Chapter 9

"This bromance is entirely one-sided, he's definitely not digging my lusciously soft lips." Jon deadpanned, then snorted. "And no, I did call to settle the dick pic thing. Well, it was a good excuse to call. How are you? What are you doing? Better yet, what are you wearing, doll?" Since she wasn't going to call him, apparently, and had been kind enough to show she was just as insane as he was…he'd make that jump.

"Okay so, I'm not lying when I tell you I'm in a towel. I was just about to jump in the shower when you called." Vallea did not want him to think sex was all she ever thought about in life because it wasn't. Well, maybe with him, but it would have to change if they were to be something other than sex. "And he's crazy if he doesn't enjoy those lips of yours." Now THAT was a sexual statement. "I'm fine, how are you? How was your show? Or should I say match? Yeah, how was your match?"

"I don't know yet, haven't had it. We're in the dressing room, actually." Jon glanced at the time. Oh yeah, they were in different time zones. "Be in about 30 minutes."

"Yeah, and you should be prepping."

"Joe says hi." He said sweetly, flipping his friend the middle finger. "I think he's having issues over my delicious kiss."

Shaking his head, Joe vacated the dressing room.

Not much of a time difference at the moment since they were on the West Coast and it was going on 7 PM, in California, which is where they were tonight for the house show. It was only a 2-hour time difference between them, so it was 5 PM in Hawaii. However, Vallea had been up since the ass crack of dawn, and being baked on the beach with Monique had left her feeling a little drained. "I'm sure he is." She turned away from the ocean and walked back into the room, leaving the doors open to let the breeze in for a minute. "He's right, though. You should prepare for your match tonight. Wouldn't want you getting hurt or anything." She still had no idea he'd been 'on vacation' for an injury.

"Aww, doll, you still want to play my nurse?" Jon's voice dropped to a wicked timbre. "My hands are healed up, Val, but I got other parts you could tend." He heard her snorting through the phone and began chuckling. "I'm warmed up plenty, doll, don't you worry about me. You're in Hawaii, right? Joe's been talking about your friend quite a bit. It's gross."

"I'll play nurse for you any time you want, Jon. You know that. And yeah, we're in Hawaii, just closed a few more business transactions, and hopefully, the houses will be sold in a couple of weeks." It wouldn't be hard since the market was on fire right now for real estate. "Seems they like each other…" She chewed her bottom lip, the conversation with Monique about Jon rolling through her mind again. "Monique actually pointed something out to me today. She asked me if I knew anything about you and…I told her no. She told me to go on Wikipedia and I told her I'd rather get to know the person from them than on the Internet or social media. Hell, I don't even know your last name." That made her laugh a little awkwardly.

"Good." He said after a long moment. There was no real reason for her to not know he supposed. They were way past the point of introductions anyway.

"Oh, okay." Vallea had no idea what to think about that. He didn't want her to know his last name?

"No, I mean that's my last name. Jon Good." He corrected, trying hard not to chuckle. "Jonathan Good."

"Jon Good." Vallea tested it out, eyes narrowing, and really hoped he wasn't messing with her. "That's…you're serious about this, right? Because if you're screwing with me, I will fly to California and find a way to hurt you." His reassurance made her feel marginally better. "Scholar is mine. Vallea Scholar." It sounded like either a fancy porn star name or a professor. Jon didn't know anything about her either, not even her last name. They stuck with today's topics during their walk around Vegas and mostly flirted to drive each other crazy.

"We both have stupid last names." Jon informed her after sorting out that last name of hers. Who the hell had Scholar as a last name? He was a bit suspicious that she was messing with him, or using a porn name or something. "We're going to have to sort that shit out quick if we ever get serious, babe. Can't name our demon babies either of those."

She swallowed hard at the mention of babies and had to gulp down her anxiety, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Good isn't that bad…I could always start calling you Jonny Be Good." His groan made her laugh a little lighter as she sat down on the bed, chewing her bottom lip. "So, you think there's a chance we could get serious then? I mean you're mentioning babies, so it's obviously been on your mind." Why was her stomach suddenly tensing and feeling as though it was twisting or fluttering?

