He surged up the wall. His grip slipped but he caught himself and kept from falling, although the harness wouldn’t have let him drop. Kyle gained a bit on him in that precious moment. They were halfway up the wall, with Nate only slightly ahead. At two-thirds of the way up, he pulled into a clear lead. He heard a cheer from below and his name being chanted.
He lunged for the top of the wall, moving faster than he could have believed possible and seized the lip at the top. He pulled himself up and gave a roar without thinking about it. “Oooo-rah!”
The crowd below took up the cry.
Kyle pulled himself up to the summit beside Nate, his breath coming quickly and his hair damp. “Damn, you’re fast,” he said.
“What took you so long?” Nate asked with a grin.
They laughed together and called to their belayers, then rappelled down the wall, Nate going first. Thom supervising the wall gave him a high five, not flinching one bit from The Hook. The redhead was applauding, her eyes shining. “Are you a Marine?” she asked, her approval of that more than clear.
“Was. I’m retired from active service.”
She didn’t even look at his hand, but offered her own. “I’m Melanie.”
“Nate.”
She shook his prosthesis as if it was no big deal, but her next words pretty much eliminated his optimism. “Have you ever heard of the Human Library?”
Nate shook his head.
“It’s a program in which people are the resources shared. It’s designed to overcome prejudices and assumptions. I teach grade six at a school in New Jersey and we try to have a human library day every couple of months. The idea is that someone comes and answers questions about whatever makes them different. It’s great for the kids. They move around and talk to each person.”
Nate lifted The Hook. “You want me to talk about living with this?” He really didn’t want to be in a freak show. He felt like he lived in one every day of his life.
But she was cute.
“No! I want you to come and talk about being a Marine,” Melanie said, her gaze locking with his. “What made you choose to enlist? What was it like? What was the best part? I think it would be great.”
“Sure,” Nate said, reassured. “I could do that.” She pulled out her phone to exchange numbers with him and Cassie appeared at Nate’s side.
“I’m so glad you beat Kyle,” she said. “It’s good for him to be humbled once in a while.”
“Maybe he let me win.”
Cassie laughed. “No. You are fast, and awesome.”
“Spider-Man,” Melanie agreed.
Nate guessed that all his commando training was good for something.
“Hi, I’m Meesha,” the woman in pink said with a bright smile. She offered her hand and also shook The Hook.
“Social media goddess for F5F,” Cassie whispered and Nate nodded understanding.
“Do you mind if we use some images of you in our social media?” Meesha asked “People were really into this and I’d love to share that.”
“Sure.”
She gestured to the dark-haired woman with the other camera. “Shannyn has a bunch of shots, too. You can pick and choose what you want us to show.”
“Do whatever you want,” Nate said. “I’m good with it.”
Meesha’s smile flashed. “Get ready to be famous,” she said, offering him a fist-bump. “You are going to get so shipped.”
Nate looked at Melanie who smiled and nodded. “Oh yeah,” she said, giving him an appreciative survey and blushing a bit.
It was official. He was in heaven.
“Can we talk about you posing for an F5F ad for our new discount for military service people?” Cassie asked.
“Me? Twenty stories high?”
“Absolutely,” Cassie said. “Scaling that wall, looking cocky as hell.”
“Yes!” Melanie agreed with a smile just for Nate.
“Sure,” he said. “I’d be glad to.”
“Don’t do it for free,” Kyle advised him in an undertone. “Make her give you a lifetime membership instead.”
“Done,” Cassie said.
“Good, because my yoga poses need some serious work,” Nate said, feeling as if his luck had turned in a serious way.
“I’ve got some time before my next class,” Melanie said. “If you want some help.”
“Thanks!” Nate had hoped this day at F5F might change things up, but he hadn’t expected it to change everything. He owed Damon a big thanks—but then, Perez had always looked out for the team.
Haley was going to the airport with her sister on Sunday morning when she noticed that the billboard for F5F was being replaced.
Tiff had arrived at Haley’s apartment the previous Wednesday like a hurricane hitting the beach. Within five minutes of her stepping through the door, every horizontal surface had been covered with her stuff. Haley had hidden her frustration, knowing that her sister wouldn’t stay long, but Ninja had no tolerance of the invasion. He’d swatted at Tiff’s things, sending them crashing to the floor and making space for himself on the counter, table and window sill.
The two of them had been at war for the entire visit.
On the upside, Ninja had taken to curling up against Haley as she slept, watching over her all night long. Tiff said she should have called the cat Sauron, but Haley didn’t think Ninja was evil at all.
It had been a long four days, but Tiff had her dress—scored at a pop-up sale for a ridiculous price—and the early triumph had meant the sisters had time to be tourists in New York. They’d also visited the memorial together.
“So what about the guy who did the drawing?” Tiff asked again as Haley peered out the window at the billboard. “Is he the guy who isn’t a guy or not?
The image of Damon had been removed, and there was a couple in this one. The guy was looking out, his gaze smoldering, and he held a woman close. She looked almost orgasmic, and was in the act of touching her lips to his chest. They wore wedding rings and both were remarkably fit.
Get lucky at F5F.
It was a great sexy shot, but Haley already missed the one of Damon. “What guy who isn’t a guy?”
“The one Brad told me to look for.” Tiffany gave Haley an intent look. “The one who might convince you to stay in New York.”
“He didn’t. I took the job.”
Tiffany shook her head. “Trust you to choose work over love.”
“Who says I did?”
“That drawing. The guy who did that is crazy about the subject. That’s you, in case you forgot.”
Haley felt flustered. “I don’t think so. He’s not interested in commitment...”
“Are you?”
Haley wasn’t sure what to say.
Tiffany winced. “It’s not Garrett, is it? Because it would be seventeen kinds of wrong if you ended up with him after what he did to you.”
“It’s not Garrett.”
“Good! Don’t let Mom tell you otherwise.” They rode in silence for a moment. “Was it your cat that scared him off?”
“Well, Ninja doesn’t like visitors.”
“Ninja. You really should call him Sauron. I could see that one eye glowing in the darkness all night long, every night.”