The Hot Tub

I know to the casual observer, my girlfriend and I would appear to be extraverts or even exhibitionists. And I guess if one is at ease with one's body, it can appear that way. But people are complicated. Who we are today, isn't always who we were yesterday. Life is a journey, and no journey was more surprising than that of my girlfriend.

I'll admit to being the adventurous one, but Melanie, for sure, never was. I say this even though she has a body worth exhibiting. 5'7", blonde, blue eyes, with a trim runner's figure, well-proportioned firm breasts, and a curvaceous backside that is breathtaking in athletic pants. But she never flaunted it, and for most of her life, she has been modest, even shy. But modesty is a state of mind. And you can change your mind.

Her journey toward sexual openness began shortly after we met, in college. We had just begun dating, and were at a fraternity party. When the party was winding down, five couples went upstairs for a special event, a trivia contest. But a trivia contest with a twist.

Each couple would compete as a team to answer a question. If you got it right, good for you. If you got it wrong, one garment of clothes had to be removed. What garment and from whom was left up to the couple. The game would end when both the guy and the girl of a couple were naked. If you were good, you'd be clothed at the end. Otherwise, you'd be on display. Melanie was quite hesitant, but I assured her that I was really good at trivia. And with major peer pressure from the others, she agreed to participate -- against her better judgment, she'd later say.

The questions weren't terribly hard at the beginning, and a mistake just cost one a shoe or a sock. Soon most people were barefoot. The questions began to get harder.

Melanie and I were asked: "Who won the Academy Award Best Picture award in 2010? I was sure it was The Social Network. But it was The King's Speech. (Social Network was robbed.)

I had to remove my shirt.

Clothes around the room were starting to come off. A lot of girls had lost their blouses and were in a bra; all the men were bare chested. The dynamics of each couple were on play when the choice was whether to remove a skirt or trousers, or a bra or a man's briefs. Some of the girls were good sports and removed a bra to allow their man to keep his manhood from display in skimpy briefs. Some men were gallant, and choose their own exposure to protect their woman.

This was new territory for Melanie and she was getting increasingly nervous about what was going on about her. I had protected her, by taking all the clothing "hits." I was down to my briefs. She was fully clothed. But then we missed another question.

We looked at each other. It was obvious that her protected status had to change. She reluctantly took off her blouse. It revealed a thin lace bra that did little to conceal her breasts. Her nipples were visible through the fabric. Her arms instinctively moved to cover her chest.

When our turn came again, the question was a bear.

"Name the second state to ratify the US Constitution."

Yikes. Everyone knows Delaware was the first. It's on their license plates. But the second?

"New Jersey" I guessed.

It was Pennsylvania.

Either her skirt came off or my briefs came off. She was not happy about it but she took off the skirt and was in bra and panties.

A few more rounds. Most girls were topless; some guys were just in their briefs. When our turn came, it was another wicked question.

"How many states did George McGovern win in the 1972 presidential election?"

I said two.

Wrong. (He won Massachusetts and D.C. but D.C. isn't a state.)

I looked at Melanie. She looked at me. "You," she said.

"I'll be naked. It's not so terrible to be topless. You should do it," I replied.

Melanie gave me a death stare. I stood up and took off my briefs. There was general merriment among the girls and (I assume) good natured comments about the size of my privates.

Now, I'm happy with my body but this was my first time being naked in front of a crowd. And I'd never even been naked with Melanie. I felt very exposed, as of course I was.

The game proceeded. Another guy lost his briefs to allow his woman to keep her panties. This was turning into a male burlesque show.

The questions were relentless. We got a few right but inevitably, we stumbled.

"How many moons does Jupiter have?"

(A cynic might think the questions were designed to result in the removal of clothes.)

We were clueless. (It has 79; they keep discovering more.)

This time it was up to Melanie. I had done all I could. I couldn't get more naked. She closed her eyes, and slipped off the bra. While with some other girls, there had been good natured banter about beautiful breasts, the guys were wise; there was total silence when Melanie went bare. Her arms were immediately wrapped around her chest.

One of the other couples soon ended up with both of them naked, and so Melanie never had to remove her panties. I would have thought she would be pleased. She was not. We dressed and walked back to the dorms.

"How could you have talked me into that embarrassing game?" she spit out at me. "And you said you were good at trivia!"

"Not as good as I thought. But I was the one naked, you still had your panties on."

"Oh, so I should be happy, should I?" she said. "I've never been topless in front of people before. I was mortified."

