Taking a deep breath, Sunny leaned back against the harness, testing the cam she’d just set into the rock. When it held, she relaxed and shook out her arms, letting the rope hold her. She inspected the crack in the wall she’d found halfway up the fissure. The line intersected an overhang that jutted out into the opening.
Huffing out a frustrated breath, she gnawed on her bottom lip. From the base, the ledge hadn’t appeared so deep. Now that she could clearly see it, the realization that she should’ve picked a different route five feet to her left had her quivering. Nerves sent a rivulet of icy sweat on a path down her already chilled back.
“It’s no big deal.” She tore her gaze from the obstacle above as her head spun, and she checked her harness. “You’ve done overhangs before.”
“What’s wrong?” Davis shouted up. His anxious tone hadn’t left his voice since she started, pulsing fear up to her with each move she made.
“Nothing. Just picking my path.” She would’ve patted her back at how convincing she sounded if she didn’t need both of them to keep from falling to her death.
“I hate this.” While he mumbled the words, they still floated up to her.
At least he hadn’t argued much with her about climbing up. With the way her head kept spinning, he may have been right. She’d never tell him that, though.
“You know what, Davis?” She dipped her fingertips into the small pouch of chalk she’d packed, determined to get him to stop fretting.
“I’m afraid to ask,” he grumbled.
“Your tempting mouth is so much better at kissing than motivation.” She peered down and winked.
His low chuckle bounced up the walls to her. She inhaled the sound, letting it fill her with a boost of joy. She shook out her arms and rolled her shoulders. Time to move.
“Sunny, Sunny, she’s our gal. If she can’t do it, no one shall.” Davis’s false falsetto burst up the opening.
She jerked with surprise, her foot slipping from its position. Her sides hurt as laughter shook her entire body. Where had this version of Davis come from?
Glancing over her shoulder, Davis stood with his feet planted shoulder-width apart and his arms stoically crossed over his chest. No one would guess he’d just turned cheerleader by the way he stood, which made her laugh even harder. In the eerie light cast from the last glow stick, his lip twitched up. She blew him a kiss and turned back to the climb.
“I didn’t know you were a cheerleader.”
“All state, senior year.” His deadpan answer made her snort.
“Wow. That’s impressive.” She slid her hand into her bag to pull another cam out, her fingers walking over the remaining pieces. “Nutcracker.”
“Sunny?” His worried tone was back, and she rolled her eyes.
No use telling him about the lack of cams to make it all the way to the top. He’d just freak out more than he already was. And besides, there wasn’t anything they could do about it.
“Oh, nothing. Just broke a nail.” She left the cam in her bag, surveyed the rock face again, and took a deep breath before reaching for the next handhold.
“You broke a nail?” His feet shuffled, and she could imagine the skepticism splashed across his handsome face.
“Yep.” She grunted, wedging her fingers into the tight crack, then leveraging herself up.
“You’re something else, Firefly.”
“Don’t you know it.”
She stabilized her feet under her body and stretched herself as far as she could. The handhold was just out of reach. Gritting her teeth, she loosened her fingers from the crack and jumped. Barely brushing a ledge the width of a quarter, she clamped her fingertips over it and grunted when her body jerked against her flexed arm muscles. Her legs swung wide, and her fingers threatened to lose their tenuous hold.
“Sunny! Cam in!” Davis’s barked order clambered with the scraping of the rope as it rubbed against the rock.
She aimed her free hand further up the fissure, jamming her fingers in harder than necessary and praying they caught. Her arms burned as her weight tried to pull her off the rock. Lifting with her hands, she fumbled with her feet until they found purchase.
The rough wall grounded her as she rested her forehead against it. All her muscles shook with exertion and adrenaline. She rested two more breaths, then assessed her situation.
“What were you thinking?” Davis’s angry question, laced with worry, shot through her tight chest.
“You really need to be quiet right now, Fields.” She spoke low, surprised at the bitter irritation coloring her voice.
She pulled on her fingers stuck in the crack. It bit hard and painful but would hold. She sighed, then scanned the rock for a decent place to anchor in. After connecting the cam and hooking in, she examined her bloodied fingers.
“You good?” Davis’s soft question balled tension in her throat.
“Yep. Just peachy.” She wiped the blood with her shirt as she marked out her next few moves.
“Why the jump?” Davis ground out the words like he spoke through gritted teeth.
“Well, I only have two cams left, and I need to make sure I have one to anchor me beneath the ledge.” She dropped her predicament on him without emotion.
Stifling silence spread up and around her, cutting off her air. She forced herself not to look down. All her focus had to be on above.
“You’ve got this.” The truth and belief in his three soft words bolstered her more than any inner encouragement she could come up with.
She nodded, filling her lungs completely full of air, then expelling it with force. Her fingers stung and her thighs burned as she climbed the last twelve feet to the overhang. Before connecting her final cam, she triple-checked the rock face, making sure she chose the correct path. With the cam in, she leaned back on the harness and worked out her muscles.
“Sunny, you’re amazing. Scary as all get out, but truly amazing.”
As backwards as the compliment was, she relished in it. This man had trained and worked alongside the best the military had. Yet he found her amazing. The last of her frustration at him melted.
“You aren’t too bad yourself.”
He snorted. “Nothing compared to you.”
“Sure. Keep thinking that, Rambo.” She flexed her fingers. “Few more feet, then I’ll get you out of here.”
“Sounds good to me.” He cleared his throat. “Nice and slow. No need to rush things.”
Only … her burning muscles and weakening fingers claimed otherwise. Not much further and she could rest. Well, after she pulled up their supplies with the other rope, then she could veg for a moment.
She closed her eyes, picturing the handholds she’d picked out, and imagined her path. Reaching her hand to the first ledge, she worked her way up the overhang. When the rock curved down, she tightened her core and let her legs hang free. Davis’s pacing below her ratcheted up her anxiety, so she tuned it out by humming Otis Redding. Davis added his voice to her hum, easing her nerves even more. Four walks of her hands up the worst of it, and her feet made purchase.
“Whoop!” she yelled.
“Almost there, babe.” Davis’s clapping echoed off the walls.
When she reached the top of the opening, the dirt crumbled beneath her hands. Her heart flew into her throat. Falling now would slam her against the rock wall and probably pull out cams. She scrambled against the ledge, snatching at willows to help anchor her as she slid backwards.