Naked Encounters

A collection by P.A. Choi

Copyright 2021 P.A. Choi

Cover design by P.A. Choi.

Table of Contents

Happy to See You

A Nap in the Garden

`The Naked Sister-in-Law

Get in the Tub with Me

In the Dead of Night

No Clothes? No Problem!

About P.A. Choi

Happy to See You

In her twenty years of employment, starting out as a secretary at her father's company and then becoming a workforce analyst for many years, and then switching to working from home, long before the virus forced the rest of the white-collar world indoors, Tess had reached the point that all workers hope for: she enjoyed going to work. She enjoyed "going" to work (which just meant going to her office upstairs) because she got to do it in the nude, and that made everything more tolerable. She had long abandoned wearing tight and stuffy sport jackets and constricting belts and straps. Nothing beat being able to lean back in her office chair and feel the fabric on her bare butt and let the full weight of her breasts hang loose without the restrictions of her bra. She would scratch her thigh, then let her fingers travel a little closer to tweak her pubic hair, an errant little habit she did as she looked at updating cloud spreadsheets. The work itself was involving sometimes, and like any job, there were stressful days, but at least she didn't have to be uncomfortable doing it.

All this was much to the chagrin of her son, Ludi, who hated accidentally running into his mom when she left her office to use the bathroom, or, on the stressful days, when she paced back and forth on the phone with the door open. She at least put on a robe during dinner. For part of his adolescence and most of his early adult life, the only time Ludi ever saw his mom dressed was when she left the house, and having long ago given up on office clothes, she looked more like a college co-ed in her sloppy, thrown-together outfits she went out in now. The most frustrating times, though, were when he wanted to have friends over.

"Now mom, please put on your robe or something if you're going to leave your office," Ludi would tell her. "And keep the door closed." Tess would always laugh and brush his concern aside, and half-committedly say she would comply. She had gotten so used to being in the house nude that it was like she didn't see the big deal about being seen, even if it was being seen by horny young college guys. In truth, she didn't see the big deal. These weren't children; she knew it wasn't anything they hadn't seen before, and she kind of liked the idea of the attention. After divorcing from her husband fifteen years ago and being locked up inside almost all the time, a little male attention sounded flattering. She secretly hoped to be caught by one of her son's friends, if for nothing more than to get a little thrill and a little laugh. Plus, it would be nice to affirm that, even though she was over forty, that she still had it. She knew she did; she took care of herself and ate well and exercised. But a little affirmation from an outside source was always a good boost for the self-esteem. So despite her son's wishes, she kept the door open anyway, and often went to the bathroom nude, for she kept her robe in her bedroom, not the office. It wasn’t like Ludi and his friends didn't stay in the game room in the basement the whole time they were there, anyway. Or the kitchen on the first floor. The real chances she would be seen were nil. She was safe in her naked sanctuary on the second floor.

The reason Ludi was so nervous about inviting over his friends Dennis and Chao one Friday evening, though, was because someone had already seen her. Another friend, who he hadn't invited back since, had been passing by the foot of the stairs and curiously looked up and happened to catch the side-profile of Tess passing by in the hallway above, so much bare skin that it made him freeze in his tracks, the outline of her very prominent breasts and the peek of their red summits nothing but an afterimage as she disappeared from view. Ludi knew his friend had probably gossiped about it, because now people seemed almost eager to come over to hang out. But he didn't want to deny Dennis and Chao, because they were two of his best friends, and they were having a blast fighting each other in Tekken, which was always more fun in person than online. Still, he reiterated his rules to his mother and studied his friends' faces carefully for expectant expressions when they arrived. Indeed, their eyes darted to the stairs and all around the foyer as they entered, though Ludi had it planned that they would not even know his mother was in the house.

One of them predictably asked, though.

"Is your mom not home?" That was Dennis. He was a little heavyset, boyish, with moppy red hair and a wide-eyed, bewildered expression almost always. His lack of a poker face betrayed his expectations now.

"No, she went into the office today," Ludi said. "She might come back later."

Chao, by comparison, had a very stern face at all times, and it was always hard to read. They both jokingly called it "resting Asian bitch face," and only then would Chao sometimes laugh, betraying actual emotion inside of him. He betrayed nothing now, but Ludi was certain that he must be wondering if he would see Ludi's mom naked that day.

"Let's go down," Ludi said. "I just made a new custom skin this week, I wanna show it off."

His friends followed him through the foyer, underneath the railing above where his mom often walked by, and into the kitchen, where a door led down into the basement where most of Ludi's video game setups were. He imagined his mother upstairs, typing away, naked as a jaybird in her big office chair, unbeknownst to his friends.

They spent a good hour playing each other in Tekken matches and having a good old time, grabbing sodas from the mini-fridge down there and enjoying themselves like kids on a Saturday morning. And, thankfully, neither Dennis nor Chao asked about Ludi's mom once they started gaming. Ludi let out an internal sigh of relief; this was proving to be a pretty successful and incident-free evening. It was so relieving that he may have put his guard down. Because soon, a problem developed.

"You guys play for a bit, I gotta take a shit," Chao announced. He stood and dropped his controller on the beanbag he was seated at and headed to the basement’s half-bath. Dennis rushed up and grabbed the controller and plopped down, and Ludi sighed and got ready to play an endless stream of matches with the decidedly less-skilled Dennis. He had to admit he didn't like playing against Dennis. It was too boring. He didn't even like being alone with Dennis for too long because he was kind of grating and it was awkward. He worked better as a third wheel.

They weren't even halfway through their first match when Dennis clutched his stomach and groaned.

"Aww shit, man. You got another bathroom?"

Crap. Ludi paused the game.

“Only other one’s all the way upstairs. We were supposed to have a half-bath on the first floor, too, but we just got the one down here. Is it bad?"

"Me and Chao went to Azteka earlier. More like Ass-wrecka. Is the bathroom far?"

Ludi was running things through his head. It was all going fine until both of his friends had to suddenly shit. What were the chances of that?

"Hey Chao, you gonna be long?" Ludi shouted, but Dennis stood up and started dancing on his feet.

"Come on, man, just tell me where the other bathroom is, I can't hold it."

"I'm gonna be a while, estoy poopin'!" Chao's voice called, echoey, from the bathroom. Ludi sighed.

"Alright. Go back up and head upstairs, and it's left down the hall."

"Alright, thanks." He rushed out of the basement. He's going to find out that I lied about my mother not being home, Ludi thought. Oh well, he would just say that he didn't want her to be bothered while she worked. He prayed she had the office door closed.

*****

Tess was just finishing up in the bathroom, dabbing herself extra-judiciously since she was nude and cleanliness was tantamount when not wearing clothes (people had the wrong idea when they assumed that it was gross and nasty for people to hang around naked, when in reality, Tess found herself making sure she was clean and fresh at all times, knowing that nothing was more gross than a body smothered and sweating under festering clothes all day), and she was washing up at the sink when the doorknob turned and the bathroom door swung open. It gave her heart a little start, but she smiled, as standing there was a chubby, white, redheaded kid, a friend of Ludi's, quite cute and child-like, especially in his complete shock at seeing her standing there.

"Oh my god, wow. I'm, sorry." He already had a trickle of sweat on his forehead. He started backing up, but Tess just smiled and waved her hand.

"That's okay, I was just finishing up. It's all yours."

She dabbed her hands in the hand towel and then turned to face the shocked boy, watching him back up even further at the sight of her full-frontal features. It sent a little charge through her nervous system.

"You must be one of Ludi's friends. I'm his mother. But you can call me Tess."

The boy's mouth worked soundlessly, and his eyes bugged out in terror as Tess neared him in her exit. He backed up against the wall and let her step out and turn down the hall. She took extra-animated steps to make her ass move voluptuously, which she knew he had to be staring at, and as she looked over her shoulder, he was.

"Don't mind me," she said. "I'm just finishing up with work. You boys have fun." She turned her eyes away from him, heart hammering, and she re-entered her office and glided through the room to settle in her chair, where she could not fully calm down, and she could not fully concentrate. Soon she saw the young redhead kid standing in the open doorway.

"So you're Ludi's mom?" he asked. She was grinning, beside herself.

"Yep. Like I said. And you are?"

"I thought he said you weren't home."

"Oh, well. He probably didn't want you to bother me."

"Do you always work naked?"

She watched his gaze, and his gradually relaxing body language as he took one more step into the room.

"Oh yes, I quite like it. It's the best way to work. I'm here all by myself—well, except for Ludi—so I figure, who cares? I only put on a shirt to do Zoom meetings." She laughed at the memory, knowing her co-workers had no idea (or perhaps a very good understanding) that below the edge of the camera's view, she was tweaking her pubic hair habitually.

Her laugh seemed to disarm the young kid, who looked at her all over again as if he had just now spotted her and as if she were twice as shocking.

"W-well..." He grabbed his stomach. "I really gotta go. T-thank you for letting us stay over."

"Anytime!" Tess said with a winning smile. The kid turned to go, but then looked back once more as Tess was settling in front of her keyboard.

"So do you and Ludi both walk around the house naked when there's nobody here?"

Tess laughed.

"Oh, no, Ludi doesn't do it, but I don't see why he shouldn't. It just doesn't make sense to put clothes on when they're not needed. Granted, it's fall right now, but in the summer... oh yeah, I'm naked all the time. Not Ludi, though. Seems silly, doesn't it? To put on clothes during the summer."

"Y-yes ma'am," Dennis said, and he nodded at Tess and then slinked out into the hall. Tess got back to work and listened to the bathroom door click closed and the vent turn on. As she looked over the updated chart, she could faintly hear the boy's flatulence under the drone of the rushing air, and she smiled at how embarrassed he must have felt overall.

*****

Ludi sat watching the Tekken demo screen play and tapped his foot in anxiousness. Dennis sure was taking a long while upstairs, but then again, so was Chao down here. He had no reason to go and check up on Dennis, and he could only hope he wasn't having a conversation with his mother right at that moment.

Before Chao finally came out of the bathroom, there was a distinct text message jingle, echoey, coming through the bathroom. Two minutes later, Chao came out, looking down at his phone.

"Finally," Ludi said. "That must have been a hell of a lunch."

"Yeah... I'll be right back, okay?"

"We are going to hang out and play Tekken, right?"

"Yeah dude, I, uh, just got to get a drink real quick." He was still staring at his phone when he talked, and when he finally looked up, he didn't look like he needed a drink. He just looked confused. Just as confused as Ludi was.

"So yeah, I'll be right back."

Chao turned and went up the stairs, and Ludi was left sitting in front of the TV with the video game characters moving swiftly on it and sending dancing light all around the dimmed basement room while he sat still, in thought.

*****

Tess had forgotten about her amusing visitor and was nose-deep in her laptop screen (if that was possible), and it looked like she might be wrapped up for the evening. Which was good, because she was getting a little hungry, and a microwaved dinner would be better than nothing. Or maybe she would warm up some pizza and offer it to the boys. The question was whether to go downstairs naked or not. One of Ludi's friends had already seen her, so it probably didn't make any difference. But, remembering Ludi's plea to her, Tess figured that the redhead kid probably hadn't said anything. He was so shy. In fact, as she sat and listened to the outside hall, she could still hear the vent, and strangely... the shower? Tess shrugged. Either it had been a long number two or she hadn't been sitting in front of the computer for as long as she thought she had, and maybe the kid just liked to shower after he pooped. She couldn't blame him. Walking around naked all the time, it was a hard-set rule for her.

Just as she was thinking about getting up and going to get her robe from the bedroom, she heard another set of footsteps coming up the stairs. Perhaps Ludi, coming to check up on his friend. But Tess was quite surprised to see passing by her open door a much taller and lankier boy, who was looking down the hall and didn't see her at first until he did a double-take.

"Oh! Miss Carrington! I-I didn't realize..."

Tess just waved her hand at the startled young man. He was rather strapping, lean and athletic-looking compared to the redhead. "It's okay, I don't mind, otherwise I would have had the door closed. And you can call me Tess."

The young man cautiously approached the door, as if all this were a dream and that it might be yanked out from under him should he investigate closer. But his eyes could not believe what they were seeing, or so it seemed by how wide they were as he came up to the door frame and peered at her sitting there behind her desk, only her breasts hovering over her keyboard and the bare side of her hip visible evidence to the fact that she was not topless, but full-on nude, his friend's mother, sitting there naked in her office with the door open.

This young man hardly said anything. He just stared, rather directly, almost rudely. He worked his mouth to say something, but before he could get anything out, there were more footsteps coming up the stairs, and Tess knew that this time, it was Ludi.

He came rushing up behind his friend, pushed him aside and saw his mother sitting there naked, and threw his hands atop his head in disbelief.

"Oh my god, Mom... what the hell are you doing. I told—"

"It's no big deal, sweetie," she said. "They were just paying me a visit."

Ludi spun on his friend and squared him off.

"So this is why you came upstairs. Did Dennis text you or something? Where the hell is he, anyway?"

"Oh, he's in the shower," Tess said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"I thought you said your mom wasn't home, dude," Ludi's friend challenged him. Casting a scornful look at Tess, Ludi turned from her to his friend again, only briefly, hardly able to look at him.

"Just come on, dude, let's get the hell back downstairs."

As they were about to make their rude exit, Ludi not even saying goodbye, but his other friend craning his neck over Ludi's shoulder to get one last look (Tess waved at him and twinkled her teeth), the bathroom door in the hall opened with a noisy pop.

Ludi shoved his way into the hall, expecting to see Dennis, which he did, but he was unprepared for how he saw him, because Dennis stepped out into the hall completely nude.

Ludi was shocked, almost as shocked as Dennis was at getting caught by his friend. Ludi got too much of Dennis than he ever wanted to see in one whole second: his pale, freckled skin, his swelling belly, his puff of fire at his crotch and the white grub worm protruding from that. He raised his hands to shield himself from the sight.

"Dude what in the fuck?"

"O-oh, hi Ludi. I was just taking your mom's advice..."

Ludi spun back to look in the office at his mother.

"Mom? Seriously?"

Tess raised her hands in innocence. "I didn't tell anybody to do anything! What's going on?" All she could see was Ludi and his lean friend crowding the doorway, until they parted as if a dangerous wild animal was coming through, and as they parted, there came in the chubby redhead kid, completely bare and pale, like a newborn baby.

"H-hi Miss Carrington. Er, I mean T-Tess. I thought about what you said."

Tess was laughing now. She even clapped her hands, and, hypnotized by her amusement, Dennis the redhead slowly came to the center of the room while Ludi and his other friend looked on in shock. Soon Ludi looked away so he wouldn't be staring at his friend's ass, but then he looked again in complete disbelief. Tess just watched the shy boy approach, half-covering his exposed penis, but then relenting to leave it be seen, wherein it slowly transformed.

"You sure got comfortable," she said as he approached on stiff legs, walking like a zombie, until he stood over her desk, where he could gaze down at her naked lap, and his steadily-growing arousal hovered over her keyboard. "I see now why you took a shower."

"Y-heah. It just popped in my head. What you said, I mean."

Ludi was standing at the door and steadily freaking out. He seemed hellbent on pulling out every bit of hair on top of his head.

"So what, are you just gonna goad my friends into getting naked in the house? this is crazy!"

When Tess reached her hand up gently to Denni's bobbing penis, Ludi got so panicked that he turned from the scene and left the room. It was too much to ignore for Tess, though; what was at first a stubby little penis now curved majestically in front of her with a shiny, proud crown, lurching up and down like an eager puppy, and Tess, beside herself, took it in her grip. A sharp exhalation of breath came from Dennis as he throbbed and pulsed in her fingers, and she looked up at him, smiling.

"Boy, glad I don’t have one of these things to distract me," she said with a waggle and a light squeeze, and Dennis was on cloud nine, his eyes traveling to the ceiling. Ludi's other friend stood in shock while Tess tugged the redhead's member, which squirmed in her hand like a living thing. It delighted her seeing him get so urgent and excited and actually starting to pull away from her as she squeezed her fingers around his exposed head, and it was apparent why, because a white-hot shot rocketed through her grip and splatted on her right breast, clinging to it in a swirly pattern. The second shot crossed her keyboard, and the rest dribbled into an ivory puddle next to it. The slight scent of musk traveled up to her nostrils. The redhead was silent, his mouth open but nothing coming out until Tess ran her fingers over his vicious tip. Then he moaned almost painfully.

"What the—Mom!"

Ludi had returned, and looked absolutely scandalized, and his other friend was less shocked and more of something else now.

"I was just letting off a little of his pressure," Tess said. "No harm done. I didn't expect so much, though." Then, looking to the redhead, she patted his hip. "Why don't you go get me a load of tissues, hon?"

The kid blinked; his dick was still in Tess's hand, being lightly massaged, but she withdrew and he stuttered, stepped away, and faced his friends. Ludi looked away in disgust, but the other kid was in a trance, though he stepped aside as Dennis made his way towards them and Ludi only turned around again at the last minute and jumped out of the way of his friend's half-mast member with its hair-thin tendril hanging off of it.

"Ew! Dude! Don't drip on the floor!"

Ludi didn't know what he wanted to avoid looking at more: Dennis' pasty ass making its way down the hall, or his mom sitting at her desk with a zig-zag of white on one of her big breasts. He looked at the second thing and shook his head, and his mom just sat there calmly with the most smug smile on her face. Then he was jostled aside as naked Dennis made his way back in.

"Jesus, dude."

"Here, Miss Carrington, I just got a wet towel for you.”

"Why thanks, sweetie," she said. She wheeled back her chair and began to raise her hand to accept it, but Dennis was reaching the towel towards her spattered breast. He withdrew, seeing her surprise, and Ludi could only stare helplessly as she smiled again and leaned back, nodding her head, and cautiously, Dennis' hands approached and wiped Tess' tit clean. He wiped firmly, making sure to get her skin completely flawless and letting her breast drop with a heavy bounce. When he went in again, Tess laughed and patted his wrist.

"That's enough, hon, thank you." She took the towel from him and Dennis stood straight up, erect as ever and somewhat distracting as she carefully wiped the keyboard, then she glanced up at his wet tip and wrung it clean, eliciting a gasp. It was just a quick motion, and she patted him on the belly.

