Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
PAIGE
“Oh, I love those!” Remi beams when she spots the energy drink in Paige’s hand. They agreed to meet in the parking lot so they could walk into the gym together. Paige found Remi waiting by her Subaru, hidden from the front doors.
Paige smiles. “I know. This is for you.”
Remi does a double take, confusion painted across her face.
“You said you had a rough day, so I thought you could use this.” Paige holds out the drink and Tupperware to her.
“That’s … wow. Thank you. That’s so sweet of you. You didn’t have to do this,” Remi says while taking both from her. “What’s this?”
“Lemon blueberry muffins.”
Remi pops the lid off with a hungry gleam in her blue eyes. “These look amazing.”
“I’m pretty proud of how this batch turned out. I’ve been tweaking my recipe, but I think I finally figured it out.”
“You baked these?” Remi takes a hearty bite, her eyes sinking shut with a soft moan. Paige feels the small pleasure-filled sound between her thighs.
“Holy shit. This is amazing,” Remi says. “Thank you so much.”
Paige presses her legs together, diverting her gaze. “Anytime.” She glances back. “That’s what girlfriends are for.”
Remi grins crookedly. She extends the Tupperware, offering Paige the other muffin.
“Oh, no thank you. I already had like three so far today.”
“Fair enough.” She chuckles then licks the crumbs from her fingers, her tongue making one long, languid stroke. Paige’s mouth runs dry at the sight.
“Are you ready?”
“Huh?”
Remi straightens and looks toward the gym. “To climb?”
Oh, shit. Yeah. That’s why they’re here.
Paige is aware she’s the one who suggested the whole fake relationship thing, but now that the time has come to actually flirt and be all couple-y with her, her hands are clammy and her pulse races.
What if she does it all wrong? She’s only had two serious relationships, and they both ended in her being cheated on.
Maybe romance isn’t for her.
“Um … yeah.” Paige scratches her temple before readjusting her headband.
“We don’t have to do this, you know.”
“No, I know. I want to, I just …”
Remi’s brows pinch in that same concentrated way they do whenever she’s stuck on the crux of a route. “Look, it’s okay to not have everything figured out. You don’t owe anyone your sexuality, and you don’t ever have to use a label if you don’t want to.”
Paige frowns, confused, until she realizes Remi thinks she’s nervous because she’s about to come out. Honestly, it’s probably for the best Remi thinks that, rather than know Paige is drowning in insecurity.
“Okay, how about this,” Remi says. “You said you want to learn to flirt so you’re ready when you start dating women. So why don’t we stop thinking so much about Tyler and all the other climbers, and just use this whole thing as practice?”
“Practice? What do you mean?”
“Like, in addition to teaching you how to flirt, maybe we can plan dates for each other? This way, when it’s time for it to be real, you’ll feel more confident.”
Dates with Remi?
Her heart skips a beat.
Slow down, she reminds herself. This isn’t for real.
With a deep breath, Paige attempts to objectively mull over the offer.
Having some practice to build her confidence sounds like the exact thing she needs, especially since the thing she finds most intimidating about being a “late bloomer”—as Remi so affectionately called it—is that her lack of experience will be a huge turn off to other women.
People her age should know what they want.
They are looking to settle down, get married, and start a family, however that may look.
They don’t feel like a middle schooler crushing on a cute girl for the first time in their life.
“Where did your brain just go?” Remi asks.
“Hm?” Paige squeaks. “Nothing. Nowhere.”
Remi squints, obviously not believing her, but Paige doesn’t want to talk about her internal panic. “I think that’s a great idea,” she says instead. “To use this as practice.”
The corner of Remi’s mouth tilts up.
Paige glances toward the building while taking a steadying breath.
“Want to go inside?” Remi asks.
Paige nods. It’s now or never.
Remi holds her hand up, and Paige stares at it.
“Shit, sorry. We can start slower.” Remi drops her arm to her side.
“Wait, no. I’m sorry.” Paige discreetly wipes her sweaty palm off on her leggings. She’s not sure how to say her brain short-circuited at the realization Remi wants to hold her hand.
She’s had boyfriends before Tyler, and holding hands was a normal part of every relationship she’s been in, but it’s not something she really looked forward to doing. It felt like an obligation, like an expectation of being a couple.
Will it be like that with a woman?
“Here,” Paige says and holds out her hand.
Remi hesitates a moment, scanning Paige’s face, before finding the confirmation she needs, and interlaces their fingers. It’s … nice. Paige’s skin is still clammy, and they both have calluses from rock climbing three times a week, but Remi’s skin is also impossibly soft and warm.
Remi squeezes Paige’s hand, and the corner of her mouth quirks up. “Lead the way.”
Paige does. They walk in like normal. The familiar scents of sweaty feet, chalk dust, and the faint hint of rubber hit her. It’s early enough that there aren’t many climbers yet, but still she spots a couple of people she recognizes.
Remi is strong and steady at her side.
“Boulder or belay?” she asks.
“Auto belays?”
With how anxious Paige is, she’s afraid that all the chalk in the building couldn’t help her sweaty hands have enough friction not to slip and fall. At least with the auto belays, she’ll have a rope to catch her instead of a crash pad over in the bouldering section.
Remi leads them to the open cubby space by the check-in counters. They grab their harnesses from their respective bags. It’s only when Remi lets go of Paige’s hand to put hers on does Paige realize how much she liked and now misses the warmth of Remi’s touch.
