The Swim Team

Author's Note: This story is an elaboration on the themes expressed in my earlier story "Nudity & Nature," (although not a sequel) and is my first attempt at a multi-chapter submission. Please note that there is a slow build-up in order to explore the experiences of a group of friends being faced with a fear of public nudity for the first time, private sexual feelings coming to light, and the awkwardness of college-age nudism and sex. While there are erotic encounters throughout, and a climax at the end, it is as much about the journey as the destination. Please read on, and I hope you enjoy!

*****

I pulled up to Monica's place a little past one o'clock on a sunny Saturday morning, hopped out of the car, and started to head around back. Monica's parents were coming back up the coast from the Jersey Shore today and she still had their place to herself for a little bit longer. Mei and Kiara would already be there, sitting around the pool and carrying on.

The four of us went to a nearby community college. Monica, Mei, and I had been friends since preschool, having grown up together. Kiara moved to our town when we were in junior high together. She once told me that I was the first person to say hi, making her feel welcome, and that she'd never forgotten that. The four of us had grown very close, but Monica in particular I was very close with. I had a crush on her for as long as I could remember. I always felt it was mutual, but I never broached the topic, nor did she. I came close a few times, but always chickened out.

Met on the other hand didn't know the meaning of the word shy; she was as extraverted as they come. She was also a blunt, mischievous, and sexually-driven woman who never stopped laughing at life. It was no secret that she was bisexual, and I happened to know that she had a long-held crush on Kiara. But Kiara was largely private and never opened up about her sexuality. At least not around me. I had no idea if she was bisexual, straight, or a lesbian. She just never talked about it.

Aside from these little sexual tensions, what held us together in the practical sense was our mutual interest in swimming. The four of us, plus four others, formed a swim team at school. Our specialty was speed swimming, an event we regularly competed in. We were highly ranked among other small, regional schools in the area. It was a good way for swimmers like us to engage our hobby, given that none of us planned to develop the skill further.

When I got around back, I could hear the gentle thumping of a Bob Marley song mixed with my friends' laughter. Then I saw Monica and Kiara sitting at the edge of the pool in their bikinis. They turned their heads and saw me arrive.

"Hey Mei-Mei! Ryan's here!" shouted Kiara.

"Hi guys," I said, "Sorry I'm late." I pulled my shirt and sandals off, and then sat at the edge of the pool with my feet in the water, adjacent to the girls.

Mei hurried over carrying a six-pack and started distributing cans. "Yay! Now the party can start!" We were all excited because we were about to start practicing for a big competition later that year. We chatted about the past times we'd recorded and what our strategy would be this year. Mostly we discussed switching up our order for the relay, in an effort to shave just seconds off our current time.

After a while the beer started kicking in and we descended into tossing out goofy ideas masquerading as proposed strategies for our swim practice. Monica had suggested that we spend the summer learning how to breathe underwater so that we wouldn't have to waste energy coming up for air. Kiara was more interested in supplying the team with copies amounts of alcohol to loosen us up during the competition. We then all agreed that was a very bad idea.

Finally Mei threw her arms up in the air and announced, "I have the best idea!" We all laughed at the impossibility of this statement. "No no, listen," she demanded. We all listened. "All we really need is a little dose of adrenaline to drive us a little harder. So get this - we should compete in the nude!"

Monica, having just taken a gulp of beer, nearly spit it out. Kiara and I burst into laughter. "I actually believe you'd seriously consider that, Mei," I said.

Mei looked around at us with a smirk. "I'm serious guys, we could totally do it. Don't tell me it wouldn't be exciting. And think of how many people would show up to support us!"

Monica laughed, "Exciting isn't exactly the word that came to mind..."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a prude. Ryan, you'd do it. Right?"

Monica turned and smiled at me, with one eyebrow raised. She seemed curious to hear my answer. "Umm..." I started.

Kiara saved me from having to answer by chiming in, joking, "He'd chicken out as usual." I was fine letting that be the final word, but Mei wouldn't have it.

