Page 19 of Asystole

I stare Cameron down as he holds his hands up in surrender.

“My bad, bro. I didn’t know it was like that.”

Me either, I think to myself before saying, “Well, now you do,” out loud.

Chase stays noticeably quiet next to me until Cameron saunters off, and then he starts shaking with laughter.

“Did you just out me?”

Matching his laughter, I ask, “Can you out someone who isn’t actually in the closet?”

“I don’t even know,” he says with a grin, shaking his head.

“That was probably crazy inappropriate, but I sort of lost my mind there for a second and just said whatever I could think of that would get his attention.”

Chase shrugs and gives me a goofy grin.

“I don’t mind. I appreciate you helping me. But that does mean we have to keep up the ruse now,” he says with a glint of wickedness in his eyes.

“We really don’t,” I tell him.

“I mean, this is basically our second date,” he says, erasing my guilt with one sentence.

Feeling someone watching us, my eyes find Cameron where he’s moved on to talk to a group a few belay stations over from us. He doesn’t even have the decency to look away when I catch him.

“He’s still staring at us,” I whisper. “Permission to slap you on the ass?”

Chase laughs and cocks a hip, sticking his right ass cheek out for me.

“Granted.”

Rearing back, I slap Chase’s ass on an upstroke. The move makes my hand sting, but it has the desired effect. Cameron finally averts his gaze and leaves us alone for the rest of the night.

Chase walks me through some basic techniques and then sets me loose on the giant wall in front of us. My legs tremble more than I thought they would, even though I’m not really afraid of falling. After Chase proved he could catch me so quickly that I only fell three inches before my line tightened, I was more than happy to take a little risk. Still, my calves are vibrating with muscle failure.

Unable to hold myself up after forty minutes or so, I come back down to Earth.

“Awesome job, man,” Chase praises, making my skin warm.

“Thanks. Honestly, thought it would be way easier. I feel like I should have been able to hold on longer,” I admit.

“Most rookies tap out after fifteen or twenty minutes, so you did great. Climbing requires very specific muscle patterns. It gets easier,” Chase says, releasing the carabiner tethering me to him.

“You want a turn?” I ask. “I’m not sure I can support you like you did for me, but I’m happy to try,” I tell him honestly.

Chase grins.

“Yeah, I’d love to do a run or two if you don’t mind,” he says, unfastening his harness and stepping out of it.

It’s then that Chase begins casually stripping out of his sweats. First, his hoodie comes off, leaving Chase in a ribbed white tank top, drawing the eyes of everyone in the place. I knew he was big. I’ve seen him in scrubs—which are hard to fill out—but I’ve never seen this. The material strains against his chest and hugs his torso. He doesn’t have the definition in his abs that I do, but his stomach is flat nonetheless.

I’m still trying to pull myself together when Chase pushes his sweatpants to the floor and steps out of them.

The man’s thighs are basically tree trunks.

I’m not talking pine or maple. I mean redwoods. The man could choke a tiger out between those things.

And just like that, I’m imagining what it would be like to be between Chase’s thighs.