"Morning, sleepy head," a voice says. I roll over and in my bed I see Bodhi, Zach, and Chad staring at me. They are all naked and smiling. What happened after my shower last night?
"Kate," the voice says again, and this time I open my eyes. I see just the hem of Lacy's shorts. Oh good, I was dreaming. I close my eyes and turn over.
"Wake up," Lacy says, "it's time to get going."
I pull the covers over my head and yell, "No more training! You hooked me up with a teenager last night!"
"So, are we still taking the train to team building together?" I hear Mark ask. "And, did you say teenager?"
I throw my covers off and sit up. "Why do you keep appearing in my house?"
"I thought we made arrangements to go to team building together?"
"The hell we did! You're just here . . . " I stop myself short of revealing his lust for my sister. No need to put any ideas in either one of their heads.
"We're supposed to be at the park in ten minutes. And you said teenager, right?"
"He was nineteen."
"So he was a legal teenager. Got it," Mark points out, making me hate him even more.
"Yes Mark, barely legal. Happy?" I ask, ripping off my covers and realizing I slept in the nude.
"Happier now," he remarks, staring at my naked body.
I yell. Lacy and Mark laugh and high-five. I wrap myself in my sheets and run to the bathroom.
Mark shouts, "Nine minutes and counting!"
By the time Mark and I make it to the park to team build, everyone else has enjoyed their orange juice, bagels, and fruit. I try my best not to look exhausted, but I still feel exhausted, so I don't see anything going well today.
I look for Bodhi but don't see him. Amir, Javier, and Peter sidle up to me. They can smell my desperation, I just know it.
"He went for a short jog," says Amir. "He said he needed a warm up."
Mark shoves a bagel in his mouth and hands me an O.J.
"Looking for Mr. America?"
"Kate was," Peter chimes in.
"No, I wasn't," I say, trying to stop myself from scanning the large meadow for the first glimpse of him. I grab Mark's bagel and take a large bite. Why do these guys think I'm as obsessed with Bodhi as much as they are?
"Speak of the devil," Javier says, letting a faint whistle escape his lips.
As I turn to look in the direction Javier is pointing, Bodhi emerges from a group of Girl Scouts picking dandelions. That Taylor Swift song whirls through my brain as he runs toward us. His muscles flex throughout his perfect body with every long stride he takes. His shirt is soaked through with sweat, and as he gets closer his eyes fix on me. He smiles and slows to a jog, like he's aware of his audience and doesn't want to let us down. He wants this moment to last as much as we do. He wants us to savor every last bit of all that he is. God, I bet he's amazing in the sack.
"Hi," Bodhi says, stopping directly in front of me.
"Hi," Amir, Peter and Mark say in unison.
He throws them a smile and then looks back at me.
"You look ready for some fun," he says, noticing my new kicks.
"Yep, got lots of sleep so I'm ready to do whatever it is we are doing here."
What are we doing here? I wonder. I've never had a surgical training in Central Park before.
Dr. Strong approaches us with Sandy, the second surgical nurse on our team, and gives Bodhi a big pat on the back.
"Why don't you tell us what we're doing today, Bodhi? After all, this was arranged per your request."
"Thanks, Dr. Strong," Bodhi says. "Now huddle up, everybody. Let's go." He claps his hands and everyone jumps to. We all step in. My shoulder bumps into his bicep and my entire body rushes with heat. His sweat is really pouring now and his pheromones smell like cola, tobacco, coconut, and a leather couch rolled into a tight, sexy package. Please don't let me faint. I make sure my knees aren't locked. I try to breath at a normal rate and look at the ground. Just don't look into his crazy, sexy eyes.
"This kind of team building might seem unorthodox in our field," Bodhi tells us, "but I'm not very orthodox, so Dr. Strong has asked me to share with you all some of the team building I've learned through my travels. We have come together to change neuroscience as we know it, thus we must work as a tight unit. Today, we will explore each other in the physical realm using our minds and bodies as one, melding together to become a cohesive unit. I, for one, am excited to see what comes of it."
Tight unit? That's what she said. I need some space or I might just start humping his leg. Seriously. I'm about to step out of the huddle when Dr. Strong steps behind me and takes both Bodhi and me by the shoulders.
"Just a reminder, we are not here to get injured. So let's use some caution," he says. "We've got two of the most brilliant minds in science here. I don't care what you two do with your bodies, but let's keep your brains intact."
I should leave. I can fake an ankle sprain. That worked in third grade P.E. Why not now?
Peter, padded in football gear from head to toe, bumps me from behind.
"I have some extra helmets and pads in my bag if you need them," he offers, speaking through a mouth guard.
"Actually," I say, "I'm good."
And then, my worst nightmare and happiest sweet dream happens. Bodhi takes off his shirt.
"Shirts versus skins. Who's with me?" he asks, wiping the glistening sweat from his large pectorals and washboard abdominals.
I pull my gaze away from him and look at the rest of team.
"Nah," Mark says, waving him off. "I'm good."
