Page 9 of Dueling Flames

“Portland? Okay.” She nodded her head with a straight face. Then reached behind her and grabbed a towel off a bench. “Well, I’ll see you next shift. Saint,” she said while pointing at Saint Sterling, “rematch later.”

“Sure thing,” he called back.

Then she walked out without another word.

“She’ll warm up,” Saint Sterling said. “As long as you do the job right.”

Watching her now climb the rock wall, she still had the same strong arms and stunning back. Today she wore shorts, which I’d never seen her wear before. Her legs looked strong and dangerous. I said a quick prayer that she’d never see fit to kick me.

Lissa continued to move up the wall. Her friend Chelsea, who Lissa introduced me to when we arrived, was connected to Lissa via a rope that she fed slack to Lissa as she climbed. Chelsea was average height and thin with chestnut-colored skin. She wore a bandana wrapped around her hair line, and her naturally curly hair was pulled into a bun.

Chelsea helped Lissa get all her gear on and started a timer when both feet touched the wall. They explained that Chelsea acted at Lissa’s belayer and would manage the rope and lower Lissa at the end of the climb. The whole system interested me, and I couldn’t wait to try it. Stupid ankle.

Lissa made it to the top and gave a signal to be lowered. She slowly came down with a huge smile on her face. This was her fifth and last climb of the day. When her feet landed on the ground, she untied her rope and gave Chelsea a huge hug.

“Great timing today,” Chelsea said.

“Hell yeah,” Lissa said. They both broke out into a dance. Lissa stopped and took off her harness. “I’m going to cool down and shower. Be back in fifteen.”

She nodded at me while she walked away. Chelsea pulled down the rope and rolled it up before taking off her own harness and putting everything away.

“She’s impressive, right?” Chelsea asked.

“Sure is.”

She sat down next to me and motioned to my inclined foot. “How’s the ankle?”

“It’s okay. It’s hard to stay still, but I’m doing my best.”

“I can tell, your other leg won’t stop moving.”

I looked down to see my good leg bouncing as I sat there. “Yeah. I’m more of a stander than a sitter. It’s an adjustment.”

Chelsea took out her phone and started typing in numbers.

“Why were you timing her?” The realization hit me as soon as I asked the question. “Is she training for something? Wait, are there climbing competitions?”

“You went from zero to sixty real fast.” She laughed. “Yes. Lissa is training for an indoor rock climbing competition. This gym is the best to train at because they change one of the sections each week, with a full new set up every six to eight weeks.”

My eyes widened as I looked around the gym. The walls were made of large square and rectangular panels. Some panels were flat on the front, while others had large rock-like obstacles attached. All the rocks and panels had hand and foot grips. Upon closer inspection, everything on the wall panels were screwed in.

“So, they move the walls around?” I asked.

“Something like that. And move around the holds.”

“And you climb, too?”

She laughed. “Sometimes, but not like Lissa. I do it for fun. She does it for the fun of the competition.”

“It’s interesting to see her be competitive. I’ve only seen it a few times.”

“Lissa loves to compete, but not when she works. She says that as a firefighter, competing on the job prevents the team from working together and working together is how you put out fires.”

I sat and thought of all the times in the last few years I’ve tried to engage Lissa in what I considered friendly competition. I also loved to compete. I liked the game of it all and Lissa never responded positively. Damn. No wonder I annoyed her so much.

By the time Lissa came back, Chelsea had already washed up, and we were ready to go. I pulled myself up to my feet and swung myself toward the exit.

“Brunch?” Lissa asked.