We walked in silence, and she wouldn't talk to me for a week. I knew she was mad. But she did like me, so in time, we patched things up. And I even got to see her without her panties, although not in a crowd.

But we never played that game again, although it was pretty popular with the fraternities. She and I stayed together through college and end up living together. We rented a small house in the suburbs. Our neighbors a block over were a young couple, Joel and Camille. We're both dog lovers, and we met them walking our respective pets.

Joel and Camille were our age, outgoing and funny, as we soon became good friends. They'd eat in our house, we in theirs. They had a hot tub on their deck, which was private as it was shielded by trees. They often encouraged us to join them for a dip. But there was a catch. Joel and Camille liked to soak nude and Melanie resisted. I know she still remembered that embarrassing game of trivia. So we passed on their invitations.

That started to change one day when we were at their house, and Melanie remarked how she had strained her back at the health club. Joel was a chiropractor and kept a folded up chiropractic table in his family room. He was quick to suggest a treatment.

"Hop on the table and I'll massage the pulled muscle. You'll feel better in no time."

"Here, in front of everyone?" she asked.

"Sure, it will only take a few minutes. You'll be covered, just your bare back will be exposed."

I guess it helped that she knew Joel. She pulled off her blouse and got on the table.

Joel unhooked the bra, poured some oil on her back, and using his powerful hands massaged the back muscles. While her front was concealed, the swell of her breasts from the side was obvious.

"God, that's heavenly," Melanie remarked as she got off the table. She was careful to refasten the bra. But she didn't want to put the blouse back on. Too much oil on her back, she said. It would stain.

Joel said this was the perfect time for her to try out the hot tub; the hot water would wash off the massage oil. "You can keep your bra on; it's just like a bathing suit top," he suggested.

So it was, that after deferring many of their invitations, we ended up in the tub. Melanie in her bra and panties, me in my underwear. Joel and Camille were fine with stepping into the hot tub wearing just their smiles. But it was awkward, them naked, us not. We seemed like voyeurs as we watched Camille's ample breasts float in front of her in the hot water. And we saw a lot more as they climbed in and out of the tub. But Melanie resisted my whispered suggestion to remove her bra, although in truth the water made the underwear most revealing.

But we had crossed a line. It would be hard to turn back. Later, I spoke to Melanie about it. "It's not right that it's fine for them to be naked in front of us, but we act like we're too good to reciprocate. You've got a beautiful body. You should be proud to show it."

She agreed that it was awkward.

"But I'm afraid. Don't you remember how embarrassing it was for me at that terrible frat party?"

"This is different," I replied. "Those were strangers, and you and I were a new couple. Joel and Camille are friends. And it's just soaking in a tub. That frat party was solely an excuse to ogle naked bodies."

She agreed to consider a small step. The next time, she might go topless.

That Saturday evening we had drinks on their deck. We were in shorts and t-shirts, as it was a hot July day. Melanie drank more than usual. I think she drank just to give herself an excuse if she later regretted anything. She could always blame the alcohol.

It was getting cooler, after a hot July afternoon. As expected, Joel suggested we soak the alcohol away in the tub. We agreed. They began to strip off their clothes. I had confided in Joel that Melanie was going to take a big step, and they were watching. Melanie made a nervous little comment, "Here goes nothing" and removed her shorts, t-shirt and bra. She kept her panties on; I stripped naked and climbed in.

Camille spoke first. "God, Melanie, you are so beautiful. If I had your figure, I'd rarely wear clothes."

Melanie smiled at the comment and said, "I feel so comfortable with you two. I never do this."

That broke the ice, and we chatted amiably.

The next time we were in their tub together, Melanie removed her bottoms too. We all were physically fit, with attractive bodies, and it was arousing. I enjoyed the nudity, and Melanie began to show pride in her body. But while this all seemed harmless, we were playing with fire and didn't know it -- or perhaps we just didn't choose to acknowledge it. That night in the tub, I accidentally rubbed my foot against Camille's leg. She smiled and acted as if I had done it intentionally. Like I was inviting her.

"So nice to feel skin against skin, isn't it?" she said, as she rubbed her leg against my bare thigh. Openly, blatantly, in front of her husband and Melanie. Joel just smiled. I could see that Melanie's eyes were getting wider. Where was this going? I didn't know what to do. Do I embarrass Camille by moving away? Or worse, tell her to stop? And my penis was stirring. Not a full erection, but it began to straighten under the water. Could anyone see it? I was nervous as a cat.

Joel took the opportunity. "Melanie, how is that tightness in your back? Have you had a recurrence of the pain?"

