Well, what can I say. I went to the park that day to walk.
Not to meet someone. Not to have the wildest experience of my young life.
I was just 19, and very sheltered. First semester in college. Good girl. But I'd always had certain fantasies...
I didn't expect anyone to be at the park early on Tuesday morning. Who goes to the park on a work day?
And that's why I went.
To be alone.
To walk alone.
The air was full of Spring. Cool and crisp. It smelled of cedar. Bluebonnets and cactus sprinkled the small spots of grass in between the many trees and bushes and vines. They wove together into a beautiful barrier which protected me from the sights and sounds of the city roads. The buzz of the roads which were so near but, in this place, forgotten.
I walked down trail after trail, looking at birds, laughing at chattering squirrels, but eventually I slowed to a stop. I realized I didn't know which way to go next!
The sunlit trail above me and behind me looked the same, and so did the other trails branching off into the woods.
I leaned against a large tree trunk and held up my phone. No signal. I couldn't use Google Maps or call anyone for help.
The thought made my stomach tighten in a frightened way, but another feeling was there too...the adrenaline rush of knowing that anything could happen.
Suddenly I heard a twig snap somewhere behind me and it made me jump. I turned around to see an attractive, tightly muscled man walking a mountain bike up the nearest trail.
My breath stopped for a moment.
I recognized him. He was the most popular weigh-lifting trainer at the gym I worked out at.
Craig...something?
His quiet confidence had often caught my eye. I had hoped we would cross paths and stir up some small talk someday, but he was always too busy to notice me.
I admired his form as he got closer. He was certainly easy on the eyes. Clean-shaven, with light-brown hair. He wore white biker's shorts and a tight fitting shirt with some sports logo on it. His strong biker's leg muscles were visible, as were the sculpted muscles in his arms and chest, under his tight shirt.
He approached the location where I was standing awkwardly and gawking at him silently.
I hope he remembers me, I thought silently.
Craig continued walking his bike forward and didn't say a word until he had almost reached me. Then, he suddenly stopped.
"I startled you," he stated, matter of factly.
"No!" I objected, almost with too much determination. "You didn't startle me. I wasn't startled at all. I come out here all the time."
He looked at me, his blue eyes lingering on my brown ones for a longer moment than would be typical.
"No," he said. "I clearly saw you jump. I startled you, and you--you're still on edge right now. Why lie to a stranger?" He said these things with a calm confidence and a sly smile that made me blush.
"How do you know that I'm lying?" I asked, dropping my eyes as I spoke, but then looking back up into his.
"Because I can read your body," he said. "I am a fitness trainer. I look at peoples' bodies while I listen to their words. Words don't always tell the whole truth. But the body does."
