15
SOLO CLIMBS ARE, AS Alex’s various instructors have insisted on telling him, riskier than partnered ones. Free climbs are even worse. But there’s no one Alex trusts who also has time enough to meet him as a regular climbing partner, and he’s hardly in the sport for the companionship.
He’s not free climbing today because the weather looks iffy and, while Alex likes the physical risk and challenge, he does not actually have a death wish. He is alone, however, on one of the routes he hasn’t been able to complete yet. He’s grateful, as always, for the silence and the solitude. Home is way too quiet, but it’s impossible to think there anymore because the silence between him and Paul is so damn loud. Alex is dreading the day when he finally comes home and finds Paul’s car and everything gon