"That's all, kid, go relax. In fact—"

She didn't complete that thought and just stared ahead, past Dennis. Dennis turned around too, presenting his pale belly and red erection, and Ludi turned his head away but then saw what they were staring at. Next to him, Chao already had his shirt off and was lowering his jeans. When he stood out of them, his erection had already broken free of his boxers, and he pulled them over it to reveal its full length and took them off.

"Chao what the fuck!"

Chao just cast a devious but nervous glance towards Ludi, then stepped forward, but Tess put up her hand.

"Hey now, this isn't a brothel. Oh, I hate to play favorites, but I'm not handing out handies.”

Chao's sly expression turned to confusion and then disbelief. His lesser self twitched.

"And I was just getting ready to say," Tess said, standing from her desk and giving Chao more visual stimuli to twitch about. "I was thinking about going downstairs and warming up some pizza for all of us."

Dennis turned back to Tess, quite casually, as if he were comfortable nude in front of her now. His erection had lessened significantly. "Me and Chao had a really big lunch, but I could have a piece."

Tess stepped around the desk and stood next to Dennis, her shapely frame and stark-black bush in contrast to Dennis' poorer shape and fire-red puff, though they were both light-skinned. Ludi looked away.

"Chao, is it?" he heard his mother say. Chao did not say anything, though and Ludi looked back up to see him still staring in disbelief at his rejection.

"Well come on, then," Tess said with a wave of her hand. "I'll make some anyway because I'm hungry. Come on down, no need to get dressed!"

Ludi got the hell out of the way as his mother passed, walking with careful, deliberate steps, as if walking a catwalk, and Chao remained rooted to the floor, only pivoting as she passed, his erection already falling and coming close to brushing the side of her thigh as she walked by, as if weakly trying to reach for help. Ludi was left with his two naked friends, Dennis staring dumbly from his spot by the desk, looking absolutely ridiculous.

Ludi shook his head. He had to look at them both to show how disappointed he was.

"I don't even know what to say," he told them. It was beginning to feel like he was the only adult in the house.

"Sorry dude, she just had the door open, and we ended up talking. She made it sound like a really good idea."

Ludi arced his eyebrow, and then looked sharply over to Chao, whose turn it was now to avert his gaze. Ludi turned his fierce eyes like weapons back to Dennis, who also winced.

"Oh, well I didn't know that was going to happen," Dennis said.

Again back to Chao.

"What's your excuse?" Ludi asked him, but Chao just looked at the ground and, turning around and noticing his clothes, picked them up and started to put them on.

"Hurry up, let's go back downstairs," Ludi said, and he left his friends.

He didn't say anything to his mom when he crossed through the kitchen. She was standing in front of the oven, setting it to preheat, her butt facing him, and he hurried to the basement door before she could turn around and say anything.

*****

After three minutes of sitting down there alone, staring at the demo screen of Tekken still rolling, Ludi began to get worried. Then, finally, a set of steps came down, and it was Chao, now clothed. He stopped halfway down.

"I'm gonna go, dude," he said. "It's been fun."

"What? Why?" Ludi had shot to his feet. "We barely played!"

"Yeah, but I got things to do."

"What about Dennis?"

Chao nodded up towards the top of the stairs.

"He's chatting it up with your mom and eating pizza."

Ludi growled and chased Chao up the stairs. In the kitchen, Dennis, still nude, sat at the island counter on a stool (his shirt spread out on the seat) while his mother ate standing up on the other side of the counter, leaning on one elbow and laughing in between small bites of pizza. Chao walked past them and headed for the door.

"Oh, game night over so soon?" Ludi's mother asked, and Ludi could only shoot a glare at her.

"I'm staying a while," Dennis said. "Hey Ludi, better get some pizza before we eat it all!"

Ludi said goodbye to Chao at the door as he made haste to go out. He wanted to follow his friend and have one more word with him outside, but Chao was already rushing to his car.

"Hey Dennis, didn't you ride with Chao?" Ludi called back into the kitchen.

"Oh yeah." Dennis leaned back to be seen. "Could you drive me home?"

Ludi sighed.

"Sure, but you'll have to put your clothes on."

"Well, obviously."

He didn't put his clothes back on for some time. Ludi had entered the kitchen and took a piece of pizza, though he was a little grossed out with Dennis like a giant naked newborn baby eating his share there, so Ludi stood at the end of the counter, his mom to his right and his friend to his left, and his mother would make small talk about random things and occasionally beam about how wonderful it was to casually hang about nude. Eventually, Ludi and Dennis returned downstairs, where Ludi begged his friend to put something on while they played, and Dennis relented, but constantly shifted in his bean bag chair as if he were now uncomfortable in his clothes. It got on Ludi's nerves and they didn't speak much, not even about what had just happened, not even about the game; they just clacked on buttons silently. It was a disappointing game night. Eventually, they called it off and Dennis and he went upstairs to get ready to go, Ludi's mother nowhere in sight. Dennis made the request to go say goodbye to her, and Ludi sighed as he rushed upstairs. His mother would probably not be in her office, he knew. But he heard their voices going back and forth over the sudden rush of the shower as Dennis had apparently opened the bathroom door. The nerve of him, Ludi thought. He literally just barged in while his mother was showering and was standing there having a conversation with her. He imagined Dennis in front of the parted shower curtain and his mother standing there with the steamy water streaming down her body, as if the sight wasn't unusual or titillating. Then, Dennis was coming back downstairs.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go." They didn't say anything on the drive, but before Dennis got in the car, he said: "She asked me why I got dressed." Ludi didn't reply and he took Dennis home, and when he got back to the house, he retreated to his room and didn't see his mother for the rest of the night.

*****

After that evening, two curious things happened. Firstly, Dennis messaged Ludi after a few days, eager to come hang out again, and he couldn't help but add: "If it's okay with you, I'd like to try spending the whole night naked." Ludi of course didn't approve of that. Secondly, Chao would also bug Ludi, almost daily, not asking to come over, but asking how his mother was doing, and if she was hanging out naked at the moment. It was expected, and it was starting to get on Ludi's nerves and even creep him out a bit when no interaction between him and Chao occurred where he didn't ask about his mother. Dennis, on the other hand, who had been blessed by the hand of his mom, so to speak, seemed more concerned with just being naked. He admitted to Ludi that he was hanging around naked at home, in his room, in secret from his family, and that it would be refreshing to not have to hide it. That's when he decided to talk with his mother.

"Oh, I think it's a wonderful idea," Tess told her son when he came to her saying that Dennis, the redheaded kid, wanted to come over and play games nude. She was in the kitchen, putting silverware away, of course, nude, and conscious of the fact that her son was standing there addressing her without looking away. "I'm glad I had such an influence on him."

"A bad influence," Ludi said.

"Oh honey, don't get on that. You've been warning me to hide when your friends come over, but nothing bad happened when they saw me."

"You gave Dennis a handjob!"

She winced a little; it was weird having such frank discussion with her son.

"Well, no harm came of that, did it? It got his mind out of the gutter."

She watched Ludi pause, open his mouth, and then close it again, as if he was agreeing with her.

"What about your other friend?"

"Chao? Well there's the harm part. He's obsessed with you."

Tess found herself laughing. "Oh boy..."

"He asks about you every time I talk with him."

"I'm not surprised. I could see something in him. He's got enough desire for both he and Dennis."

"So what? Does he need a handjob too to get over it?"

Tess frowned. She was beginning to not like her son's tone and language.

"No. No... he's different than your other friend. There's something more innocent about Dennis. he just needed a little release. Your friend Chao, though... there's something more... sinister, I guess?"

"He's been my friend for years, Mom."

"Just an observation. You can bring him over if you want."

"I don't want to bring anybody over."

"Oh, well do invite Dennis. He seems fine."

"And have him hang around me naked?" Ludi said with a grimace.

"You don't have to let him if it bothers you," his mother replied.

"It's just weird."

"You got used to me."

"That's different. And no, I didn't, really."

Tess made a pout of disappointment at her son, then shrugged. "Well, you do what you feel is best. I'm going to go check the mail."

She patted her son on the shoulder as she passed by him, and he didn't wince or shrink away from her even though one of her sumptuous breasts brushed against his arm, and he didn't say anything until she was right at the door.

"Wait what? Mom"

She only turned her head and smiled deviously. "I'll be right back," she said. Then she opened the door and stepped out into the bright, chill day.

It was autumn, and there was a biting breeze that Tess usually enjoyed feeling on the nape of her throat but which now traveled all the way down, just a little unpleasant, sending goosebumps over all her exposed skin. The houses across the street sat still, and to her left and right, their neighbors were nowhere to be seen. It was always eerily dead in autumn. Tess walked down the driveway, out of any semblance of cover provided by the side of the garage that bordered the front stoop, out into the terrifying open, the sun counteracting the breeze and her heart racing as she calmly walked to the mailbox at the end of the driveway and turned her back to the street to open it, bending down slightly, her butt jutting out for any neighbors peeking through their blinds to see. There was nothing. She would check again later. As she closed the mailbox, she looked up and smiled at the fact that Ludi had not stepped outside, perhaps too embarrassed to be seen anywhere near his streaking mother. She smiled all the way back to the house.

A Nap in the Garden

Lily lived in a little two-story townhouse not too far outside the city, and though her neighbors were often loud, yelling at each other or their kids or just yelling in general (it seemed to be their main mode of communication), she enjoyed her little haven of solitude, something she had been working up to attaining. And with the townhouse came a private back patio, which was her favorite spot. The fence was ten feet high and she had a sizable flower bed back there, which she had made into a garden full of geraniums and other colorful flowers, and besides a small outdoor table and set of faux-wicker folding chairs with an umbrella, the other piece of furniture out there was her prized hammock, which was excellent for taking naps during the spring, and she was sure in the fall as well. She had not yet experienced the fall season in her new house because she had just bought it in the past January. Part of adjusting to her newfound privacy and the feeling of homeownership was testing out sitting nude on her patio.

She had started around the house, figuring that since she no longer had roommates, she could walk straight out of the shower and let the air finish drying her skin instead of putting clothes on over her damp body, and going further from there, abandoning the task of getting dressed altogether. It was a little weird at first. She felt constantly paranoid about being unclean, but she soon adjusted and found she quite liked hanging around the house nude, and soon was wondering what it would be like to sit out in the fresh air with some sun reaching her skin.

The sight of her patio from inside tempted her like the sight of a river from a rock-face, the desire to jump in halted by a nagging fear but growing with increasing excitement. She stood at her back patio door, peeking around the curtain at the view outside. From that exact vantage point, she could see the tops of the second-story windows on the townhouses across from hers. Did that mean they could see her? She also knew that her nextdoor neighbors could look down into her patio, as she could theirs, but a blind spot existed close to the building, exactly where her table and chairs were. The umbrella would provide even more security. All she had to do was brave the threshold and the possibility of briefly being seen, and she could sit comfortably and securely in that blind spot. She would not be free to go across the whole patio, or to her hammock and garden (it was close to the building, too, but not close enough for her tastes), and as such, she would lack the limitless feeling she felt in her house. But this was one last limit to test. So, one day, coming up to the door holding a magazine which she would read out there, she did not hide behind the curtain this time but threw it aside, casting direct sunlight onto her bare chest. The tops of the opposite windows loomed with their mini-blinds, and she looked for any sign of fingers parting them. Then she slid open her door.

There was an immediate seizure of terror, but she knew that the longer she stood dumbly in her doorway, the longer the imagined voyeurs across the way would look at her, so she stepped off onto the patio and set her magazine down on the table, then turned and quickly slid the door closed, feeling watched, observed, her butt probably not visible to those above, but her bare shoulder blades at least, until she turned around and presented her breasts, free and not squeezed together under a bra but both pointing outwards, a delightfully free feeling she had gotten used to but just then noticed once more. She quickly sat down.

No longer were the windows in view. She was in her own private sanctuary now. There were even birds chirping. She looked fondly at her garden and saw a nuthatch hopping along the edge of the flower bed. No alarms or klaxons blared because she had violated society's rule of no outdoor nudity. Life was going on as normal. She smiled at the bird and watched it flutter away, and she waited to pick up her magazine, taking in the scents of cut grass and weeds and looking up at the clouds drifting past the edge of her umbrella. The sun's rays skirted it and just caught her collarbone. From there it felt as if the heat radiated out to the rest of her chest, solar-charging her. She let out a big breath, her breasts heaving, then falling, and she shivered at a slight chill breeze that came and caressed her and flipped her magazine open for her. She reached forward and picked it up.

It was hard to concentrate on any of the magazine's content with the way she was, such a new setting. She had never done anything like going to a nude beach, and walking around naked at home was only a recent idea. Sitting there, though, she thought it might be nice to go to a beach or resort and enjoy the full limitless land, to be able to walk as far as she wanted. Absolute freedom. But the thought of being naked in front of others was a nervous one. She didn't know if she would be able to do it. For now, she just satisfied herself with her patio, finally being able to read, until her neighbors came out on their own patio, their raised voices directed at their kids as she pictured them spilling out and playing with the toy truck she heard scraping its plastic wheels on the pavement. Their presence seized her with terror again; they could surely not see her, unless one of the curious kids was to peek through the slats of the fence, but there was no reason to assume they would. They probably didn't even know she was out there, so Lily kept reading, though concentrating on the words was difficult because of the disruption. The squealing of the children and the occasional holler of the deeper-voiced father never ceased. She heard a lighter spark. She smelled weed. Her neighbors were always guaranteed to ruin a good time on her patio. No longer at peace, she closed her magazine and considered standing up, though the thought of it was terrifying. Better to wait them out, she thought. But that was an endless sentence of sitting and staring into space. So she sighed, pushed herself out of her chair, sending her heartbeat racing, fearing that they could somehow sense that she was naked on the other side of that fence. She stood to full height, a little bit of sweat that had collected at key points of her body now cool under the touch of the breeze, and she stood there for a bit, petrified, then broke free and grabbed her magazine and hurried for the door. It was a slightly sour ending to an otherwise exhilarating and pleasant time out on the patio. She would be back.

*****

Another time, she came out at night, and read on her Kindle with its soft light. There was only one period when her neighbor came out to smoke weed, but he was a silent presence, occasionally known by a small cough or the sudden burst of a video he was watching on his phone. And the entire time, unbeknownst to him, Lily sat there naked, reading, a vodka tonic melting the ice and making a small clink sound every now and then, the only sign of her own presence. Eventually the neighbor went in, and the night was hers fully. When she had read to the point of fatigue and the vodka tonic did its trick on her, she decided it might be a nice time for a nap in her hammock. It was eleven pm; the nap could turn into a full night's sleep. But she didn't care. She had slept in almost every room of her new townhouse. The hammock was just another notch under the proverbial belt. So she got up, confident in the dark, knowing nobody could see her now, and she walked around the table, looking up at the night sky connected with her bare body down below. She relished the grand openness of it, and hazarded a step further. She skirted the hammock, stepped by her little silent garden, and stood out of the blind spot, out of the reach of the umbrella, right by her gate, open to the night sky. Her whole body was charged with nervous energy. She almost felt as if she would float up to the stars. Turning around, she could look right up at the windows above: hers, and her neighbors' to both the right and the left. Dim light came out of one of them. Feeling suddenly foolish, Lily stepped closer to her house, sure, though, that it was too dark outside to be seen. She stood by her hammock and assessed her visibility again. From this angle, one would have to be pressing their forehead against the glass and looking off to the side to be able to notice just the end of the hammock. It looked good. The darkness would make up for any errors on her part. So she turned and lowered her butt into the netting, the connecting chains rattling softly and the hammock sinking and taking her shape, and she took her feet off the ground and swung them inside, which seemed like abandoning all security of movement, of making herself trapped, a spiderwebbed spectacle as she swung gently under the stars with the first-ever feeling of all of her skin cool in the night air, no shirt or shorts making any barrier, the paranoid feeling of imagined eyes of perhaps God Himself looking down on her flattened breasts and indecently exposed vulva, which had never been so exposed to so much fresh air. Lily was especially aware of a coolness centered on there, centered because she had never experienced the naturalness of the air at that nether region, an area formally and unnaturally hidden in the damp shadows of clothes and undergarments. We spend almost all our waking hours with our body locked in a dungeon, she thought with a smile, and rocked back and forth, happy in the knowledge that she had it better.

The peacefulness of the night overtook her, though the temperature dropped and dropped (it could get close to the fifties by the early morning, Lily knew), and an occasional chill would chase up her body, but she didn't want to move, didn't want to budge, didn't want to end this strange feeling of floating under the stars, something like a dream. Was she dreaming? No. the ropes of the hammock dug into her skin. She would be dreaming soon though, she thought. She only really wanted a catnap, but her body felt so heavy (despite it floating) and she would submit to sleep soon. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was a shooting star streaking through the solar system.

*****

Awakening brought a whole host of confusing sensations. The first was the harsh light against her eyelids. She opened them, and it was blinding. The second was the sound of songbirds, telling her it was time to get up. The third was a strange combination of being extremely chilled, for the morning was as cold as she'd predicted, but also warmth, as the morning sun made Lily's back patio its first stop. The fourth and final sense was the smell of her flowers, which hung near her head.

She let her eyes adjust and she stretched, looking down at herself and confirming she was still nude, still on the hammock where she had napped. Or slept fully, apparently. Her skin was warm but not burnt, for the sun had not been out long. She looked up at the neighbor's (the quiet neighbor's) second story to her far right, and the sight-line of the window was blocked by her umbrella. Her other neighbor's window was almost directly behind her with how her hammock was pointed, and she rolled over and craned her neck to try and see, and could only see the skewed shape of its lower half, all black and dark inside. Despite letting her guard down and sleeping the whole night out there, Lily felt remarkably secure. She finally swung her legs off the hammock and sat up. Her whole back throbbed from the criss-crossing impressions left by the ropes. Her butt especially, which stung as she sat, so she stood, she stood and raised her arms in a stretch, letting out a big yawn and becoming alive under the morning sun. She felt completely refreshed. She stood there a moment, turning in place and observing her daylight patio, the brick walls of the house next to her, the treetops hovering close by, and the roof of the building opposite her, the windows unseen until she decided to step inside. She again felt remarkably secure; this was her own private little paradise. None of the people living all around her had any clue that a girl was relaxing and standing about completely nude, getting the beginnings of a tan. Lily smiled to herself and knew that she had achieved fully her goal of complete freedom and privacy. Her townhome had attained its full function. She could do as she pleased. If only she could go out and get the mail nude, she thought with a laugh, and she picked up her Kindle and the glass, with its inch of melted ice, and she walked inside, not even looking back at the windows across the way which might have seen a fleeting glimpse of Lily's long, bare back and a wink of her rosy butt darting inside.