"I had a large sandwich," Amir confides in us all. "I'm a little bloated."
"I'm game," Javier announces, slipping off his t-shirt and revealing that he has a pretty hardcore workout going himself.
Sandy, the new nurse on the team, begins to pull off her shirt.
"Sandy," Dr. Strong barks. "You can keep yours on."
She nods in agreement and begins stretching.
"OK, with that in mind, let's build some team spirit, trust, and healthy competition!" Dr. Strong yells, followed by a loud blow of his coach whistle.
First, we each stand on a rock and fall backward into each other's arms. That goes well, except when Bodhi falls and his perfectly round ass lands directly in my hands. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but I blush and he sees me, so there's that. Then we play a series of short sporting games: badminton, volleyball, and rowing. Bodhi decides to split the rowing teams into two boats. Bodhi, Mark, Sandy, and I are to row in one boat, while Dr. Strong, Peter, Amir and Javier row in the second boat.
"Kate," Bodhi says, "you can be my cox."
"Excuse me?" I blurt out, trying not to giggle like a schoolgirl.
"Did he say beat his cox?" Mark chimes in, unable to help acting like a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Cox. Coxswain," Bodhi clarifies. "You will sit in the stern and coordinate our rhythm."
"Yeah, like this!" Mark yells, and he begins thrusting his hips forward and back while his arms stroke the air.
"Real mature, Mark," I growl, climbing into the boat. "Put him next to me so I can kick him when he gets out of line."
"Nope," Bodhi says with a big smile. "I'm in front. You and I need to make sure our rhythm is perfectly in time. This is to build our confidence as a team."
He climbs in and sits down eye level with my knees. I have so many thoughts and hormones racing through my body right now that I can't see straight.
They row and I shout out support to Bodhi and Sandy, intermittently telling Mark he sucks because I can. All the while, Bodhi is breathing with me, moving his hips and arms toward me and away from me, toward me and away from me. His stare is either at my knees or at my eyes. Both are vulnerable. My knees want to open for him, and my eyes want to close. We get back to the small pier. Dr. Strong and the others pull up just behind us.
"We won," Bodhi says to me, a childish grin on his face.
"I guess we did."
He stands up and grabs me. He's going to kiss me. Holy shit, he's going to kiss me in front of our colleagues. But I'm not going to fight it. I want this so badly I go limp. My entire being is yelling "take me" and he picks me up in his arms and splash!
As I hit the dirty, stinky, city pond water, all my lust disappears. He just threw me into the water, like we're buddies in junior high. I come up and swim to the edge, where I slip and slide my way out of the sludge. Everyone is clapping and laughing. I'm not. I wipe mud from my hair and storm back toward the chairs and coolers.
"Kate!" Bodhi yells to me. But I keep walking. I'm humiliated. Maybe more so because of what I thought was about to happen than anything else, but humiliated all the same.
I get to the chairs and grab the only thing I can use to wipe myself down with: Bodhi's shirt.
"Come on," I hear from behind. I turn and see Bodhi. He looks as embarrassed as I feel. "It wasn't the regatta, but I thought it . . . I didn't think at all. That's my problem. I got carried away w . . . you and shit, I'm sorry. That was totally inappropriate."
"It was," I say, trying to stay professional. "Thanks for the apology."
"Can we keep going? Do this last thing," he asks me.
"Sure," I shrug, knowing deep inside that all I want to do is jump back into his arms and tell him all is forgiven and that I got caught up in the moment too. But I can't, so I stare at him waiting for further instructions.
"What's next?" Peter asks, as he and the rest of the team gather around us.
Thunder rolls in the distance and a light rain begins to fall from the graying sky.
"Well," Bodhi says, looking up, "flag football. But I may have to change it to Mud Flag Football. Who's in?"
Amir and Mark bump chests. Peter puts his helmet back on. Sandy begins dancing in a puddle with Dr. Strong. Other New Yorkers head for the trees and back home, but not this group. They are taking it in.
"Not a bad group of people to trust with your life, eh?" Bodhi says, clipping a strap around my hips and attaching a flag to it.
As I learn the game of football—for the first time in my life—I begin to let go of my neurosis. Running through the slippery field and chasing each other reminds me of watching the kids at recess in middle school. I'd sit in the study room and work on my equations with complete focus. Once in a while, I'd hear a squeal and look out the big windows. Kids were chasing each other; laughing, teasing, hugging. That kind of camaraderie was foreign to me, but it remained attractive through the years as I watched Lacy play sports or act in her school plays. This experience was the closest I was ever going to get to that world.
Javier yells my name and tosses the football toward the end zone. I run as fast as my new kicks will take me. This is my moment to shine at recess. I'm going to make this touchdown if it kills me. As I run, I hear someone coming up behind me. No time to look back, because the ball is falling right in front of me. I run off the field and into the trees. I will catch this ball if I have to jump into the reservoir to get it. I jump forward as the ball drops into my hands. I feel my body falling toward the ground, and the footsteps come up on me quickly. I fall into the mud, pulling the ball tight into my chest as I slide beneath the trees and come to an abrupt stop. The person chasing me lands straddled over me. I'm laughing so hard, I can't breathe. I caught that damn ball. I did it!
