He went on with the introductions. “You remember Megs, right?
“Hi, Megs.”
But Megs stared past Victoria. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Eric turned to look. “Holy shit.”
“Who is that?” Victoria asked.
“Gabe Rossiter. He’s a tenured Team member and one of the best climbers in the history of the sport. You want to talk about a badass. He let himself fall off a three-hundred-foot cliff to save the life of the woman he loved. He survived, obviously, but lost his leg. He still climbs.”
Victoria’s expression melted. “Oh!”
Yeah, women always loved that story.
Eric met him with a bear hug. “Hey, man. What the hell are you doing here?”
“I heard there was free climbing today,” Rossiter joked. “How did Taylor convince any woman to marry him?”
“That’s what I’m wondering.” Austin walked up behind them. “Hey, Rossiter. Glad you could make it.”
Rossiter hugged him, too, slapping him hard on the back. “Congratulations, man. I’m so happy for you. Where’s the bride? I need to meet the woman who’s brave enough to take you on.”
Austin introduced Lexi and Rossiter—and then it was time to climb.
Eric left Victoria on a bench against the far wall and teamed up with Moretti on a 5.12 route, while Taylor belayed Lexi on a 5.10.
“I like having the gym to ourselves.” Moretti tied into his harness. “We should do this more often.”
“We can do it again when you get hitched,” Taylor called over to them.
“Me? Right. That will be the day.” Moretti stepped up to the wall. “Climbing.”
“Climb on!” Eric called out.
It was clear right away that Moretti was off his game. The big man had learned to climb almost overnight, putting in long hours at the gym, heading into the canyon, tackling big routes. Hell, he climbed cracks in his spare time, coming back cut up and bruised with a big grin on his face. But today, he was having trouble.
His toe slipped off a ledge, but he held on, the fingers of one hand on a tight little crimper, two fingers of his other hand jammed in a pocket.
“Come on, buddy. You got it,” Eric called up to him.
Moretti hauled himself up against the rock using the strength in his shoulders and arms and lifted his foot again, catching the ledge this time and moving upward. A few moves later, he slipped again, this time coming off the wall.
Eric arrested his fall. “Shake it off.”
Moretti was suffering. No doubt about it. To his credit, he pulled himself together, got back on the wall, and finished the route.
“Way to go, man.” Eric lowered him to the floor, turning to glance at Victoria.
She was watching them, longing on her face. Oh, yeah, she wanted to try it. She was going to break. It was just a matter of time.
* * *
Vic watched as Lexi climbed, amazed. She climbed the way they did, each move planned, her motions graceful and strong.
She reached the top of the wall and did a fist pump. “Woohoo!”
“Way to go, babe!” Austin shouted up to her. “Awesome!”