Page 145 of Nothing But Air

“So.” Teague brushed back a whisp of her hair. “How am I doing for our official first date?”

Her brow wrinkled. “You did make me wake up at four in the morning.”

“To see this.” He motioned to the view.

“Fair point. And you brought coffee.” She pulled the thermos from the side of his pack.

“And donuts.” He opened the flap and found the bag and held it out.

She claimed one of the donuts. “So breakfast on a cliff, watching the sunrise, with the man I love. Yeah, you’re doing pretty well.”

“Just pretty well?” He pulled her close and Eden turned in his arms, face tilted up. Close enough that he could count the freckles across her nose.

She brushed his wild curls back from his face. “Well…”

Then he leaned in and kissed her.

Soft and slow and full of promise. The kind of kiss that said this is just the beginning. The kind that tasted like coffee and sugar and coming home.

When they pulled apart, both were smiling.

“Better?” Teague rested his forehead against hers.

“Getting there.” Eden’s voice was breathless. “Though I should warn you—if this is how we do our first date, I have high expectations for the second one.”

He leaned back slightly. “How high?”

Her eyes held mischief. “I was thinking we could tackle that technical route on the South Rim. The one nobody’s free climbed in twenty years.”

“You’re going to kill me.”

“Nah.” She kissed him again—quick and sure. “You’re tougher than you look.”

“I look pretty tough.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Teague laughed, the sound carrying across the canyon. He pulled her close against the backdrop of stone and sky and the rising sun.

Teague laced his fingers with hers. “What do you think about coming with me and my parents to hike Half Dome in a couple weeks?”

Eden leaned back. Stared at him. “Where Chip fell?”

“Five-year anniversary.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I called my mom last night. Told her about you. About us.” A pause. “She cried. The good kind, she said. She’s been waiting a long time for me to stop running.”

Eden’s throat tightened. “And your dad?”

“Asked if you could keep up with him on the switchbacks.” That crooked grin appeared. “I told him you’d probably leave us both in the dust.”

Something shifted in her expression. Understanding. The weight of what he was asking.

“I’d be honored.”

She settled into his side, and they sat together on the summit—drinking coffee from the thermos, still hot. Eating day-old donuts that tasted perfect in the morning air. Watching the canyon come alive with light.

Teague thought about how far they’d come. From that first morning when he’d taught her to trust the rock. To the moment she’d fallen and he’d caught her. To right now—sitting on top of the world with the woman he loved.