floor, they can compare my face to the picture and identify me?”
“Something like that,” Luke said, and every muscle in my body tensed. He placed his hand on my shoulder, doing that intoxicating squeeze thing he’d done with my hand, and a dart of heat did its best to combat my rising concerns. “Only kidding. Although full disclosure, they do release them of any liability if you end up getting hurt. Between the harness and the safety feature that causes the rope to catch you if you slip and fall, you’d have totryto get hurt. If that happens and you think it might be a good idea to sue, they’re going to claim it was due to your own negligence, as you already agreed here on this form that you understand you’re taking a minor risk.”
“Okay, now I’m really nervous, and I do mean the climbing.”
A pen was thrust my way, so Luke obviously thought I was joking. “Trust me. You’re in good hands.”
“Trust is earned, not given.” Not sure why that came out. It’d irritated the shit out of me when Charles L. Davis had put it in his email.
“Then I’ll earn it,” Luke said, ever so casually scooting me closer to the counter with the clipboard. “Along with all the safety features, I’ll be by your side the entire time.”
“Okay, but I’m going to need you to signmydisclosures after this, because there’s a high chance that I’ll wreck into you, and I don’t want to get sued, either.”
Luke upturned his palm and wiggled his fingers. At my scrunched-up forehead, he added, “Let’s have them. I’ll sign them right now, not an ounce of hesitation.”
“I’ll have my lawyer get them to you,” I said with a laugh, thinking it was extra funny because I did have a lawyer who’d go after anyone who hurt me. Not that I was serious about the forms. “You’d read them first, though, right? I feel obligated to tell you that you should always read stuff before you sign it.”
