Do the Right Thing?

(Recap: After finding excitement in showing her body, Charlotte agrees to accompany her boyfriend's best friend, Nate, on a hiking trip. Since she and Nate have engaged in phone sex, Charlotte wonders what will happen on this trip. Will Nate and she explore their attraction or will she "do the right thing?")

Nate arrived early at our apartment. We loaded up in Nate's car and dropped Reggie off at Logan Airport by seven-thirty. Pulling onto I-93 north, Nate asked if I was hungry. I nodded and he said if I could wait a bit, there was a diner just over the New Hampshire border that had a great breakfast.

Nate was easy to engage and we covered a wide range of topics driving up the highway. We got off the interstate and found our way to the diner. It was crowded, but we managed to snag the last booth. Over a gazillion calorie breakfast, Nate described the hike and painted vivid pictures of what we would see from the top of Mt. Washington.

"What's the cabin like?" I asked.

"Rustic," he replied, and after a pause, he added, "at best."

"Don't tell me there's an outhouse."

"No," he laughed. "If I can get the generator going, the well pump will enable us to use the toilet inside. We will have some lights. The shower is definitely in the rustic category. The good news is that the generator also has enough power to fire up the water heater and run the small refrigerator."

"So, what's the bad news?"

Turning a little red, he said, "The toilet and a tiny sink are in a little closet, for privacy. But the shower is just in the corner of the cabin. My friend was planning to hang a curtain, but I'm not sure he ever got around to it. Don't worry, Charlotte, I'll step outside."

"Hey, it's not me I'd be worried about. You've seen everything I've got. You should be concerned if I'll be so polite."

Nate turned even redder. He drank his coffee and smiled.

We stopped in Manchester to stock up on food, drinks and ice. Nate had three large coolers in the back of his Jeep. He selected steaks and chicken for our meals and we added veggies and other supplies. I made sure we had enough cookies and other treats. By nine-thirty we were back on the interstate heading north.

As we drove I became more relaxed with Nate. He was great company and I looked forward to spending the next couple days with him. Passing through Franconia Notch, Nate told me the story of the Old Man of the Mountain and how it collapsed into a pile of rocks at the base of Cannon Mountain in 2003. I had seen pictures of it when it was still attached and now regretted I hadn't taken the time to come up and seen it for real.

We stopped in Twin Mountain for a light lunch at a local restaurant. While we were waiting for a booth we overheard a young woman talking on her cell.

"That sucks," she said. "Not until Monday?"

We could see her shoulders sag. "Yeah, I understand. Okay, thanks. Just do what you have to. I'll call you on Monday."

She ended the call and we could see her mutter "fuck" under her breath. I looked at Nate and he nodded.

"Hi," I said.

She looked at us wondering why strangers were talking with her.

"Didn't mean to snoop," I said, "but we couldn't help but overhear. Are you having a problem?"

She looked to be on the verge of tears. "You could call it that. I'm stuck here because my piece of shit car decided this was the perfect spot to give up its radiator."

"Look, we can't do anything about your car, but join us for lunch. At least you can talk with us."

She looked at Nate and me and then at the mostly locals who filled the restaurant. The girl was young, maybe late teens early twenties. Nate and I were each a year shy of thirty. To her we probably looked ancient.

"Thanks, you don't mind?"

"Come on, our booth is ready."

Nate and I sat on one side and she settled across from us. The waitress gave us our menus and said the special today was meatloaf. We ordered ice teas and she left to get the drinks.

"I'm Charlotte and this is Nate."

"Gretchen."

We shook hands. Gretchen smiled and let out a deep breath. "Thanks. I really had myself worked up. It's nice of you guys to reach out."

"Always happy to help a fellow flatlander," said Nate.

"Flatlander?" asked Gretchen just as the waitress appeared with our drinks.

"Yep," the waitress said. "That'd be folks living down south. Some say anyone below the Notch is a flatlander and others say anyone below Plymouth. Doesn't make much difference, but good for a heated discussion now and again. Lots of folks with lots of opinions always make for a powerful set-to."

"You can tell a flatlander?" asked Gretchen.

"Honey, you stick out like a sore thumb. Not that we mind. Without you we'd have no tourism and no business. Now, what can I get you?"