*****

After that experience, all of Lily's shyness about using her patio vanished, and she spent much time out there, reading at her table without withdrawing her body to a guarded position, leaning back, legs crossed, or sometimes propped up on the table. And she took many afternoon naps in the hammock, after the sun had traveled over the top of her building and there was a pleasant shade. Though little pangs of fear rose up every time she settled down into it and glanced up at her neighbor's window above, she did not heed them and went forward with the motto of so what if they see me? She had already put it to the test. So, after a month of doing this, and of the temperatures rising and of fine glistens of sweat being the new addition to her array of senses while sunbathing, Lily gained a faint golden complexion. She swore she even looked healthier, both physically and psychologically, when she looked herself in the mirror before showering off a muggy afternoon. Something about abandoning all cares and connecting her body to the outside world seemed to have made a difference in her. She thought her smile looked confident, like that of a woman one might see somewhere, thinking, "that's someone who's sure of herself and is in charge of her life," which were things Lily would have never applied to herself. But, she did, afterall, buy her own house with no help from anybody else. She was in charge of her life. She went through her days feeling in charge of her domain, where she always moved about nude.

Even when her afternoon naps were interrupted by her neighbors or her neighbors' kids coming out and making noise, Lily did not budge or even feel the need to budge. She just swung in the hammock, looking up at the puffy clouds slowly drifting overhead, or turning over a little to smell the flowers which hovered nearby and tickled her skin, and despite the clatter and shrillness next to her, she felt completely serene. "Aaah, this is the life," a movie character might say, and she was faintly excited by the fact that the only thing that separated her from her neighbors was two inches of wood. Turning her head, she could even see glimpses of the kids rushing past through the slats in the fence, and she wondered if any errant eyes glanced her way and noticed the abundance of skin tone through the gaps. If they did, so what? It was her private patio, and they would be spying at that point. She didn't let it bother her.

Her attire for going out changed over time as well. Her nice blouses and pants she saved only for when she was meeting up with friends, which for the time being were events few and far between. When she took walks, she simply put on a light pair of cotton shorts and a white tank-top, for it was hot. She drew some eyes walking around like that, many smiling older men nodding their heads with half-salutes and how-do-you-do's, and just plain stares from other men and women. When she stepped out to get the mail, Lily just put on a thin, floral robe she had found one day while shopping (in her same shorts-and-tanktop attire, the A/C summoning up distractions for shoppers' eyes at the center of her shirtswells), and she figured she looked eccentric as hell stepping out into the neighborhood looking like Hugh Hefner, and despite the fact that she was more covered than if she were wearing her walking outfit, the imaginations of the people looking at her were activated by the barrier. Is she naked under there? they no doubt wondered. It struck Lily as funny that she should draw as much, or even more, attention dressed like this than if she actually were walking around naked. But that would only work if everybody was naked, too. It made her think again of going to a nudist resort soon. But she liked her robe, for it was still as if she was wearing nothing at all, and the breeze traveled through it as she walked and stood at the mailboxes, as she was on one particular evening after enjoying her morning coffee in the buff and then throwing on her robe to go mail a letter before the USPS arrived, and hopefully the stack of books she had ordered off of Amazon. She exited through her back gate, walked along the carport area with the bottom of her robe brushing the pavement, and entered the harsh sunlight of the mailbox area, feeling a light sweat gathering underneath her robe and wanting to get it off before it would soak in. She hurried back, looking to the side and nodding at a neighbor leaving their condo at the other end of the development, and then rushed back in, closing the gate but not bothering to lock it lest she delay the shedding of her robe, which she tossed right as she reached the door. Inside, in the cool air conditioning, she whetted a paper towel and wiped her body down, gliding the sopping towel down her arms and over her thighs, and then she decided to chase her morning coffee with a vodka tonic, which she readied and took out to her patio. In another twenty minutes, she was swinging in her hammock, the last edge of the sun catching her feet. The neighbor was inside, and all was peaceful with the birds chirping and distant disturbances (lawnmowers, dogs, kids) going on elsewhere. She rocked gently and felt the breeze across her chest and abdomen and decided she would just take it easy and wake up to a package at her front door.

She woke up alright, to the sound of her gate creaking open.

She had just started to drift off and had several half-dreams, and what was happening now seemed like a dream itself, except for the distinct and familiar feeling of the breeze on her tits and the sheer terror of looking right at the man who was now staring at them.

A deliveryman, with an Amazon-emblazoned polo, stood at her open gate, gaping. Lily blinked her eyes and became fully awake.

"Well..." the man said, sweat trickling on his dark, bald head, "I guess I'll just leave this here."

He crouched down to set the package on the pavement, his eyes never leaving her, as if watching a predator.

"I thought you'd come to the front door," Lily managed, petrified in her netted trap, swaying slightly, helpless but to let the deliveryman look at her from toe-tip to nipple-tip. His gaze scorched more than the sun ever did.

"Most people ask to have packages dropped off at the gate. I guess I assumed. Sorry, to, um, have bothered you."

Lily waved a dismissive hand, affecting, amazingly, the aura of somebody completely unbothered. "Oh no, that's fine, you aren't disturbing me. I have my books now, thank you." As she talked she could see a neighbor walking by behind the deliveryman, a neighbor who turned and casually looked and then did a double-take at the sudden sight of her. The deliveryman slowly backed away.

"Well, I'll leave you to your day, Miss," he said, and he stepped out, and there was one more resident walking by and stopping and staring at the sight of Lily splayed out nude in her hammock before the gate closed, soundly but not securely. Lily swayed there before braving to go pick the package up, knowing she would have to walk out of the blind spot to do so, and fearing that the gate would push open as a curious neighbor risked peeking inside. But nobody did, and she stepped out into the sun to collect her package, stooping down, standing up, and then turning to look up at the windows above, imagining people there but only seeing faint impressions of curtains and ceiling fans. She was as exposed as she would ever be, but now it didn't seem to matter. She let out a shuddery breath and took her books inside, and once inside, grabbed her keys and walked back out to lock the gate, again standing in plain view of the windows above, looking over her shoulder when she sensed eyes on her with that mysterious sixth sense that everybody seems to have for when others are watching, and then she walked briskly across her patio to the door and dipped inside, catching one glance at the second-story windows of the houses on the other side, where she thought she saw the shoulder of someone framed there, but she quickly retreated to her cool and dim interior, heart thudding.

*****

Unlike her first incident, this incident kept her from going out again. Suddenly, Lily was paranoid about being seen as a pervert or an eccentric, of being looked at like a freak by her neighbors, and of being an object of voyeurism for the ones living next to her. So she didn't go out on the patio much anymore, except for once, in her robe, which she opened when she sat down, but she felt tense and nervous the entire time. It was getting hotter and hotter, anyway. It would no longer be pleasant to nap by her garden, for the stifling heat would make her feel as if she was suffocating. Much more pleasurable it was to take an afternoon nap after a fresh shower, laying on top of her bedsheets with nothing covering her and the air conditioning chasing chills up her body as the fresh air did on that first spring day. She would wake up in a daze, the light dimmer as the sun traveled on towards evening, and she would go about the rest of her day inside and in the nude, wishing, though, that she could step out, feeling now like she was a prisoner inside her own home. It was now more than a sanctuary; it was a Fortress of Solitude.

But on one of those afternoon naps, after getting up and stretching and heading to the adjoined bathroom, Lily stopped at her window to examine the flowerpot she had hanging outside of it, saw that the blooms were vibrant and healthy, and then glanced ahead and saw those second-story windows of the townhouses opposite hers, and from that angle, she could also see the top of a back patio door, just as its owners could no doubt see hers, and in that brief glance, she saw one of the doors open and out stepped a neighbor, an older woman of about fifty or so, her age apparent because of the slightly-more weathered shape of her nude body. Lily blinked in amazement at seeing her neighbor's large and leathery-skinned breasts, and her neighbor looked to the side at something, and then stepped forward and out of view, perhaps to sit at a table just as Lily had done.

It was the only sight she caught of her nudebathing neighbor, but it filled Lily with inspiration to resume her own bare time in the sun, and forever dashed her fear of being outed. From then on out, she had no restrictions about where to stand or sit or lay on her patio, even inviting the possibility of another deliveryman or serviceman walking in on her, even entertaining the thought of maybe one day going out to get the mail without her robe. She smiled at this thought as she stepped out to her patio and looked hopefully up at the opposite windows, and thought that maybe today she would. If she could get the courage up. She sat in her chair, felt her smooth skin with the palms of her hands, and decided...

`The Naked Sister-in-Law

Buddy sure hated the fact that he was going to stay with his brother, Doug. He was grateful for the help, but it only highlighted how much more successful Doug was. By contrast, Buddy (or "Bud" as everybody at his former job called him) was a deadbeat. But not really. He had (had) a job, a decent paying one (significantly less than other guys his age were making), and he tried not to be ashamed of renting a small apartment, as few millennials even owned decent homes nowadays. But here comes Doug, taking the less conventional path, to which some might seem foolish (their parents didn't see it that way) and went into film, became a set dec, joined a union, bought a big two-story house, and now was getting engaged to a pretty actress, who now lived with him. That would be one perk to staying there, Buddy thought: he'd have the stunning Jane Summers, not a huge star but certainly with the looks of one, to share space with. He had met her before, bumping into her and Doug in town, and she was quiet but friendly, and always smiling, which was just as disarming as the eye-grabbing dress she had worn, very thin with spaghetti straps and a low neckline that did not offer cleavage (probably because she was very small-chested), but rather the flat bareness of the top of her chest, and the faint bumps of her nipples showing through the thin cotton. Bud had tried not to be flustered; Doug had appeared in a hurry to get moving. These next few days (or weeks, or months) might prove to be awkward. He readied himself as he pulled into Doug's driveway on the night of his arrival, looking up at the magnificent eaves of his house and the warming lights coming from the upstairs windows. He got out of his car, grabbed his duffel bag and his laptop bag, and marched to the front stoop.

"Hey bro," Doug said when he opened the door, his stocky, muscular body in sideways motion as he cleared space for Buddy to enter. "Come on in."

The house was seemingly small inside, the rooms low-ceilinged and warm, and it was very cozy. He heard the sink running in the kitchen beyond the threshold of the living room.

"All done at your apartment?" Doug asked him.

"Yeah, everything's out," Buddy said. He had spent the day cleaning his shitty abode so he would get back his security deposit and then had the moving crew follow him to his storage unit where he deposited his furniture and boxes of old books and movies. All he had with him were some of his clothes and his computer. When he had got laid off, he decided he shouldn't renew his lease at his roach-infested hellhole, especially since they were upping the monthly payment to something more akin to a ritzy penthouse. He could probably get another job right away, but he wanted to play it safe. It would be an opportunity to hopefully move up. Doug had offered to house him while he looked for another job and considered filing for unemployment.

"Did you eat?" his brother asked him. "We just finished up dinner, but there's leftovers if you want. Do you like chicken marsala?"

"No thanks, I had some gas station grub on the way from my storage unit." His brother dined on home-cooked meals with folded napkins, while Buddy's usual diet was obtained through drive-thrus and Racetrac grills.

"Shame. Well come on in and sit down a bit before you unpack if you want. We're gonna have an after-dinner drink."

He followed Doug through the living room, noting the pleasant smell of everything, the smell of a house freshly cleaned, only a hint of dampness and human habitation in his nostrils. It sure beat the musty and moldy smell of his own place, his no longer. He didn't think Jane cooked and cleaned, and figured that Doug probably hired a cleaner. He certainly would have the money to.

They stepped into the kitchen, and there she was. Jane stood at the corner near the sink, opening the cupboard to retrieve some short-stemmed glasses, raising on her tip-toes to reach, jutting out her butt, which showed plainly from underneath a very thin pair of cotton shorts, and her back, revealed above a white tank-top, flexed, and errant hairs from her bun fell and brushed her golden skin.

She turned around as they entered, and widened her eyes at their guest. Her nipples were protruding through her tank-top more violently than through her dress, and her smile spread in a unique shape, one corner of her mouth lifting higher than the other, as she said "ooh, hi again!"

"Better make that three glasses, babe," Doug said, then looked to Buddy, who still had his bags slung over his shoulder and was unconsciously staring. "If you want a drink."

"Oh, yeah, sure." He let go of his duffel bag and let it fall to the floor next to the fridge. His laptop bag was still on his shoulder, and he looked for a place to carefully sit it. "What are we drinking?"

"You like brandy?"

"Sure." Buddy had rarely drank brandy, or any liquor, but he was going through strange times. The drink would help ease the stress of his current situation.

They retired to a low-lit dining room and sat at a long, rectangular table, Buddy on one side and his brother and Jane on the other, and they chatted. They asked him about his plans; could he afford the storage unit? Did he have any new job leads? He was told he had dibs on anything in the fridge, but to be reasonable. It was all awkward for Buddy, and he hated talking about his situation because it highlighted so much how he was less successful than Doug, though honestly, had it really been his fault? He steered the conversation to them, though hearing about their perfect and ritzy life stirred up angry feelings in him which he tried to drown with the brandy, but apparently anger floated.

Doug let him know that he was getting up at five-thirty the next morning to go to a shoot, a production of some locally-filmed reality show which he would be busy with for the next month, and that Buddy would have the house to himself, except for Jane, who would be around. She was waiting for her next role, and would be enjoying her time off, as Doug did in the long stretches when he wasn't working. Not having a regular work schedule sounded insane to Buddy, but somehow they had made it work for them, obviously, when looking at their expensive furnishings. Mentioning Jane made Buddy shift in his chair as he continued to steer the conversation away from him and prepared the next question, which had been tickling his curiosity: "Sow how did you two meet, anyway?" Doug shifted a little uncomfortably in his own chair, though Jane was still smiling.

"Oh, at the beach, actually. Right, babe?"

Jane smiled somewhat knowingly, looking from her fiancée to Buddy and nodding her head.

"That's right. It was love at first sight, I guess."

Doug's engagement to Jane had seemed to happen out of nowhere, because Buddy had never heard of her or met her before he found out his big bro was getting married. Not that he was involved with his life all that much. They only talked about once a month, and often Doug was busy working odd hours on film sets. Still, he always wondered how he had gone from free-living bachelor to soon-to-be-married man. He figured a big income came with a lot of changes.

Then the conversation turned towards that uncomfortable topic: "So, have you met anyone lately, bro?"

As if his current layoff and homelessness wasn't the more pressing issue. And Buddy hated it when his brother or his father asked him that question: Have you met anybody? As if he had time to meet girls when working all day with a two-hour commute and weekends spent recuperating from all that.

"No, not lately. I'm kind of preoccupied, you know."

"I oughta invite you out to the next crew party we have," Doug said. “I could tell you had an eye for Trini."

Oh, yeah. Trini. So that was her name. Buddy had come, somewhat reluctantly, to one of the parties full of all of Doug's crew-mates, a bunch of people he did not know, where he spent most of the time awkwardly holding a peach schnapps and nodding at overly-friendly people, but there was one girl, short, petite, with jet-black hair and cute glasses and fullish lips, both innocent-looking yet erotic, who had kept drawing his eye. He didn't think his brother had noticed.

"Yeah, maybe. You know, I should probably get a job first."

"Hey bro, layoffs happen."

Don't worry bro, this is the life you chose, his comment said to Buddy. He took another sip of stinging brandy and darted his eyes away from the bare portion of Jane's chest.

The next day would be spent sleeping in (a great luxury of joblessness) and then hitting the books on the job search sites, and maybe thumbing through the unemployment website, preparing to apply if it looked like he would be running dry, all while Jane did whatever in the house and Doug was out working until dark. It would be a quiet day, hopefully, and hopefully Buddy could find something. He just wished he had the house all to himself. Even with the pretty company, he preferred to be fully alone, and having someone around felt like eyes would always be watching, making sure he was being productive...

*****

He awoke the next morning at nine-ish. That was a little earlier than he would have liked, but it was late enough to count as a sleep-in. The sun was coming in through the thin curtains of the guest room and would pretty much make any further sleep very difficult. He looked around the room; it was very small, almost like a child's room, with the single-size bed tucked in the corner and a little bedside table next to it that almost touched the opposite wall. Doug and Jane had managed to somehow also cram a desk and chair in that room, too. Buddy supposed that's where he would be doing his job search stuff for the day. He got up to pee and at least stretch his legs before being stuck in this room for hours on end.

The guest bedroom was on the second floor in the middle of the hall. Directly in front of him was the staircase, and down the hall to the right was the master bedroom, door half-ajar, and the bathroom next to that. Buddy knew there was another bathroom downstairs, and felt more comfortable going to that one, for he didn't know if Jane was still sleeping. He needed a drink of water, anyway. The other end of the hall turned a corner and there was a great splash of sunlight on the dark paint, and Buddy wondered what was on that end as he made his way down the steps, looking at the welcoming sunlight as he descended.

The house seemed empty below and confirmed that Jane was probably still sleeping. Buddy had never heard Doug leave in the morning. He was probably good about not making too much noise. Buddy tried to mimic the same consideration as he peed as quietly as he could at the outside of the toilet rim and unavoidably made noise by flushing and washing his hands, and then, in the kitchen, he looked for a glass as quietly as he could. After he found one and filled it, he drank half of it looking out the window of their back door at their cozy patio and small fenced-in backyard. The grass was a little overgrown (both of them probably weren't much for yard work) but it looked presentable enough, and they even had a fire pit. Buddy couldn't help but feel a little jealous. At least at his own ratty apartment, he had a front stoop with a little flower bed.

