Jilted Jock - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,39

me so hopefully and I had to admit I was curious what he had up his sleeve. I grabbed my purse, said the quickest of goodbyes to Bobbi, and then followed Finn out of the building. It felt a little like skipping class with my high school boyfriend.

Neither of us spoke until we reached our cars. He’d parked his right next to mine.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“What?”

“For a girl craving adventure, you don’t seem to be much on surprises.”

My stomach twisted with the truth of that.

When I didn’t move, Finn laughed and then said, “Get in the truck. Make Bear Grylls and me proud.”

I didn’t immediately piece it together. He’d driven us through the start of rush hour traffic to LA and pulled into a big building that looked a little like a gym. Big windows that I couldn’t see through, but I could tell it was at least two stories by how far up they extended.

“Boulders,” I said the name quietly. I turned to Finn. “Oh my God, is this a climbing gym?”

“Yep.” He raised both eyebrows. “Come on.”

I followed a step behind as he entered the gym. He waltzed in like he owned the place. Straight past the front desk, a wave and hello to the guy standing there and right to the middle of the place. It wasn’t until I was standing still that I let my gaze turn to take it all in. The place was incredible.

“What do you think?” Finn asked.

“It’s amazing. Are we climbing?”

His charming smile grew twice it’s normal size. “If you want.”

I nodded. “I want.”

I so, so wanted.

The next half hour was a blur. A woman named Theresa got me in gear. Finn insisted on buying me leggings and a tank top and I rented shoes since I’d been wearing a dress and heels when we arrived. One minor detail he’d overlooked in the plan.

“This place is huge,” I told Finn when Theresa went to grab a waiver for me to sign. “There aren’t as many people as I expected though.”

“It’s by appointment only throughout the week. They do a lot of classes – climbing and bouldering. On the weekends it’s open to the public and it gets pretty crazy in here.”

Logistically I knew it had just worked out so that we were here on a weekday instead of a weekend. I’d be in New York and he’d be moved into his new place by then, but somehow the fact he’d arranged it in this more private setup made me appreciate the gesture even more.

How had I gone from patching his broken heart to him, filling the cracks in my life I hadn’t known existed? I was actually going to be sad when he moved out and we went back to our separate lives. I’d have to mull that over later.

“Ready?” Finn asked, after I’d signed a couple forms. He held out his hand.

I slipped my sweaty palm into his and he squeezed reassuringly.

“Are we going at the same time?”

Walking, he swung our hands playfully between us. “Yep. I want to see you in action.”

I felt the blush creep up my chest and heat my face.

It was harder than I expected. My arms were weak which shouldn’t have come as a surprise since the last time I’d tried to do a pull up was probably in junior high. Finn was annoyingly good. He made it look effortless, somehow moving up the wall and coaching me at the same time.

“Almost there,” he said.

I looked up and then down which was a mistake. My stomach dropped and I swayed. I over corrected and clung to the wall frozen in fear.

“Hey, you’re alright.” Finn’s voice soothed. He’d moved like lightning so that he was right beside me. “Breathe.”

“This was a bad idea. I want to go back down.”

“No way, you’re incredible. Look how close you are to the top. Errr… actually don’t. Just take my word for it.” His long fingers brushed against my back in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture, but instead had me panicking for a completely different reason. “We’ll do it together, okay? Slow and steady.”

I nodded and let out a shaky breath.

Miraculously, I managed to move by listening to Finn’s voice and concentrating on one hold at a time. When I realized it was the top, I couldn’t believe it. I felt rejuvenated like I’d climbed the side of the tallest mountain Bear Grylls style. Holy crap, I actually did it.

“Yeah, you did,” Finn said, making