![]() Ted takes a second before he looks up and says, “Okay. “Clipping in and out isn’t scary at all, I promise,” Mark says. “Don’t you have to be.locked into the bike? I don’t like the idea of not being able to just hop off.” “If you’re a decent rollerblader,” Mark says, “then you’ll probably be great at SoulCycle.” “And I’m a decent rollerblader, so it all evens out.” I never slept with any girls,” Ted smiles. He listens to Ted tell a story of the time his sister received a chastity ring from his parents, and how Ted was given what his father called “chastity rollerblades.” “They technically ended up working. “Do you want to share a dessert?”Īs Mark dips into a flourless chocolate cake, he thinks, I have such a crush on you. Ted laughs and shakes his head at the story. They are halfway into their entrees when Mark finds himself telling the Kerri Strug story. They order appetizers and salads, and they both eat bread from the basket. They sit upstairs, where they can see the rest of the restaurant over a steel-coated balcony. Ted takes Mark to a restaurant that requires a reservation. ![]() ![]() Mark offers to get him in whenever he wants, and then Ted says, “Do you want to go to dinner first?” Ted doesn’t smile with his teeth, which is also cute, and he says he’s never been to a spin class. Ted is 25 and he’s very cute and he looks like at least one of his parents is Black Mark has a feeling it’s his mom. Mark works the front desk at the SoulCycle in Hoboken, New Jersey, and one of his coworkers-one of the two Black people working there besides him-invites him to a party, and that’s where he is introduced to Ted. ![]() On a Friday night in October, Mark meets Ted. ![]() Mark played Kerri Strug so much that the couch cushion became discolored and limp on one side. Sometimes Sheena would play the national anthem on her recorder while Mark removed his pants, received his “medal” (a CD attached to some twine), and placed a hand to his chest. Sometimes he would take the flowers from his mother’s nightstand and announce his gold-medal win. “I just love that she was like, ‘No,’ ” Mark says, “ ‘I’m not putting pants on over my broken-ass ankle.’ ”Īfter Mark explains the cultural relevance, he describes what became his favorite game to play: “Kerri Strug,” which consisted of Mark running to the long side of the L-shaped couch in his parents’ bedroom, doing a front handspring over the length of it, partially landing on his feet, and making his older sister Sheena carry him away. ![]()
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