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Before they started dating, Sam and Beth always used climbing and hiking trips as an excuse to hang out. Beth would drive the two of them up to the Washingtons’ cabin early in the morning and they’d disappear into the woods for a day. By the time they returned to the cabin, they were exhausted, scraped-up, and covered in chalk dust. After they started dating, they maintained the tradition of chasing each other up every climbable rock face on the mountain.
The very first time Sam and Beth kissed was at the top of a rock face a mile from the cabin. Sam had offered Beth her hand to help her up the few remaining feet to the top, and Beth had confidently disregarded it. She took pride in never needing help up any cliff, regardless of how difficult it was to climb. However, Beth missed her last foothold and was left clutching at Sam’s hand to steady herself. When Sam hauled her over the edge and helped her to her feet at the top of the face, Beth didn’t feel ashamed or angry: she felt supported. And she felt like it was finally time to resolve the nervous romantic tension between the two of them. Sam had, apparently, been thinking the same thing.
Six months later, the two of them kissed again in the spacious master bathroom of the Washington cabin. They could see the sunset through the wide window as Sam filled the tub with steaming water. When it was halfway full, she began pouring liberal quantities of lavender-scented bubble bath under the stream from the faucet. White bubbles foamed up spread through the bath. By the time it was full, the surface of the tub was completely white and, Sam thought, looked like angel food cake.
“Alright, I think it’s bath time,” Sam announced. She pushed a few strands of stray hair out of her face. She always kept her hair in a braid while climbing, but a day of activity had left it messy.
“Here, I’ll help you with your hair,” Beth assured once she noticed the state of Sam’s braid. Beth gently unwound the hair elastic from the end of Sam’s braid and untangled her blond hair. She let her fingers linger against Sam’s scalp, and Sam smiled.
“We should get you out of those clothes,” Sam suggested. But Beth caught her waist from behind and pulled their bodies close together. She peppered Sam’s neck and the side of her face with quick kisses. “Wait! I’m all sweaty!” Sam giggled.
“Ew, you’re right,” Beth joked, but she kept Sam pulled tight against her.
“Seriously, let’s get in the bath,” Sam said with a smile. “I really am all sweaty.”
“All right, but I’m helping you get undressed.” Beth tugged at the hem of Sam’s shirt and Sam let her pull it over her head. Sam stepped away so Beth could undress, and soon the two of them were naked together in the bathroom. Before Beth got into the bath, she pressed play on her iPhone and the first notes of a Purity Ring song sounded through her portable speakers.
“Ooh, good choice in music,” Sam said. Beth had started listening to Purity Ring when Sam made her a mix CD with one of their songs on it, and Sam smiled at the memory. She was also smiling at the sight of her girlfriend, totally naked, as Beth returned to the edge of the tub.
“You’re such a buff climbing babe,” Sam said with a grin as she stepped into the bath. The warm water immediately started relaxing the sore muscles of her thighs and calves.
Beth followed Sam into the bath and settled herself down in the warm water.
“Hell yeah I am,” she said, flexing her bicep. Her muscles really were quite impressive: years of climbing had given her the kind of arm strength that let her routinely beat Josh (and any of his friends) in pull-up competitions whenever he got too cocky.
“Oh my god, this water feels so good,” Sam sighed. She sank down into the bath deep enough that the bubbles stuck to her chin.
“I know, the last ten feet of that wall really killed me,” Beth agreed. Sam knew how difficult it was for Beth to admit that she struggled at something, and she reached for Beth’s hand. They held hands underneath the water. “My whole body is sore...like, from my fingers to my toes.”
“Here, I’ll massage your hands,” Sam said, and lifted Beth’s hand out of the water. She turned it palm-up and began massaging the arc of calluses on her palm, just underneath her fingers. Old scrapes and blisters had left calluses all along Beth’s fingers, too, and Sam carefully massaged down each finger individually.
“You’re such a caretaker,” Beth chided.
“Well, you need someone to take care of you! Chalk up your hands more next time or you’ll destroy them again,” Sam replied as she dodged a half-healed blister on Beth’s index finger.
“I chalk up my hands just fine, thanks. I don’t have sweaty palms like you.”
“I don’t have sweaty palms!”
“Oh, sure,” Beth rolled her eyes dramatically. Sam retaliated by splashing Beth, sending a small wave crashing against her face. Beth wiped the water from her face, which was set in an indignant expression. “Oh my god, you did not…”
“I absolutely did!” Sam responded gleefully.
Beth moved to splash Sam back, but Sam was already ducking under the water, and the wave of bubbles and water sloshed against the side of the bath tub.
Sam popped back up and cleared the water and bubbles from her eyes.
“No splash fights in the bathtub, remember? We had to clean it up the last time,” she said.
“Oh my god! You started it!” Beth replied. She would have looked genuinely bothered to someone who didn’t know her very well, but after being friends with Hannah and Beth since the beginning of high school and having dated Beth for six months, Sam knew better.
“Come here,” Sam whispered, taking Beth’s hand.
“All right, I guess you can apologize by kissing me,” Beth teased. She closed her eyes and leaned in for a long, warm kiss.