We ordered and Ginny, our waitress, headed toward the kitchen to put in our orders.

"So, how do you think she knew I was a flatlander?" asked Gretchen.

I don't know what got into me, but I said, "Maybe because women up here wear bras."

Gretchen looked down at her thin tee shirt and the nipples pushing against the fabric. She looked back at me and then laughed.

"Maybe that's what she meant by sticking out like a sore thumb."

The three of us cracked up. I was relieved that Gretchen didn't take offense at my remark.

After taking a sip of iced tea she said, "What can I say? I hate bras and am not afraid to be seen."

I recalled how I felt when I flashed Nate my boobs. Maybe Gretchen and I had some things in common.

"So, what brings you up here?" asked Nate.

"I'm between summer jobs," she said. "Thought I'd climb Mt. Washington. I have to be back Friday to start my next job. Gotta bust it to earn money for next year."

"Still in college," I asked.

"Going into sophomore year. My parents cover tuition, room and board. I take care of books and my spending money."

"What are you going to do now?" I asked.

"I don't know. Guess I'll hang around here and see if I can find a cheap motel. This really sucks."

I looked at Nate and he shrugged. Thinking about what I had imagined could have happened this weekend and what a new person might do to upset that daydream, I also considered the plight of the young woman. I remembered back when I was in school and how sometimes life just seemed to get to be too much for me. Maybe with another person in the cabin, I could contain my libido and be a good girl. I chuckled to myself as I thought that the bad girl inside me was winning all the recent battles.

"Hey, why don't you join us?"

Nate exhaled deeply.

"What do you mean?" Gretchen asked.

"We're planning to climb Mt. Washington tomorrow. You can come with us. Nate snagged some sketchy cabin for tonight and we'll head out early in the morning."

Gretchen looked back and forth between Nate and me. "That's kind, but I think I'd be sort of a third wheel. You and your boyfriend might have things to do that an unplanned guest might screw up."

"Actually, we're not a couple," I said. "Nate and I are friends. He's my boyfriend's best friend."

Gretchen looked at us for a while. "Oh."

"That's a loaded 'oh'," I said. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, you two just look like a couple. The way you sit close to each other, talk with each other like you are enjoying it, casually touch each other, and kinda seem comfortable being together."

I was conscious of my thigh pressing against Nate's. "You're fairly observant."

"I guess," she said.

Ginny brought our lunches and we broke off the conversation and ate. The food was basic, but good. We shared the large order of fries and all agreed they were superior.

After Ginny cleared our plates and we were sipping another round of ice teas, I said, "So, what do you think?"

"I think I would have a lot more fun with you guys than sitting in some crappy motel room in this little town. Are you sure you want me?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I think it will be fun. I do have to warn you that Nate says this cabin is rustic."

"Rustic like in taking a dump in the woods?"

I laughed. "That was just about my first question. No, more like rustic in besides an indoor toilet, there isn't much else."

"I can deal with it," said Gretchen. "As long as I have some privacy when it comes to the toilet, I am really casual about the rest."

"Casual?"

"You know, like I don't freak out if someone sees me without clothes and stuff."

"Oh," I replied. I wonder if Nate would like looking at her naked. I turned and saw the half-smile on his face. I guess that answered my question. I wondered if I would like to see her nude or would mind if she saw me. I was surprised at the little rush that thought gave me. Her young beauty made her look so innocent. Her dark hair was close to mine in coloring, although she wore it longer than I did. She was maybe an inch or so shorter than I, but had long legs that made her appear taller. As her breasts constantly moved underneath her tee shirt, I imagined they were about the same size as mine. I caught myself wondering what their shape was. I realized I was attracted to her. It had been a while since a girl had that effect on me.

I was planning to push the boundaries on this trip. When Nate described the open shower, I knew I'd be up for taking one and letting him watch. I also had fantasies about getting to see him naked. After our phone sex encounters, I wanted to discover how big his cock was. Masturbating together was another dream I had. The way Gretchen was speaking maybe those ideas were not out of the realm of the possible.

"So, are you an exhibitionist?" I asked.

Gretchen laughed. "Subtle one, aren't you?"

"Just picking up on what you said," I answered. "Sounded like you might enjoy exhibitionism."

"You might say that," Gretchen responded.

