This is a true story of a trip to Myrtle Beach with my friends in the summer just after finishing high school. Names have been changed.
***
"This is it; we're here," Brian's voice crackled over the walkie talkie we were using to chat between cars. This was summer 2000, and while several of us had cell phones, they weren't always reliable in the rural Carolinas where we'd been driving. I turned into the campground we were renting and pulled up to the cabin. It wasn't quite like it looked in the brochure photos, but it was cheap and not far from the water and the strip. My friends were getting out of their cars and looking around the place.
"Ok, we've rented two cabins, and there are seven of us. How should we split up?" Brian asked as I walked up. We'd already tentatively made a plan, so half the group split away for their cabin and Jason, Josh, Brian and I walked in ours. It was sweltering, but luckily had a window AC unit that we immediately turned on. There was a double bed against one wall and bunk beds against another. Not fancy.
"Uh, where's the bathroom?" Jason asked.
"It's communal, just a minute walk from here. We passed it on the way driving in," Josh said, trying to be upbeat. "You need to go? I can show you."
"No, just wondering what we'd gotten ourselves in to," Jason replied. "It'd better have individual stalls."
My first thought was about the sleeping arrangements. I'd had a crush on Jason forever, and we'd shared a bed on a school trip to New York a few months back, but nothing happened, so I didn't want to repeat that. (Years later both he and I are out gay men; at this point he was too closeted to say anything.) Brian and Josh were the tightest friends of the four of us, but I'd been spending a lot of time and getting closer with Brian recently.
"I don't mind; I'll share the double," said Brian. I could tell he was a little down about the accommodations, since he'd planned that part of the trip. He saw this as a concession.
"Brian," I said, "you can't beat the price here, and where we can rent as 18 year olds is limited. I can't sleep on the top bunk because I'll fall off. Jason, Josh, you guys take the bunk beds. I'll happily share the double with you." I felt kind of like Emperor Palpatine, subtly devising the sleeping arrangement to my liking without revealing my motives and hoping that it might let something happen with Brian during the week. Jason and Josh shrugged to each other and agreed, thinking they'd gotten the better part of the arrangement.
My decision was totally self-serving; Brian was gorgeous. He had a permanently mussed blob of already slightly receding black hair and a few light freckles. His smile made my stomach flip and his laugh was infectious. His body was trim and toned from years on the tennis team. He had that naturally gorgeous aesthetic that many 18 year olds have from being young and active. He was a kind and intelligent person. We'd become good friends in the last couple of years having had many classes together.
I wasn't as athletically inclined as Brian, but had an average body from doing a lot of landscaping in my neighborhood and a nice tan from the work as well. I'm a blonde haired, blue eyed guy, very different in complexion from Brian, as well as a bit taller and heavier.
"I'd better not wake up in the middle of the night to the bunk bed shaking because you're beating off," Jason teased Josh.
"I'll keep it subtle," Josh retorted. "And if you do wake up during it, don't bitch about it; join in!" This was typical of our banter.
Jason took the bottom bunk, Josh the top, and we made plans to head to the beach. We started changing into swimsuits, turning away from the center of the room for a bit of modesty. I glanced at Brian as he was pulling his bathing suit up in time to see a thick patch of dark pubes that narrowed into a treasure trail ending at his belly button. The style of the time was for long board shorts and Brian's suit was the shortest of any of us, which got me laughing.
"What, Matt?" Brian asked. "You know I like short shorts. That's why they're called 'shorts.' Any surprise that I prefer a short bathing suit as well? Gotta show off these legs, and my ass!" He started shaking his butt at us and we all began to laugh.
After our time at the beach, Jason and Josh went to the store to get snacks while Brian and I stayed at the campground to take showers. When we got to the bathroom, it was empty except for the two of us. The showers were walled on three sides and had a curtain on the fourth with a small bench to dress. We took adjacent stalls and kept chatting, although to hear over the water we were practically yelling. I started imagining Brian naked in the shower beside me, which had my nerves tingling. If only there were some way to see him! I'd daydreamed earlier at the beach about seeing him in the shower, but I'd imagined that there was no space in the stalls for dressing and we'd have to do that in the open. Now that I'd seen the bench inside the curtain, that was out.
"Hey, Matt," Brian called, "can I borrow some shampoo? I forgot mine."
WHAT?! This was literally my dreamβ the perfect excuse to see him. The wall was too high for me to pass it over, so I'd have to send it through the curtain. I could've just stuck the bottle through, but instead, I steeled my nerves. Although it was totally against my nature, I decided to act bold. I stepped out of my stall and opened the curtain to his, strolling right in with the shampoo, acting as if this were no big deal.