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“Oh my God, maybe they were attacked!”
And that’s Thiago.
We’re being rescued. Unfortunately, we’re trapped inside this tent without a stitch of clothing between us. I try to sit up, but Ty—who, as it turns out, is an extremely sound sleeper when he actually does it—pulls me closer. He looks so peaceful, I almost want to let him sleep, but I really can’t, can I?
“Hello!” Thiago says. “Knock, knock! Are you alive in there?”
I freeze in place, not daring to breathe, even though we’re caught, so I should just say something because in a few seconds they’re going to find out anyway. Gah! The sleeping bag is under us and there’s no way I’m going to be able to pull it out from under him. Damn my weak upper body. I have got to start lifting weights.
Thiago’s voice grows quiet, but I hear him say, “What if they’re not in there? What if they got attacked and they’re dead and I’m going to wind up losing my job and getting sued because some billionaire convinced me to let him canoe alone?”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Rohan answers. “From the looks of their clothes, they chose to take them off.”
Oh God, this is awful. Embarrassing. Humiliating. Beyond bad.
“How can you possibly tell that?”
“Because a wild animal wouldn’t likely carefully remove your clothing before ripping you to shreds with their teeth. They just leave it on and go to town.”
Geez, Rohan, that’s a little dark. Accurate, but dark.
I tap on Ty’s shoulder and whisper, “Wake up! We’re being rescued.”
He grunts a little and keeps right on sleeping.
“Did you hear that?” Thiago asks. “It was a whisper. They’re probably so weak they can’t yell for help.”
The sound of the zipper makes my heart pound even harder than it already was. They’re about to see me fully nude. In the bright sunlight. Wrapped up in the arms of a man I’m supposed to hate. Panicking, I shout, “Occupied!”
Occupied? This isn’t a truck stop ladies’ room.
The zipper stops and I let out a sigh of relief.
“See? They’re fine,” Rohan says. “Gwen? Is Ty with you in there?”
“Uh-huh,” I squeak. “He’s… right here.”
“You two all right?”
“Um, yup. Great. Nobody got ripped apart by wild boars or anything. He’s sound asleep actually.”
“Would you like me to gather up your clothes and hand them in to you?” Rohan asks.
“That would be delightful, thank you,” I answer, now sounding British for some reason.
Not that a British accent is going to salvage any remaining shreds of dignity I may have had when I arrived in Peru. Although, now that I think about everything that’s happened, I’m relatively certain I left my dignity at the airport right around the time I picked up that baby…
28
Psychedelics and Public Confessions…
Ty
It really is the little things in life that matter. Like being able to have a hot shower, which is what I’m doing now. Or getting a good night’s sleep, which happened last night. How the hell I managed to do that on the hard ground in a tiny tent is beyond me. That is literally the first time that has happened. I’m telling myself it’s because of all the fresh air and orgasms, but way deep down inside, I know that’s bullshit. I’ve been on plenty of trips with fresh air and orgasms before and never slept a wink on any of them.
It’s her. It’s Gwen—the way she touches me, how she seems to understand me in a way no one has before, the feeling of her body against mine. We just fit together, like mashed potatoes and gravy or peanut butter and jam. Or Tweedledee and Tweedledum, because falling for someone is nothing, if not dumb.
I stand under the spray, trying to get my head on straight. I cannot fall in love with Gwendolyn Fox, SETI researcher, woman who loves to doodle on my face and throw darts at me. I will not spend my life with a person who sings nasty songs about me on karaoke night. It’s not going to happen. Last night was just a night. It was the circumstances that caused us to … do all the things we did to each other. Every delicious movement, every touch, every kiss was solely due to us being two consenting adults alone with nothing else to do. I can see why people back in the day had so many children. They were bored.