I turn over and find myself looking up at Bodhi. The only thing between us is this stupid football. We stare into each other's eyes. His sweat is dripping onto me with drops of rain. Neither one of us talks, and our breathing quickly jumps into the same rhythm. This is my moment, I think to myself. And then I feel my hands drop the ball and reach up to his face. I kiss him hard and deep. I'm in that train tunnel now, and I'm going full speed ahead. Everything in the world falls away and I begin tearing at his shorts. He begins tearing at my t-shirt and my shorts.
"I've been wanting to do this since the moment I laid eyes on you," he says in my ear, breathing hard and grabbing my muddy hair.
I want to tell him that I've been wanting to do this for a really, really long time and I'm out-of-my-mind happy that I waited for him and didn't settle for "getting it over with" in a frat house with Zach, the nineteen-year-old premature ejaculator.
Bodhi reaches into my underwear. I'm about to let out a moan of ecstasy that I decide is going to put all moans of ecstasy to shame when a high-pitched scream stops my release cold and brings the rest of the world crashing down on us.
Bodhi and I look up. Standing in a circle around us is an entire troop of wet, muddy, and angry Girl Scouts.
"Rape! Rape!" yells the tallest girl scout. The rest of the scouts follow her lead and yell "rape" as loudly as they can while they kick and punch Bodhi with every ounce of girl power they've got.
I make it very clear to those girl scouts that I am proud of them for their bravery and quick thinking. They really give it to him and they make sure that everyone in the park knows that a man was assaulting me. Hell, if I had seen what they did, I would have done the same thing. You don't happen upon a man on top of a woman in the woods of Central Park and think, "oh, look, they're having public sex. I better just leave them alone." At least you shouldn't.
So, as the police officers escort the crying Girl Scouts back to their scout leaders, I think about how I almost lost my virginity to Bodhi Wells and how it would have been a good story later, but really it was a bit haphazard. I'm not on the pill and he wasn't pulling out a condom, so what the heck were we thinking? All this feeling has stopped my brain from functioning at the level I'm accustomed to. No wonder teenage girls are such a mess half the time. How do you think with all these feelings and desires coursing through your body? It's like a car wreck. I want to look away, but instinctually I am drawn toward death. In this case, I'm drawn toward this deep desire to be physically and emotionally satisfied. It's the cocktail that gets you drunk every time.
I make a point of keeping my distance from Bodhi as Mark finishes cleaning up his wounds. I am trying to imagine the vulgar questions Mark is asking Bodhi as a police officer approaches me.
Here we go, my first talking to by a cop.
"Dr. Matthews," he says, trying to not to enjoy himself with this. "Normally, I'd charge you two kids with disorderly conduct and lewd acts, but I think the troop girls over there did a sufficient job of sending the message home. My point being, next time just get a room."
"We were just playing football," I say, oozing with sincerity.
"Yeah, well," the cop says with a big smile. "If that's really the case, then you two were taking touch football to a whole new level."
He walks away from me, busting out into laughter. And so my humiliation grows.
I watch the rest of the surgical team pack up our gear. They're all laughing about the preposterous notion that Bodhi and I would be having sex in the woods. As luck would have it, Mark was the first person to find us. I have enough blackmail on him to get him fired ten times over. So, after an innocent explanation, the rest of the team believes that a small misunderstanding by the scouts led to Bodhi's beating and that, in the end, it was just a minor hiccup in what was otherwise a successful day of team building.
"Well, that didn't go as I'd imagined," Bodhi says, approaching me.
"Really? It was textbook for me," I say, desperate to make light of the situation.
"So, I'm taking off," Mark tells me. "I suppose you won't be needing an escort home now that you guys are together, or whatever you're doing in the woods in front of children."
"Actually, I'll ride with you," I say, needing some space from Bodhi before he remembers we have a date set up for tonight.
"So, what time should I pick you up?" Bodhi asks.
"Are you sure you're still up for dinner? I'd think you'd still be full from all those cookies—oops, I mean kickings—those Girl Scouts gave you."
Oh my god, I'm still flirting. I can't stop. I'm totally surprised when Bodhi smiles at my really dumb joke.
"Good thing I have a big appetite," he says, his eyes on me. "See you at seven-thirty. I'll be the guy at your door with the black eye and cracked rib."
"And I'll be the girl behind my door with the freshly shampooed hair."
Mark is standing behind me now and lets out a long sigh. "And I'll be the one eating leftovers and watching Moonlighting re-runs on Netflix, but that's neither here nor there."
Mark hands me my bag and starts the long walk out of the park to the subway. I give Bodhi a smile and wave as I jog to catch up with Mark. And for the first time in my life, I know for certain that someone is watching me as I go.