Refilling his glass, he returned upstairs soundlessly (the staircase amazingly didn't creak) and when he got to the top, he looked again at that mysterious bend around the corner at the end of the hall. He decided to check it out while he hydrated. The only thing that made him stop was that he thought he heard a faint creak coming from that direction. He stood there, listening, looked over his shoulder at the master bedroom door, which had not closed or opened any further, and looked down the hall again. The sound didn't repeat itself. Not that it mattered. If that was a room that Jane was using, he would just say "sorry, didn't mean to bother you," and leave. It didn't have to be awkward. So he moved forward.

When he got around the corner, there were two steps leading up onto a wide landing, and what looked like a big room beyond, a massive picture window taking up the whole wall, which he couldn't even see all of. It looked like an open study or reading room or something. Thinking this would be a great place to sit in front of his computer instead of his cramped room, Buddy excitedly went up the steps and quickly approached the room.

Jane indeed was there, and Buddy was not prepared to see her like this, because she was sitting in a very low wicker scoop chair, a magazine on her bare thigh, and she was completely bare altogether, her even, bronze skin comfortably settled into the cozy seat. She was the first thing his eyes went to, on his right, because she stood out so much. At the sight of him, she jumped slightly and put her hand to her flat chest (her nipples were very thick and prominent, he noted).

"Oh! H-hi," she said.

Buddy would have profusely apologized and backed out of the room, but he was rooted to the floor (his jaw would be too heavy to drag along with him, anyway). He managed out a "Whoa!" at least, and kicked himself for it.

"I didn't think you would come to this room," she said, and lowered her hand. She made no effort to cover herself, as Buddy would have imagined she would cover her nipples with her forearm, but she sat there as if she were normally dressed. Her legs were crossed and hid what was below (quite teasingly, maddeningly), and then, in a shocking and terrifying moment, she uncrossed them, slid the magazine aside, and stood, revealing a completely shaven mound, a distinct slit looking back at him. She picked up what must have been her discarded clothes, to the left of the chair, bending down and glancing up at his shocked face, then held them close to her.

"I guess I'll retire to the room," she said. "Or get dressed, at least. Didn't mean to shock you." 

She started to walk past him, and Buddy's heart beat faster and faster with each step closer, until she was right beside him, her smooth shoulder inviting to touch, her chin brushing it as she turned her head towards him, biting back a smile. Then she passed him, and he pivoted, looking down at her butt, quite small, but shapely, the shapeliest and loveliest thing on her body. He was mesmerized by it, and then it started to turn, changing places with her nude vulva, which he quickly raised his eyes from to meet her still-smiling face.

"Unless, that is, it doesn't bother you," she said. Buddy was floored. What a proposition! He was still getting over the fact that he was staring right at a nude woman, looking back at him so casually, her clothes bundled and held against her hip without any indication that they would be put on her body. Doug was going to kill him. He almost said that, but his mouth worked and nothing came out.

"I'm not trying to tempt you or anything," she said. "I wouldn't do that to Doug. I'm just honestly more comfortable this way. It saves on the energy bill a little. Oh, sorry if it's too hot."

"No, I'm fine. I mean, it's a little stuffy, but I'm used to it."

"It's a lot better without your clothes," she said. "You'd be surprised how you never even think of the temperature then."

With that, the corner of her smile raised just slightly and she turned to go, stopping to gauge his expression, and then finally she left the room, lending one last sight of her plump cheeks moving at the center of her slender and graceful figure. Doug stood dumbfounded there for a second. He wondered if he was still dreaming. Then he heard the sink running, very muffled, from the bathroom down the hall, and he finally went down the two little steps, drinking the rest of his water in two big gulps (he had forgotten he was even holding the glass and was amazed he hadn’t dropped it). He wiped his mouth and then his brow with his wet wrist.

The bathroom door was slightly ajar, and the sink was still running. Buddy walked down the hall, waiting for the unbelievable sight of naked Jane to step out, or for her to suddenly step out modest (moderately) in her shorts and tank-top from the night before, but he reached his bedroom before either of those things could happen and went inside to sit at his desk and break out his computer.

*****

He naturally had trouble concentrating on his job search, mostly just sitting there replaying what had just happened, thinking about Jane's strange carefree attitude towards baring her body, wondering what Doug would think. He spent the other half of his time scrolling through job listings and not really absorbing anything he read. He didn't even get to the part about signing up for unemployment when there was a gentle knock at his door and it slowly pushed open.

There she was again, just as naked as she was before, and Buddy was still not ready for the sight of her, once again blown away and feeling almost erotically vulnerable sitting in his chair with her thin and shameless figure framed in the doorway.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. "I was going to order some food from Gunner's Cafe if you want something."

She must have taken his shocked silence for doubt, because she added: "well I know you're probably wanting to save money right now."

But he was hungry; he had not had breakfast, and his stomach gurgled.

"Actually, sure, I could go for something. I can give you some cash to cover my half."

"Great! You ever eat there?"

He was going to say so you’re not putting anything on? But instead, he said: "Not really, it's just sandwiches and stuff, right?"

"Yeah, here, we can bring up the menu."

She stepped into the room and Buddy's heart started fluttering as she came right up to him, stood beside him, and leaned down to look at the computer screen, her hand on the back of the chair, her hair falling forward and blocking the view of her nipples like a privacy screen. He was staring at her and not the computer, and she glanced over and smiled at him.

"Sorry, is this a little weird?"

"Oh no, I'll get used to it. Sorry I was staring."

He turned to his computer and opened a new tab and searched “Gunner's Cafe” and brought up the menu. As they were scrolling through it, Buddy glanced back at Jane again. "So do you go to like nudist resorts and stuff like that?"

Jane laughed a little and looked him in the eye (that stopped his heart). “Never been. Just beaches. That's actually where Doug and I met."

Her power over him waned as he put the piece of the puzzle in place from last night. "Aaah, so he didn't really wanna say, I guess."

"Yeah, he's a little guarded about that. He doesn't want people to be preoccupied with thinking of me there."

"Well he probably will definitely kill me for spending time with you like this."

"Ah, he'll get over it. I don't see the harm in it. That's the whole point of nude beaches. You don't go there to show off."

Buddy nodded; it made sense. But still...

"So, see anything you like?"

It took him a second to realize that she was talking about the menu, and he tore his eyes away from her bronze skin and looked at all the various types of sandwiches. He picked a roast beef.

"Cool. I'll go call it in. You can give me a five later," she said, and stood erect. Her hair fell back and revealed her flat chest, and her stubby red nipples, but he only glanced at them and then back at the screen, then back at her when she asked: “So how's the job search stuff going?"

"Slow," he said, looking her in the eye, doing his best to ignore everything else below, even though he sat right there before it.

"Well, I'll call you when the food arrives," she said, and she left him, but left him with even more to think about than when he had started.

He ended up going downstairs after only a few minutes, deciding that after he was full, he would be able to concentrate. Jane was down in the kitchen, mixing a pitcher of iced tea in the nude, the bare muscles on her upper arms jolting with her quick, little strokes.

"Oh, all done for now?"

"Yeah, I'll just wait until after lunch." He took a seat at the counter and watched her mix the tea.

"Want some?"

"Sure," he said, getting more and more used to sitting in her presence. At least her bottom half wasn't visible behind the counter. Her more or less featureless upper torso was quickly quite mundane to him, until she turned and fished some glasses from one of the cupboards, wherein she walked far away enough to reveal her gently sloping butt and let it raise an inch as she stood up on her tip-toes. When she turned around again, viewed fully from head to thigh, Buddy's eyes unable to flee, the doorbell rang.

Her amusement at have been being watched by Buddy multiplied with an idea she apparently had.

"Hey... wanna give this guy a startle?" she said, and her grin was devious. Buddy only stared. He was not sure what she meant at first, but she came to the counter, sat down the glasses, and headed for the door, which he could see from where he sat, and he watched as she moved through the living room swiftly, her limbs raised in a dainty walk, her slender legs and that little butt moving with graceful steps and hypnotizing little bounces. Then she stopped at the door and opened it wide. Buddy could see over her shoulder the first bored, then shocked face of the delivery boy with his baseball cap and bushy eyebrows that shot up at the sight before him. He had no words, and Jane just took the bag from him and said "thanks!" She paused to let him get in the full sight of her, and then she gently closed it, turning and walking back with the biggest smirk on her face. Even lunch would be hard to concentrate on. But they talked, Buddy sitting where he was and Jane standing to eat, sort of mesmerizing to watch as she bit into her panini and chewed, her neck muscles working, her hand taking up a napkin and dabbing her lips, her twin nipples staring at Buddy like sentient things.

He didn't go back to work right away. After eating, Jane had pranced over to the living room and threw on the TV, then excitedly announced that one of her movies was on. Buddy found himself walking over with his iced tea and seeing what looked like some steamy drama on the screen, though he did not see Jane there.

"My scene's in a little bit," she said, and she sat down, with nothing to protect the couch from her naked fanny. Buddy found himself sitting next to her, not too close, a half a person's space between the two of them, but it was close enough to make him tense. Then, when she appeared on-screen, it mirrored her current state. There she was ("there I am," she announced), dressed not unlike she had been the night before, in a very slim tank-top, entering the room of some troubled male character, and she quickly peeled the tank-top off, revealing the same stubby nipples that existed in Buddy's peripherals at that moment.

She wasted no time in taking down her shorts and the camera did not shy at showing her bare vulva, and Jane apparently did not have a problem appearing before it completely nude. For some reason, Buddy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, even though the actress on screen was already naked right beside him.

"It was just a small part. Not a lot of actresses like getting roles where their only directive is to take their clothes off, but I was all for it."

"What's that like, anyway?" Buddy asked. "Isn't it weird?"

"No weirder than sitting here with you, I guess. Yeah, it's a little uncomfortable, because you're the only one naked and everybody, I mean everybody, crew members, the camera guy, are all looking at you. Then, when you finish a take, you put on a robe, which seems silly."

"Yeah..."

"Honestly though? It was kind of exciting."

So she does like showing off, Buddy thought. As if that wasn't apparent.

Then, much to the surprise of both of them, the front doorknob rattled and the door swung open, and Doug stepped in, began to announce his presence, and froze. So did Buddy. Jane didn't seem all too panicked.

"Oh, hi babe!" she said with a wave, but Doug only stood there, staring at the nudity of his fiancée, something he wasn't unused to seeing, except with his brother right beside her.

"What in the hell are you doing?"

Once again, Buddy's mouth was working silently (it actually only ratcheted open and stayed there until he could move his jaw again, as opposed to the quick stuttering attempts when he had first seen Jane). Luckily, Jane was the one who spoke.

"We were just hanging out. He caught me nude so I figured there's no point in hiding now."

Doug shook his head and fluttered his eyes open wider in amazement. On the television screen, Jane was crawling on top of the young male character, her naked butt pointed in the air. Buddy now sunk into the sofa and hoped that Doug wouldn't look at him, but he did, and he stepped forward.

"Bud." His fingers snapped. "Kitchen. Now." He marched past and Buddy looked helplessly over to Jane, whose smile had faded only a little and who could only shrug her bare shoulders. It was funny how he now looked to her for comfort and didn't even think for a second about her nudity—which was the reason that his brother was so upset and why Buddy was now getting up off the couch and looking ahead to the empty portal to the kitchen, surprised not to see Doug waiting for him.

The kitchen was in fact empty when Buddy stepped into it, though he could clearly see the back door open and waiting, only the screen door looking out at the bare patio and grass beyond. Buddy gulped and pushed the screen door open. There Doug was, standing to his right, against the wall of the house, his arms folded and standing taller and sturdier than Buddy ever was. These were the moments that he was afraid of his brother, who though was the same height, had arms that could snap him in half. Buddy took a tentative step onto the patio, his bare feet hot on the pavement, and Doug reached out for him and grabbed the scruff of Buddy’s shirt. Buddy winced. He was ready to take a hit. But Doug pulled him into a hug, pressing him firmly against his chest with his very strong arms.

"Bro," he said near his ear, without looking at him. "I love ya, I wanna do good for ya, but I really need you to say something that's going to stop me from killing you right now."

He squeezed Buddy real hard, patted his back, and then released the hug, but now gripped his upper arms. Once again, Buddy worked his mouth, to avail of forming any words, but a terrifying look into his brother's deceptively calm and furrowed face made words finally escape.

"She... it's like she said. I mean, I'm not trying to blame her or anything. I Just stumbled in on her—"

"In our bedroom?"

"No! In the reading room, o-or whatever it is. That big room upstairs."

"I know the room," Doug said with obvious annoyance. "So she was just sitting there naked, huh?"

"Yeah. I was gonna back out, but she didn't seem to mind."

"And so you thought that while I was out, you'd get your eyeful, huh?"

"I mean I went back to my room after that, but when it was time for lunch, well..."

"By the time it was lunch, I decide I have to run home to grab some papers and find my bro on the couch with my naked fiancée."

"It wasn't how it looked, I swear!"

"...Watching a nude scene from one of her movies."

"I swear!"

The patio door opened and made both men turn to see Jane framed in the doorway, her hand propped against the frame, her hips canted enticingly.

"You aren't giving him a hard time, are you?" she asked.

Buddy's arms were still being gripped by his brother, but the grip loosened.

"Babe! Jesus!" Doug looked in the other direction, but there was no way that anybody could see. The back patio was narrow and fenced in. The fence surrounding their yard hid them well enough, and overhanging tree branches shielded the second-story windows of the houses on the other side. Still, by Doug's reaction, Buddy figured that while Jane was comfortable walking nude around the house, she had never stepped out into their backyard that way, at least not in Doug's presence.

"It's alright," she said. "But go easy on him, okay? He didn't mean to walk in on me, and I didn't see the harm in it afterwards."

Doug finally let go of Buddy. "Let's go talk," he told his fiancée. "Stay out here, Bud."

"Don't leave him out here like a dog," Jane replied. "You go on in, Buddy, we'll be there in a sec."

She stepped fully out of the door and Buddy changed places with her, sidling past her and nodding his head, trying not to brush against her bare skin, trying extra-hard not to let his eyes pass over her in front of his brother. Then he fled inside and the last thing he saw when he turned to close the door was the couple standing and facing each other, Doug looking rather disarmed, Jane radiant and unafraid out in the open sunlight. Then he hurried through the house, passing the TV, which still had Jane on the screen, relaxing now in a bubble bath, but not conveniently hidden like in some movies, instead with her sharp chest above the suds as she lathered them, and he ignored that and ran upstairs and fled to his room.

*****

Of course, he had trouble putting his mind on anything else while he was there. Looking for jobs or filing for unemployment were far from his mind. But he did open up a new window on his browser and started searching for cheap studio apartments to stay in, or even a motel, because he figured he sure as hell wasn't going to be staying here much longer, and part of him didn't want to, even if one of his hosts was a naked girl.

Then he heard the patio door downstairs open and close and eventually heard a glass clink in the kitchen, and the water dispenser on the refrigerator buzzed and trickled, and he decided to go downstairs.

There he found Doug drinking a glass of water desperately, and Jane sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. She was looking at him.

"We had an idea,” Jane said. "There’s a nudist resort about an hour away from here, but we’ve never gone. It might be a good idea for the three of us to visit it, just to put us all on the same page."

Buddy tensed up at the thought; a nudist resort? Get naked in front of other people? He was barely getting used to having Jane prance around in the nude, but for him to take off his clothes... with his brother and his fiancée, too... that would be awkward.

"Some of the crew might be interested," Doug finally spoke. "Turns out some of our friends go there."

"Might make it a little less awkward," Jane said, looking directly at Buddy and definitely making him feel awkward, being forced to stare at her bare shoulders and chest while her soon-to-be-husband, suddenly okay with everything but still looking dark-tempered, turned and set his glass in the sink as if there were nothing unusual about the situation.

"And hey, I think Trini might be game, too," Doug added, and Buddy's heart beat faster again at just the thought of the cute, seemingly modest girl from their crew nude in his presence and gazing at his own nudity. No... he couldn't do it! But they seemed to treat it as an almost-done deal.

"Well, I gotta go, bro. Don't stare at Jane too much, okay?"

Again he came in and gave Buddy a hug, and Buddy's arms hung limply at his sides. Then Doug went over to Jane and leaned down to kiss her on the lips, and then he grabbed an envelope off the counter and headed for the door.

"Peace!"

And then Buddy was left standing in the kitchen, once again alone with naked Jane, who pushed her stool back and stood to full exposure.  Buddy couldn't help but look. He couldn't believe he was still able to look.

"Sorry you got yelled at on my account," she said, stretching her arms way above her head and extending her slender torso.

"That's okay. What'd you say to him? I-if it's okay to ask."

She let her arms collapse and she was suddenly an inch shorter. "I just convinced him that there was nothing wrong with it. The idea of going to a resort helped. Excited?"

Excited wasn't exactly the right word, and he said as much. "A little nervous, actually. And I didn't necessarily say 'yes.'" He was worried about the idea, especially with Trini possibly coming. Being naked with Jane, and with her... how could he not get an erection? He would embarrass Doug in front of all his friends. And then there was Doug; Buddy didn't exactly look forward to seeing his brother naked. But perhaps he had the wrong idea about what was called nudism. If it was anything like what Jane practiced, then he would get used to it. Still, he couldn't help but think of the idea as something impossible to do.

"Well nobody will force you, but let us know. For now, I guess, you better get back to work, huh?"

But Buddy now had an idea. It was a scary one, and his heart beat more furiously than before as he opened his mouth to suggest:

"Maybe I should practice getting used to it," he said, and pulled at his shirt. He saw Jane's expression warm in response to his words, and he knew the message had been delivered. So he took off his shirt. When it passed over his eyes, Jane was still smiling, and then she walked around the counter, passing tantalizingly close to his bare chest and the beating heart beneath it, smiling one more time as she went to the cupboard for a glass and turned her back to him as a possible courtesy. While her eyes were off of him, he quickly took down his pants, and it was so much easier with nobody looking, but he had the white-hot instant of terror at realizing that he was now naked in his brother's kitchen in the company of someone else, and there was no time to reverse the situation before she turned around and smiled.

He was, of course, vividly, voraciously, painfully erect, and he felt out of line, but she smiled. "Feel good?"

