He climbed into her car and put on his seat belt. “So, where are we going?”
She pulled out of the parking lot, keeping her gaze straight ahead. “Not far.”
He had a chance to watch her as she drove. Carefully. With both hands on the wheel, and never once taking her attention off the road.
He also noticed she didn’t have her uniform on today, something he hadn’t paid much attention to when she’d shown up at his house.
“No team uniform today?”
“Nope.” She pulled off the highway and pulled into what at first looked like a gym.
Then he realized it wasn’t a gym at all.
“Seriously?” he asked as she parked. “A rock climbing facility?”
She finally turned to him. “It’ll be great therapy. Plus, tons of fun.”
Nothing that had “therapy” in it was ever fun. But he got out and slid into step next to her.
“Ever rock climbed before?” she asked as they headed inside.
He didn’t know what he expected, but tons of walls with different-sized colorful rocks wasn’t it. “Uh, no. You?”
She grabbed a clipboard from the front desk. “As a matter of fact, I have. It’s a tremendous form of exercise for your entire body, especially for your shoulders.”
“Hey, Alicia.”
Garrett looked over as a muscular guy came to the desk. Alicia smiled at him.
“Hi, Dave.”
“I have everything set up for you and Garrett. Hi, I’m Dave.”
“Nice to meet you, Dave.” Garrett shook his hand.
“I’m a big fan of the Rivers. I understand you’re doing some shoulder therapy. I hope it gets you back on the mound soon.”
“Me, too.”
He was handed a clipboard and a form that basically said if he fell to his death, it wasn’t their fault, along with some other information about safety. He filled it out and signed it.
“Right this way,” Dave said.
Garrett walked behind as Alicia and Dave stayed close together talking. Or rather—Dave talked. Alicia tilted her head back and laughed. And Garrett felt like a third wheel, though he had no idea why. It wasn’t like Dave and Alicia were on some kind of date.
As far as he knew, anyway. He didn’t know anything about her personal life. Dave could be her boyfriend, and he was helping her with Garrett’s therapy.
Lucky guy if that was the case. Out of those loose-fitting team uniforms, she had one hell of a body. Tight workout pants and a tank top hugged her body in a way the team uniforms never had.
She was slender but not skinny. The woman had muscle tone like she worked out and curves in all the right places.
“Okay, Garrett, let’s get you in a harness,” Dave said, and proceeded to hook him up. Alicia seemed to know what she was doing as she climbed into the gear herself then headed over to him.
“You’re climbing with me?” Garrett asked.
Alicia grinned. “Of course. I’ll be right next to you the entire time. I need to watch your form and make sure you don’t injure your shoulder.”
She led him to one of the walls and leaned against it, raising her arms. “We’ll stretch out first.”
After they stretched, she put her foot on one of the rocks. “Just follow along next to me. We’ll go easy at first.”
He tilted his head back and stared up at the top of the wall, his shoulder aching at the thought of how much work it was going to take to get there.
Alicia laid her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll only go as far as you think you can handle—and as far as I think you can take—no farther, okay?”
He studied the top, then slipped on his gloves and grabbed the rope. “Don’t sweat it. I can handle this.”
The first ten feet or so were pretty easy, a stretch that felt pretty good to his shoulder. And he had to admit this was much more fun than doing repetitive exercises at the training facility. By the time they were halfway up the wall, though, he was drenched in sweat, and his shoulder felt like it was about to pop right out of the socket.
Alicia, on the other hand, sailed up the wall like a spider on the run. She made it look easy and wasn’t even winded. Right now she was above him, dangling by holding on to a rock one-handed as she looked down at him.
“How’s it going?” she asked.
He gritted his teeth. “Great.”
“Any pain?”
He swiped at his brow with the back of his arm. “I’m fine.”
She climbed down until she was level with him. “Garrett. If you’re in pain, I need to know. We’re not doing this for fun, you know.”
“Really? I thought we were doing this for fun.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Seriously. How do you feel?”
“My shoulder hurts.”
She frowned. “Hurts really bad, hurts a little, or something in between?”
“It’s tolerable. Not that bad.”
She reached over and put her hand on the back of his shoulder, gave it a squeeze. “Muscles aren’t too tight. Are you sure you want to go on?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Let me know if it gets to be too much.”
“Let’s just keep moving.”