Teegan zipped up her duffel bag and finished getting dressed for the day ahead of her. She’d just double checked it to make sure she had everything she was going to need during her stay in the wilderness for the next several days.

She was so wired. Hell, she should have been totally exhausted after her late night and the fact that she barely slept when she did get back home, but she felt like she could run a marathon and then do some rock climbing.

Last night had been perfect. There was just no other way to put it. What started out to be a night just relaxing and getting out of her room had turned into the kind of passionate affair that Hollywood movies were made about.

Cort was perfect. He was sexy, handsome, interesting, and the sex was beyond intense. She’d never known real sex could be that good. Every woman dreams of a man who can do that to her and make her come that way, but you just didn’t think it was really going to happen for you. But it did happen to her. And she blew him off afterwards…

What was she thinking? She was rather drunk she remembered but she knew what she was doing at the time. Or at least she thought it was a good idea. But looking back with the coy way she basically told him to get lost was idiotic. What had she been thinking?

He was a gentleman and offered to walk her back to her hotel, but she told him no. She still wasn’t sure why. What was the thought process behind that decision? She just couldn’t understand that this morning. How in the hell could Cort have understood? He must have thought she just wasn’t interested, or that she didn’t enjoy herself with him. Maybe he thought she was just using him for a good time.

But that was the farthest thing from the truth.

Teegan grabbed her phone and checked, hoping that he’d called her. But no. She knew that he wouldn’t call. Why would he? After what she’d done to him she would have been surprised if he even spoke to her if she called him.

She clutched the phone to call him. She had to explain herself. But then she remembered that he had her number, but he hadn’t given her his. Crap! She didn’t even know his last name. And it wasn’t like she could check with his employer because he was self-employed.

Ugh! How drunk had she been?

Not too drunk to realize that Cort was the best guy she’d ever met and she’d just blown what could have been the love of a lifetime.

Or maybe not. Was she exaggerating a bit? They’d only had one night together. But when she really searched her soul for the answer to that it made her want to cry.

She would just have to hope that he would give her a second chance and give her a call sometime.

Teegan grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs and then headed out to meet the group. Outside the hotel was a bus waiting to take them to the location at the base of the woods where they would be hike to the final camp. This was where they would meet Siri.

When she arrived at the woods Teegan was a glad to see that there was an actual trail for them to take, so they wouldn’t just be walking along through the woods. She was not really an outdoors type person. So the trail was a gift from God.

On the bus trip the other members of the group spoke to each other. They came from all over the world, but luckily at least some of them spoke a smattering of English. Teegan sat in the back of the bus and just kind of kept to herself. She wasn’t really in a talkative mood, mostly because she wanted to sulk and beat herself up about how she had left things with Cort.

The lady who greeted them at the mouth of the woods was named Diane. She briefly went over what was going to happen. They were going to hike to the camp site which typically took about an hour by foot. It was going to be a fun time.

“But first all electronics must be given to me,” Diane said.

Teegan’s head shot up to look at her. Was this woman serious?

“Why?” An Asian girl asked reluctantly.

“Because this is a retreat. A big part of this journey is to find a deeper understanding of yourself and you can’t do that when the world is connected to you through artificial means. So all phones, laptops, etc. Any electronic devices need to be given to me. I will place them in a bag and of course you will get them back at the end of the three days.”

Teegan felt a moment of panic soar through her. That meant she would have to give up her phone. So on the remote chance that Cort did call her she would miss that call and not be able to contact him back for the next three days. A sickening feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach. She contemplated refusing and she thought about hiding the phone somewhere. But she had been dreaming of this opportunity for so long that there was no way she was going to blow it. She did not want to be a troublemaker and get kicked out of the group. All over a guy she’d just met who would probably never even call her.

With a groan she reluctantly handed over her phone and other electronic devices. Teegan watched as the electronics were placed in the bag.

“Ok, let’s go,” Diane said as the group grabbed their bags and started the hike through the woods.

Teegan began to feel a bit better about giving up her phone the closer they got to the camp site. There was something about walking through nature that helped to alleviate stress from the body and the mind. The exercise felt great, the fresh air, the sights, the smells—it was all about going back to the roots of humanity, the roots of life.

She was seeing the benefit of giving up the electronic devices already. When you thought about it those things were vices, they were crutches, and they were invisible shackles. They kept a person dependent on a false reality that denied someone the real purpose of their life in a lot of ways.

By the time they reached the camp site she was hardly even thinking about Cort.