"I don't know," he said with a heavy breath. His pants were still clutched in his hand, his shirt on the floor. Jane dispensed some water and then stood looking at him while she drank, and then, walking towards him, he had another moment of terror, his stubborn erection pointing towards her, but she maneuvered around him, on her way to the living room. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she reached down and pressed his arousal with the tips of her fingers and let it spring back up. He pulsed with that single lightning strike.

"Better do something about that, though," she said, and she laughed and walked out of the room. Buddy was left standing there, staring into the wall and breathing heavily.

Get in the Tub with Me

Matt didn't have the best luck with women. Or maybe he had the best luck. For at twenty-three, he had never had much experience with women, never kissed a girl, never even so much as held one's hand (well that wasn't true, but it was totally platonic, though he didn't think that at the time). Of course his shyness was to blame (though if he only fully realized how cute some girls found that), but living with his parents didn't help, either. The only experience he had with a woman was when his Aunt Rose had stayed over at his parent's house and he had the luck to glimpse her in the shower. More than glimpse. She had slid the glass door open for him to look. Then she had invited him in. He had never seen a fully-naked woman in real life up until that point, and then, right away, he had the first experience of getting naked in front of a woman as well, and the awkward feeling of not knowing whether or not to be embarrassed at his attention-seeking erection, which, before the shower was over, had been twisted and pulled until it emptied itself of the excitement that had hardened it. So, in essence, he actually did have the best luck.

So it would seem when his mother one day announced that a friend of hers, a well-accomplished author who was in town for a two-day writer's conference, asked if she could stay over. He did not know what to expect, except that he assumed it would be a female author, and when his mother said her name, Yuko Takagawa, Matt's incel brain could not help but immediately think the name exotic and enticing. What owner of such a pretty name would be anything other than beautiful? Not that it made any difference. It would just be nice to have a pretty face around the house. His brief time with Aunt Rose had given him a little boost of confidence so that he was no longer nervous at such a prospect. Just the normal nervousness of expectation. He did not of course expect anything to happen like what had happened with Aunt Rose.

His parents never knew about that brief sexual play between their son and his aunt, or at least, if Rose had for some reason told them, they did not say anything, but it seemed almost like they may have known, because Matt's mother seemed more scrutinizing of him, noticing the apparent change in his demeanor, which made her comment before the author arrived all the more troubling: "Don't get any ideas." Now what the hell was that supposed to mean?

Matt would soon figure that this must have meant that Yuko was an astoundingly beautiful woman, and with Matt being a young, presumably hormone-charged man, he would be knocked out of the park by her appearance.

He was. On the fateful day that she arrived, Friday afternoon, while he was home and done with classes, the doorbell rang, and he heard his mother walking for the door. He minimized the browser window on his laptop and stood to leave his room, glancing down the half-flight of stairs at the hall to get a look.

He heard his mother greet somebody, and then a pleasant voice. It had a sing-songy cadence, and a pleasant timbre of a woman finely aged, like Aunt Rose. A woman experienced in all her years but still quite attractive, and it had the slightest Japanese accent to it, which drove Matt wild, the way she pronounced "hey" with the slightest quickness in its single syllable. He had not even seen her yet. He remained at the top of the stairs, and soon his mother appeared in the hallway with the authoress trailing behind.

Matt took a breath; she was as beautiful as he had fantasized. She wore a grey pantsuit, and was very slim, her sleek jet-black hair hanging down to the middle of her back, her thin face inquisitive as she took in the new surroundings and then looked up to see Matt standing there like an idiot. Her plump, pink lips spread into a smile and she waved. "Hi."

"Oh, that's my son, Matt. He's in school," his mother said, and seemed to scowl at him. Yuko nodded her head at Matt, that head atop a slender neck, and then moved her almost lanky body onward. She was surprisingly tall, and thus intimidating, though Matt would have been intimidated if she had been four feet tall. Then she was gone, following his mother into the kitchen. He remained at the top of the stairs for a moment, not sure whether to come down or go back to his room. He went back to his room. He let his mother and her friend catch up. he would come down later.

*****

Matt would come down for dinner later that evening and sit awkwardly across from Yuko while they all ate his mother's green bean casserole, Yuko singing praises about his mother's cooking and Matt's father looking at him from the corners of his eyes and eventually, in a heart-stopping moment, Yuko asked Matt directly about what he was studying, and petrified there, facing her as she sat so properly with her fork perched in her slender fingers, he told her he was unsure of his major at the moment, which made her smile and laugh. She had such an affable laugh, and a captivating smile, her perfect-white teeth flashing from behind her soft-looking lips, and her eyes squeezing half-shut in her merriment; she was an intoxicating figure to have at the dinner table. Matt was getting butterflies. But soon talk went on to her recent novels, and her role at the writer's conference, and Matt was able to retreat to the position of an observer, trading looks between his hearty dinner and Yuko's delighting face. He would go to bed thinking about her, trading his usual nocturnal fantasies with this new one, imagining her coming into his room at night to comfort him, to soothe him, to slide under the covers up next to him so he could feel her slender limbs and warming body up next to his; he was a young man of obsessions.

Yuko slept downstairs. Since Aunt Rose had visited, they had remodeled the basement into a den and had hooked up the bathroom fixtures and outfitted a classical basin tub down there, which was out in the open with the rest of the room. Only the toilet had its own private room. Everything else was wide and open, a big, airy apartment, specifically thought out for guests. Beyond the tub was an indoor hammock, attentively placed, and an area with a couch and a love-seat and a big-screen TV, and there was a bookshelf on the wall with many old tomes that Matt's family had gathered, though Yuko would have little time to read any of them, as she had her work to attend to while she stayed with the family, and her own mental preparation to attend to for when she showed up at the conference hall later that Saturday afternoon. She had the whole morning to get ready, and Matt had the whole morning to sleep in and get ready for another day in front of the computer, and his parents were going out that day to attend some big social event and then go tour the town with friends, so Matt would have the house to himself, once Yuko left. But until lunchtime, he would be residing in the house alone with the author, though she remained below while he had the run of the house upstairs. He awoke that Saturday at ten a.m., and his parents were already gone. The house was as quiet as a tomb. He wouldn't have known that Yuko was still in the basement apartment below if not for the sounds of the pipes as she ran herself some water, most likely for a bath, and he imagined her down there, slipping into the tub in the open floor plan, completely naked, enticing his imagination.

What his plans entailed for the day were pretty much sitting in front of his computer. But first, he needed a shower, as he had gone two days and felt admittedly gross, so he showered in the same stall that he and his aunt had showered in, and then he stepped out and dried himself and looked at the reflection through the steam, and after that, he braved the idea of stepping out into the hall nude, rushing back to his bedroom, not knowing if Yuko would suddenly be back upstairs. But she wasn't. Matt went quickly to his room and looked through the drawers for something to put on, only realizing he had very little of anything, as his mom had done the laundry the previous night, and his clothes were probably still sitting, crisp and dry, in the dryer, or discarded into a hamper. And the best part of all was that the laundry room was down in the basement.

Shit, what am I going to do? he asked himself. He didn't want to go down and intrude on his mother's friend, though the basement was not just hers, but the family's. There was just no way around it: he would have to go downstairs.

That would not do, he realized. He should have prepared for this. The clothes could wait. And so could he. When Yuko was done with her bath, she was probably going to get dressed and immediately head out, so all he had to do was wait in his room until he heard her leave, and then he could go down and get his clothes.

He was not used to hanging out naked. It felt weird. He *had* started walking to and from the bathroom and his room naked, back when Aunt Rose was staying with them and after she and Matt had had their little fun. He was always looking forward to getting “caught” by her, though they never did anything again after that one time. Matt kept the habit, though. He never had actually just sat around naked before, though.

He stared at his computer chair and imagined his ballsack settling down on it, decided he didn't like the idea and stepped back out into the hall to go get a towel from the bathroom. Being out there made him feel vulnerable, as if Yuko could step around the corner, but he knew she had to still be relaxing in the tub, though he didn't hear the water running anymore. He quickly darted to the bathroom door and grabbed a dry towel, then fled to his room, closing the door softly.

He surveyed his chair and then spread the towel out, and then looked at it again, feeling ridiculous to be waiting around naked in order to get his clothes. He sighed and swiveled the chair and settled down, turning to face his laptop and sitting there for a second, drinking in the weird feeling. He was hyper-aware of his scrotum sitting there between his legs, so he scratched it. At least it was readily accessible, Matt thought. And at least his shorts didn't pinch up on it. That was nice, too. He shrugged to himself and leaned forward to turn the laptop on, also noticing the absence of his waistband cutting into his stomach, also a nice perk of not having clothes. He tried to remember what he wanted to do on his laptop, so he just sat there for a bit, and in sitting there, he thought of the other person who happened to be naked in the house, and that thought left him staring into space. He imagined how slender she must be, standing so tall and thin. He imagined her legs draped over the edge of the tub, as pale as the skin of her throat, which he had watched move as she drank her wine at the dinner table the night before. Then, he imagined the fateful moment when she would stand out of the tub, shimmering wet.

Readily accessible, too, was his penis, which he could feel bob and rise. Matt leaned back and looked down at himself. Just the thought that he was bare naked, with his erection waving free, while downstairs Yuko was undressed, probably walking back and forth across the big basement apartment in the nude as she dried off, excited him so, and continued to excite him, until his erection was impossible to ignore. He played with it, batting it back and forth, then lightly putting his fingers around it and giving it a lazy stroke.

"Welp," he said, and looked around for his box of tissues.

When he finished, he could hear the basement door open, and he cleaned himself up while listening to Yuko move about the house, probably getting some water and hopefully not anything to eat, and hopefully she would not call up for him, though he did not know why she would have any reason to, though it may have been rude of him to stay hidden and not even wish her good luck on her conference. He was a Millennial, he didn't need manners, he thought. She would expect that.

Now, though, after he dabbed himself up good and threw the two fistfuls of tissue into his straw wastebasket, he had to pee. And he really wished he could wash his hands, for they were sticky. He sat uncomfortably and waited for Yuko to leave, feeling afraid now, waiting to be called out of his room not only naked, but right as he was done masturbating. The fear kept him from getting erect again, despite the appealing fantasy of being caught naked by the pretty author. Eventually, though, he heard the front door open and softly close, so softly that he might have not heard it if he weren't listening for it. He sat and waited further still, listening for the sound of her car starting up. Eventually it came, very muffled, but signaling his safety, and he got up. He left his bedroom and stepped out once again into the hallway, feeling much more brave in the nude, knowing nobody would catch him. He went in and did his business, felt weird about walking around naked after having just peed, and dabbed the end of his penis a little bit with a tissue so he wouldn't drip. Was this what people who typically hung around naked did? It seemed like a lot of trouble. His bathroom break took almost as long as a number two would have because of the extra attention he had to give himself. But then he was back out in the hall, and he stopped at the top of the stairs before coming down, just to make sure nobody was coming back in. If Yuko had forgotten something, she would probably have to knock, for Matt didn't know if his mother had given her a key, and this gave him the bravery to go down the stairs and step out into the main hall naked, the foyer and the front door to his right, with the upper living room picture window and the view of the street beyond visible just around the corner of a partition, the thrill that he might be visible very evident. And to his left, the kitchen, where Yuko had just been, and the half-steps to the lower den and the door to the basement. He prepared to turn left, but the doorknob on the front door turned.

He faced the door and froze right as it opened and in stepped Yuko, in a dark blue pantsuit now, who went still in her tracks and jumped slightly as Matt's full-frontal view was presented for her.

"Oh. Hi," she said with a laugh. She raised her hand to stifle it while her eyes glanced down to Matt's penis, now not so proud, hanging limp, and there was nowhere to hide. "I just forgot some stuff. I guess that's why you didn't come out of your room. Don't mind me."

Standing there, shocked, Matt still could not move as Yuko closed the door behind her and moved towards him so she could get to the lower den and the basement door. She came so close, inches close, and nodded her head and laughed again as she headed down to the basement where Matt had intended to go. When the door opened and her footsteps faded downwards, he was left standing at the juncture between the kitchen and the foyer in a daze, not knowing what to do. He should flee back upstairs, he thought, but she had already seen everything. He was still standing there trying to sort his thoughts out when Yuko came back up carrying a manila folder. Her eyes addressed him and then she smiled and angled her gaze downward as if embarrassed, before she climbed the stairs.

"And I'm out. You like to hang out naked, huh?"

She climbed the stairs and passed him, stepped into the foyer and turned, all while Matt remained frozen in place. He flinched, looked at her, realized that she was looking at his completely unobstructed body, and he fought to cover himself with his hands, for he was starting to grow erect.

"Uh, no, I just didn't have anything to wear..."

"Well why bother, right?" she said. "It's a warm day. I used to walk around nude all the time when I didn’t have to be anywhere. It's not that strange."

Matt was at a loss for words as he stared at the woman staring at him, and in his mind’s eye, he saw her younger self, naked. The possible details filled in: how well-endowed was she? [somewhat flat] How was she trimmed down there? [big, giant bush, but perhaps thinner as a younger woman] Pretty soon, the erection was difficult to hide behind his hand naturally, and for some reason he wished she'd stop looking.

"Well, I'll see you. Have a great day, Matthew. Looks like you're going to spend it relaxed, at least."

"I was going for my clothes..."

"Oh, but I was taking a bath? Don't worry, I wouldn't have minded. Though if you're already comfortable naked, then why bother, right?"

"Right... I guess?"

"I wouldn't be wearing anything if I didn't have to go out to the conference. I wish I could be naked right now.”

Matt didn't know what to say. He was getting really frustrated having to cover his obvious erection.

"Anyway, I have to go. Have a nice day."

And with that, she turned, finally looking away from him, and in that release, Matt piped up: "You too. Good luck."

She looked back at him, right as his hand was falling away from his crotch, smiled earnestly, and thanked him, her eye flitting down very briefly at his arousal.

"Thanks. See you tonight for dinner."

And with that, she was out the door, and Matt was left standing in the middle of the hall naked and with a raging hard-on and not knowing what to do with himself. He supposed he needed to go down and get his clothes, but at this moment, he hardly saw the point. So after a few moments, in which he heard Yuko's car start up again, much more clearly heard from down there in the hall, he turned and went back upstairs. 

The shock and embarrassment found him walking in and collapsing on his chair, with the door left wide open, and he just stared at the wall. His fantasy had happened, it seemed. Somewhat. But now he was left feeling nervous... scared. What would Miss Yuko say? Would she relate the story to his mother? He was not looking forward to dinner that night, and now, with the incident playing over and over in his head, he did not feel like doing much of anything, either. Which really wasn't all that different from his usual days off, only this time he was naked, sitting in his chair, like an abandoned and shell-shocked child. Eventually he turned to his laptop, warmed it up, and brought up his web browser and entered a curious search: "getting caught naked." What that led him through were the expected porn links, some of which he watched (and got instantly hard at), but he didn't watch the tacky videos of young, muscled men pretending to be embarrassed in front of sexy older women with library glasses or a classroom full of Japanese schoolgirls stripping down for the headmaster before he moved on to actual discussions. He found some Reddit threads, read some amusing stories that made him feel a little better about his accidental exposure to Yuko, and read enough that solidified nudity as something harmless and even innocent, which made him feel good, and made him reflect that, at that very moment, he was sitting nude in his room.

From there he found some blogs and websites dedicated to nudism in general, and read what it was like to go to a beach or a resort with a hundred other naked people. And he also read about people actually insisting that they spend all their time home naked, and Matt began to roll his eyes at some of the downright philosophical assertions he was reading, while remembering his awkwardness earlier when being forced to wait around naked in his room, and how he didn't really feel any of that awkwardness now. Eventually he had to pee, and he got up and left the room still with the feeling of vulnerability, but it was different. There was no fear this time. Then he went down to the kitchen to make himself something to eat, standing there while eating a sandwich and glancing down the hall at the picture window and watching someone walking their dog past the house as he stood there completely bare in the safety of the house. He suddenly longed to be able to go out into the sun and experience the fresh air as he had read about, and suddenly he felt like a prisoner, naked and having to sneak around for fear of being seen. That's what eventually made him go downstairs and get his clothes. While down there, he stepped past the laundry room and into the greater expanse of the basement apartment, lit dimly by the sunlight coming through the little rectangular windows. The tub sat right there, and the little sink against a column, and in the pale light it looked almost dreamy, like something out of an art film, and Matt imagined its previous user was still there, lolling around as the water splished and the ends of her black hair dipped in and got wet while her sparkling breasts rose into the air.

Matt shook his head clear. It almost felt like he was standing there naked before Yuko again while she bathed, and he was freshly hard, and the realization that he was standing down there, where Yuko temporarily lived, naked, his erection curving through the air through which she walked, excited him more. He turned and went back to the laundry room before he could get any more ideas and threw on a shirt and a pair of thin shorts which his erection showed through plainly until he calmed down again and became a normal clothed person. Then he went upstairs and was safe for when his parents came home later that afternoon.

*****

His parents came home sometime around four and Matt stuck his head out briefly to say hi but to otherwise hide, lest his mother be able to analyze that yet again something had changed with him. He remained in his room, browsing internet forums in general and not looking up any more stories about nudism or accidental nudity, just trying to steer his mind back to normalcy. He came out of the room later, as his mother was moving around the kitchen and the rattling of a keyboard could be heard coming from his father's study. It was six o'clock. Yuko was not yet home.

"Were we waiting for your friend to get home to have dinner?" Matt asked his mother.

"Oh no, I think she's going to be at the conference late, since she didn't leave early. There's probably a social hour at the bar, too. She might not be back until later. We can leave her some leftovers in case she doesn't get a chance to eat."

Matt nodded. "What are we having?"

"Oh, you mean you didn't get things prepared for us while you were here all day doing nothing? ...We're having chicken parmesan."

He again nodded, meekly this time.

"How was your day, anyway? Did Miss Yuko get out okay?"

"O-oh, yeah. I saw her on her way out. ...I didn't know we gave her a key."

"Yes, it's just easier that way, especially if she's getting in so late. Me and your father are going to bed early tonight, anyway. We have tennis in the morning."

