Page 31 of Nothing But Air

“Orthogonal?”

“Right angle.”

“Are you going to pretend you didn’t look that up?”

“Maybe I’m a math nerd at heart.”

“I’m sure you are.” A smile tugged at her lips.

“The isosceles is easy to pinpoint, but the orthogonal is trickier. The two points we have could be one of the sides or the hypotenuse, so that leaves three options.”

“Now you’re just showing off.”

“Would I do that?”

“So that gives four basic locations?”

“Eight. Because it could form a triangle to the northeast or to the southwest. Which is why we have two teams.”

“That is actually pretty smart.”

“I’ll take it and pretend like you didn’t sound surprised as you said it.” He pulled the truck off the main road onto a gravel access path. “We’re here.”

The canyon stretched beyond the windows—rust and brown and deep-purple shadows where the morning sun hadn’t reached. Ancient stone that had been here long before any of them and would remain long after.

The route he’d chosen was one of his favorites—a three-pitch climb up a sandstone face with enough challenge to be interesting without being overwhelming. He’d soloed it dozens of times and knew every hold, every crack, every place where the rock crumbled slightly under pressure.

They geared up at the base. Eden’s movements were practiced, efficient—checking her harness, racking gear with muscle memory that hadn’t faded despite two years away from the rock.

But her hands shook slightly as she tied into the rope.

Teague finished his own knots and moved closer. “Want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Whatever’s making your hands shake.”

Eden’s jaw tightened. “My hands are fine.”

“They’re doing a very convincing impression of not fine.”

“Hamilton—”

“I’m just saying. Shaky hands, white knuckles, breathing like you just ran a marathon.” He kept his voice light. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“Okay.”

“I’m not.”

“I believe you.”

“You’re patronizing me.”

“I would never.” He held up his hands. “I have the utmost respect for your totally-not-nervous state. Very Zen. Very calm. Definitely not hyperventilating.”

Eden stared at him. For a second, he thought she might actually hit him.