Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

Chapter Seventeen - Love on the Weekend

"Are we going bowling?"

"No."

"On a hike?"

"No."

"Bungee jumping?"

Jaxon raises an eyebrow at me, "No."

"Somewhere else outside?"

"No."

"Really? Because at this rate it seems like you're taking me to the middle of nowhere to drop me off and leave me for dead."

Jaxon snorts at that one and shakes his head, "The first four are definitely wrong but I may have to consider the last one as an option if you don't stop guessing where I'm taking you every five seconds."

Now it's my turn to laugh but I follow it up with an overly dramatic sigh, "Fineee," I say, earning a smile from Jaxon, who is currently driving us to the super secretive place that he won't tell me about.

When I got home from work today, Jaxon immediately told me to get on a pair of sneakers and to wear something comfortable for our 'not' date. Or maybe it was a date. Still not 100% clear on that one.

We'd only been driving for about fifteen minutes but I hated surprises and I couldn't even guess where we were going based on the directions because I still didn't know the city well enough.

After a few more minutes of driving, we finally pull up to a large brick building with a beautiful mural painted right on the front. We were definitely out of the city now as this area was a lot less busy than Boston but I still had no idea where we were.

"Cmon, let's go inside," Jaxon tells me.

I eventually unbuckle my seatbelt and open the car door, closing it behind me as I get out.

Jaxon comes up next to me and leads the way towards the front entrance of the building. He reaches out his hand to me, almost in question, but I don't even hesitate before placing my own hand into his. Once we reach the front door of the building, I can finally see the inside a bit more and my eyes instantly widen.

"Woah," I say aloud.

We walk inside and are immediately met with the highest ceilings I had ever seen in my life, every orifice covered in rock climbing walls. The walls were splashed with different colors, every rock climbing piece a different shape and shade of the rainbow. The place was pretty crowded with people, but it was such a vast stretch of space that it didn't really matter.

"This is... wow," I say, turning my eyes towards Jaxon, whose eyes are already locked on mine.

"Have you ever done indoor rock climbing before, Blake?" he asks me. I just shake my head no.

"I've never seen anything like this," I tell him, "but it looks fun, I'm excited."

Jaxon smiles at me, "Good," he says, "Cmon, let's go check in."

"Jaxon, how much is this gonna cost because I-"

He cuts me off, "Don't worry about that, I have a membership here," he says.

I tilt my head at him, "So this is something you do a lot?" I ask him.

"You could say that I guess."

We walk up to the counter to be greeted by a large man with dark tattoos painted down both of his arms. He's frowning at something on his computer screen as we approach the desk but his demeanor immediately shifts when he looks up and sees Jaxon.

"Well, would you look who it is! Jax, how're you doing man?" The guy reaches out to give Jaxon a firm but definitely friendly handshake.

"What's up, man?" Jaxon then turns his attention towards me, "Blake this is Gunner, he's been working here ever since I started coming here back in High School. Gunner, this is Blake my roommate and my date for tonight."