This story is a work of fiction. Some real institutions are mentioned, but they are used fictitiously. Insofar as the author knows, no real person affiliated with any of those institutions has ever behaved as described in this story. Any similarities between any character in this story and any real person are coincidental and unintended. I encourage comments on this story, both favorable and unfavorable. Thank you for reading.
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It had been a rough few years, but I'd reached a place that was, at least, tolerable. I'd married Gail, the woman of my dreams, three years after graduating from law school. At her insistence, I left the large law firm where I'd been doing well to set up my own shop. Unfortunately, the business didn't follow me, and I really struggled to meet my own income expectations, much less Gail's. Gail, a lawyer herself, started a relationship with a senior partner at another big firm in town. She divorced me. Eighteen months later, I settled a huge class action that had been one of the few good cases I'd gotten on my own. The payoff for me was huge. I wasn't Michael Bloomberg wealthy, but I now had more money than I'd ever spend in my lifetime and no one to spend it on but me. Still hurting from the divorce, I opted for early retirement. I left Cincinnati and retreated into the woods of Southeastern Ohio.
I found a property of about 50 acres of woods abutting a state forest. There was a 1960s style ranch house on a small hill about a quarter mile off the road. Many dollars later, the dreary ranch was transformed. There was a library room for my 2,500 books and a weight room in the basement. I added a deck to the back of the house that overlooked a wooded valley that was partly mine and partly state forest. I put a spa, an outdoor shower, and an elaborate grill on the deck. Buying the property and fixing it up made no significant dent in my new bank account.
I had gone to college on a wrestling scholarship. I wrestled at 185 pounds in probably the best wrestling conference in the country. I never won a conference championship, but I did win more matches than I lost. However, I'd spent the last several years in practice really busting it to make money. I simply had not had time to work out and any visible evidence of my athletic past had disappeared into a blob of flab and fat.
I had not anticipated the magnitude of change from the practicing lawyer's life of constant demands that really required thirty- hour days to retired life with, literally, nothing that had to be done. To give my new life some structure, I started working out fiendishly once I was settled in my forest retreat. It was slow and painful. However, 18 months on, my bodyweight was down to 200. My bench max was up to 450 pounds and, on a good day, I could do a full squat with 600. No world records were in danger, but I thought that was respectable for a guy in his forties.
As I entered my second spring in the woods, I decided to start using my outdoor shower after my workouts. I wasn't entirely sure why I had it put in. I suppose the idea of showering with a view over the valley seemed appealing. I certainly did not intend to be seen. The risk of that seemed since my property backed up on a relatively inaccessible part of the state forest. I'd chosen the property for privacy and solitude.
Once it warmed enough that spring, I started using the outdoor shower daily after my workouts. Sometimes, I'd dry off and sit nude on the back deck enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest. For several days around Memorial Day, I thought I heard something moving in the woods while I was showering. I didn't see anything and assumed I was hearing a large squirrel or, maybe, deer. At any rate, I was sure no people were around.
It was late afternoon the first Monday in June. I had finished a leg workout and was in the outdoor shower. I usually spent most of my shower facing the woods to enjoy the view. This time, I had turned to adjust the shower temperature when I heard a female voice awfully close by.
"Excuse me, Sir," the voice said.
I had never encountered another person on this my property. I was so surprised, that I spun around without thinking about covering myself. Standing just a few feet off the deck was a young African American woman in the uniform of an ODNR ranger. Shit! Was I about to be busted for being nude outdoors on my own property?
"Hi," the ranger said with a smile. "I'm Patti Wilson. I work at the state forest. I've been working in this part of the forest for the last week checking rates of erosion. I couldn't help noticing you in your shower each afternoon. I, uh, watched you for a while. I felt bad about that until I decided that someone who showers in the nude outdoors probably doesn't mind if other people see them. I, well, I watched you shower several times. I thought ought to come up and confess."
"I'm not in trouble?" I asked.
"For what?" Ranger Wilson replied. "From my point of view, you're adding to the natural beauty of the area."
"That's a relief," I said. I turned around to turn off the shower, grabbed a towel, and stepped from the tile pad onto the wood deck. Ranger Wilson had a lovely face. It was hard to tell with the unisex uniform she had on, but I suspected she had a lovely body too.
"You're not upset that I spied on you?" Ranger Wilson asked.
"No," I replied.
"Uh," she said hesitantly, "would you mind if I came back?"
That question crystalized the situation in my mind. I was standing nude in front of a lovely young woman who had just admitted that she was there to look at me in the nude. Now, she wanted my permission to come back and look at me in the nude some more. I'd never thought about showing off my nude body. To the contrary, I had always been careful about my modesty. Ranger Wilson was very openly looking at my bare body. That was inexplicably exciting.
"That's ok with me," I replied as casually as possible. "Most of what's out there is your forest anyway."
"Well," Ranger Wilson said, "I was hoping you'd give me permission to come onto your land. You know, so I can get a closer look."
There was something about that request and the way she said it that I found appealing. "I suppose," I replied, "that seeing a naked man outside gives you probable cause to come onto the property to make sure nothing untoward is going on."
Ranger Wilson laughed. "You sound like a lawyer," she said. Looking straight at my exposed dick, she added, "it looks pretty upright to me, but that could change from day to day."
"Perhaps," I said. "May I get you something to drink?"
Ranger Wilson smiled again. "No but thank you. I need to get back to work." Her smile widened. "I'll see you again." She turned, revealing what looked like a nicely shaped ass, and walked back into the woods.
As the shock of the encounter wore off, I realized that I'd "shown off." I'd never done that before. The only women who had seen me nude were a couple of doctors, some girlfriends, and Gail. Today, I'd stood naked in front of a woman I'd never met before, a law enforcement officer no less. I'd made no effort to cover myself and carried on a conversation. I'd enjoyed it. Was I an exhibitionist?
Patti Wilson started coming by almost every day as I showered outside. She no longer hid in the woods but came right up to the deck. She also stayed longer and talked. I enjoyed listening to her and enjoyed her looking at me.
