Chapter 11
“Okay, folks! Who’s ready to get dirty?”
Parents and students alike let out a loud cheer as the environmental center’s employee revved them up. Even with the annoyance of Ben hovering behind me, I found myself pulled into the excitement. I freaking loved the Mud Walk. The school district had been doing this field trip for over fifty years, and I still remembered my own. Being back here made me feel like a kid.
“Now that we’ve gotten through all the boring educational stuff, let’s get ready to hit the trail. Walking through these wetlands will help you see how unique our Florida ecosystem is. It’s not every day you get to walk through a swamp!”
Gabriela stepped up next to the guide. “Okay, everyone. I want you to separate yourselves into groups of five. Chaperones, I’m going to come over and talk to each pair about the responsibilities.”
I looked around frantically, realizing everyone had paired up already. Did I miss the memo on that? Gabriela smirked as she came up to me.
“Mr. Thomas, you’ll be with Mrs. Ryan.” She was getting way too much joy out of sticking Ben and me together. “You’ll have five kids in your group, so one of you will be at the front and one at the back to make sure no kids get stuck.”
“I hope you get stuck,” I muttered to her. Ben came up beside me as Gabriela flashed her giant smile and walked away.
“Hi, partner,” Ben said. I kept my eyes trained away from him. “I gotta say I’m surprised to see you here. You don’t strike me as the type to like a mess.”
“Just because we’re chaperoning together doesn’t mean we have to talk,” I replied.
“Oh, don’t be like that. You would miss me so much.” Great. Teasing, conceited Ben was making a comeback. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the kids.
It had been a while since I had seen Sophie in a school setting, and I had forgotten how she dominated the social scene. All the kids in the room hung on her every word. They mirrored her movements, laughing in unison at some joke or another she made.
I watched my daughter and the daughter of my nemesis as the large group of girls debated who would get to be together. Paris was sweet and soft-spoken compared with my Sophie’s wild and entertaining ways. Sophie steamrolled the conversation, but I noticed she never let the stronger personalities push Paris out, like it was her job to protect her from all the other kids.
“I know you hate me and don’t care about my opinion, obviously,” Ben said from my side.
“Obviously,” I parroted without so much as a sideways glance, but it was a fight to keep from smiling.
“But you’ve done well with Sophie.”
I nodded, that smile breaking free.
“She’s been so good to Paris. My daughter’s sweet, but she’s so shy. She’s been through some stuff, and Sophie seems to get her better than most.”
My curiosity and my need to not give him the satisfaction fought for dominance. “Are you trying to use your daughter to tempt me into talking?”
He laughed beside me, the quiet chuckle he made whenever we were sparring, not the boisterous laugh from earlier this week that turned my insides to jelly. “I’m trying to thank you for raising a kind and inclusive child. If it makes you talk to me, all the better.”
I looked at him from the corner of my eye and bit my lip.
Sophie’s little group settled on a plan, splitting into two groups of four. With one spot left open, I saw a little boy approach her.
“Can I join your group?” he asked.
“No, you can’t, because we don’t like you,” Sophie said. The other kids sniggered as she looked down her nose at the embarrassed boy.
Fire lit in my veins at her horrible treatment of him. That was not the child I’d raised.
“Sophie Elizabeth Ryan. Come here right now.” I saw her eyes widen in fear from across the room. “What was that?”
“I don’t like him,” she said as she crossed her arms. “He said something mean about Daddy, and then I got in trouble when I hit him, but he deserved it.”
“Are you talking about two years ago?” I asked.
“Yeah, when we had to go to the principal’s office. Remember? I never get in trouble. It was his fault. Why do I have to be nice to him? He wasn’t nice to me.”
“Sweet pea, I know what he said hurt you, but it was a long time ago. People can change.”
Ben snorted beside me, and I threw him a glare over my shoulder.
“Give him a chance,” I said. “And no matter how mean someone was, it is always wrong to embarrass him like that. You are wonderful and kind, and I would hate for you to lose who you are because someone else was mean to you.”
Sophie nodded solemnly. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Mom.”
I watched as she ran off and invited him to join their group, proud my parenting moment got through.
“Oh man, I am such a fan of irony,” Ben said.
“And what exactly is so ironic here?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the kids.
“You lecturing your kid on not holding grudges, when you are the queen of it.”