Before she could answer, he said, "Let me massage your back muscles. As a preventative against a re-injury."

He moved toward her and guided her body. He began to rub the shoulders. While this was going on, Camille continued to rub her leg against my thigh, and higher.

My arousal was evident to anyone who cared to look. Melanie's was more subtle, but I knew her well enough to know from her breathing and the look in her eye that she felt it too. Could we let this continue?

Melanie blinked first. "Well, I guess we should be getting back. I need to walk the dog before she pees on the carpet."

It was an escape. I had to turn my body away from everyone as I got out of the tub so my erection wasn't visible. Then we dressed and fled.

Melanie and I lay in our bed that night, silent. We needed to talk about what had just happened, but no one wanted to go first, to voice the obvious. Finally I summoned up my nerve.

"That was pretty shocking what happened. I think they are swingers."

"Yes," Melanie replied. "If we had stayed for another 2 minutes, I'd have been fighting off Joel. He was rubbing my back, but inching towards my front."

"Do we stop seeing them? They're our best friends in the neighborhood."

Then Melanie surprised me. "You know, while I was terrified, it was very erotic. How about you?"

I had to admit the same. "Yes, I had to hide an erection. Do you find Joel attractive?"

She hesitated. "I can't say that Joel would be my first pick as someone to date, but the situation, his assertiveness, was very exciting. That Camille, who's so beautiful, was rubbing you in front of me, and that Joel was starting on me with you right there, was so scandalous that I was shaking inside. That's why I said we had to leave. I panicked."

"What are we going to do," I asked.

"I'm sure they're talking about us as we are about them. Let's see what happens."

That did not sound like she really was scandalized. 'Let's see what happens'?

What happened was that Joel called me at work. He said he wanted to apologize if they had offended us.

"When Melanie took off her panties, we thought she was signaling us. I guess we misread the situation."

I replied. "Perhaps you read it more clearly than I did. I think Melanie is excited and tempted. I'm the "try anything once" kind of guy, but she's always been reserved."

Joel asked, "Do you think she's tempted by me or by Camille?"

It hadn't occurred to me that girl on girl was an option.

"By you, I guess."

"Well, we'll let her decide. We're having some friends over this weekend. It could get wild. Why don't you two join us? We'll see what happens."

That's two people wanting to see what happens. Add me in, and that's three.

The party on the weekend was with three other couples beside us and Joel and Camille. After dinner, and plenty of alcohol, they suggested we play charades. We had fun clowning, and one of the women, in miming the movie The Stripper, gave an R rated imitation. Not involving nudity, but coming close. Maybe just priming the pump.

Joel announced that we'd next play 'guess your partner'. This entailed two women lying on the floor, each covered with a sheet, naked underneath. The male partner of one, blindfolded, would have to guess by feel which of the two women was his. It took a lot of feeling to make certain, and everyone, including the women involved, were plenty amused.

It was my turn. I was taken out of the room, and blindfolded. When I returned, I was led to two women. One of them was Melanie. I knelt down and glided my hands over the breasts, over the stomach, the pelvic area. I moved my hand down the legs, trying to guess the height. I sniffed them, hoping to recognize a scent. After a thorough examination, I announced that the first woman was Melanie. When I took off my blindfold, I was face to face with Camille. There was a lot of laughter over the mistake, even from Melanie.

Then it was the ladies' turn. Two guys, naked as jaybirds, were laid out on the floor and covered with a sheet. A woman was led in, blindfolded. Her job was the same, identify her mate. But here, in addition to feeling the body, the woman lingered below the waist. Cleverly, she was going to make a special measurement of her own. She began stroking the penis through the sheet, waiting for that organ to rise. When convinced that it had reached its apex, and judging the length, she then went to the next subject. And repeated the experiment. She announced correctly which man was her partner, and as a bonus, with a big smile, went with him to one of the bedrooms to ease the erection.

Melanie observed all this with wide eyes. She had never been to a party like this. To be honest, neither had I, except in my dreams. We were both very excited. When the other couples left, Melanie and I lingered behind. I was still recalling my grope of Camille.

"I think we're ready," I said to Joel. Melanie stood beside me and nodded.

Joel went to Melanie. I grabbed hold of Camille. We fell on each other. The lovemaking was fevered, each exploring the other's body. I had a head start with Camille's body, of course, but she caught up quickly.

The four of us were a regular item from then on, and the two women even experimented a little. But we each liked the opposite sex too much so we mostly swapped partners. Melanie no longer thinks of herself as modest or shy. Nor does anyone else.