They’ve secured their harnesses and cross the gym to the belay section. “Is this okay?” Remi asks. She squeezes Paige’s hip and leans in to drop her voice so nobody can overhear them. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“You don’t,” Paige says, because Remi makes her feel the complete opposite.
“Okay.” Remi smiles and points to a route with a lower difficulty rating. “Want to do this one?”
“Sure, you can go first.”
Remi clicks on the carabiner and effortlessly scales the wall.
It may be an easy route, but damn does Remi make climbing look good.
Her every move is graceful and intentional.
It hits Paige how long she’s been staring, and she shakes herself, embarrassed, before remembering it’s okay.
It’s perfectly normal for girlfriends to check each other out.
Nothing inappropriate going on here.
Remi leans back and pushes off the wall to descend. “Want to try?” she asks as she lands.
“Yeah.” Paige’s hands shake. After her second failed attempt at clicking the carabiner into her harness, Remi covers Paige’s hands with her own.
“Here, let me.”
Paige’s skin heats, and she forgets how to breathe as Remi’s long, lean finger wraps around the loop of Paige’s harness and tugs it forward.
Paige’s hips follow the move. It’s like time slows as Remi clips in the carabiner.
Paige looks up to find Remi already staring at her.
She holds her eye contact as she gently pulls on the rope to make sure it’s secure.
Remi smiles crookedly. “You’re all set.”
“Th-thank you.”
She steps back, and Paige lets out a shaky exhale. She sets her hands on the starter holds and takes a second to regain her composure. Then she moves slowly up the wall.
Now Paige is suddenly curious what Remi thinks when she watches her climb. Paige is nowhere near as smooth as her, but she’s strong and has been honing her skills throughout the past year of climbing.
Once Paige reaches the top, she climbs halfway down before letting go of the holds to let the rope lower her the rest of the way.
“This one’s new.” Remi points to a route on the opposite wall, and they do it next.
Remi continues to suggest routes, and they lose themselves in the familiar motions.
It feels like any other time they’ve hung out together, and Paige isn’t sure why this surprises her.
She feels ridiculous for being so nervous.
Paige is studying her nemesis—the damn dyno—in the bouldering section when Remi returns from the bathroom. Remi slides her hand across Paige’s lower back all the way to her hip and pulls Paige into her chest.
“Hey, babe,” she says before kissing Paige’s temple.
Paige’s skin tingles from every place her body touches Remi’s, and she thinks she forgets how to breathe.
“Um …” Paige says, because words are hard.
Remi leans in, her lips graze the crown of Paige’s ear—sending a shiver down her spine—and whispers, “I hope this is okay. We have an audience.”
Paige’s breath hitches at Remi’s low voice. Then she processes what she said, and her eyes widen. Paige’s first instinct is to swivel her head around, but Remi stops her.
“Don’t look.” Remi’s lips are impossibly close. “He’s behind us. I cut him off before he could come up to you.”
Tyler. Paige rolls her eyes. He was probably going to give her another condescending demonstration on how to land this dyno.
“Is he still looking?” Paige whispers.
“Mhm,” Remi purrs. “And he looks pissed.”
Paige grins. “Hopefully this means he’ll take the hint.”
“He better.”
“Should …” Her eyes flutter shut. Remi’s thumb strokes her hip, distracting her.
“Should?” Remi asks.
Paige coughs to clear her throat and angles her face so she has a better view of Remi’s. “Should I do something … back? To you?”
The corner of Remi’s mouth tilts up. “Only if you feel comfortable.”
Paige turns her body to face her. Remi’s fingers slide across Paige’s back, never breaking contact, and a chill of desire dips to Paige’s core. They look into one another’s eyes and … shit. Why did she ask that? She doesn’t know how to reciprocate. She doesn’t … wait.
Remi has a couple of brown curls in her face, almost hiding her bright blue eyes. Paige sweeps them back, resisting the urge to thread her fingers through Remi’s hair. She leaves her hand hovering in the air, unsure of what to do now.
“Cup my cheek,” Remi whispers.
Paige hesitates. Remi encourages her with a small nod and warm smile. Slowly, Paige moves her fingers to Remi’s cheek.
Remi is a couple inches taller than Paige. Her nose and cheeks are dusted with freckles, and, standing so close, Paige is surprised by just how many there are. She wishes she had the time to count them all.
“Just like that.” Remi’s lips move into a sultry smirk. “You’re doing so good, Paige.”
The praise sends heat rippling across Paige’s flesh.
Remi puts both of her hands on Paige’s hips. “Do you want me to kiss you?”
Paige’s gaze drops to Remi’s mouth—to her full lips—as her pulse quickens. She’s tempted to say yes, she really is, but instead she says, “I don’t want the first time I kiss a woman to be because I’m trying to make my ex-boyfriend jealous. I want to kiss a woman for me.”
Remi nods. “I respect that.”
“Thank you.” Paige swallows. “You can … kiss me other places. If you … want.”
Remi licks her lips. “Are you sure?”
Paige nods. “For practice?”
“For practice.” Remi leans in and gently presses her lips to Paige’s cheek, her touch lingering on Paige’s skin before pulling back with a soft, hazy smile.
Oh, yeah. This is definitely … practice.