Page 1 of Blood and Bonbons

CHAPTERONE

“You’re fired.”

Vena, my best friend and roommate, snorted at my comment and gestured at the wall.

“It’s only twenty feet, Everly. Stop being a baby, and just do it.”

I stubbornly crossed my arms across my ample chest.

“We could have done anything. Golfing. Bowling. Yoga. Why rock climbing?”

“Because it’s close and takes care of the credit we needed for—”

“The credit you needed, not me. It should be Piper here. She’s the mountain goat.” Even as I complained, I turned my head to look up at the imposing indoor rock wall. The height didn’t bother me. It was the damn cord attached to the uncomfortable harness buckled around my hips that did. While I wasn’t a diva by any means, I did take care how I dressed. The rock climbing harness wasn’t flattering.

“Look,” I said, pointing at my downstairs. “I look like I’m packing. This is not okay.”

Vena turned away from me to hide her laugh as if her shaking shoulders didn’t give it away.

“Reach the top, and I’ll buy you anything you want from the French bakery by the capitol,” she said.

She knew my weakness. I had a love for all things found in a bakery.

“Don’t toy with me, Vena.”

She faced me with a wicked grin. “Anythingyou want.”

I looked up at the wall and started bouncing side to side, psyching myself up for the most uncoordinated climb in history. “I’m going toownthis wall.”

“Yeah, you’re going to need to get closer than that to own it.”

I didn’t bother shooting her a dirty look. Instead, I attacked the wall, grunting and sweating my way slowly up its length. My arms burned, and my legs shook before I even made it halfway.

“Come on, Everly. You got this,” Vena said as she climbed past me.

Easy for her to say. Where I clung to the wall, she kind of just hovered there. She even let go with one hand to brush back a loose strand of her long, dark brown hair that she’d pulled back into a ponytail. Not a droplet of sweat misted her brow. I easily imagined my sweat-matted blonde hair clinging to my face, despite my attempts to tie it back.

I didn’t hate Vena for her athleticism. She worked on it. A lot. And I didn’t.

“You’re going to need to talk dirty to me if you want me to finish this,” I said, straining to maintain my handholds.

“All right. But remember you asked for this.” She took a deep breath then, in her most sultry voice, murmured, “Opera cake. Macaron. Canelé. Beignets.”

I laughed so hard that my grip almost slipped from my next handhold. But her teasing distraction had done the job, and I managed to find the willpower to keep going until I touched the buzzer at the top.

Pretending to faint, I free-fell backward, letting the mechanism slowly return me to the ground.

“Please tell me the first time’s a charm. I don’t think a fifteen-minute break is going to be enough to get me to go again.”

“That’s what he said,” Vena said with a grin beside me.

“How are you almost twenty-two and still using that line?”

“Pfft. I heard your grandma say it to your mom. It’s timeless.”

With a playful groan, I started stripping from my harness on the way to the counter.

“We should rock climb outside once,” she said. “I think you’d enjoy it more.”

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