Page 41 of Nothing But Air

“Children.” Noah stepped between them, radio in hand, blond hair blowing forward in the morning breeze. “Can we pretend to be professionals for five minutes?”

“He started it,” Teague mumbled

The look Noah sent him left no room for argument. “This isn’t a race. The goal is to make sure everyone’s comfortable on the rope and understands each other’s signals before we head into the backcountry. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I need teams that can communicate, not compete. Don’t forget, if we find this cache, we can reopen the park and save the rest of the season. People’s livelihoods are on the line here.”

“No pressure,” Trey mumbled.

“Standard protocols. Constant communication. If anything feels off, you call it. Understood?” Noah’s voice boomed again.

“Hear that, Hamilton? Think you can follow?” Kyle yelled again.

Teague shot him a look. “What do you mean by that?” The guy was getting under his skin.

“I mean you’ve got a reputation for…creative problem-solving.” He got a glance at Eden. “Some people might call it reckless.”

Teague turned to Eden, but she was staring at the ground, her cheeks a touch red. When he looked back up, he found Kyle watching them with a wide grin.

“Yeah, well?—”

“Enough.” Noah stepped between them again. “Save the testosterone for the climb.” He shot Teague a look that promised a conversation later.

“Understood,” they chorused.

But Kyle wasn’t done. “For fun—how about the first team to the top doesn’t have to clean and inventory all the gear tonight?”

Noah opened his mouth, no doubt to shut it down.

“You’re on.” The words left Teague’s mouth before his brain caught up.

Eden’s head turned. He could feel her stare boring into the side of his skull. But he wasn’t really in the mood to meet her gaze. Not after she’d evidently thrown him under the bus with Kyle.

Truth was, he’d check the gear later, win or lose, but he wouldn’t mind wiping that grin off the guy’s face.

“Eden, you sure you picked the right team?” Sierra’s voice carried across the gap between teams, her tone teasing. The girl was no doubt trying to lighten the mood. “I mean, Hamilton’s pretty, but can he actually climb?”

“Pretty?” Teague pressed a hand to his chest. “I prefer ‘ruggedly handsome.’”

“I prefer ‘delusional,’” Eden deadpanned.

Liam burst out laughing, his light-brown hair flopping in his eyes. “And that’s why I like her.”

Eden bit back a smile, but something was off. She was too tight, too on edge. Finally, she looked up at Sierra. “Don’t underestimate my team. I’ve seen you bail on crimpers half the size of what’s up there. Should I have brought a ladder?”

Sierra’s mouth dropped open. “Okay, first of all—five-four is average, not short.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Trey was in full-on laughter. “I’ve missed you two together.”

Eden turned, and Teague caught her eye for a half second. There it was again. Nerves? Competitive drive? Whatever it was, it wasn’t the same Eden that he’d stood with on the edge of the rock yesterday.

He leaned in closer. “You okay?”

“Fine.”

Maybe he was wrong. Nothing had seemed quite right since that moment that had passed between them on yesterday’s climb.

Focus, Hamilton.