I tried to form an argument in my mind but came up short. I settled for the grown-up response instead. “Shut up.”
As I walked off, Ben laughed behind me, the big genuine laugh I loved.
“Chaperones.” The employee’s voice boomed through the space. “We have adult-size protective boots if you want them. Otherwise, we can tape your shoes like the kids.”
She gestured to where the kids were sitting along the bench, teachers and employees wrapping duct tape around the laces to keep as much water out as possible. It wouldn’t work.
I grabbed the right size boots, trying to balance as I slid my foot in.
The employee called over to me. “Ma’am, have your co-chaperone help you, please. We don’t want you falling, and you can’t strap them on by yourself. You’ll end up with water in your shoes.”
I looked down at my beautiful new running shoes, cursing myself for donating my old ones. I glanced between my shoes and Ben, weighing my options. One: ask Ben for help. Two: wreck my new shoes. I was still trying to decide when Ben sighed and grabbed the boots from my hands.
He kneeled in front of me, gently grabbing my calf as he guided my first foot into a boot, followed by the second. They reached right above my knees, with straps wrapped around to keep the water from getting inside. I tried to steady my breathing; his fingers skimmed my thighs as he helped me with the straps.
He looked up from where he kneeled in front of me when he finished. “Nothing sexier than a beautiful woman in thigh-high boots.”
I laughed despite myself, popping out a hip. “Swamp chic. It’ll be all the rage at Fashion Week.”
My smile faded as he slowly rose in front of me.
“Isn’t this better, Juliana?”
I felt flushed, and I fought against the urge to fan myself. These damn boots were making me overheat.
“I should check in on our group.” I spun away from him as fast as the clunky boots let me.
We ended up as the last group, with Ben at the front. I knew from experience there’d be places he’d have to lift kids from the mud back onto the shore. Orlando had seen even more rain than usual in the past few days, and the mud reached above my ankles less than five minutes in. It was only going to get deeper. The woods echoed with the kids’ squeals and the squelching of their tape-wrapped shoes in the mud, and I laughed along with them as we all slipped and slid our way along.
We trudged through a deep section. I could see the students in front of me practically swimming, the mud up to their chests. It was only waist-deep on me. I was confident in my abilities until I suddenly couldn’t move my foot forward.
I yanked, trying to free myself from the muck. I tried to twist my foot a bit to loosen it up. I looked around for any tree branch I could use to tug myself out. Nothing. The students were disappearing around a corner. Before I could call out, they were gone.
Shit.
They’d notice I wasn’t there any minute and come back. I just had to wait it out.
Or not.
Who knew how much time had passed since the group lost me? I was sure I’d been stuck here for hours. I was starting to panic. I was the last person in line, so maybe they didn’t notice until the trail’s end. Why didn’t I make Ben go last?
I kept rotating my escape tactics, but nothing was working. What if I ended up stuck in a swamp all night? Damn it. I would have to dip under the water to dig my foot out. I used the term “water” liberally. It was really just a huge puddle of muck made up of god-knows-what.
I was working myself up to go under when a noise came from around the corner, sending my heart into my throat. Just as I was resigning myself to my future as an alligator’s lunch, Ben came into view.
“Oh, thank god. I thought no one would ever notice I was missing.”
“It’s been, like, five minutes.”
“Bullshit.”
“I swear to god. Ten minutes maximum. The rest of the group is only twenty feet around the bend. How long did you think you’ve been stuck here?”
I pursed my lips, still unsure if I believed him but uncertain enough that I didn’t want to embarrass myself more.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”
“This may be the first time you’ve ever been happy to see me.”
“Screw you. Better? Now get me out of here.”
“So disrespectful.” He stopped a few feet away from me and crossed his arms.
I glanced around for snakes, frogs, and other crawly creatures I was desperately trying not to think about and decided this wasn’t the battle to fight.
“Please, get me out of here.”
Ben’s smile grew as he took my arm, giving a light tug that did nothing. The laughter disappeared as he pulled harder. Still nothing.
“What the fuck did you step in, Juliana?”
He slipped his foot down my stuck leg to find the top of the mud and started using it to dig me out. I could eventually shift my leg. Then I could wiggle my foot. I could taste the freedom.
Ben stepped back and gave another hard tug, pulling my foot free. He stumbled back, and I went flying, my muddy hands slipping free from his as I careened forward, landing face-first and slipping below the horrible, muddy surface.
