“Sorry,” she said to Gabe. “My dad.”
“Better now than later,” he said, and delight bubbled up inside her again.
They had to stop at the next intersection for a fire truck. It rumbled past in a cloud of exhaust on its way back to the station. One of the men waved to Gabe, and Veronica felt immediately guilty for the hand she’d wrapped around his arm. This was a small town, after all.
But Gabe didn’t flinch away. He just raised a hand and they walked on as if nothing had happened. Her phone buzzed again, but she ignored it. She couldn’t handle her dad in her head when she was trying her best to get laid.
“Do you want to go climbing this weekend?” Gabe asked once they’d reached a quieter street.
“What? No!”
He looked down at her and ignored the way she shook her head. “I saw the note on your fridge. ‘Try new things.’”
She felt a brief pang of mortification that he’d seen her stupid notes, but she shoved it aside. “I’m trying a lot of new things, in case you haven’t noticed. I’ll climb you. Isn’t that enough bravery for now?”
“Aw, come on. That’ll be easy.”
“Not that easy. I’ve seen your cock.” Her face flamed at her own words, but she loved saying them, and she loved his pleased grin.
“More flattery, Veronica?”
“I’m just trying to close this deal,” she said.
“All right. Then say you’ll come climbing with me. Nothing too hard. You can trust me. I’ll keep you safe.”
The strange thing was that she did trust him. She had from nearly the first moment she’d met him. He’d been talking only about climbing, but there was something honest about Gabe. Something safe.
She liked to think that her ability to be herself with him was because she was getting older and stronger, but she couldn’t imagine being this honest with another man. She knew Gabe would take care of her in bed. She knew he wouldn’t tell anyone her secrets. She knew she was seeing the real him when they were together.
She felt like herself with him, the person she’d always hoped was somewhere inside her.
“Why do you want me to climb with you?” she asked, genuinely curious, even if she wasn’t tempted.
“I think you’ll like it. It’s quiet. Peaceful.”
“Peaceful,” she muttered. Maybe they had different meanings for the word.
“And to be honest—” he sneaked a look at her and she nudged his side to get him to continue “—I like teaching you things.”
Now she was the one sneaking a look at him. She watched him, but he kept his face straight ahead, revealing nothing. “Are you talking about sex?”
He coughed a little as if he was clearing his throat. “Only if that’s not weird.”
She didn’t know if it was weird or not, but she felt a hard shock of arousal at the thought. He’d whispered such wicked things to her. He’d guided her so carefully. Oh, God, just the thought turned her on so much.
“I liked that,” she admitted, trying to get her voice above a whisper and failing.
“Jesus, you turn me on,” he said quietly.
It all felt impossible to her. Wonderful and impossible. He didn’t care if she was awkward. He laughed when she was weird. And his body made her mouth water. It was too good to be true and she didn’t give a damn.
She slid her hand down his muscled forearm and wrapped her fingers into his. “Maybe,” she said as they walked down her quiet street.
“Maybe what?” he asked.
“Maybe I’ll let you teach me how to climb.”
They didn’t speak after that. The walk to her apartment was quiet. She rubbed her thumb over the edge of his finger, feeling the way his skin was rougher than hers, toughened by climbing.