Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

shoulder to mine, pinning me between his body and the cliff. I let him, let my head fall back on cool rock, closed my eyes and shook. God. God—
    "Just breathe," Alan murmured. "You're all right." His hand slid over mine, snapping me into the anchor.
    "…too close…" I managed. Adrenaline, I knew, and I knew it would pass, but all I could do right then was shake. Might have shaken myself right off the cliff without Alan's shoulder warm against mine.
    "But you got there," Alan said. "He's all right. You did it."
    "…hanging."
    "But alive. He can hang a few minutes. Just breathe. No one can see you."
    He didn't put an arm around me and he didn't pat me. He just braced my body with his, because though I knew I was anchored to the Duck and it'd take an earthquake to knock me off the cliff-face, I just didn't feel all that secure. Pressed between him and the cliff, though, I could calm down.
    Until I gathered myself enough to realize that Alan's body was pressed strong and solid against mine, and that was dangerous in a whole other way. I took a deep breath and squeezed his shoulder.
    "Thanks."
    "No problem." He stepped back, actually leaning off the cliff again to put a normal distance between us. "So. You first, or me? If you're still shaky, I'd rather be holding your rope than have you hold mine, to be honest. But I think you've had enough falling today, so either way."
    I held my hands out in front of me, and they were only shaking a little. "I'll go first," I said. "The last pitch is nothing on what I just did."
    "Then up you go, Spiderman." Alan took the extra belay loop back from around the Duck and prepared himself. I chalked my hands again after all the sweating I'd been doing, and turned to the last pitch.
    It was easy, and Professor Nieman was already on the top. With one quick report, getting Brad down was no longer my problem. I wasn't even needed to help, being one of the least experienced climbers to hand. I went back to my route and clipped in and belayed Alan up the last pitch. By the time he climbed over the edge, Brad was being hoisted up a few feet away. The group was dealing with that, and Alan didn't say anything as we put our gear away, changed into our regular shoes, and headed for the trail down.
    The sun was low, laying a blanket of yellow light across the evening forest. The wind had stilled to just a tiny breeze, and Alan was as quiet as the woods. Somewhere along the gentle hike back to the trail-head, my nerves quit jangling. I stopped replaying everything that had happened, or could have happened, to ask a question.
    "The Morrigan and the Wild Hunt?"
    Alan snickered. "Lilia, of course, and the dogs."
    The image of Lilia as the Morrigan made me laugh out loud.
    "Gotta say," Alan muttered, "that was pretty damn amazing."
    "You'd have gone."
    "If I could have got there, yes. Doesn't make it any less awesome that you did it."
    "Alan—"
    "Shutting up now."
    In a little glen off the trailhead, Nico and Michael were starting a fire in a fire-ring. "Pull up a log!" Nico invited. "Tell us about your climb!"
    Crap.
    "Let us stow our stuff," Alan said, giving me a poke at the parking lot.
    "All I want," I told him as we walked, "is a hot shower."
    "So go home," he said. "You climbed. That's what she asked."
    "Yeah." I tossed my gear in the back of the truck. Pulled out a carabineer and clipped the empty picnic basket to the bag so it wouldn't fly out in the wind. "Want a ride?"
    "No, thanks."
    "Good night, Alan."
    "Night, Spidey."
    ****

CHAPTER 6
    Monday Alan got to class late. After class he handed me the large hex I'd left in the cliff above Brad, tossed a casual salute at Mallory, and hurried off. She sighed.
    "Now will one of you tell me what that was all about?"
    "Sorry," I told her, sticking the hex in my pocket. "Wait. If you don't know, why did you smack me last week?"
    "Because I knew you did something." Mallory put her hands on her hips. "You don't go around hitting people, but he doesn't throw things for no reason either. So what did you do?"
    "Forget it."
    She smacked the back of my head again and walked away.
    Tuesday my phone vibrated in class with a text from an unknown number.
    Best sis in the world sent my b-day present early! I read after class. So here's my number. Don't call me— I hate phones. ~*~Alan~*~
    Pretend it's a communicator , I texted back. You can download Star Trek ringtones for it.
    We come in peace; shoot to kill. Scotty, beam me up!
    When is your