"I bet I can make him do it," said Mei. She got up and walked over. My heart started racing, not knowing what she was up to . Mei was a close friend, but she couldn't be trusted once she got a crazy idea in her head. She bent down next to me, and whispered in my ear. My heart sank. It was a threat; if I didn't agree to what she was about to propose, she was going to share something seriously embarrassing with the group. Something I most definitely didn't want Monica to know.

She strolled back over to her seat between Monica and Kiara with a devilish grin across her face. Then she announced, "So right now, we're all going to go skinny dipping, just to prove that we can do it. And Ryan's agreed to get us started. Right, Ryan?" She shot a demanding look at me.

Kiara started laughing. Monica looked shocked and surprised, staring at me as if to say, "Why on earth did you agree to this?" Of course I didn't, but I was in a real bind.

"Uh," I stammered, "I- um..."

"Let's go, stand up," insisted Mei. She and Kiara were finding this hilarious. Monica looked like she was about to faint, and I could tell her heart was beating out of her chest. If she felt anything like I felt toward her, she was considering the fact that there was a distinct possibility that she was about to see her best friend, who she had a crush on nearly her whole life, standing before her completely naked.

"Do I really have to do this?" I asked. My stomach was doing backflips. I wasn't sure I could go through with it. It was scary enough to get naked in front of any of them, let alone a girl I dreamed about every single night.

Mei declared, "I think you already know the answer to that."

I stood up slowly. Kiara leaned over to Mei, saying, "Look, he's shaking." They chuckled and then turned back to watch.

"You guys are the worst friends ever," I said with a sigh. I put my thumbs down each side of my bathing suit, preparing to slide it down. I took one last look at Monica. She put her hand over her mouth and her eyes were huge.

"Oh my god, you're really going to do it!" she said. She turned bright red and immediately looked away so that she would not see. This helped at least a little, given that she was the one I was most afraid to be naked in front of. I mustered up whatever little bit of courage I could find, and slid my bathing suit straight down to my feet, then stepped out out it.

There I stood, fully nude in front of a few of my best friends, my penis and testicles completely exposed. I was still trembling. Mei and Kiara started hooting, clapping, and laughing all over each other. I looked over at Monica, who was still turned away from my body. She started laughing nervously, realizing that I must have done what Mei demanded; that right now, Mei and Kiara were seeing my completely naked body.

Mei turned to her, saying, "Come on Monica. You gotta see this. He's actually got a really nice dick! ... Just look!"

I began thinking, "No, please don't..." But Monica, with her cheeks still flushed, began to slowly turn. She had her hand up to shield her eyes, and then peeked around the side. I saw her look directly at my penis, seeing it for the first time.

"Oh man," she said, looking away again and bursting into nervous laughter. "I can't believe you're actually naked!" Once Monica caught sight of me without clothes, she couldn't look away, and she immediately turned back again. The redness was starting to go away, replaced by a nervous curiosity. "Whelp. There it is..." she said, "I can't believe I'm looking at my best friend's... penis."

Mei egged her on, "Go over and check it out! I'm sure he wouldn't mind you touching it."

"No way!" snapped Monica, growing embarrassed again.

Seeing the slight change in Monica, her absolute embarrassment for me turning into awkward curiosity, started to calm my fears. I read in her expressions that she approved of my nude body. I was excited to finally break through a wall of sexual frustration with our years-long courtship. She kept glancing down at my penis, and then up at me, with a look of nervous excitement. We were saying a great deal to each other with our eyes. I fought hard to block my growing arousal, but I couldn't help but grow a little as they observed me standing there. Thankfully they said nothing about it.

"Okay, my turn!" said Mei, standing up.

"You're not serious," Monica said.

"Of course I am. Like I said, we're all going skinny dipping!" she explained.

Monica was in disbelief. "There's no way I'm getting naked in front of everyone!"

Mei laughed, "Come on Monica. How long have we known each other?" She reached around behind her back and unhooked her own bikini top, then pulled it off, revealing her petite breasts, accented with two dark nipples that were dramatically pronounced. She then slid down her bikini bottom, and stepped out of them, just as I had done. Mei was a beautiful, tall Chinese girl, with perfect bone structure and a thin, athletic body. She had a completely smooth, shaven pussy, and I stood there amazed at how perfect the soft lips of her vagina looked in the sun.

