The Virgin

Chapter Ten - A Tight Unit

"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."