Matt continued to nod, and he must have looked uncomfortable to his mother, for she said: "Yuko's a good friend, I can trust her with the key. You ought to read one of her books sometime. It's better than just scrolling through the internet all the time."

"Okay, I will," he said dismissively, but with a little bit of interest. He wasn't in fact much of a reader, but he suddenly thought that it might be interesting to get into the mind of the woman that was captivating his.

"I know you'll be up when she gets in. Don't be afraid to ask her for a copy of one of her books. I am sure she'll give it to you."

"O-okay," he said, nervous at the prospect of even doing that, even though he should have all the bravery in the world after standing before her in the nude.

He and his parents ate dinner in mostly silence that night, always an awkward affair, and they didn't ask Matt anything else, though they talked about Yuko a little bit, and his mother kept trying to sell Matt on reading one of her books. The latest one was about a female lawyer who gets deep into a  scandal of her own. It didn't sound interesting to Matt. It sounded like a TV drama, but his mother said that Yuko's books always had a good bit of social commentary in them, usually criticizing hypocrisy in modern society, and that it would do him good to learn about these things. He noncommittally agreed while chewing his mouthful of chicken parmesan.

*****

His parents went to bed at ten, and he was surprised that Yuko was still not back. He wondered what she was doing at that conference. His mother had mentioned a happy hour. He wondered if she was getting drunk with fans. There would no doubt be gatherings in hotel rooms. Did authors have groupies? He got unreasonably jealous thinking that maybe perhaps the dignified-looking author was letting her jacket slip off her shoulders and getting ready to bare herself in private with some young fan, to change from esteemed author to steamy vixen in the swipe of a moment, but he remembered the positivity in the blog and forum posts he had read and reminded himself that everybody is naked underneath, and that everybody fucks. Everybody except him, apparently. He was about to start looking at porn with that thought when he heard the front door open.

He almost got up out of the chair right away, but he waited. He heard keys jangle, and then go silent, and he could not even hear any footsteps, for Yuko walked so lightly. Then he finally heard a glass clink and the refrigerator’s water dispenser hiss, and he stood up. He had a reason to go downstairs now: he wanted water as well.

The hissing of the water dispenser got louder as he opened the door and then it stopped, and he descended the stairs softly until there, standing in the kitchen, tipping back a glass-full of water into her parting lips, was Yuko, who lowered her glass and seemed happy to see him.

"Oh, good evening. Not walking around naked anymore, huh?"

He winced; he hoped his parents couldn't hear that. "N-no, I don't usually do that, like I said. How was your conference?"

"Wonderful," she said, moving to the counter and leaning against it. "But exhausting."

"We left some chicken parmesan in the refrigerator for you."

"Oh, thanks. I already ate at the bar, though. I think I'm going to go relax and take a long bath. I'll have to go back out early tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, Mom said. Are you coming back after that?"

"No, I'll be packing up in the morning. I'll have to be heading back home when everybody leaves."

A tinge of disappointment bit Matt. So this would be the last time he would see Yuko, at least for a while. Ask her about the book, dummy, his internal voice said, and he worked up the right way to ask.

"Mom said you might lend me one of your books if I wanted to read it?"

Yuko's smile brightened as she took another graceful sip of water and then smacked her precious lips before saying: "Oh, sure! Do you like to read?"

"I don't read much, actually."

"That's fine. I'd be glad to give you my latest book, don't even think about 'lending.' All my stuff is locked away at my booth in the conference center, though. If you'd like to swing by tomorrow morning and see me, I can give you one."

Matt thought on that. Going out early on a Sunday morning was not that appealing.

"Or I can mail you a copy, if you're busy tomorrow."

"Sure, that'd be great."

She emptied the rest of her water into her mouth and then went to go set the glass in the sink.

"Well, I'm going to go get ready to soak. Have a good night, Matthew."

This is it, he thought. This was his last moment with Yuko. She seemed to hesitate at the sink. Was she thinking something similar? Finally, she moved past him, smiling and suddenly averting her gaze downwards as if she were shy, and she stopped at the landing to the half-stairs that led into the den and looked back one more time, reluctance changing the expression on her face.

"Oh, good night," Matt said.

The reluctance faded and the smile returned.

"If you should need to come down to the laundry room for any reason, remember: I don't mind."

And with that, she turned, her hair flipping over her shoulder as she did, and she descended the steps, walked across the den, and disappeared around the corner towards the basement door, but not without casting one more look across the room to Matt.

Her disappearance let an immense weight off of him, and Matt let out a breath. Was that an invitation? he wondered. Doubt and uncertainty clung to him, making him fail to act. But to act in the way he wanted—to go down there and watch her undress and slip into the tub—was that too forward? Inappropriate? It could blow up in his face. Standing there, he remembered he had come down with the intention of getting water, so he finally grabbed a glass, filled it, and took it up to his room to think.

Sitting there in front of his laptop with the glass treacherously close to it so that it could spill all over it if he wasn't careful, Matt again thought about looking up some pornography. Anything to relieve the pressure building up, to take his mind away from the basement as he had seen it and his mom's nude friend as he imagined her, and to rid himself of the responsibility of choice. But this in its own way was a choice. He was choosing not to be a horny, unruly man, choosing not to push himself in on their guest's private time, a guest at least twice his age and who probably had no interest in him. But deep down, he did not know if that last part was true. The way she had looked at him... Matt was unsure. He was usually pretty bad at judging advances. Often they were wrong; he would think a girl was obviously interested in him, only to have her recoil when he tried to reciprocate. It had established in him a mode of inaction. And that was why he was single and kissless, he also knew. The game of life was so hard.

He searched "sexy aunt" and looked at the video thumbnails that came up: sultry semi-older women, dressed professionally, leading on the younger men with a finger. On some, the video previews shifted, showing brief glimpses of obscenity: the lucky young man's erection before the pursed lips of the now-nude woman. It made him tremble with imagination, and he suddenly remembered Aunt Rose, sliding open the shower door to stand shimmering wet and nude before him and encouraging him to take off his clothes and get in. He was no stranger to this. Then he remembered how, just minutes ago, he had so easily framed the question about borrowing a book, a suggestion that he had not looked forward to taking when his mother had pushed it on him. But it had happened so easily. All he had to do was move. And take action. The question was of judgment at that point, and while he admittedly had what he felt to be poor judgment, he remembered the way Yuko had looked at him just moments ago, and also many hours ago, when he was naked and erect...

He stood up. With the porn page still on his screen, he peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the bed. He suddenly felt braver. Bare-chested, like Conan the Barbarian (but much skinnier), he felt charged with masculinity, and like the ape he was, he took down his shorts to stand naked in his room, his body trembling, his lesser self already extending in the shared excitement that he felt. Then, he turned and opened the door.

Oh, maybe I shouldn't leave this open, he thought, and went to his laptop and closed it, suddenly killing the mood. Then he regained his composure and marched out into the hallway.

The feeling of vulnerability was back at its strongest. Now was a time where he would surely get caught, perhaps by his parents coming out to use the bathroom, and he was still not sure if he was right in what he was doing, in how Yuko would react to seeing him, but he moved, despite those doubts, remembering the innocent way she had laughed when seeing him, but also the way her eyes flitted down when she saw his excitement, and he padded softly on the carpeted stairs and stepped down the hall through the kitchen, a floorboard suddenly creaking and making him curse, and making him wonder how Yuko had walked across it so soundlessly. Each step of the next landing was like a gunshot in the night to him, and he hurried down them until he was on the concrete foundation of the den, silent as a cat and heading for the basement door, which was, curiously, open. Perhaps a signal for him? He stood at it for a moment and looked down. He could see the soft light from the apartment below, and he listened for what Yuko was doing down there. He heard nothing, though he imagined the faint plip of water flowing over fair skin, and urged by that sound, he took the first step, trembling at the realization of his nudeness, his erection suddenly receded in his fear, shrunken to just an inch and flipping loosely as he made his way down the stairs. By the time he was at the bottom, he felt like a scared, naked child, and he stood there, exposed, with the entrance to the laundry room on his right and the rest of the apartment before him, where the dim light was revealed to be coming from a hanging bulb above the bathtub, where lit like a performer on stage was Yuko, a lone bather in a void. She was reclining with her head back and her eyes closed, nothing but her rounded shoulders and the summits of her knees visible, but then she opened her eyes and turned them towards Matt.

"Why hello there." She smiled and her eyes subtly moved down and then up. "Decided to come down for some laundry?"

He was so terrified that he didn't know what to say, and just stood there, naked with his baby dick making an embarrassment of itself. Or so he felt.

Yuko moved and leaned herself over the edge of the tub, dangling her arms out of it and staying concealed. She smiled at him.

"I thought maybe if I come out tomorrow, I should bathe tonight," Matt found himself saying, and at this, Yuko's smile grew. She reached out one hand.

"Well... why don't you get in the tub with me?" she asked. The phrase was like a lightning bolt to his heart. Oh my god, oh my god... His mind raced. Yuko's extended hand seemed to reach out for him, and she turned it upwards and motioned with her finger.

"Come on in, you're allowed."

With that, she leaned up and moved to the end of the tub, and then, before Matt's wide-open eyes, she stood, revealing herself finally. The water rushed down her shimmering skin, dripping off the ends of her breasts, small, and perfectly round, with two tiny circles of pink at their summits, and her stomach was flat and sheening with water which flowed down to her matted triangle of pubic hair at her thighs as she settled against the end of the tub and sat there. She braced her hand on the end and with the other motioned for Matt again, and he stumbled forward like a zombie, stiff like a zombie too, at least in the one part that had already begun to throb and grow at the mere utterance of that wonderful phrase: "get in the tub with me..."

He stepped up to her, and she reached out to take his hand. He just stared, marveled down at her perfectly-rounded and weightless breasts, with droplets of water and collections of soap bubbles suspended on them, and she just smiled—or at least, he saw that she was smiling when he looked up to her. His erection was waving right above her thigh, and as she guided him to step over and into the bathtub, his tip glanced that thigh and he felt instant trembles. Yuko laughed softly. Her hair was flattened against her shoulders and she watched him as one watches a child ease themself into the water: watchful, maternal.

Splish. Sploosh. His feet sank into the water. Yuko rose from the edge of the tub and took both his hands, and he stared at her before him, and his cock tickled the hairs between her thighs, and they both lowered into the water. A collective sigh begged to be released, so Matt allowed himself the comfort, and with that exhalation of air, comfort did come to him. Yuko smiled and leaned against the opposite end of the tub, putting up her legs which lay next to him so that they rose like sea serpents to then rest on the side of the tub.

"There, this is nice, isn't it? Now we can both get clean and save water." She gave a wry smile with that. All that was missing was a wink.

"Miss Yuko... I don't know what—"

"Sssh, you do know, and I'm okay with it. I don't mind sharing this with you. Here." Her hand dipped into the water and rose, holding a big sponge. "Why don't you wash me?"

She held it there expectantly and Matt finally leaned forward to take it. Her legs disappeared back under the water and she sat up and turned with a swirl and a swish of bathwater so that her back was to him, the finely-defined lines of her shoulder blades and the seamless drop of her smooth skin before him, rivulets running down it, and he pressed the sponge to her firm body and squeezed, sending foamy rivers down next.

Yuko leaned back a little. Around the sponge, Matt’s fingers were able to grace her skin, and it was as smooth and as clean as polished marble, and cold with the water, but with an inner heat that he soon sensed as his hand traveled down the center of her back. He ran the sponge over her shoulders next, feeling their contours, and down her arms. She leaned back so that he could almost smell her shampooed hair, and his dick, submerged, poked into the small of her back. She laughed again, then leaned forward so that she could turn once more to face him. His heart was rattling in his ribcage, and she waited for him, so he continued working with the sponge, first on her collarbone above her breasts which sat there looking at him, and then with bravery, he let the sponge go lower to them, and traced their shape, sending gushes of foam racing around their circumference and then sliding into the space between them.

She sat there and let him feel her breasts for a while. They were softer than Matt would have ever imagined, smaller and more weightless than Aunt Rose’s, and he wanted to keep washing them over and over, letting the sponge sink into them and feeling the small little nub of her nipples through it. When he took the sponge down her taut side he just stared at her breasts, with the last of the suds running down the center. He almost let his face collapse into them. But then Yuko reached down with her hand and gently grabbed the sponge.

"Here," she said. "I've washed myself pretty good already. You need to get clean."

He felt her toes mingle with his under the water as they sat cross-legged, and she leaned forward and ran the sponge down his shoulders, and down his chest, all while looking at him so motherly, and he was too amazed to even breathe heavy. He was in a weird, euphoric, meditative state, a dream-state, heightened by the warmth in Yuko’s eyes and the very real touch of her fingernails as they lightly scratched against his skin from the edge of the sponge. He found himself leaning back, and Yuko was not shy about letting the sponge go lower.

He almost laid against the back of the tub, and then felt his penis protrude just barely above the surface like a periscope. At once Yuko went for it, squeezing the sponge around it, and Matt trembled suddenly at the strange sensation of someone pulling on his dick other than himself, pleasant squeezes and tugs that he could not control, and with the sponge wrapped around his head to polish it off and the burning of the soap, he arched his back and his whole body trembled, and Yuko stopped.

"Too much, huh? Come here."

He opened his eyes and Yuko was dropping the sponge and scooting back, raising both her dripping arms and making grabbing motions with her fingers. "Come on here."

He hardly knew what to think. Come here? Was she serious? He leaned up, and she continued to reach out with her arms. She scooted forward, and under the water, she unfolded her legs so that they straddled his either side. Soon her arms were embracing him, cold and wet on his shoulders, and his face was inches from hers. Their foreheads touched, and she laughed a little, her breath brushing against his lips. His erection prodded at the base of her stomach.

"Here, let me get up on you," she said, and she raised slightly. One hand left his shoulder and disappeared into the water, finding his dick and closing around on it. He sighed and leaned into her as her hand guided his penis into her vulva, pushing past the ridges to a softness that Matt could not take. He collapsed his head onto her shoulder and let out a breath onto it, and Yuko settled onto him and then put her hand around his neck, joining it with her other hand.

"There, let's ride," she said. He returned to looking her in the face, and her smile was sparkling. She leaned in and pecked him on the lips, and then began to rock her body against his, as he felt her from the inside, felt things he never imagined, the heat down below, the cold skin pressed against him, the tender touch. He worked his body in tune with her, and soon it was like they were dancing in the tub. He let his mouth hang open in awe of all that he was experiencing, and with it open, leaned his head in and slathered her mouth with a passionate kiss, and she worked her lips in return, fingering them over his, hand tightening against his back as he swelled up inside of her and the water sloshed and her faint moan was all else that was heard, until Matt could not control his breath, and began to pant into her face. She massaged his back, rocked up against him, he felt her close on him, and then he burst inside of her.

She consumed his scream with a kiss as he froze up in her arms and discharged everything he had while constricted by her, and he twitched and tensed and then went slack against her, resting his wet lips on her shoulder while he could feel himself slithering limp inside her. She patted his back, and then massaged his scalp. He just took in the clean and smooth feel of her skin on his lips.

When they went still, Yuko leaned back and braced her arms on his shoulders, looking intently at him. He wavered as if in a daze, then finally settled on her eyes.

"Was that nice?" she said with a growing grin. Matt could only blink his eyes and nod.

He leaned back as she did, and he withdrew from her with a sensed pop, and he settled against the end of the tub, almost ready to fall asleep as she rose from the surface a bit, her breasts still shimmering with soapy water, and she grabbed the sponge again. As he lay there, she wiped his end clean under the water, and he lurched with her every touch, sending up pleasant little flutters of laughter from her lips, and then she applied the sponge to herself. She ran her hands between her legs, then ran the sponge down her shoulders, and she sat, just as he did, and they drank in the moment.

In the silence, with the water occasionally sloshing as Yuko moved a leg, but otherwise with no other sound except an occasional creak of the house settling, Yuko sighed. Then she sat up and reached down under the water, past Matt's limp penis, underneath his balls, causing him to tingle and sit up. But she was just pulling the plug.

"All done,' she said. "How about we get dry?"

He lay there still in a daze as the water drained and Yuko stood up before him, looming over him in all her glory, from her weightless chest to the dripping hair below, underneath which he had just entered, and came. And she was like a visage of a goddess above him, as she looked down and smiled while the water receded to reveal his abdomen and limp dick laying exhausted on his thigh, and she stepped out of the water and grabbed her towel hanging nearby, applying it briskly to herself.

"I'll go get you a towel, too," she said, and she disappeared towards the laundry room where Matt had made illusions to having needed to go to, and she came back, holding it out, and Matt finally sat up.

He got out of the tub and she handed him his towel and he felt strangely equal to her, both standing there nude as the day they were born, both attending to each other, both having shared something that put them on equal footing. he idly dried himself, watching her do her hair and run the towel down her slender frame. Meanwhile, the tub gurgled, and the last of the water that they had made love in disappeared down the drain.

"And now, I need to get some sleep," Yuko said. "Will I be seeing you tomorrow?"

Matt slipped the towel off his head, where he was drying the nape of his neck, and he dumbly nodded at her.

"Good. Oh, I'll take that."

She reached out her hand for his towel, and he let her have it. Then he remained stationary, and she canted her head at him, and then leaned in to rub his shoulder. Her face was so close, her breasts right below his vision.

"I'd let you sleep down here, sweetheart, but I think your parents might be alarmed in the morning. Sweet dreams."

She pecked him on the lips, then stood back and seemed amused by his reaction, though he had no idea what he must appear like to her. He blinked his eyes, beheld her some more, and finally said "thank you."

"Thank you,” she said. "Now go get some sleep."

He found himself shuffling through the basement while Yuko went and hung both towels, and he turned at the laundry room and looked back to see her entering the toilet, where she stopped, her slim back and buttocks facing him in a delicious profile, and then she blew a kiss.

He flinched as if it were capable of making contact with him, and then he waved, and she disappeared into the bathroom. With heavy feet, Matt turned and climbed the stairs, coming back up into reality, coming up into it nude and suddenly afraid again, and in a hurry to get back to his room. But first: he had to piss.