Ginny brought our check and we split the bill three ways. Gretchen grabbed her backpack and we headed to Nate's Jeep. After tossing it in the back, she climbed in the back seat behind Nate. She and I could look at each other as we talked.

As Nate drove, Gretchen confirmed my impression that she's an exhibitionist. She told us about her experience as a nude model for an art class at her college. Being a natural story-teller she had us laughing at some of her experiences. I was interested as she described how she liked to be naked in her dorm room while her roommate was an extremely shy person.

"What did it feel like to be nude in front of her, knowing she'd never seen anyone without clothes before?" I asked.

Gretchen hesitated, smiled and said, "It was a fuckin' rush."

I put my fist out and she bumped it. I knew how she felt as I recalled my reaction when Nate saw me naked.

Gretchen explained her theory of how she exercised power by using her body. As I listened, her words resonated. I wondered what Nate thought of all this. I looked over and noticed the big tent in his shorts.

"Good," I thought. "He's getting into this."

"So," I asked, "is it just being naked that you like, or is there more involved?"

Gretchen smiled. "How about we get to this cabin, have a bunch of beers and then talk about what more there might be?"

She then offered to buy some beer as part of her contribution to the weekend. Although Nate and I packed a six-pack and brought some wine, we weren't planning on a third person. Nate pulled into a small convenience store and Gretchen said she go inside. When I asked her if she were legal, she smiled and said she'd just turned twenty-one.

"Is that what you meant about being legal," she asked showing a sly smile, "just being able to buy beer?"

I blushed and Gretchen jumped out of the car. She came out with a twelve pack and a bag of snacks. As she walked toward the car, I focused on her nipples that were much more pronounced now than before. Her breasts moved freely under her shirt. I liked what I saw.

It was late in the afternoon when Nate found the road to the cabin. He had only been there once before and was relying on some minimal directions from his friend. As we bounced down the dirt lane, I noticed there were only a few turnoffs into other camps. We finally arrived at a smaller drive that had a mailbox reading "Hart". This was his friend's name and we turned in.

We traveled another quarter-mile and suddenly a log cabin appeared in a clearing. A covered porch extended along the front and the back of the property opened up onto a view of a small lake and the mountains in the background.

Nate hopped out and used a key to unlock the padlock on the front door. We followed him into the dark interior. True to his description, the interior was not plush, but it was not without a certain charm that matched the exterior. We began to undo the wooden shutters and let some light in. There were screens, so we pushed the windows up and held them in place with sturdy sticks left there for this purpose.

Looking around I saw a double bed against one wall, a small kitchen opposite it and a big couch and two comfy-looking chairs in front of a huge fieldstone fireplace. In the corner next to the kitchen, there was a door, which I presumed was the toilet. In the other corner there was a shower head attached to the wall and a low rim along the floor. I imagined that the rim kept water from spilling onto the floor planks. As Nate suspected, the shower showed no sign of a curtain or any privacy.

"Well, now I completely get the meaning of rustic," I said.

Gretchen rested an arm up on my shoulder and said, "I think rustic may be an over classification." She stared at the open shower.

"Let's get unpacked and then you owe us some more stories," I said.

After a half-hour's work, we stored our stuff. Nate turned on the propane tank and we started up the generator and put our perishables and beers in the small fridge. Gretchen stuffed six cold beers into a sack and said we should go down to the lake.

Arriving at the shore, we discovered several Adirondack chairs stored under a tarp. We pulled them out, arranged them along the rocky beach and settled in. The sky was all shades of red and purple. We opened our beers and sat quietly taking in the sounds of nature and the beauty of the mountains and forests.

We finished the first beers and Gretchen passed out the second round. "I think this lake is perfect for skinny dipping."

"I agree, but let's talk first," I said. I was a bit surprised that Gretchen was being so forward regarding exhibitionist activities. Although I slowed her down a bit by wanting to talk, I felt the charge of how it would feel to strip off with her and Nate and jump in the water. This weekend was turning out to be nothing like I had imagined. The question remained if it would be a weekend that would be better or worse than what I had imagined.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Tell us more about your year in college."

"You want to hear about all my classes?" she said with a smile.

"No, I want to hear about you being naked and what follows after that."

"I can do that, but you have to tell me some stories."

