What's His Passion 2 - Climbing the Savage Mountain Read Free

of how much Toby loved him. He felt like an ass because he was so excited to finally be able to climb Everest and he could see how much Toby wanted to be happy for him, but the thought of Jensen being gone for so long was apparently not something Toby wanted to dwell on.
    After jumping to his feet, Jensen carried their plates into the kitchen then grabbed the cake off the counter. He’d baked it earlier that day after getting Jigger’s call about the trip. In the back of his mind, he must have wanted to soften the blow because he knew Toby wasn’t going to be happy about it.
    When he got back to the dining room, Toby was standing by the large bay window that overlooked their backyard. He’d rested one hand on the window frame and was rubbing his neck with the other. Tension rolled off him, making Jensen wish for the hundredth time that he wasn’t a completely selfish asshole who wasn’t going to ask Toby to be patient two more times.
    “How big do you want your piece?” Jensen interjected a hint of joviality into his voice. He held the knife poised over the cake.
    Toby glanced over his shoulder at him and shrugged. “I’m not really hungry for cake right now. Maybe we could have some later.”
    “Okay. Did you want to go take a shower? Or I thought we could go for a run later,” he suggested.
    “A run would be nice.” Toby inhaled deeply and squared his shoulders before turning to face Jensen. “Tell me more about Everest. You said you’re flying into Katmandu? That’s in Nepal, right?”
    Toby was trying and Jensen had to honor his attempt. He put the cake away then got the pitcher of cider from the fridge. After refilling their glasses, he took Toby’s hand and led him into the living room where he got Toby settled on the couch. Jensen started a fire in the fireplace before joining his lover.
    He entwined their fingers together, rubbing his thumb over Toby’s knuckles as he thought about what he could say to convince Toby to be excited about the whole situation. Finally, he just decided to talk. Maybe something in his words would spark an emotion in Toby.
    “Yeah. It’s the capital of Nepal. We fly in there then head to Lukla where we’ll trek up to Everest Base Camp. The company we’re going through plans expeditions up the Southeast Face. The North Col, which is on the Chinese side, is a technically more difficult climb, but none of us want to deal with the bullshit that China’s government hands out from time to time. It’s easier to go through Nepal.” Jensen shrugged.
    Toby looked interested, though Jensen wasn’t entirely sure if he really felt that way or was simply trying to be nice.
    “Why Everest?” Toby asked. “Whenever I hear people talk about something on their bucket list—or the ultimate dream—a lot of them say climbing Everest. What makes Everest such a goal?”
    Jensen scrubbed his hand over his hair as he tried to think about how to explain how he felt whenever he imagined climbing Everest. “I don’t know about other people, though for most of them, Everest might seem like the biggest insurmountable obstacle they can think of. And to be able to say they got to the summit ends up putting them in a rare class of people who have faced a challenge and defeated it.”
    Toby nodded. “I guess that makes sense, but why do you want to climb it? I know that it’s only number two on your list. K2 is the one you really want to conquer. Why not focus on that one instead of risking everything on Everest?”
    Jensen met Toby’s gaze and said, “If I can summit Everest, I have no doubt that I’ll get to the summit of K2.”
    “So Everest is just a litmus test as to your ability to climb big mountains? What happens if you end up getting injured while trying it? Will that convince you that you can’t do it or will it strengthen your resolve to try again?” Toby clenched his hands.
    He winced at the pressure Toby exerted on his fingers. Jensen cupped Toby’s face in his free