I felt a tingling in my penis seeing my friend nude for the first time. It was thrilling to stand there naked, across from Mei. We faced each other, observing each other's body. Kiara took a big swig of beer and then stood up. I could see Mei getting excited. She was about to watch Kiara, her secret crush, get undressed in front of her. Mei's nipples were as hard as they could be. Poor Monica just sat there, bewildered and terrified at what was happening around her.

Kiara was African-American. Her breasts weren't large, but they were a bit bigger than Mei's. As she pulled off her bikini top, they bounced free, revealing her large brown areolas. When she took off her bikini bottom, I could see that she had triangular patch of dark stubble over the deep cleft of her labia. Kiara had a killer body. She had the smoothest skin, the most muscle tone, and was the most statuesque of all the girls on our swim team. I watched Mei gazing at Kiara's body with lust, before she cheered and gave Kiara a big hug, pressing their bodies close together. I watched their breasts sandwiched together, and the gentle curve of Mei's supple tush as she pressed their hips together excitedly.

Now that Mei, Kiara, and I were all fully nude, the attention turned to Monica, who was still seated all by herself at the edge of the pool. She looked like she wanted to make a run for it but Mei offered her a hand up. "See? We've all done it. It's no big deal."

Up until this point, I hadn't had the opportunity to really digest the fact that I might finally see Monica naked. Beautiful Monica that I grew up with and fantasized about every day. It hadn't registered, simply because I could not imagine her ever going through with it. But now that the three of us stood there nude, I knew she must have felt an intense peer pressure. Not participating would mean constant ridicule from Mei, and she'd never live it down.

Monica slowly got up. Rather, Mei slowly pulled her up. I could see her shaking as much as I had been, if not more. She was just then coming to the full realization that she was about to have to undress before me; that her male best friend was going to see her bare breasts and vagina. She could barely look at me. I felt bad, but I also knew that if she did go through with it, her anxiety would start to come down, just as mine was beginning to. Mei could see that Monica needed a little encouragement, so she said, "Here, I'll help you." Mei circled around behind Monica and began to help undo her bikini top, but upon release Monica caught it with her hands, pressing it nervously to her chest.

She started laughing. "Argh, I can't do this!"

Mei said, "Come on, everyone wants to see those boobs. Especially Ryan. Don't let him down! He's probably dreamed of this moment a million times."

Monica finally glanced at me, smiling. I smiled back. Kiara added, "Yeah, he let you see his penis. If he shows you his stuff, you have to show him yours. That's how it works, right?" Monica was bent over in nervous laughter.

"Okay, okay," she added, pushing Mei away. "Let me do it." Monica stood up and faced the group again. She took a deep breath, and then pulled the bikini top away from her chest, revealing two gorgeous, soft breasts and the most beautiful, perky pink nipples I'd ever seen. She looked thoroughly embarrassed and kept glancing at me to read my expression. I was mesmerized, and wanted nothing more than to bury my face in the valley between her breasts and feel their soft warmth.

Mei and Kiara were dancing about excitedly at the bravery of their friend. Mei cheered Monica on. "You got this, girl!"

Monica was breathing rapidly, the movement of her chest causing both breasts to wag softly in front of her. She covered her face again with her hand, and muttered, "Oh man, here we go." Then Monica slipped her bikini bottom down and stood back up. Her eyes shot over to me and remained fixed, as if looking to me to save her from discomfort. She was now fully exposed, vulnerable, and terrified.

I nearly collapsed when I saw Monica's nude body. She stood there in the sun with her beautiful brown curls flying in the breeze. Her breasts heaving as she breathed deeply in and out with nervous excitement. I looked down and saw her pussy for the first time. She had a little triangle of soft, curly pubic hair, not very thick, and two lovely, visible pink lips. The sight of her vagina was almost too much to bear. I wanted to shower her body with kisses, then lay down and make love to her right then and there, like I had fantasized countless times.

Monica and I stood facing each other, taking in the sight of each other's nude body, our heads spinning. I lost control of my arousal, and felt the hard throbbing of my penis as it quickly began to grow and rise into the air. One sight of Monica's body and I now had a huge, throbbing erection in front of all my friends.

