It was Monday morning, late enough for the sun to be peaking over the ridge into the valley, and we were rock climbing at the summit. He did not work on Monday mornings, and I had avoided morning classes this semester, making our Monday rendezvous was perfect. They had started a month earlier, when I responded to his online advertisement looking for an activity partner. We met for coffee, twice, then breakfast. Finally we had decided that we both wanted to actually be active, and the next week we went bouldering.
I was a novice climber, but my body was strong. I had a lot of upper-body strength for a girl, and impeccable balance that assisted me when the weight of my body was too much to haul up the rock. He, on the other hand, was an expert. I could tell that he had been enjoying this sport since puberty, and had groomed his body into it. He was not tall, perhaps 5'10", but his grace on the rock, and sinewy strength made him appear to tower over me.
We spent the morning hiking to different rock formations. I watched as he danced over the rock, finding imperceptible cracks with his fingertips, clinging to the rock like a spider. After he completed a problem he would help me choose a route more to my ability than the one he had taken, and inevitably, after a few tries and much coaching, I would complete the problem as well. By mid-morning I was feeling exuberant. There was sunshine, a friendly man who is an absolute pleasure to watch in motion, and a series of new achievements. There was not much more that I could imagine wanting, except maybe a shot of wheatgrass.
Around 11 I began to tire, and it must have been obvious, because he asked if I would like to stop and grab some lunch before I had to go to my afternoon classes. I was having such a good time though that I declined. It would not matter if I was exhausted for one day of classes, and I knew the soreness in my body would feel good the next day. He seemed quite pleased by my determination to continue, and a faint smile played around his lips. His fierce blue eyes twinkled just a bit and I could not help but smile back at him. He had a way of making me feel spectacular about myself.
I am certain that he set the next problem up to kick my ass. It was a difficult climb that relied heavily on strength, but also demanded a certain amount of flow, twisting the body around at the peak of a move in order to reach the final handhold. It was much more difficult than the routes I had been attempting, but thanks to my friend's confidence in me, I had a definite belief that it was possible.
My first two attempts were poor, to say the least. I barely got a foot off the ground, and could not figure out where my right hand should even begin. Both times I came off the rock without grace, landing in his waiting arms. He was an excellent spotter, consistently reaching for my hips and guiding my body smoothly to the ground. I had not stumbled once all day. I think that perhaps it was his active spotting that gave me the confidence to try some of the more difficult moves that I had been unsuccessful at before. I always knew he would catch me if I fell.
After I tried twice he gave me a couple of pointers. Pressing his body close to mine he lined his legs up with mine and interlaced our fingers. He stretched his right toe far out to the side, my leg resting on his, and reached our right hands up, leaning the weight of our bodies away from them. I felt myself relax into him, feeling his hand stretch my arm out, feeling weightless as I counterbalanced his strength. He smelled of sweat and sunshine, and that was not at all a bad way for him to smell. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation.
"That's how it should feel," he told me. I murmured my agreement, and then tried to replicate the sensation on the rock. He was a good teacher. It was much easier than I had thought it would be, and almost felt natural. I heard him cheer me on as I quickly traversed the slight ledge I had found with my extended toe. His breath was excited and his joy at my achievement genuine. He was going to be an excellent climbing partner.
A few moves later I fell back off the rock. The fall was unexpected, and if it were not for his spotting, my position would have landed me on my back. As it was his hands found my back and up righted me, causing my feet to hit the ground first. His hands slid around my body to take some of the shock of the impact, and I felt his fingers brush the underside of my breast. I was certain his touch was accidental, and confident in my certainty when he blushed a bit and apologized for the inappropriate placement of his hands.
"It's okay," I told him, "Better your hands on my body than my body on the ground." We both laughed at this and I decided to attempt the problem once more.
I fell off in the same place, and again his hands wrapped all the way around my body as I fell. This time they covered my breasts, and I was almost certain I felt one pinch at my nipple, but that could have been the impact from falling jostling my breast.
"I'm sorry," he said again, but this time he was still standing behind me, and had only moved his hand to just beneath my breast, not letting me go. I laughed.
"You don't have to be." It's inevitable that two attractive adults are going to eventually dabble in physical flirtation. I was beginning to wonder how far I wanted this to go.
"Don't I?"
"I'm not."
It was all the permission he needed. He spun me around and grabbed my ponytail in his left hand, yanking my head back just enough to put tension in my neck. With his right hand he lifted up my shirt, revealing my breast, and began to knead at it. His blue eyes were staring intently at me, hungry.