He slinked past the kitchen and up the half-stairs to the hall above, and quickly dipped into the bathroom to relieve himself, and marvel down below at his penis in his hands, which had just entered and enjoyed the best gift his mother's guest could have given him.

Emptied of his burden, Matt washed his hands and then looked at himself in the mirror, bare-chested, somewhat broad-shouldered, and now looking a hair more mature. Sure of himself. Manly, in his scrawny way. He found himself smiling at his reflection. Then he left the bathroom.

As he stepped out into the dark hall, the door at the end opened and his mother's shape in her nightgown appeared, and she gasped.

"Matthew!" she hissed. "What on Earth?"

"Sorry mom, just had to go."

"Well put something on! We have a guest in the house. What if Miss Yuko would see you?"

He smiled knowingly at his mother in the dark, though he didn't think she would be able to see his expression in the low light, and he crossed the hall to his bedroom, not shy about being caught as he was.

"Sorry, Mom. Goodnight."

And then he disappeared into his room.

In the Dead of Night

In the sloping lanes of Gregory University, surrounded by rich trees and quaint brick academic buildings, narrow alleys near the library and student center, and the deep dark of the park at the center of campus in the night, with the twinkling lights of the on-campus student housing on the horizon and the warm lights of the nearest residence hall looming at the top of the hill, word traveled of an unusual sight in the dead of night, during the weekend, when most students went home and when the campus was like a ghost town. One of the on-campus students, a loner boy prone to midnight walks through the silent grounds, had told his classmates that one night, while going down the hill that led away from the library and the art department, towards the center of campus, he had happened to look to his left, where a concrete ledge in front of the library separated it from the patio area below, and perched on that ledge was the startling sight of so much bare skin at once, touched by the moonlight. It was a girl, sitting with her feet hanging just off the ground, her hands braced on the ledge beside her as she looked up at the night sky, her chest thrust out, brilliant silver traces of the moon on her upturned, lunar breasts, and the rest of her skin so uninhibitedly revealed as she gazed at the moon. He had blinked, thought that maybe he was seeing things, assured himself that she was still there, and looked away towards the downward path to the campus center, thinking of just going along and leaving this girl to her devices, for he would not dare approach her as she was now for fear of alarming her. But then again, he did not dare approach any girl. When he looked back to steal one more glance, however, she was gone, as if she was never there. Only the bare ledge, with no bare body on it, as if she had ever been.

"You just look at too much porn when everybody else is away," his roommate had told him with a chuckle.

"No," the boy asserted. "She was there."

The roommate thought it was a neat story, and so soon the boy's account traveled the campus.

That account did not reach the ears of Annabelle, who was currently idling through a long Saturday night in very much the same manner as the boy, sitting in her room, her roommate away. She wandered through the internet and played Flash games and watched stupid videos. When the fatigue of sitting too long ached her body, she stood, and it was now late enough to start her weekly ritual, late enough that everybody else would be either in bed or drunk at the nearby bar. But not her. She liked her midnight walks, too. She grabbed her card key and slid it into her jeans pocket and her room key as well and then left the room with the lights on, stepped out into the quiet hall where there may have been one or two other girls still residing, passing their time perhaps much as Annabelle was, but she did not really know if anybody else was there. The entire campus was always dead on Saturdays, and Annabelle liked it like that. It was meditative for her, to have this dead-quiet time where there were no appointments or commitments and the time just went on at a crawl, so that she could entertain herself as she did in front of her computer. But eventually, she sought one more meditation out of the night, and it usually capped her night, leaving her energized for a little more time in front of the computer before all the energy left her and she would get ready for bed. She walked down the stairwell to the bottom floor, crossed through the day room, which felt like a grand living room in one of those old plantation houses. The dorm had in fact once been a house; it was the oldest building on campus. Modern fixtures like fluorescent lights and a candy machine at the back door which she now headed for made it feel contemporary. She stepped into the suddenly-cold, linoleum-lined back room and went out the glass double-doors into the cool night.

Fall was on its way, and there was a slight bite to the air, but it did not stop Annabelle from her routine. Even in winter, she sometimes enjoyed her weekly ritual, to many thrilling and chilling effects. She walked past the smoking pavilion, where nobody sat, and crept into the shadows of the bushes behind it. There was a small footpath that led around the backs of the other dorms until it came to the densely-treed area around the alumni house and the various other administration buildings. It was here that she stopped and disrobed.

She took off her shirt quickly, anxiously, and slid down her jeans, wearing nothing underneath, and she kicked off her loafers and wrapped the bundle up and placed it at the base of a bush that she wouldn’t forget, and then she stepped into the quietly-wooded back lot of the alumni house, the air on her bare skin, and the moonlight coming through the branches to paint her body in silver splotches.

The feeling was like none other: to walk, completely unhindered, freely through the pleasantly-landscaped grounds, with not an eye to see, and what felt like complete freedom to go anywhere she wanted. She crept around the back of the alumni house and took the next path, which led down a hill to the base of the starting point where the campus's ROTC students infamously sprinted up on cold mornings, but nobody was in formation now. Like a ghost in the darkness, she slinked along the shoulder of that drive, no trees to hide her now except the legendary weeping willow that sat there between the base of the hill and the dining hall, and she streaked across the front of that building to the sidewalk on the other side, plain as day for anybody to see, would anybody also be out at this hour. But there was nobody, and this increased her bravery.

The sidewalk climbed upwards to the art department buildings and the library, and the narrow walks and alleys and patios and back lots through which she could travel through with complete cover, walk completely free in the nude, as she liked. It felt empowering, daring. Here she could go anywhere she wanted, bold and brave in the nude. And who was to stop her?

When she neared the library, she went to her favorite spot, a ledge that overlooked a patio area below, with metal tables and a cornhole setup, during the week, populated with throngs of students, but now, as hushed and quiet as a tomb. It was here that she liked to sit, in a fairly vulnerable spot, not hidden by any tree or building but plain out in the open for anybody to pass and see. She liked to sit there and look up at the stars, for the college was in a small town that thankfully had little light pollution, and she could see plenty. Not as much as one would see up isolated in the mountains, but it was good enough. It was enough for her to suddenly feel connected to the whole universe, feeling the breeze caress her bare skin as she looked at the wide expanse of the Milky Way, and the blinking beacons of planes passing overhead, ignorant of the naked girl thousands of miles below. One time she even saw a UFO, a brilliant flashing orb rapidly alternating from red to green, and it filled her with wonder and not fear. There were many interesting and unique things to see on these solo walks out in the dead campus. There were many things going on in the dead of night that others take for granted. Like, namely, a naked girl going on a midnight walk. Tonight she planted her naked butt on the cold stone and looked up at the cold sky, with the brisk air goose-bumping her flesh, and she took in a biting breath and relished the freedom that she had at that moment, sitting naked in the middle of the campus where at any other hour lines of students on their way to classes would be walking. She was where she was not supposed to be, and this thrilled her. As did the possibility that, at any moment, somebody could catch her. But what would they do? She owned the night. She was the campus's naked ghost.

Looking up at the stars and the brilliant moon filled her also with a sense of the scale of things, and on this night, like many others, it made her feel more calm about the uncertainty of her studies there at Gregory U. Like many other students, she had her own doubts about her future career, had no idea what she would do when she got out, and no idea where to focus her studies, which were for now comprised of a base curriculum that made her feel like she was back in high school. It was on these nights, when she was in front of her computer wasting time with games, that she often wondered what she was doing with her life, but here, under the moon, all that seemed to be unimportant. All that mattered was that she was here, and that she was part of it all. It usually took about fifteen minutes before Annabelle would let out a pleased sigh and then push herself off the ledge to wander freely a little more, and then head back to her dorm.

She headed up the hill a little more, passing in front of the library and soon reaching the edge of the campus. Here, poised by a line of bushes, she watched headlights cruise by in the night outside in the town. The knowledge that they were right there, when she was right here, naked, thrilled her to no end. Then she made her way down the lane of the art buildings, looping back around towards her dorm room. When she came around the corner of the last building, she watched another set of headlights turn and enter the downward descent around the park, and saw the dashboard lights faintly illuminating the driver within, and she watched that driver go on with a grin before darting to the next building, the building that housed the student newspaper, where she had considered working, and she considered it now as she passed by its quiet, unlit windows.

The next leg of her walk was as daring as her dart across the front of the dining hall, as she ran across the blacktop that the car had just driven through, towards the side of her dorm building and the bushes and shadow there, where she scampered across the narrow strip of lawn like a wild animal before turning the corner and walking along the back, windowless wall, and then there would be the back door waiting for her. She stepped around and had her bare feet meet the blacktop, and was soon before the double-glass doors, looking into the bright fluorescent room with its candy machine, and she realized she could not go in; her clothes were still stashed by the bush the next building over. She had allowed herself to forget that she needed her clothes to enter, so distracted as she was by her freedom, and as she stood there dazed in the wash of the cold light that illuminated her bare body, another person stepped into the room through the glass. Annabelle froze, and so did the other girl, who she quickly realized by her sable long hair as Yoko, in her white tank-top complimenting her small chest and a pair of thin shorts, the outline of her hips interrupted only by a square impression in her pocket. Immodestly dressed but still poised to go out the door, instead of to the candy machine. Annabelle could see but not hear Yoko make an utterance, and then she approached the door. It opened, softly, and Yoko stepped out halfway into the night.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked Annabelle. "You're absolutely crazy!"

Annabelle was without words for a moment. "I... was going on my nightly walk," she said.

"Naked?"

"Yeah, that's how I like to do it."

Yoko shook her head. "How were you planning to get back in without your key card?"

"My clothes are actually stashed behind the next dorm, I just... sort of forgot to go get them, that's all."

Yoko shook her head again. "You drunk?"

"No, I just had coffee."

The girl marveled at Annabelle, not shy about passing her eyes down her full-frontal frame, marveling at her brashness more than her body.

"So are you going to go get them?" she asked. "Like that?"

"Yeah, I guess I better go do that."

"Hold on, I'll come with you."

Annabelle was surprised as Yoko stepped all the way out of the door and let it fall shut. "I was just coming out for a cigarette, but I'll go ahead and tag along, I don't want you  to be alone if you should get caught."

"That's very nice of you," Annabelle said, stepping back to allow Yoko to take up the space once in front of her. "But I do this pretty regularly."

"And how you never got caught is a wonder to me. Come on."

And so together they walked towards the smoking pavilion, Annabelle side-by-side with her clothed compatriot, feeling most surreal to be beside her, naked. Annabelle took the lead and led Yoko behind the pavilion, and they walked in darkness.

"So you do this every night?"

"Only on Saturdays."

"I see. Hold on a minute."

They stopped in the shadows between the pavilion and the next dorm room.

"What?"

"Nobody ever catches you?"

"None yet. Nobody's ever here on the weekends."

"That's pretty wild," Yoko said. There was an energy gathering in her face. "Why do you do it?"

"It's just fun. And it feels nice. I like being out and free."

"That's cool. So where are your clothes?"

Annabelle nodded up ahead, though they were hidden so much in darkness that she doubted whether Yoko could see. "Just behind the next dorm, in the bushes," she said.

"Wanna bet I can go that far without my clothes?" Yoko asked, with obvious glee in her voice. It made Annabelle grin.

"I've gone farther."

This was as much confirmation as Yoko needed, and she stepped back and suddenly pulled up her tank-top, freeing her torso suddenly from its meager covering, revealing tanned skin all along, and her small breasts which didn't need the support of any bra. White garment dangling from her fingers, she slid down her cotton shorts quickly and effortlessly and took her feet briefly out of their flip-flops to pull them through. Then she stood before Annabelle grinning. Through the shadow, her teeth shone. Even in the darkness, her skin gleamed, her body a rich, dark impression next to Annabelle.

"Are you bringing your clothes along?" Annabelle asked her.

"I guess it would be more fun if I left them here, huh?"

"As long as we don't forget them like I did mine."

"Hold on one second."

Yoko turned and headed into the darkness until she appeared by the front of the smoking pavilion in the wash of the lights coming from the dorm's backlot. It was striking seeing a girl, naked in such a situation as one wouldn't normally see one, stepping up the rickety wooden steps to lay her clothes on the bench there. Annabelle got a sense of what it might be like to espy her own self slinking around the campus at night. It was such an odd, surreal sight to see.

Instead of walking around the back of the pavilion again, Yoko passed directly in front of it, walking down the paved drive of the dorm and making a beeline for the trees, brave as ever. "This is awesome," she beamed to Annabelle as she entered the shaded lot. "Nobody is around to see us."

"We pretty much have the run of the campus."

"Let's go."

And so both girls walked through the shaded and lightly wooded area behind the dorms until they came to the bush where Annabelle had left her clothes and shoes. She bent down and picked them up, wrapping her loafers inside her jeans, she and was ready to turn back, though Yoko almost seemed disappointed when Annabelle turned around.

"That's it? Oh, come on, let's go a little further."

Annabelle laughed. "I've been all over already."

"Let's go to the alumni house."

"Okay."

Her clothes and shoes under her arm, Annabelle walked side-by-side with Yoko as they reached the back lot of the alumni house where she did not dare step out into the open, for one of the student parking lots was visible over a set of bushes, and that would be the most likely place that somebody might be encountered, coming back from wherever they had spent their night. But Annabelle and Yoko stepped onto the blacktop circle in front of the old building, the streetlights there illuminating them like a spotlight on a stage, Annabelle's skin pale and glowing, Yoko's golden like a goddess, and the silence of the night was absolute; the only sound was Yoko's flip-flops.

Yoko, bravely, stepped onto the front porch of the alumni house and walked up to the windows, shielding her eyes and peering inside. "Think they have cameras?" she asked.

"I don't know. I hope not. There'd more likely be cameras at all the other buildings I've walked past.”

Yoko looked away from the window and stood there grinning, her whole front now completely lit and revealed so that Annabelle could see the light fur above her vulva. "And nobody's stopped you yet, have they?" she asked.

"Not yet. Ready to go back?"

"In a bit. Let's take the long way around."

Annabelle sighed but could only smile and shake her head as she now followed the happily bouncing butt of Yoko as she went around the corner of the house and headed back to the dorm area, where they slinked along the rear of the building like stray cats until they reached the end, and here Yoko took another corner and darted around the front of the building, with Annabelle quick on her heels and starting to think she should call out for Yoko to stop. But now she was quickly crossing into the lights before the building and heading for the breezeway, where anybody in the front lobby—if there was anybody—could look out and see. Annabelle caught up to her just as they both passed it, and fearfully, she glanced inside and indeed saw somebody. It was a young man, and he was standing in front of a candy machine, staring at his selection of purchases. Annabelle hissed and pressed her hand against Yoko's bare, smooth back to hurry her along, and she thought for a split second she saw the boy's head start to turn, but then they were gone, passing under dorm windows and headed back to the drive that led up to the smoking pavilion. Yoko was laughing almost uncontrollably now as both of them broke into a trot, streaking out in the open.

"Man oh man this is wild," Yoko said with labored breaths.

"You're wild. I'd have been caught for sure if I went around so open like that.”

"How about that smoke?" Yoko asked as they trotted up the slight hill.

"I don't smoke."

"Just sit out with me."

"Okay," Annabelle said, thinking it would be nice to end the adventure sitting calmly naked outside the dorm with her clothes safely nearby. But as they reached the outline of the pavilion and saw the benches in the half-light, there was a shape on them, a shape which was frozen still at the sight of them walking up.

Both girls almost tripped over themselves in mid-step, stopped for a split second, but kept walking. It was too late now. The young man who sat on one of the smoking benches watched them with his full attention as they came up and finally got close enough to speak.

"Nice night for a walk!" Yoko beamed. Inwardly, Annabelle was freaking out, but she retained her composure.

"So that's who's clothes these were," the young man said, patting the shirt and shorts on the bench.

"Yep, I left them here. Mind if we sit?"

Oh my God, Yoko, Annabelle thought frantically. The guy coughed and shifted a little in his seat. "U-uh, sure."

Yoko climbed the steps and stood over the mystified boy as she leaned down and fished her cigarettes out of her shorts. Annabelle just stood dumbly there on the pavement, but as Yoko picked up her things and made her seat catercorner to the boy on the next bench, Annabelle stepped up and joined her.

"So.... do you always walk around naked?"

"Only at night," Yoko said, as if she did this all the time. Annabelle sat and covered her lap with her hands, avoiding eye contact with the boy.

"That's pretty awesome."

Yoko smiled and lit her cigarette, letting out the first puff with a satisfied sigh. She leaned back on the bench and braced her arm against the backrest, displaying her small chest fully. Her legs were slack and half-open, admitting the boy's eyes to gander at all of her while Annabelle cowered next to her.

"Now I can tell my friends that it's worth it to go out and smoke," the boy continued. He started to seem more comfortable, and he took a drag while he stared at the two young women.

"I'm glad we made your night," Yoko said. Annabelle was still silent, but screaming inside, feeling the fibers of her pubic hair hidden under her hands so the boy couldn't see, her breasts pressed under her arms but not hidden nearly as well. Suddenly she was not so bold as to be out in the open naked. She was no exhibitionist, she guessed. She could have gotten dressed, but at this point that seemed the most unnatural thing to do. Finally, after some time of them sitting there in awkward silence and smoking, Annabelle felt comfortable letting her hands fall away from her lap as she straightened her back on the bench and crossed her legs. She kept her hands by her sides, no longer worried about covering her breasts. She noticed the boy's eyes flit and focus on them, but then drift away as Yoko spoke some more and asked him what he was doing on campus over the weekend. It turned out he was a soul much the same as Annabelle, not caring to go home and just dwindling away his time in the wee hours of the night. It was a chance to rest between classes, because going home took up too much energy with the drive and the socializing. Annabelle began to feel comfortable, as if she were just sitting there chatting normally with somebody from school, somebody who wasn't ogling her naked body.

Soon Yoko finished her smoke, and thankfully she didn't grab for another one. "Well, you want to go in?" she asked Annabelle.

"Sure, let's." It was the first thing she had said since they met the guy, who seemed disappointed.

"Are you guys going to be out again sometime?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe next weekend. Keep your eyes peeled," Yoko said.

