Asher absolutely hated camping. Call it peer pressure, but this was the seventh annual camping trip with his group of friends. It had started their sophomore year in college as a way to see each other during summer break, and then a way to stay in touch after graduation.
In the beginning the camping trip included the usual college party elements of alcohol and a little pot. There were also things that had seemed exciting at the time -- games of truth or dare, skinny dipping, and sex.
Nothing much had changed between then and now. Not only did Asher hate camping, but he had also grown to view the trip as juvenile. Yet here he was for yet another year.
Their supplies had been unloaded, and the tents set up. The day would be spent by the gang catching up and the retelling of old college stories that had already been told too many times. Tomorrow would bring the traditional hike to the secluded pond the group had discovered on their first trip. The six friends always spent the better part of the day there. The young men had dared the women to skinny dip their first year. The dare had been countered by a "we will if you go first" challenge. By the second year all semblance of modesty had been shed.
Asher sat on the ground outside his tent, already looking forward to Sunday, when the group would go their separate ways and he could drive home. He thought of his former boss, Claire. The two had admitted their mutual attraction recently, but they didn't know if it should remain purely physical or if it could be something more. Asher knew Claire was going to a party with his former coworker Emma and would be seeing a former lover. Asher had admitted he would be in a similar situation during this camping trip. He and Claire had decided they would put the confusion about their friendship aside and enjoy their weekends.
Sophia approached Asher and sat on the ground next to him. She and Asher had met early in their first year at college. They had a history. The two had dated on and off from the time they had met until graduation. A famous cartoonist and a late night talk show host were two of the University's famous alumni of their alma mater. The running joke was they had the two lowest GPAs in the college's history.
"Hey," Sophia said.
"Hey yourself," replied Asher.
"Asher, you've been quiet since we all got here. I mean even quieter than usual. What's going on with you?"
"Nothing. Just doing some thinking. And then there is the fact I don't really want to be here. I dread this weekend every year. The camping part, I mean," Asher said.
"Well thank you for qualifying that. I was about to have my feelings hurt. But this is our weekend, Asher. It is the only time I see you anymore."
"Yea, I didn't mean it like that. We are all out of college now and once a year we still get together to act like dumb freshmen. Wouldn't you think we'd have outgrown this by now?"
"Oh, I don't know. Seems like everyone has gotten so busy with their jobs and stuff that it's good to just get away and be a little irresponsible," Sophia said.
"If you say so. This is probably my last year camping with all of you."
"It can't be though." Sophia said.
"It's time for me to grow up and move on. I wasn't going to say anything, but I got accepted to graduate school, Sophia."
"That's great, Asher!" Sophia said. "You'd talked about getting your MBA for a while now. I figured you would one day. Why weren't you going to say anything?"
Asher let out a long breath. "I may not go."
Their friend Mark had announced it was time to split up the jobs that needed to be done yet today. Mark was the one who organized the trip each year, and he was good at delegating tasks.
"We'll talk about this more, Asher," Sophia said as she stood and headed toward the rest of the group.
#
They were all up early the next morning. Tradition dictated they get an early start, and it also worked to beat the hottest part of the day. The hike was a long trek through a densely forested area. The combined smells of perspiration, sun screen, and insect repellent was something Asher hadn't been looking forward to. Here he was, though, walking with the old clique he wasn't sure he felt a part of anymore.
His friends talked and laughed as they hiked, but Asher wasn't hearing them. He was lost in his own thoughts. He thought about the night he lost his virginity. It had been with Sophia. While there had been other women since then, and Sophia had been with other men, the two always seemed to come back to each other. It was a pattern Asher had tried to break several times, with little success.
The clearing appeared and the group gathered themselves and wiped sweat from their brows. "Here's to another year," their friend Christina said as she took a long drink of water. She screwed the top back on her metal bottle and set it down on the ground next to her. With no hesitation she took off her t-shirt. When she removed her bra, Christina's large breasts hung on her chest. She shed her shorts and stood naked without comment.
