Chapter Nine
“So this first activity is really designed to get your blood pumping,” Annie explained, standing at the head of the group.
They’d walked for about ten minutes, out into the forest that surrounded the retreat—and was probably part of the grounds, Sam figured. Now, they were standing in front of a cliff face—maybe ten yards high—that was set up for…
“Rock climbing!” Annie enthused.
Sam leaned in close to whisper to Ben. “Remember when you were joking about trust falls?”
Ben swallowed audibly.
He was afraid of heights.
That hadn’t stopped him climbing a few chain-link fences in his day, but he wasn’t the kind of man who enjoyed, for example, taking the elevator up to the top floor of an unfinished building and standing on the open edge to look out over the city beyond.
Sam had learned that the hard way, and never completely forgiven himself for freaking Ben out the way he had that time when he took the blindfold off. It had seemed like a romantic gesture, a chance for Sam to finally say something about how he felt, how much he wanted to be with Ben.
Ben screaming and running away, cursing his name, had kind of ruined the moment.
At least it hadn’t been Sam’s own cowardice and fear of rejection ruining the moment that time.
“I remember,” Ben said, looking up at the top of the cliff.
It really wasn’t that far—Sam had climbed much further in his time with much less safety equipment—but to Ben, it was probably the equivalent of being asked to bungee jump off the Golden Gate bridge.
As they listened to the instructions, Sam could feel Ben getting increasingly tense next to him.
“I can pretend to be sick,” Sam offered, keeping his voice low.
Ben sighed. “No. I volunteered for this stupid assignment, I really should give it my best.”
“No one’s ever gonna know,” Sam said.
“I will.” Ben hesitated, then looked up at the cliff face again. “Besides, you won’t let me fall.”
“Of course not,” Sam responded. He didn’t need to explain to Ben that the harness was actually what wasn’t going to let him fall. Based on the setup, Sam didn’t have much to do at all except hold the rope while Ben climbed. Maybe shout advice, although he knew Ben would kill him if he did that.
“Okay, so, I’ll be fine.” Ben took another deep breath. Sam was starting to get the impression that he was more interested in convincing himself than anyone else.
“Seriously, you don’t have to,” Sam tried one last time. Ben didn’t need to freak himself out for a dumb sponsored piece, no matter what his pride was telling him. It was okay to be afraid of things.
“And yet, I’m going to.” Ben cleared his throat. “But I’m going first.”
Despite knowing Ben would be fine, that this was completely safe, Sam was still nervous. As he strapped his own harness on and watched Ben get help from Robert, his stomach knotted up.
Ben didn’t look happy about the help, either, but he accepted it without grumbling too much. He was obviously nervous, but Sam knew him well enough to know that he’d do anything for his job.
Anyone who didn’t know what an asset he was to have around was an idiot. Sending him off to do something this stupid was an insult to his skills.
Sam understood why he was doing it. Ben had explained to him that it was either lose his fledgling project or do this, more or less. That didn’t mean he had to put this much effort into it.
That was Ben, though. He wasn’t the kind of man who did half a job.
“Last chance to back out,” Sam said as Ben clipped his harness in place.
“There’s no time like the present to confront one of your most deep-seated fears.” Ben smiled wryly. “I’ll be okay.”
Ben would be okay. He was stronger than he gave himself credit for.