Jon fell silent again, wondering if she were serious. From what little he did know of Vallea, he had assumed she wasn't one of 'those' chicks. One of those chicks who started with the exploding ovary bullshit at the mere mention of a baby. "No, it hasn't." He corrected her flatly. "It was a joke, Val." And now he knew what was on her mind, them getting serious. "What do you want from me?"

She was NOT that type of woman. In fact, Vallea never wanted kids – EVER. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Jonny boy. I don't want kids, never have and probably never will. And I don't know what I want from you. I guess getting to know you would be a step in the right direction to figuring that out. But we both lead very complicated lives and we both travel a lot, separately. Do you honestly think a relationship can be built on that? Or would you rather just stick to sex only once in a while whenever we run into each other in Vegas? Because I'm all right with both options, honestly." Heaving a sigh, she didn't expect the phone call to turn serious so suddenly and it threw her for a loop. "I pose the same question to you. What do you want from me?"

"Not babies." Jon liked kids, from a distance.

He had some steadfast rules in his life. No social media, it caused way too many issues and, quite frankly, he saw no reason to air his life to everyone. No children because he had no intention of hanging up his boots and that just wasn't fair to offspring or the poor unfortunate soul who bore them.

"How about another date?"

"Good, glad we're on the same page with that. And I'm sure I can fit you into my schedule." Vallea was all smiles now and couldn't believe Jon was actually asking her out on another date. They had slept together twice and yet they were going on dates. They really did do everything ass-backward. "When are your next days off?" Wednesday and Thursday were the answer. "All right, I'll be home during those two days for sure, so I can see you." It would be a lot easier if they traveled together, but that wasn't possible with their lines of work.

If he knew what she was thinking, about traveling together, he would have seen big, red, flashing neon warning signs. Very few couples in his line of work actually did that, unless they were both part of the company. "Thursday, I'll come pick you up around 8, in the morning." His tone was a lot lighter than it had been moments ago. "Wear hiking stuff."

Hazel eyes glittered at his command and Vallea couldn't wait for Thursday to get here, hating it was only Saturday. "Okay, I will." Were they actually going to try giving this a chance? There was only one way to find out.

"Ambrose, we gotta go, man! Get off the phone!"

Vallea chuckled at the sound of Joe's voice and could FEEL Jon's eye-roll. "Be safe and call me later, if you're not too tired or you feel up to it." She wanted to say have a great match, but Vallea didn't think that was the right thing to say, so she went with be safe instead.

"Don't wait up, Val." He hung up, shaking his head, refusing to fall in line with traditional dating routines. That had never worked out in the past for him and he wasn't bothering with it now. Jon had, many times, neglected to call when he was supposed with prior girlfriends because he forgot, or he was tired, and he wasn't doing that with her. "Shut up."

Vallea giggled at Joe's growl, knowing the 'shut up' wasn't directed at her. "Talk soon, Jon." She hung up, heaving a sigh, and set her phone on the bed before getting a much-needed shower and masturbation time.

That man was going to be the death of her, she simply knew it. Hiking sounded fun and different for a date – if it could even be called that. It made her wonder what he had in mind as far as their destination went.

A few hours later, she received a picture of him in a most…precarious position and chewed her bottom lip before deciding to send one back to him. Naughty photos would only prove useful.

He made sure to keep his actual head and whatnot out of the picture; he wasn't providing too much ammo, after all. Just in case. He knew her enough to fuck her, not send full-on pics that may make Internet rounds. Jon had issues and didn't trust easily; he figured on their 'date', he'd lay it all out for her so she knew where he stood and could make her own decisions from there.

Thursday morning, Vallea was up at sunrise, had her coffee, a shower and was ready for her date with Jon. Excitement bubbled in her stomach as she paced around her condo, trying to keep herself busy. The Hawaii trip had been cut short due to Joe asking Monique out on a date, after promising to come to Vegas to take her out properly. They really did like each other and she was happy for Monique. The woman didn't have much luck with men in the past, but hopefully, the Samoan could finally give her happiness. At 8 AM, her doorbell rang and Vallea took a deep breath before answering the door, her backpack with all the necessities she figured she'd need over her shoulder.

