I was twenty that summer, and working at a restaurant in a resort community to earn money for the next year of college. It wasn't much of a job, washing dishes in the kitchen of the restaurant, but the pay wasn't terrible.
I was feeling kind of lonely since my girlfriend, Jane, was back in our college town doing her own summer job. I was lonely, but to be honest I suppose I was also just horny. I was used to getting it very regularly from my cute little blonde girl, so I was really noticing the difference.
July was brutally hot and humid, so the work in a very busy kitchen was like a non-stop sauna for eight hours. A shift of hard continuous effort in a steamy kitchen left me both enervated to the point of being wrung-out, but also curiously sensual in a languorous way.
One of the cooks in the restaurant was a friend of mine named Mike. I knew Mike from my days before going off to college. He was tall and skinny with a mop of thick black hair. I knew he was a bit of a burnout, because during our earlier days carousing I had seen him doing drugs and drinking to a serious degree. Mike, a couple of years older than me, now seemed to be trying to establish a career as a professional cook, and I think he had calmed down a bit as he matured.
We re-established our casual friendship at work, bantering and joking as time and circumstance allowed. I knew that Mike had a live-in girlfriend, though I had only met her once maybe a year before. She was short, slightly chubby, and cheerful.
Late one evening in July, after the kitchen had finally closed at midnight and the clean-up was done, Mike asked me if I wanted to go for a swim. For lack of anything else to do, I easily agreed.
We drove out to the river. A gravel road led down to a little-used boat landing which of course was deserted at this time of night. Mature trees surrounded the road, but the moonlight feel on the small beach and wide sandy expanse of the river. The night was heavy and hot with ninety percent humidity, and we were both already sweaty and tired from an evening in the kitchen, so the water looked extremely inviting.
Without even mentioning it, Mike started stripping. Of course I should have realized that we would be skinny-dipping, but I guess I hadn't thought about it. Well, what the hell, I thought. I started stripping down to my bare skin too.
I looked over to see Mike's long and slender but rather muscular frame in the moonlight. He grinned at me like a naughty little boy, and then ran into the shallow river to stand thigh-deep. The moonlight was behind him and he presented a colorful image.
I peeled off my shorts and walked into the water myself. I had the feeling that Mike was looking at my naked form, at least as carefully as I had scoped him. He sank down into the wonderfully cool river water up to his neck.
I was slightly self-conscious as I waded into the water. I too was slender to the point of skinny, but short and compact as opposed to Mike's tall rangy physique. I guess I have always been a little nervous about my body, since I was an un-athletic kid and picked-on some in school. So it made me feel a little funny that I was being looked at. I got down into the water as quickly as I could.
Mike let out a whoop and started swimming around in the river. I just lay back and closed my eyes, basking in the cool soothing water. It was a delicious feeling to relax and cool down.
After a while Mike came over to where I was in the water and started floating nearby. We started a desultory conversation about the events at work, and a few common friends.
It's a funny thing how there can be an undercurrent to a conversation, unspoken, but definitely there. I could tell that something was going on in our talk. Mike often returned to me, asking how I was feeling, if I was enjoying the cool water, what I thought about this or that. His voice seemed to have taken on a slightly different, almost intimate tone.
Now I won't give you some song and dance about what a macho all-American non-homo straight boy I was until that very moment. I was mostly straight and functioned that way, but actually I had entertained some thoughts about male-male sex. I had never done anything about it, but I was very aware of the possibility.
I was clearly aware that a few feet away a rather attractive naked man was focusing his attention on me. It was almost as if I was a girl he was trying to act interested in. It was a very different sensation for me. It both excited me and scared me. I'm not sure if I was clearly thinking all those ideas at the time as much as experiencing those feelings.
It seemed like Mike was testing me, asking for some response either in word or manner. I was kind of excited, but somehow I was also scared, and didn't quite know how I should be reacting. So I didn't say much once I started feeling how things were going. The conversation died down.
Finally Mike seemed to decide we had come to dead end. He sighed loudly, and observed that it was late and we should be getting home. He stood up and waded back toward the shore. I watched his tight muscular ass glistening in the moonlight as he stepped ashore. As he stood after gathering up his clothes I caught a brief glimpse of him in silhouette in front of the moon. I could have sworn he had flagging remainder of a rather substantial hard-on. But then he had turned away. I swallowed in a suddenly dry throat.
Even more conscious of my nudity, I got out of the water and hurried over to get my clothes, and get dressed. I didn't have a boner but I hurried because I didn't want to pop one out of excitement from what I had seen.
As we drove back to work to drop me at my car, we didn't talk much. I think we were both tired, and there was an unspoken something between us. Finally as we pulled into the lot and I made ready to get out I thanked Mike for the idea of going swimming.
"We should do this again tomorrow night after work." I said, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Yeah. We should." Mike also was uncommitted in manner, but I detected a slight tone of interest under that.
"Great!" I said, being cheerful. "We have the day after off. Maybe we should smoke or something, since we can sleep in?"
"Cool!" Mike seemed rather more enthusiastic. I got out and went to my car, and headed home. On the drive home a number of excited and unformed emotions roamed through me. I was excited, because it seemed like something was going to happen.
The next afternoon work was a slow thing, because I was thinking of what might be happening later. During break Mike seemed in a very cheerful mood, expansive and friendly. He made a joke that made it clear he had some dope for us to use later that night. As business picked up the work was such that the coming evening was finally moved out of mind as I struggled to keep pace. It was as hot and humid as the prior evening. Finally, the shift came to an end, and we went through our close down routine.
During the work Mike caught my eye a couple of times, with a smile, like we shared a naughty secret that the other workers couldn't understand.
So work was done. I got in Mike's car and we drove out to the river. It was similarly a hot humid evening, and we were both ready for some soothing skinny-dipping.
When we were parked at the boat landing, we got out and sat on the car trunk and shared a fat joint. The stars were extremely bright overhead. They took on the strangest aspect as the dope started to hit me. It had been a while since I smoked. This stuff was potent and knocked me for a total loop.
Mike got up and started stripping. Even in my stoned state I could tell that he was taking his time and putting on a bit a show – for my benefit, I guess. And I was appreciating what I saw. His lanky body was tightly muscled, and a nest of thick black curls in his pubes matched his black head of hair. There was no hair on his chest though. In the light of the full moon every detail stood out in sharp relief.
I felt relaxed enough to boldly stare at him. The smoke had lowered my inhibitions that much. His cock and balls looked quite sufficient nestled in that dark hair, and I fancied that the prick looked like it was starting to get interested in what was going on. It seemed a bit thicker than a few moments earlier.
