“Thank you,” I say, because from Kate, this is high praise.
“We did it, ladies!” Monroe announces, and we all turn to look at her. “We have reached the pinnacle of empowerment!” She punctuates this by holding upTiberius like she’s about to start singing “The Circle of Life.”
Destyny and Genesis and Calista all squeal and start hugging and bouncing again, and even Kate grins.The pinnacle of empowerment seems like a bit of an overstatement, but they definitely made some huge strides.
I look at Jason, who stands and squeezes my hand.
They aren’t the only ones.
There’s a smile on his face, but he’s still got a haunted look in his eyes, and there’s a decent chance, after all that fear and uncertainty we’ve been through, that I do too. I need to let him know so many things.
“Come on.” I start tugging him toward the med kit.
“And my most sincere gratitude to Jason,” Monroe says, and we freeze as all attention turns to us. “For saving the love of my life. I am truly glad that I have already repaid that debt by saving your relationship.”
Now we’re both gaping. “Um,” I start, but find myself without words.
Holy shit. DidMonroe Cocoactually save our relationship?That can’t be right.
“You may keep the Lamp of Anger,” she says, inclining her head.
“Uh, thank you,” Jason manages.
Monroe turns to start a long soliloquy about empowerment and how to properly care for the fabric of the universe, and I go to rifle through the med kit, finding Neosporin and some Band-Aids. While I’m doing that, Jason takes off his climbing shoes and puts on his regular sneakers. I see a PA stacking up blankets that some of the crew were sitting on while watching.
“Can we have a couple of those?” I ask, and she hands two of them to me with a wink. Clearly she knows where I’m going with this.
I’m pretty sure Jason does too, when he walks back over to me, but he raises his eyebrow.
“I think we need some alone time,” I say. “And I’m not ready to go back to camp yet.”
“Yeah, me neither,” he says. Along with that haunted look, there’s love and hunger, and I just want to lose myself in those blue eyes of his.
There are still cameras watching us, documenting us, and I am done with them.
“Rich!” I call, and he perks up from where he’s going over some notes with a cameraman.There’s a huge grin on his face when he jogs over.
“Guys, that was incredible.The confessions, the passionate kiss. Wow. I’m just so happy this all worked out for you two.”
Uh-huh. I believe he’s happy it worked out, but mainly for providing the perfect dramatic ending to our relationship narrative.
“Jason’s finished his work here,” I say. “Officially, the rappelling activity is the final part of this week he’s contracted for. Which means we’re out.” I give a significant look to the cameras.
“Right, yeah,” Rich says. “Of course. But, you know, what would really round all this out is a couple interviews—”
“We’re. Out,” Jason emphasizes, with that suddenly looming thing he does so well.
Rich gives a tight smile and nod, and before he can try to wheedle us into anything else, we take off. Running, even, like we can’t get away fast enough.
It’s freeing.The trail jags off away from the main path back to camp. Geoff and a few others will be bringing down the equipment from up on the cliff, but we take a small off-shoot path that won’t be on their direct route back.
It isn’t a long run and we’re both in shape, but by the time we find a good place out of the way to lay out one of the blankets, we’re breathing hard, beads of sweat in our hairlines, and I can feel my t-shirt sticking to my back.
He sits against a relatively smooth patch of rock wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him. I sit cross-legged at his side, turned to face him, my knee resting on his thigh.
“Here,” I say, reaching for his hand. I rub the antiseptic on the places whereTiberius’s teeth or nails broke the skin. Jason generally doesn’t care much about little scratches or cuts—he’s an outdoorsy guy and barely notices them. But I don’t know where the hell that dog’s mouth has been, though I have some disgusting guesses.
Jason might, too, because he doesn’t protest as I take care of the cuts and put on the Band-Aids. When I finish the last one, his hand closes over mine.