"Right on time."

Her attire was biker-tight shorts and a burnt orange racerback top, her hair pulled back in a tight bun to keep it out of her face and off her neck. Jon's icy eyes swept over her, his lips curving up into an appreciative smile. He wore his own climbing shorts, something a bit tighter than he generally preferred, but loose clothing wasn't really wise or friendly when one scaled rock walls, not if they didn't want them torn or caught somewhere stupid.

"We're going to hit Solar Slab today, that okay with you, doll?" He reached out to pull her into him before dropping a kiss on her beautiful lips.

That was one place she hadn't gone yet, though Vallea heard about it. She'd read up on it too. It was highly dangerous and they would definitely need harnesses. She would not be falling to her death or taking the risk again. The Red Rocks were child's play compared to the Solar Slab and, yet, she'd never felt more exhilarated and pumped for anything in her life. The feeling of his lips against hers was an added bonus to what would be another memorable day.

"Lead the way, handsome." She murmured against his mouth, slowly pulling away and already had her keys in hand, guiding him out to lock the door.

As long as he made it to the show tomorrow night, Jon wasn't overly worried about today and tonight. "You're not going to need your car." He gestured to his truck. "Already loaded with what we'll need." Because Solar Slab had some beautiful scenic areas to pitch a tent. "Unless…" He hadn't considered this, but he didn't think it would be a problem either. The woman climbed rock walls without harnesses and obviously had a thing for being outside. "You don't like camping?"

Vallea raised a slow brow at him, trying to decide if he was being funny or serious. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Jon. She rock climbed as a hobby and loved the outdoors, so why wouldn't she enjoy camping? "I love to camp. Just never seems to be enough time to actually do it." A fire, under the stars, with this man in the mountains sounded heavenly and almost too good to be true. She reached up to softly kiss him this time and walked out of the complex to start their adventure.

Some people were weird that way. They liked doing things outside, but hated the idea of sleeping outside. With women, it was usually bugs, snakes, and lizards. Personally, he didn't mind any of that. Jon had woken up a time or two with bugs. Hell, considering some of the dive hotels he had stayed at, roughing it outdoors was luxurious. He was quiet as he drove towards their destination, wondering when the shoe was going to drop. Their second 'date' and they were going to camp on a mountain somewhere. Most women would have shit bricks and she was just rolling with it happily. Jon couldn't get that lucky, right?

"Oh my god…it's so beautiful." Vallea was in awe at the sight of Solar Slab and beamed at Jon, her eyes sparkling with excitement at this upcoming climb. "I can't wait to get to the top. Imagine the view!" She nudged him, trying to get him pumped up as well, and couldn't take her eyes from the window as he continued driving. The moment Jon stopped, she was out of the truck and opened the hatch to grab everything they'd need. "That's really steep, so we're using harnesses. I brought two and enough rope and whatnot for both of us." More than enough, she wanted to be prepared. "I know you live for the moment and so do I, but…I also don't wanna go splat." She liked living.

"Yeah…I already have all that shit in one of my packs so unload yours." Jon ordered, shaking his head at her.

He was the one who had asked her out, and picked the place without telling her; he wasn't going in blind and about to risk either of their backsides on a proper mountain. Jon was stronger than she was, he had two sacks, one that would be used to hold their climbing gear and the other held the tents and everything else.

"It'll make room for food, water, and whatnot."

Shrugging, Vallea did as he asked and emptied her bag, packing it with extra food, water, and supplies, though she made sure to bring her own rope, just in case. One never knew what would happen climbing a monster like they were about to. It didn't matter who was stronger – if Vallea had to, she could pull Jon up if he'd gotten himself in a pickle as long as she had leverage to do it. When she wasn't rock climbing or working, she was usually in the gym, so she was stronger than she looked.

"Before we go," Vallea pulled his face down to hers, passionately kissing him, and didn't break it until they both needed oxygen. "Lead the way, I'll follow you."