"Oh shit," I said, quickly covering myself. It was too late, they all saw, especially Monica who was already giggling. Kiara was doubled over. Mei cheered loudly.

"Oh my god, Monica, you totally gave Ryan an erection!" she squealed.

I was mortified. But Monica suddenly lost all her nervousness, emboldened by the fact that she was able to make me erect with her reveal. We exchanged smirks.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"That's okay," she whispered back.

"Okay, last one in the pool is a rotten egg!" shouted Mei and she dove head first into the water. We all dove in after her. It felt instantly better to swim with them. Not just because this was the activity I was most used to doing with them, but because the water hid our nudity, for the most part, and allowed us to ease into our state of undress a little slower.

By the time we tired and got back out of the pool, we all felt a little more comfortable with our bodies. I watched Monica begin to slide herself out of the water, her body glistening with sunlit drops of water. I approached her to offer a hand up, forgetting that this would place my penis at eye level with her. She looked up, but seemed excited to get a closer look, then accepted my hand and let me pull her out of the water. This was the first time I stood so close to her, almost skin to skin, with an intimate view of her breasts and her pussy, and it was intoxicating.

We sat here and there around the pool again, and if there was any urge to hide any part of our bodies remaining, it had to be tossed firmly out the window. Sitting by the pool, there was nowhere to hide, especially since our legs were parted, dangling in the water. The girls all had clear, direct views of each other's pussies, and of my penis. This was a fact we all quickly realized through our sudden silence, but didn't mention. Still, as conversation started up again, it couldn't be helped that we stole a peek here and there. Admittedly, I enjoyed seeing Monica's legs parted, permitting a full view of her delicate pink lips, gently framed with a light trail of hair, glistening with water from the pool.

Mei interrupted the discussion, announcing that she had to pee badly. She raced through the sliding glass doors into the house and was gone for a few minutes as Monica, Kiara, and I continued our banter. Finally Mei came running out, "Guys! I hear someone unlocking the front door!"

Monica leapt to her feet. "Oh man, my parents must be getting home already!" We all scrambled to find our bathing suits which had been scattered about. I pulled my bathing suit on as fast as I could, and then watched the girls helping each other hook their tops back on.

We had been clothed for no more than thirty seconds before Monica's mom and dad emerged from the house.

"Oh, hi guys! I didn't realize you'd be here today," said her mom.

"Hi Mrs. Navarro!" shouted Mei.

"Hi Mei-Ling!" she shouted back. "You guys can stay as long as you want, we're just going to unpack." They went back inside. We all exchanged glances.

"That was close..." said Monica, and we finished our beers, laughing about what we all just did together.

***

Later that night I got home and threw myself on my bed. I was still reeling from what happened earlier. I kept replaying the events by the pool over and over. The humiliation of my erection stood out in my mind, and grew worse the more I remembered what happened. Especially the expression on Monica's face. At the time, I thought she enjoyed it. But now I was second guessing that. I kept telling myself that it was just my anxiety trying to cloud my memory of the events.

I tried instead to evoke the image of Monica's nude body. I fixated on it, trying to remember every last detail. I didn't want it to fade. As if on cue, my phone's screen lit up. It was a text message from Monica that just said, "Hey." I replied. She just wanted to know what I was up to, and if I wanted to chat on the phone.

Moments later the phone rang and I picked up. "Hi Monica," I said.

"Hey, what's up."

"Not much, just got home from dinner."

"Cool..." The conversation started awkwardly, no doubt because the pool situation was still playing over and over in both our minds. She continued, finally breaking the silence on the matter. "So- that was pretty bonkers, earlier today at the pool."

"Yeah, totally," I added, "It never ceases to amaze me how crazy Mei is."

Monica laughed. A little bit of the tension broke. "Yeah, I can't believe she made us do that- I was so embarrassed!"

"I know, I thought I was going to pass out, honestly," I replied. There was more awkward silence, as we both shared a moment of mutual embarrassment. I added, "You were pretty brave though, even though you looked really scared at first."

"I dunno. I almost chickened out completely. But, I mean... I couldn't. I saw you standing there n-- naked. And I thought, 'If Ryan can do it, why can't I?' so I just went for it." I smiled when she said this.