Chapter Six
Harry
As I stand at next to the climbing wall, I look over the assembled fitness freaks, trying to pick out Grace’s face. The way she moaned in the dorm is still ringing in my ears, a sweet sound that made me so hard I thought I was going to explode right there on the spot.
The way her body twitched at my touch was like playing an instrument.
One I want to play again, and again, and a-fucking-gain.
I’ve never been the sort of bloke to just disintegrate into a pile of primal sludge when a bird gives him a little pleasure, but, with Grace, it’s another matter entirely.
I lick the inside of my lips, tasting the spot of metallic blood from where her desire sent her crazy and she bit me.
I want her to do it again.
A light breeze moves across the camp, rustling my hair. In the faces of some of the female camp members, I’m pretty sure I can see shameless desire. It’s like if I wanted to, I could turn this place into a fucked-up cult and have my pick of them.
But Idon’twant to, not even remotely.
There’s only one woman in this whole place I’m interested in.
For my plan. To ghost her.
I have to keep reminding myself of that. Lately, it’s getting way too easy to forget.
“All right, quiet,” I yell, pacing up and down in front of the crowd. I look deeper and finally catch sight of her, secreted away at the back like a precious goddamn present. “Some of you might’ve been told that winning’s not what counts. All that matters is taking part. And whereas that’s true, sometimes … sometimes that mentality will fuck you up bigtime. So today’s activity is aboutcompetition.”
As I talk, I think about today’s horoscope, which I read earlier in my office.Sometimes, life is kind and it gives you what you want. Other times – most times, some might say – you have to work your behind off to get it. Today is one of those days. Stride forward bravely. Decide on an objective. And work for what you desire most.
What I desire most is smirking at me, almost sassier than I can take, from the back of the crowd.
“Now,” I go on, “I know what some of you are gonna say. You haven’t got any climbing experience. You’ve never even thought about it before. Your opponent has been doing it for years. Blah-blah-fucking-blah.”
I’m going to work for Grace.
That’s the reason I went to find her in her dorm, hoping she wasn’t going to publish another article. I’d gotten an email alert about the last one and I knew it was about us. Though, thankfully, she’d used enough clever phrasing to keep my identity quiet.
Fornow.
Well, then, that’s all the more reason to get my revenge. If she’s going to spread shit about me online, I might as well have it be true.
“The reason I picked this is becauseI’vegot no climbing experience, either, so I’m in the same boat as a lot of you.”
I stop, clenching my fist and slamming it into my palm. The fleshy slap noise it makes causes a couple of people to jump.
“This isn’t mandatory, but, for those that are up for it, I think it’ll do you a whole lot of good to know what it means to really compete.”
I wave a hand at Nate, one of our fitness instructors, to take over. The Californian with the sandy blond hair draws some of the attention away from me, which I’m glad about. It makes walking to the back of the crowd and joining Grace that much easier.
She turns at my approach, lips pursed.
“Nice speech,” she says.
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic,” I chuckle.
She narrows her summer-sky eyes, a knowing glint aimed right at me. Her arms are folded and goddamn, the way they push her breasts together could drive a bloke mental and give him all sorts of ideas. She arches an eyebrow. Feisty.
“Why do I feel like you’re scheming?” she says.
