I tried not to be mean about it, but smiled and laughed at what I said, trying to make it lighthearted. The smile Greg returned to me lit up the whole street, and I knew I really needed to leave. Right now.
“Bye.” I waved a hand and turned away from him, starting to make my way down the street.
“Have a good night,” I heard from behind me, but I kept on walking. I had no idea when this date would happen, but if it was anything like how awkward that had been, I didn’t want it. Being with Greg felt normal to me and most of the time it was effortless, but in my head, putting a name to what it was that we were doing was terrifying.
I had to go on adatewith Greg.
Shit.
I was in more trouble than I knew how to handle.
“I swear to you, if you don’t get those damn shoes under control, I’m leaving you behind.” I scolded Erica because for the second time since we got out of the car, she had to adjust her shoes. It wasn’t like they were new, but she had only ever worn them for traditional workouts, not for climbing a mountain. The laces had already come undone twice, so I watched her to make sure she double-knotted them this time.
“Give me a moment.” She waved her hand at me to be patient, but patience was not one of my virtues. After I left Greg yesterday and met up with the girls for dinner, they both tried to pry more information out of me about what was happening between Greg and me, but I made sure to keep my mouth locked shut. I just wasn’t really sure about what was happening, so I didn’t want to complicate things more by bringing in more parties than needed to be in this conversation. “There!”
She looked down at her shoes, so proud of herself that I couldn’t help but laugh. I ushered her ahead of me so we could start our ascent. Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Lilly!”Fucking Jack.And where there was Jack, there was Greg. When I turned around, it wasn’t just them, but Chase, too. I looked over to Erica, whose typically pale cheeks were turning a bright pink. I tried to hide my laugh at both of them, because when I looked back to Chase, he had the same look about him. “Can we join you two?”
“Absolutely!” Erica answered for the both of us before I could protest. I huffed and turned from the group to start making my way to the top of the mountain. The air was thin today and the wind started to pick up the higher we got. I led the pack alone, while Greg and Jack followed close behind, and Erica and Chase fell to the back of the pack. I could hear them talking about one of our newest clients. They both loved the series Chase was currently working on.
I tried to keep my distance and a clear head as we ascended the mountain further. I just wanted today to think, so that’s what I was going to do. I realized last night, when I still refused to tell the girls what was going on with Greg and me, that at some point in time I was going to have to decide if I wanted to keep it all a secret or tell them everything. With that realization came the thought that, if I kept it a secret, it was because it didn’t work out, but if I told them, it would be because it was something that was real. Something that would be lasting. That terrified me the most.
“Your brain’s working way too hard right now.” Greg came up beside me and I snapped out of my thoughts. I looked over at him walking in step with me. He was wearing grey jogger pants, with a black shirt and grey jacket. I was always surprised when I saw Greg workout in any way, because he seemed always so much more put together, not just in his outfit, but in the way he acted. Like being out and about was what made him him.
“How can you tell?” We were getting to the steepest part of the incline now, where I needed to focus the most to get up without an accident.
“When you’re thinking too hard, you scrunch your nose and you get these wrinkles in between your eyebrows.” He laughed at himself. “It’s the cutest thing.”
“What, you stalking me some more?” I laughed at his comment.
“Doll,” Greg reached for my hand and I didn’t stop him. “I’ve been watching for years. I’m not the only one who’s been blind to what’s been going on between us.”
I looked over to him and a blush spread across my face. I made no comment to him as we finished making our way up to the top of Stone Mountain, Greg helping me up the last little bit. I hadn’t been up here in about three months, so I was a little rusty. I needed to get out more and silently made a commitment to get the girls out here every weekend again. I had been slacking on the working out and even though it wasn’t showing on my body, I could feel it in the way my bones moaned at the fact that I had just put them through a hike up a mountain.
When we hit the topmost part of the mountain, I took time to breathe in the air and take in my surroundings. I always loved being on top of this mountain. It brought a peace that I didn’t know I was seeking.
“We’re going to take the cable car down.” Erica broke my reverie as she stood next to Jack and Chase.
“Did you want to walk or take the car down?” Greg didn’t give a response to Erica, but instead asked me what I wanted to do, like whatever I was going to do was what he was going to do.
As much as my legs yelled at me, I knew I needed to walk back down this mountain. If I didn’t, I knew I would be giving up just because I felt a little sore. Walking back down would also give me the chance to talk to Greg because, in reality and off this mountain, we had to go on a date this weekend and neither of us had set up anything.
“We’re going to walk back down.” My answer to Erica made her eyebrows lift in surprise, but she quickly checked herself and ushered the guys to the building off to the side.
“We’ll meet you two down at the cars.” Erica yelled back to us.
Greg stood next to me, his hand resting to the side of mine, but neither of us reached for the other. It wasn’t until we watched our friends enter the building that Greg reached over and squeezed my hand
“Ready?” His question was sincere, but then he looked down to where our hands were locked together. He wasn’t asking if I was ready to climb down a mountain. He was asking if my legs were ready to climb down. I laughed at him and pulled my hand away from his. I started walking with no answer, but soon felt him behind me. Most of the walk down was silent and, as much as I wanted to talk to him about this date, I just didn’t know how to bring it up.
I’m pretty sure I started and stopped multiple conversations from coming out of my mouth, in order to not sound stupid for bringing it up first. I did try to sneak a few peeks over at Greg during our descent, but each time he was staring off into the distance and not paying any attention to me.
When we finally reached the bottom, he grabbed my hand to stop me. I could see Erica and the guys in the distance over by where Erica had parked her car, which just so happened to be where Jack parked his truck.
“I wanted to talk to you about this date.” I was relieved that Greg had said it first. “I’m not really sure what to do.”
“I’m glad, because I’m not sure, either.” We laughed and it settled the rising tension between the two of us.