I touched Nate's arm and said, "I think I have a couple that you might like."

"Cool," said Gretchen. Slowly she wove a tale that took us through her growing sexual relationship with her shy roommate, the day her guy friends participated in a naked mile run and ended up back in their room, her on and off again sexual relationship with another girl and other stories.

I was a bit surprised at her openness. Gretchen said she used her "girl power" to influence people. I suspected that these stories were calculated to affect us. She was getting me horny as I listened.

"So, you're like bi?" asked Nate.

Gretchen smiled and finished her beer. "I consider myself sexual."

I nodded. I bet she could be sexual and I wondered if I might find out just how much.

It was nearly six-thirty when Gretchen finished her story. We decided to have dinner and headed back to the cabin. Nate dug out a grill from the shed and started a charcoal fire. Gretchen and I made a salad and prepared some vegetables. We had a couple more beers as we worked and kept a light buzz going.

An hour later the three of us were sitting at the rough-hewn table in the kitchen area enjoying the meal. We shared a bottle of Merlot. Although we had just met this afternoon, we talked with each other like we were old friends.

After we cleaned up, it was not even nine o'clock. Nate said we should not stay up too late since we wanted to get an early start on our hike in the morning. At the same time, we all came to the realization that we needed to sort out the sleeping arrangements.

"What was the original plan?" Gretchen asked.

"We never discussed it directly," said Nate. "I sorta figured I'd take the couch and Charlotte could have the bed."

"You guys weren't going to sleep together?" Gretchen asked.

I laughed and said, "We never talked about it, but probably not. At least not in the sense of screwing each other sleeping together." I looked at Nate and he turned his gaze away in embarrassment.

"Would it be too weird for you girls to share the bed and I'll take the couch?" Nate said.

Gretchen smiled and shrugged. "I guess we can make that work," I said.

"That's settled," said Nate. "I know it's a little early, but I'm going to get ready for bed. I want to be up and out no later than seven in the morning." He pulled a pair of sheets from his pack and tossed them on the bed.

I said to Nate, "You can have the toilet first."

"Cool," said Gretchen. "In that case, let's make up the bed. Then, I'm going to take a dip in the lake. Join me, Charlotte?"

I looked at Nate. He stared blankly. Turning back to her, I agreed.

Nate went into the toilet room. The second the door closed, Gretchen whipped off her shirt. She grinned as I stared at her bare breasts. They were better than I had imagined. I startled myself as I realized I had been envisioning her breasts. I guess making up the bed could wait.

"Told you I liked going naked," she said and started undoing her belt. In a few more seconds she stood naked in the cabin. Her body was a lot like mine with average sized breasts and long legs. She was a couple inches shorter and her body exhibited nice muscle tone and tightness. I was getting a lot more excited looking at her nude body than I did looking at my own. She kept her dark pubic hair neatly trimmed.

Gretchen rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a towel. "You coming?" She grabbed a few beers and headed toward the door. I nodded and Gretchen rested against the door watching me.

With just the slightest hesitation, I pulled off my shirt and shed my bra. Gretchen smiled as she visually inspected my breasts.

"They're very nice, Charlotte."

I muttered thanks, disposed of the remainder of my clothes and grabbed a towel of my own. She again appraised me. "You have a beautiful body, Charlotte. Very beautiful."

The sun had just set, but there was enough light peeking over the horizon to let us make our way down to the shore. As we crossed a stretch of pebble-covered ground, Gretchen reached out to hold my hand. She kept two beers in her other hand.

"Your body looks so sexy in this light, Charlotte," she said as we began to walk toward the water's edge.

"So does yours," I replied.

We helped steady each other. Dropping our towels we walked into the cool water, the soft sand under our feet. Gretchen placed the beers in the water at the shore's edge. We continued into the lake. When we got to our waists, we looked at each other and then dove in.

I swam out a bit and tried to touch bottom. I couldn't and started to tread water. Gretchen surfaced a few feet away.

"This is so nice," she said. "I never skinny dipped in a lake before. I love the feel of the water over my body."

"Me, too," I added. We floated and enjoyed the quiet and sense of solitude. Gretchen asked if we could go in far enough to stand. Soon we could touch bottom. We both squatted down enough that only our heads were above the water.