Christina wasn't a thin woman. Of the group, she dated the most, and it seemed had the most active sex life. Asher had slept with her multiple times during his college years. In fact, all these friends had slept with each other in different combinations over the years. Asher didn't regret having had sex with the three women in their group. He had learned a lot through their experimentation. It was another part of his life, however, he was looking forward to getting smaller in the rearview as time passed.
Asher knew the rest of his friends would follow Samantha's lead before long. People often mistook his quiet nature for shyness, but Asher wasn't particularly shy. He wasn't the introvert many took him for, either. He just never felt the need to talk for talking's sake. He was not uncomfortable with nudity, whether it was his own or that of others.
The five remaining friends stripped off their clothes as well. Mark was awkward and would never be called handsome. He was tall and on the skinny side. The others often joked about his boney ass. His typical retort usually included something to the effect of "at least I'm well hung." Mark had a point there.
Heather was the wild looking friend with two passions - tattoos and riding horses. She was fit, small breasted, and had an ass other women were jealous of. Each year when they got together, she had more tattoos. This year she sported pierced nipples. Her short black hair was striking. She was always tan and had no tan lines.
Jeremy was solidly built, but his muscles had started to soften. He had been on the college football team until an injury ended his career. The group of friends took him in as one of their own after he got hurt. They had helped him break free of the lingering depression caused by his playing days being cut short. Because of this, Jeremy was fiercely loyal.
Sophia was an attractive sandy blonde. Well, attractive was a bit of an understatement. She wasn't the first girl to get noticed at parties, but she was pretty. Her upturned nose gave her a cuteness factor that was hard to deny. Because she had been Asher's first, he thought of hers as the ideal body. Breasts that couldn't be called small...or large, and an amazing narrow ass.
Asher had a darker complexion than his friends. Having been adopted, his ethnicity was a mystery even to him. He knew women found him attractive and he didn't spend much time questioning why. He kept fit. He had recently been told he had a beautiful cock, and normally he would have been embarrassed by that. Given the source was his former boss Claire, he felt good about the compliment. He stripped naked and as always, couldn't help looking Sophia's way. Even after the time that had passed, she was still a magnet who's field he couldn't quite free himself.
They walked to the swimming hole and got in because that is what they did every year. The water was a relief amid the heat. Asher and Heather swam to the other side of the pond, racing just as they had done on earlier visits. The two were evenly matched and it was always close. The rest cheered on their friends. It was less about whether Asher or Heather won, and more about watching their bare asses as they crawled through the water.
Once on the other side, both swimmers climbed onto a large rock and stood taunting their friends. In seven years of this tradition no one else had bothered trying to swim to the rock. Asher and Heather turned away from their spectators and bent at the waist, shaking their asses at their friends. Both sat on the rock, thankful it was out of the sun and cool on their bodies.
"What's going on with you and Soph?" Heather asked. "She says you two haven't really talked in months."
"The place I was working got bought out and I lost my position. I was busy trying to find a new one. Then I was focusing on my new job. I guess I didn't talk to many people while I was going through that," he said.
"Why do you do that Asher?" Heather asked.
"Do what?"
"Push people away when it seems like you need them the most," she said.
"I've never thought weighing people down with my problems felt right I guess."
"I'm not telling you how to live your life, but don't you think it's time you let people in? All the way in, I mean."
"Sophia told you to talk to me, didn't she?"
"I won't confirm or deny that."
The two sat in a not so comfortable silence when Heather spoke again. "She loves you Asher."
"Now isn't a good time for us to try to be together," Asher said.
"Tell me the truth about what you're thinking. Will there ever be a good time?"
"The truth? The truth is I don't know. Race you back." Asher stood and dove into the water.
Sophia sprayed sun screen on Asher while Jeremy did the same for Heather. The gang put down blankets and lay in the sun. Here I am again, Asher thought, sweating down the crack of my ass pretending to have fun. He really hated camping.