I burst back up, gasping, and wiped the disgusting muck from my eyes. Ben was folded at the waist, laughing so hard he looked like he couldn’t breathe. My glare spurred him on.
“You. Are. A. Total. Dick.” I pushed him as hard as I could with each word, but he hardly shifted under my attack.
“Pathetic.” He backed away with his arms raised. “Gonna have to hit the gym if you want to knock me over, Ryan. I—”
His words cut off as his feet came out from under him, mud splashing everywhere as he fell back. Sludge splattered me again, but it was worth it. He popped up a second later, as covered in mud as I was. Now I was cackling.
“Are you happy now?” he asked.
“Well, I’m not unhappy. I enjoy a good karmic takedown, and you’ve had that one coming for years.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get back to the kids.”
Our group spent the rest of the hike making jokes about how their chaperones were swamp monsters. Every few minutes, someone would look back at me, scream “SWAMP MONSTER!” and all the other kids would scream too before dissolving into a fit of giggles.
We reached the end of the trail, waving awkwardly at the other chaperones. We were caked with mud from head to toe, and the creek where everyone washed off at the end was not as effective as we needed. Gabriela’s bright laugh reached me. I turned to find her at the end of the creek with a center employee.
“I see the hike went well.”
“You’re the one who put us together. You should have known it would end in disaster.”
The employee motioned for the two of us to follow him. “There’s a bigger pond a couple minutes’ walk away. We don’t take field trippers over there, but you all may need a full dip.”
He led us around a bend and through some trees to a secluded pond.
“Hop in. The water may be chilly this time of year, but it has to be more comfortable than you are now.” The employee continued laughing as he headed back to the group, leaving the two of us to wash off. Ben gestured to the pond.
“Ladies first.”
After removing the ridiculous boots and my running shoes, I walked into the pond. I dipped my head into the crisp water before I could talk myself out of it, scrubbing away the mud on my face. My eyes found Ben, who must have entered the pond right behind me.
Unlike me, he didn’t stay fully clothed.
His eyes were closed as he pushed the water off his face and back through his hair. The water sluiced down his perfect pecs. I swear the world moved in slow motion as I watched each droplet find a different route through the many grooves of his abs. I froze, my fingers twitching to follow the same path. It was indecent. I couldn’t look away.
“Earth to Juliana.” Ben’s voice startled me out of my trance, and I spun away.
“Jesus, Ben. This is a school field trip. Where are your clothes?”
He chuckled behind me. “I’m trying to get clean. The kids won’t wander over here. And I left my pants on. You’re welcome.”
I looked back at him, forcing my eyes to stay above his neck. “Yet somehow, I could clean myself and keep my clothes on.”
“I don’t know.” He let his gaze slide down my body. The once frumpy chaperone T-shirt was now plastered to my skin. “You don’t look clean from here. Do what you need to do. You’ll hear no complaints from me.”
I fought to keep the smile off my face as I rolled my eyes. His eyes were lit with mischief as he waded toward me. He placed his hand lightly on my neck, his thumb brushing along my cheekbone. His eyes were soft now, and he ran his other thumb under my lips. My mouth parted, letting out a light gasp.
“Just getting the last bit of mud for you.” His voice was a near whisper, his eyes locked on my lips.
I swallowed thickly. I fought the urge to lean into his hand, to step forward and press my lips to his again. It was a battle I was losing. My feet started shifting along the pond floor, pulling me closer. My head tilted up. I wondered what commands my body was receiving, since my mind was anti-Ben. But before I was completely lost, he took a step back, allowing my brain to work again.
I blinked up at him as the haze of my mind cleared.
“I should go change,” I blurted, running out of the pond and back to the group.
Once back at the school, I forced Gabriela to keep talking to me while Sophie said her long and tearful goodbye to Paris, like they wouldn’t see each other again on Monday. I could feel Ben watching me and fought the urge to turn his way, until he finally gave up and dragged Paris away.
Saturday evening was a blur of stories shouted over each other as Clara tried to tell me about her winning goal, while Sophie told Clara all about me falling in the mud at least a dozen times. I crashed as soon as they were in bed. All I wanted was a good night’s sleep, but I found myself replaying the day in my mind. I couldn’t control myself around Ben, and I fell asleep repeating the reasons we’d be a mistake.