Page 45 of Pure Temptation

When she had stepped away, his friend furrowed his brow, his eyes serious. “You okay, Dax?”

“That slip really threw me off,” he muttered.

“I bought you a couple minutes to get your shit together.” Calvin tilted his head a little, staring at him. “You’ve done worse. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Slowly, Daxon shook his head. “I’m not sure what the hell I’m feeling.”

It seemed an awful lot like regret. He had just successfully pulled off his best climb, but it felt like he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

Before Calvin could pry anymore, Lin turned, heading right back toward them.

Calvin swung his arm around Daxon’s shoulder and whispered, “Two more minutes of being the man who just fucking free soloed Moonlight Buttress. Two minutes of being the Daxon Miles who smiles at the camera, the guy everyone tuned in for. Then you can go back to looking like your dog just died.”

So Daxon took a deep breath and did it. He stood up and pasted on his camera-ready smile. As Lin came over, he flexed his muscles, just the way he was supposed to. Then he tried to slip away, but Calvin held him in place, and Lin stopped in front of him. There was no escape.

“Daxon, you’ve just completed the first live free solo climb of Moonlight Buttress in history. What do you want to say to everyone who joined us this afternoon to watch?”

Daxon stared into the camera, but he still couldn’t think of a single thing he wanted to say to a million strangers. Even the easy platitudes weren’t coming. He needed to talk to Kendall. The silence hung heavily in the air, and Lin was frowning at him. Daxon felt the smile on his face fade. There was only one thing to say, and it definitely wasn’t what Calvin and Lin had in mind. As he opened his mouth, he was fully aware that this could be the stupidest thing he had ever done. Still, he did it.

“What I have to say is for one person, and she knows who she is. I’m so, so sorry. I messed up. You deserve someone who listens when you say you’ve reached your limit.” Lin’s jaw had dropped, but Daxon didn’t stop. “For the rest of you out there, thank you for showing up today and every time before this. This has been Calvin’s and Lin’s and my dream for a while, and it wouldn’t have happened without you.” He swallowed and glanced over at Calvin, who wasn’t bothering to hide his wary expression. But Daxon looked back into the camera and cleared his throat. “But as of today, I am officially backing out of the free solo El Capitan climb. Back in the middle of the mountain, my foothold gave out, and I’m taking that as a sign that this is no longer what I should be doing.”

Lin’s mouth was still hanging open, and Daxon wasn’t ready to hazard a glance toward Calvin. When his friend finally spoke, his voice was filled with false cheer.

“We’ll update you soon on the future of Pure Adrenaline. And thanks to everyone out there who is watching.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

DAXONKNOCKEDONKendall’s door for the third time. Her windows were open, and he could have sworn he heard a noise from inside when he walked up the path. Kendall hadn’t answered any of his attempts to get in touch. After a flurry of desperate emails, Alana had given in and told him that today was Kendall’s day off. Which meant she should be here...which had led to the conclusion that she was inside but wasn’t answering the door.

Had she seen the video that would forever live in Pure Adrenaline infamy? It would probably be used in future marketing classes around the world as an example of how to lose your sponsorships in less than a minute, flat. But Daxon didn’t care. He’d figure that out later, after talking to Kendall. He had tried to pry the answer out of Alana, but she was tight-lipped about almost everything he had asked. She was clearly a good friend to Kendall, so she got props for that, but in this situation, he would have preferred a slightly looser moral code.

Daxon knocked again. “Kendall?”

He was trying not to make a scene, but he had flown in from Utah the day before in preparation, and he knew she didn’t have another day off for almost a week. If he had to, he’d wait, but right now, he was feeling impatient as hell.

“Kendall? Please can we talk?” He glanced around. Most of the neighbors’ windows were open, too, so none of what he said would be a secret. Not that he cared, but this was where she worked. He wanted to respect that...though he wasn’t above a little leveraging. Not at this point.

“I know I messed up badly, sweets. But please give me a chance to talk this through. Just talk. I promise I won’t...” He glanced around, wondering how far to take this in public. “I won’t use other methods of convincing.”

No sounds came from inside, no footsteps, nothing to hang his hopes on. Shit. Daxon swiped a hand over his forehead. Climbing through the open window was tempting...and probably a little crazy. Yeah, that definitely crossed the line, especially since she hadn’t answered his calls this morning. But he could wait her out.

Daxon turned around and sat on the doorstep, running his hand through his hair. He hung his head, trying to summon his patience for the long day ahead of him. She had to leave the place at some point, didn’t she? Did this count as stalking? Shit, if he had to ask himself that question, he was really not in a good place.

Not so long ago, he had sat on this very step after the best day of his entire life, his body filled with giddy hope, grasping at future possibilities. He had managed to quash all of that the moment he left the Kalani to do the thing Kendall wanted absolutely no part of. He knew this conversation would require a hell of a lot of groveling, but he had assumed that she would at least—

“Aaah, the famous Daxon Miles.”

Daxon looked up, taking in the flurry of purple hair.

“Alana.” He sighed, greeting her with a tilt of his chin.

“I would’ve come over earlier, but I was waiting to see how much pleading you were willing to do on Kendall’s doorstep.”

“Glad to provide you with some entertainment.” He ran his hand through his hair.

Alana gave him an amused smile. “I just came out to tell you that she went for a run.”

Daxon took a deep breath as a mixture of relief and hope coursed through him. Kendall wasn’t inside, ignoring him. God, he was a desperate man if that little comment gave him hope. But at this point he didn’t care. He just wanted to work out things with Kendall.