"After your recent beach photos on insta, you're gonna wear those shorts Kate? It's like you still have a secret vendetta against showing some leg. I swear I thought that account would boost your confidence more."
Kate just rolled her eyes at her college roommate Sam. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy showing some skin, she just knew the hiking shorts that Sam despised would hold up well to whatever Swimapalooza threw at them tonight.
"If I wear this crop top will you shut up about the shorts?" Kate asked, flashing a bright pink crop top that would barely cover her bikini.
"Oh so upper thigh you can't show but you've got no problem with underboob?" Sam smirked, giving her roommate a hard time, hoping to get a rise out of her.
They had been roommates since freshman year when they shared a quad with two other girls. They formed an immediate bond over their mutual dislike of the most spoiled one, and moved into an off campus apartment the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year. They enjoyed each other's company and had similar interests. Both were frequent runners and did yoga several times a week, which was reflected in their physique.
Sam was an inch or two taller than Kate at 5'2", but both would be considered quite petite. Sam had dark brown hair, but always admired Kate's strawberry blonde locks.
Sam's running routine consisted of a weekly mileage of at least 20 miles, distributed as necessary. Sometimes she would run 12 miles in a day and spread the rest out over the week. Other times she would do 2 or 3 each day. She did yoga most mornings and even taught a beginner's class at the campus gym where she worked part time to make some extra cash.
Kate wasn't as avid of a runner as Sam, but would join her on several of her runs throughout the week. She liked the way it cleared her head and she always felt there was something so cathartic about sweating through her sports bra and running tights. She was more into yoga and Pilates, frequently attending classes at the campus gym. Sometimes she would attend Sam's beginner class just to ask silly questions like "Why's it called lotus pose?" and "When do I release my chakra?" Sam never minded these questions - in fact she found them quite entertaining and did her best to come up with witty answers.
"Can you remind me again why we are going to this thing again?" Kate asked Sam.
"Brandon asked me to stop by and I couldn't help but say yes. He just has this power over me," Sam responded. "Anyway, it's not like much else is going on this weekend. A lot of people are laying low since the end of the semester bash is coming up next weekend."
"So I am running interference so that you don't end up doing the walk of shame with your panties in your purse again, like the last time?" Kate asked.
Sam rolled her eyes and giggled at the memory of the last time she went to a party with Brandon. "Exactly, I need someone looking out for me. I couldn't walk for a week after last time."
Kate blushed at the thought of her roommate being too sore from sex to function. She was no prude, but she had never experienced that type of leave-you-sore sex. A rush of blood went between her thighs and she felt a little wetness start to form at the thought of what that must be like.She was brought back to reality by the sound of Sam's voice.
"How about this?" she said as she did a little cat walk to showcase her outfit.
"I think you're showing enough ass for the two of us Sam" Kate replied as she watched her roommate strut in high waisted denim shorts that left about half of her ass exposed and a white tank top that barely covered her purple bikini. "How am I supposed to run interference if you're practically giving Brandon your ass just by turning around?" she wondered out loud.
"I guess you'll just have to bring your A game babe!" Sam uttered as she walked out the door, ready to start the 10 block trek from their apartment past campus to where the group of swimmers lived.
*****
The walk across campus turned plenty of heads, and even elicited a few low key whistles of appreciation from the front porch-drinkers, but when they got to the party house, things were comparatively quiet. A couple was sitting on a couch in the front room in beachwear, acting as if they hadn't just been furiously making out. "Everyone is in the backyard," they said in unison, eager to have the room back to themselves.
Kate and Sam made their way through the house and out the backdoor as cheers erupted for two women in bikinis throwing mud at each other in the far corner of the yard. Party music added to the decadent atmosphere, and Kate began to feel a familiar dissonance within her between the need to remain 'proper' and the desire to indulge. Brandon saw them and made his way over.
"Classy party," Sam ribbed him.
"You two are just in time to go next," he retorted.
Kate made a scrunched face. "Not on your life!"
"C'mon, I worked all day yesterday to make a nice mud pit. Think of it like a spa date!"
"Last time I had a mud scrub, two dozen horn dogs weren't watching!" Kate seemed to be having none of it.
"Maybe after a couple beers then!" Brandon winked as he and Sam walked over to the mud pit action, leaving her by herself.
No sooner they had walked away, than she was approached by a handsome young guy carrying two beers. "Hey thought you might want a drink."
She accepted one. "Thanks. I'm Kate."
"Caleb. Nice to meet you." He looked down briefly, whether out of awkwardness or a desire to give her the ol' up-down, she wasn't sure.
"I haven't seen you around before." Kate tried to extend the conversation.
"Oh I'm a freshman, so that's probably why."
Kate nodded, finding the bookish earnestness an endearing supplement to the swimmer body visible over his board shorts. "So you getting in the mud today?" She needled him a bit.
"Oh nah. That was Brandon's idea. His last big party before he graduates." He paused and then somewhat sheepishly added. "Are you?"
She smiled. "I don't think so. It looks kinda gross and seems pretty rowdy. My roommate Sam over there though...who knows. I'm supposed to be running interference between those two but I think I've already failed." She gestured toward the mud pit where Brandon stood with his hand on Sam's lower back, cheering the participants.
The flirting between Kate and Caleb went on like this for an hour or so. She got increasingly comfortable with him. There was something about his demeanor that she liked. Polite but not too polite. Eager but not too eager. Protective but not too protective.
The chaos in the mud pit had died down. Half a dozen women had taken a turn in the pit, several going more than once, seemingly enjoying the attention. They now wandered around the yard in mud-stained swimwear. One particularly extroverted swim team member had chosen to ruin an old one piece competition suit and now strutted around with her long legs confidently on display. Watching her was conjuring Kate's conflicted internal dialogue. How could this woman retain such sexual confidence with her outfit utterly ruined? Why did guys seem so drawn to a woman who embraced the depravity of wrestling in the mud? Why was she starting to feel warm again at the sight of this woman? She couldn't tell if she was feeling resentment, envy, or maybe even a hint of desire.
"Hey Kate." Sam bounded up to her interrupting her admiration of the long-legged mud wrestling swimmer. "So Brandon here has dared me to mud wrestle, and I think I want to do it..."
Kate gave a knowing look to Caleb as if to say "I told you so" as Brandon flashed a shit-eating grin.
After a slight pause Sam added "...with you."