Dusk was upon me as I pulled into the campground and set up my tent. I had made an early start from back East, changed planes, then drove a hundred miles north and a few thousand feet higher to reach the park. I was wiped out but I had promised myself I would keep my brand new sleeping bag clean for my girlfriend joining me this weekend: no spooge stains on it, no crumbs in it, and zero dust, grime or dirty hairs inside from my head or body. So after locking my snacks in the site's bear locker, I grabbed my towel, some clean clothes to change into, and my ziplock bag of toiletries and headed to the bathrooms.
The campground was pretty dark with only a few lamps here and there. I didn't see any fires but considering it was summer out West, I suppose they would have been a stupid idea. No doubt some folks find the park too dark, but I kinda like the new efforts not to obliterate the night sky with light pollution. From a distance, the bathhouse looked so quiet that I figured I'd be able to rub one out in the shower without making anyone wait in line or my worrying about a neighboring showerer seeing suspicious shadows under my stall.
My hunch was almost right. When I walked in, there was only one guy - or rather I saw one guy's feet visible below the toilet stall door. No problem, he was probably as worried about me hearing him drop one in the bowl as I was about him hearing me in the shower. But then, I saw the badly vandalized sign (why can't people treat public property as well as their own?) taped over the sink mirror...
FUUUUCCCKKKK!! Showers: $1.75 for 5 minutes. 25 cents for each minute more. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I just don't see pay showers back East. I guess I understand the water shortages out West and I really don't care that much about seven fucking quarters but I didn't have any at all. Had I driven my own car I might have a bunch of change in the ashtray, but I just picked up my rental car this afternoon. The store and visitor center are closed for the night. Why not provide a machine that takes singles? Is that asking too much?
The adrenaline was still racing through me over the bad news, but I decided while I was there I might as well trim my beard so the stubble won't end up in the sleeping ba——-FLUSH.
As I stared into the mirror holding my trimmer, out stepped the man who was taking a shit in the stall. He saw me standing by a sink and walked up in his shorts and a half marathon shirt carrying his own bag of toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. I had guessed that the sandals I had seen under the stall door were attached to a teenager trying to sneak away for a private dump or an old guy trying to escape his RV for a little peace and quiet. But this guy was somewhere in his 40s or 50s, with a head of gray hair, a tanned face, and nothing particularly antisocial in his expression. We nodded acknowledgement of one another's presence. He rummaged through his own shave kit and dug out a nose hair trimmer.
I asked myself, what the hell? And then opened my stupid mouth, "Hate to bother you, but is there any chance you could make change for $2? The store's closed."
"Sorry, dude," (I didn't know any men my own age group could call each other dude) "but my wife stole most of my quarters."
Well, shit. "In that case, is there any chance that if you finish showering before your shower stops running that I could I jump in?
He deactivated his nose hair trimmer but kept looking into the mirror without glancing my way. "There's a chance but I tend to take long showers. Always have. Ever since I was 14 and used to jerk off where no one could see me," Without making eye contact, he put the nose hair trimmer in his kit and grabbed his razor to smooth his neck. "But if you're asking for a favor, I don't mind helping you out but don't rush me."
"Thanks," I mumbled. I guess it was nice of him to technically offer to split his 5 minutes, but obviously he wanted his privacy and don't think he had any intention of finishing before his 5 minute shower ran out. Oh well, I'd just have to use my hand sanitizer in my car to do the best I could until tomorrow. Now that I think about it, I'll probably get dead skin, stray hairs and sweat on my girlfriend as soon as we make love, so one missed shower is no big deal.
"Alright then," he said still with no eye contact, just staring at his blade as if weighing whether to change it out. "If you want to make sure the hot water lasts, it'd probably work out best to take care of everything before turning it on."
Wait, what? He's interested? "Oh yeah, right, that makes sense." I started hurriedly fumbling through my kit to dig out my toothbrush and floss. But he interrupted me before I found both.
"Naw, I mean before anyone else comes in, go ahead now and undress and go stand in the shower area, I'll be right there. Take the last one. Leave your stuff on the bench outside the stall and I'll take the shelf and hooks in the stall. That way it won't look so weird if someone comes in and sees two guys' clothes but only one shower going. I don't mind helping you out but I don't any need any shit from anybody if you know what I mean.
I did. I put my floss back in the bag, "Yeah, I understand. I really do appreciate your helping me out."
Then I saw that though he told me not to brush my own teeth, he was putting some toothpaste on his own toothbrush. I had reached the spot along the bench opposite the last shower stall when I heard him brushing loudly. Just as I hung my towel on the wooden peg, I suddenly felt very weird. You might have thought only a weirdo would have gotten this far. That might be a fair point, but I was just trying to solve a problem by asking for something (shower water!) that I figured would have gone to waste otherwise if he took only a quick military shower and then dallied drying off and dressing. I guess I'm naive, or haven't had this problem before, but I just assumed that when he was done, he'd say "It's all yours!" then put his towel on and step out from the curtain or stall door and then I'd step into the curtain or door wearing my own towel and that'd be the sum total of our interaction.
But instead I was undressing out here in the open while he was still in his shorts (now that I looked, I saw they were cyclist shorts), sandals, and his race shirt with a bunch of symbols and logos I couldn't read at this distance. And I was getting in the shower first? Why was that? It seemed to make sense when he said it, but I must've missed something. I sat down, pulled off my socks and shoes, placed them neatly under the bench. Heard him spit. Stood up, pulled my t-shirt over my head and hung it on the peg next to the towel. I glanced towards the sink and saw he had a full view of me in the mirror's reflection. And though he was gargling some mouthwash, he was looking straight into the mirror. Because he was so far away, I couldn't tell where his eyes were focused, but he clearly was making no effort to rummage through his things to give me some privacy. Although I can't say for sure, I really felt he was looking.
And that's when the tingle began. That feeling like butterflies in your stomach, only they're in your dick. And you feel yourself stirring to life. I think you know the one. It can happen during a tv movie, or conversation with friends about their girlfriends, or on Saturday mornings when you wake up after sleeping in. This would not be the very first time another man would see me naked, but it's rare for me to be nude in front of others. I usually get away with not doing it at the gym. I didn't grow up showering in front of friends in school. I wasn't in the military. The idea never scared me, I just never did it. So the novelty of getting naked in front of a stranger must be what was giving me lift. I knew the longer I delayed it, the bigger it'd be when I finally got undressed so I just whipped my shorts off with my back to him and hung them on a 3rd peg. I seriously doubt I looked as cool and relaxed as I wanted to as I took the three steps into the dressing vestibule so he could have the shower first. I heard him spit the mouthwash out. Here he comes, I thought.
A few seconds later the man opens the stall door and steps into the tiny dressing area, "You're gonna have to back into the shower dude or I might elbow you in the balls getting my socks off." I pushed the mildewed curtain to one side and stepped back into the poorly painted concrete block shower stall with its old drain in the corner of the floor. "Or perhaps, he grinned, "you'd've poked my eye out instead." So he definitely knew I was fluffed up and probably hard. I say probably because my dick felt heavy but I was honestly afraid to look down and confirm.
He was quiet as he went through the ritual of placing his items deliberately on the shelf and hooks. I saw him pull out his body wash. Damn it. I'm so freaked out by all this, I forget to bring my own body wash into the stall. I could ask to use some of his, but hadn't I already asked enough favors? Unlike me he pulls his shorts off before taking his shirt off. But his t-shirt didn't hang down far and with his back to me, his powder-white butt cheeks looked like they'd pad him well on a long ride. I tapped his (clothed) left shoulder, "I need to slide by, I forgot my body wash."