The boy was stubbing out his cigarette and sitting up like he wanted to get up and join them, but they were making their exit, Annabelle on her feet and suddenly feeling more vulnerable than when she was sitting there, now walking past the boy with her entire nude side profile passing him by, close enough for him to reach out and touch, though he didn’t. He was pressing himself against the backrest as she walked by, and then her feet pattered down the wooden steps and she was following Yoko's tawny body to the back door, where they entered the dorm and stood there in the cold fluorescent room in the nude. Yoko turned and looked at Annabelle.

"Well, that was sure a fun adventure."

"Yeah..." Annabelle said, turning to look out the glass doors and seeing the young man still sitting there, watching them. She took her clothes and shoes out from under her arm, considering putting them on now, but she was already inside, and she suddenly felt comfortable again, with no need to get dressed. Yoko was probably the only other person at the dorms currently, and if there were others, they would be girls, which made Annabelle feel a little more at ease. Suddenly again, she had nothing to hide, and she walked with Yoko through the cozy day room as they had never done before.

"I'm down here," Yoko said at the stairs, reminding Annabelle that she lived on the first floor. "Guess I'll see ya."

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks for walking with me."

"Wanna do it again next weekend?"

Annabelle looked at her. she had to admit she preferred her solitary night walks, but a partner in crime sounded fun.

"Yeah, maybe we will."

"See ya," Yoko said with a winning smile, and disappeared into her hall, carrying her clothes at her side. Annabelle looked up the flight of stairs and held her items close and went on up, with each step feeling all the more nude and vulnerable until she was in her hall, hurrying down it so that nobody would catch her. And finally, as she took her key out of her jeans cradled in her arms and unlocked the room, she was safe. She collapsed on the bed first thing, intending only to rest a little before getting on the computer again, but she fell asleep there, naked, without the covers over her, waking the next morning to a slight chill but with the comfortable sensation of her nudity. She remained that way for the rest of the morning, even risking stealing out into the hallway to go use the bathroom and shower and returning to her room without putting a stitch on, and she finally got dressed minutes before her roommate returned, who wasn't the wiser. So ended her nude time.

*****

As before, word of the nude wanderers traveled, and of course the boy at the smoking pavilion shared his encounter. Soon everybody expected to see a naked girl walking the campus after sundown, and some weren't disappointed. Word of these incidents reached a professor who resided in one of the academic offices that Annabelle so constantly walked by nude, and his interest was instantly piqued, for his studies involved moments in history where women walked without a care in the world to clothe themselves. Soon the night scene of the campus included him, working over on the weekend, but sitting out on the front steps of his building, hoping for a sight of spectral nudity passing by, for many nights before, one such person had entered his office and left quite an impression, and he figured she stalked this campus at night. After many nights of waiting, he finally did catch the briefest sight of a pale figure rushing from one pool of shadow to the next, but in that brief glimpse, he was able to ascertain that it was not the girl who had visited him past midnight in his musty library. It seemed to him that the campus was becoming overrun at the inactive hours with women who didn't care to clothe themselves, and this incensed his research further, and the stories multiplied so much that it was apparent to Annabelle, once she heard those stories, that she was not the only nude wanderer of the night. A campus-wide tradition of naked walks appeared to have been started, or else the grounds were haunted by naked angels, who approached many a lone soul in the dead of night unexpectedly.

Annabelle began to multiply her midnight outings, splitting them up between her partnership with Yoko and more private, personal adventures, which soon spanned more secluded areas in the college, where she could sit alone and be with her thoughts, and on one of these nights, she was spotted, even though she had kept to the least-traveled areas, and the man she saw was a professor she recognized from around the campus in the day, but on this night, she slinked away, and the professor was left with the sense of having seen a ghost, as her pale figure disappeared into the shadows.

No Clothes? No Problem!

Tanya had known Chassidy for a few years when they worked together at the courthouse in Smyrna, and after that, they had kept in touch here and there, mainly due to Facebook, which Tanya was becoming less and less a fan of. Which is why she phoned Chassidy up when she saw that she was going to Savannah, because—lo and behold—Tanya and her husband Bobby were going there, too. And now Chassidy sat across from them at the little table on the porch of Jimmy's Crab Shack, overlooking the very nearby beach.

Chassidy was an affable person, very bubbly and excitable, and Tanya was almost embarrassed by how loud she talked and hoped Bobby wasn't getting exhausted with her, but he seemed to be holding his own. He was a quiet guy and only went on if the subject was his work at the packing plant or politics. Otherwise, he would add what minimal comments he could to stay afloat, as now, when he looked towards the beach and saw a row of obviously-teenaged girls walking by midway between the Crab Shack and the beach, all of them in string bikinis, walking along casually.

"Can't believe their parents let them walk out like that," he said. "They ought to put something on if they're not in the water."

"Well, it is hot out," Chassidy said, fanning herself and her near-bare shoulders underneath the spaghetti straps of her dress.

"Doesn't make it right. My daughter wouldn't be wearing that out in the open, for sure."

Tanya held her breath. Bobby had come close to revealing their secret—that Tanya was pregnant—but he said "would" instead of "will," so that hid the truth, which they both agreed not to reveal until they were ready for the attention. Especially from Chassidy, who would coo and congratulate them and spend the rest of the afternoon asking them questions. They just wanted to relax now, as Savannah was their honeymoon of sorts, and with them today they had brought their canvas bags and Tanya wore a swimsuit underneath her tank-top and shorts, and Bobby wore trunks and a t-shirt. A day at the beach was on their to-do list, perhaps the only thing on their to-do list, just lay in the sun and swim for the whole week, interspersed with lovemaking in their B&B at night when the heat somewhat dissipated but the humidity did not and the bedroom air was sticky. They had just impromptu-met Chassidy on the mainland and invited her out to have a drink and a light lunch. They had never been to the Crab Shack, but it was a charming little place, especially to sit and watch all the people on the beach, unless if the sight of some immodest swimsuits stirred up a little anger.

Tanya watched Chassidy open her mouth as if to say something in protest to Bobby's declaration to keep his future daughter clothed, apparently decided against it, and snapped it shut. Then she just looked out at the teens happily strolling along until they were behind her peripherals, and she continued to stare out at the water, as if yearning for it. Tanya was glad she didn't argue, because she knew Chassidy was kind of a hippy nature child (though she was only twenty-eight) and would probably defend being naked or half-naked on the beach, while Tanya was more aligned with her husband, agreeing that she wouldn't have a daughter walking about so casually, ninety-percent naked, especially with social media embedding unwanted images on the internet forever. Another reason she was looking forward to being done with Facebook before her child was born.

Taking a queue from Chassidy's longing look, Tanya piped up.

"Say, wanna walk off our lunch on the beach?"

"Sure, that sounds great!" Chassidy lit up. Bobby began pulling out his wallet, wordlessly.

A few minutes later, they were kicking up sand between their sandaled toes, Bobby carrying their canvas bag and Tanya another small bag with a few things in it, and Chassidy nothing at all except for her small purse over her shoulder. It was searing hot, and there was no shade in sight. It did not feel good after salty food settled in the stomach, and Tanya asked her husband for one of the bottles of water. She thought about the girls walking nearly bare, and didn't think that being naked would feel much better under the unrelenting sun. No matter how undressed you were, it was harsh, and burned, and squeezed every drop of sweat out of you, as it did now; her skin was clammy underneath her swimsuit, which was underneath her tank-top. Chassidy seemed perfectly comfortable, probably because her dress offered a draft along her skin. A dress was probably preferable to what she and Bobby were wearing, Bobby's dark t-shirt just a little tight on his broad chest and biceps, but he liked to wear them like that. Plus, they were planning on taking some of those items off to swim, and Chassidy was not. Soon, Tanya was looking forward to renting an umbrella and getting into some shade. She said as much: "Hey hun, wanna get us an umbrella and we can set up?"

Bobby handed her the bag. "Sure."

Tanya turned to Chassidy as Bobby walked ahead.

"We were thinking of swimming, I know you didn't bring a swimsuit, so we can wait a bit if you want."

"Oh, no that's fine. I'll hang out a little bit."

Tanya looked at her to make sure. She didn't really want her to sit around with nothing to do while she and Bobby got in the water, but she'd suppose she'd sit under the umbrella a bit and chat, anyway. She wished they had brought a cooler with some beers. A Corona under the umbrella sounded like a nice way to pass a little time, and she could get the desire to drink out of the way before she really needed to start avoiding it for the baby's sake.

Soon she saw Bobby walking back, with the umbrella-monger behind him, carrying two wooden lounge chairs and the umbrella under his arm.

"Right here, babe?" he asked her. Tanya looked about her. They were about forty yards from the water, and kids scampered every which way, and umbrellas and towels spotted the beach in every direction. It was as good a place as any.

"Yep, I guess so. Oh, we might want to get a third chair."

"Shit, I already paid."

Chassidy threw up her hands.

"Oh no, don't get one on my account! You guys wanna swim anyway, right? I doubt we'll all three be under the umbrella at the same time."

"We don't have to swim right away," Tanya said. "I want to get some shade, anyway."

"It's alright."

Bobby looked at them and assured a decision had been made, and then he dropped the bag and the umbrella monger came up and began planting the umbrella in the ground. Bobby helped him set up the chairs and thanked him, and Tanya set out a towel and placed their bag on it.

"Tell you what, I want some water on my skin," Bobby said. "I'll go take a dip and you girls can catch up."

"Alright, hun. Be careful not to get a cramp."

“I will. I’m only gonna wade around.”

With that, Bobby peeled off his t-shirt, which slid along his sweat-soaked but well-toned torso, and Tanya glanced at Chassidy and saw that she momentarily stared—naturally—and Bobby turned without any concern, kicked off his sandals, and headed towards the water. Tanya eased into her lounger, thankful to be under shade except for the fact that it actually did little to dispel the thick heat, and she reached in the bag for another water.

"Have one, if you’d like," she told Chassidy.

"Oh, thanks," Chassidy said, and gladly took the bottle and uncapped it to take a healthy swig. But she did not sit.

"You can hang out a while," Tanya said. "Let's catch up. You didn't tell me where you're working now."

"Actually, I was thinking of getting in myself," she said, looking out at Bobby stepping into a rolling wave, surrounded by jumping children and slow-wading, wide-set older people.

"In that? Tanya said, looking at the solid pastel hue of her dress, but that soon was a non-issue, as Chassidy dropped her water bottle on the towel, grasped the mid-section of her dress, and pulled it up and over her head in one fell swoop. Tanya shot forward in her chair. "What—"

She was completely bare underneath, not even panties clothed her naked hips, framing a dark and narrow strip of shocking-to-see pubic hair, shocking in this public setting. Her skin was a golden hue all the way through, and she dropped the dress beside her, looked at Tanya only briefly, and turned, laughing, to run out into the sun, her particularly chubby butt bouncing and then bursting with color as it left the shade of the umbrella and she broke out into a trot. Tanya never was able to get a word out and only looked on in horror. Strangely, nobody seemed to notice her. Not at first, anyway, as she moved so quickly, as if she had no doubt in her mind of being in the right. It was only when she was almost at the water, her body, all the way down to the toes, kissed by sun, framed in a curious way with the line of her spine and her hands held out beside her, that a child stopped and looked, and a wide woman turned around and gaped. And Bobby, waist-deep, also turned around, intending to look back at where he thought both Tanya and Chassidy would still be sitting, only to see the latter bounding in, full-frontal to him until the next coming wave splashed against her bare stomach and chest. And then she dove in, her shiny butt raising above the water until it was overtaken, and she came up seconds later, throwing back her hair and jutting out her chest and her rather large, melony breasts, which baked in the sun and all the laser-stares that were collecting on it. Except for Bobby's, because he looked back at Tanya with an open mouth, forming the words what the hell? Tanya could only shrug her shoulders and shake her head. She was thinking now that meeting up with Chassidy had definitely been a mistake. She was a much different person than her.

Bobby stood doubtfully in the surf, unsure whether to try to rein Chassidy in or leave her and question his wife, and he froze and then moved, moved away from Chassidy, who met eyes with him and seemed confused for a moment as he stumbled out of the water and a group of gawkers slowly waded in. They were all to his back as he marched up the sand and pointed behind him when he reached the umbrella.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Tanya shook her head.

"I don't know, she just stripped and ran out before I could say a word," looking down to her discarded dress, laying there flat and occasionally flitting its edges with the breeze. It looked like clothes left over from the Rapture.

"We don't know her," Bobby said, still jabbing his finger towards the distance behind him, where Chassidy resumed throwing herself in the water despite the semi-circle of spectators she attracted. "Hell, I thought you knew her."

"Not well enough, I guess," Tanya said. "I mean, she's weird, but I never would have expected her to do this."

She looked out at the "this." Chassidy was turning in place, meeting eyes with all the spectators that were wading near her and smiling kind of nervously, her water-slick chest presented to all of them as she turned. Then her eyes caught Tanya looking, and she raised her hand and waved, her body stretching so that just the beginnings of her Venus mark peeked above the water.

"I better go out there," Tanya said, swinging her legs off the lounger and standing up. Bobby was now underneath the umbrella with her, looking out and shaking his head. Tanya sighed and pulled off her tank-top, underneath which was her swimsuit, a one-piece, and she felt odd disrobing like that, as if she were also stripping naked. She felt even weirder taking down her shorts. She had considered just wearing trunks like Bobby, for she was a modest person, and a one-piece was in a way just as alluring as a bikini, accentuating the shape of her body in ways she soon wouldn't be comfortable with once her stomach began to swell. But for now, feeling naked and looked at, but not nearly as looked-at as Chassidy was, Tanya marched out to the surf where her friend had resumed throwing herself into the waves.

People cast Tanya glances as she passed. Not staring at her, but looking at her as if to say is she with you? She almost didn't want to be seen talking with her. She thought about turning back and moving the chairs to another part of the beach, or even just packing up and going, maybe to the other end of the island. But she had to address this, and she couldn't abandon her friend. Chassidy was shoulder-deep in the water now, wading around in a crouch, as Tanya stepped in and made her way to her. Upon seeing Tanya, she unfortunately stood up again, coming out of the water like a Playboy Playmate video, sheets cascading down her trim stomach.

"What are you doing?" Tanya called to her. “This isn't a clothing-optional beach."

Chassidy looked at her, confused, perhaps not hearing her fully at first over the waves, but then she said: "Oh, I didn't think it would be a big deal. It is the beach, afterall."

"What does that mean?" She fought to stand as a big wave hit them, then stumbled so she could be closer to Chassidy, so she could grab her shoulders and keep her from wandering off, or force her to crouch down again. "This is a beach. you're supposed to wear a swimsuit."

"Now isn't that silly?"

"How is it silly?"

She couldn't get her to dip back down in the water, and people, though they did keep their distance, were looking. She glanced back at their spot by the umbrella, where Bobby still stood, with his fists on his hips. He was quite broad-chested and looked rather impressive standing there shirtless, a little on the pale side, except for the red around his neck, but magnificent nonetheless. His black trunks only highlighted his square body. Returning to Chassidy, Tanya was trudging closer to her in order to be heard, her bare body so close, more than just the Venus marks visible above the surface now, but the top of her landing strip, which Tanya tore her eyes away from.

"It's just silly... who wants to go back on dry land with soaking wet clothes that take forever to dry?” Chassidy explained. “Isn't that stupid?"

"It's what civilized people do, Chassidy. now get under the water, I'll go grab you one of our towels or something."

"It'll get all wet if you bring it down here!" she said.

"I can't have you walking back up like that. We're gonna get in trouble, Chass."

"C'mon, seriously? who's going to complain?"

"Did you not see the others staring?"

"Well yeah, I can understand why, but it's not like it's a big deal or anything."

"Chass... do you see any other people without a swimsuit here?"

Chassidy considered this, then looked about them, where some people had gone back to what they were doing; kids splashing, like normal, the boys bare-chested above the water and potentially nude if not for the shimmering impressions of dark trunks underneath, other people with bikini tops struggling to hang on to the owner's bodies, even some young men in tank-tops, apparently shy to go bare-chested. A sobering look almost came over Chassidy's face until her eyes brightened, she turned to Tanya, smiled, and pointed at the shore. "Yeah, look."

Tanya was very surprised to see, approaching the shore, a young woman in a green bikini, or at least half of a green bikini, as her top had just fallen off her swollen and golden breasts, and she crouched daintily to slip down her bottom, leaning forward to step out of them while a young boy stopped and stared with a wide-open mouth at the view presented from behind. She was clean-shaven below, a shocking sight, nothing to hide her sex as she kicked her garments behind her and approached the water. Chassidy was looking back at Tanya and grinning, but Tanya was transfixed by the absolute abandon that this young woman had as she stepped into the water and gently waded past gawkers as if it were normal to strip naked at the beach, and then she steadily made her way close to the pair, and passing by, Chassidy turning from one side to the other to catch her gaze, the woman said: "You had the right idea," then laughed, and moved on.

Tanya could barely look at her friend, who seemed delighted and definitely vindicated. Then she looked up at the shore to Bobby, who now stood with his hands on his head. At that point, Chassidy escaped her and chased a wave, and Tanya was left standing in a daze, not knowing what to do. She turned and looked at Chassidy, throwing herself into the water, her naked back and rosy butt cheeks planed on the surface, while the other woman waded and twirled, her lower half now hidden, her upper half still shamelessly presented as if in a pageant, and heads kept turning. Tanya just turned and made her way out of the water. She was suddenly tired, and she looked at her husband, lowering his hands and walking back and forth under the umbrella, and she thought maybe now was the time to get up and get out of there, let Chassidy and her new friend deal with the consequences of their shamelessness. People gathered close to the shore as she made her way out, feeling much in the spotlight herself, despite all eyes looking past her. Some young men stood and laughed heartily, and a fat woman turned and huffed angrily up the beach. Bobby was waiting for Tanya, agitated now.

"So much for that," he said. "She's a bad influence. Look at those kids."

"I know. Wanna get out of here?"

"Might as well. Let her deal with this. We can go to South Beach if you still wanna swim."

"Honestly, I just want to get back and relax."

"Fine by me. Holy shit, look."

Tanya spun around. Now one of the guys who had been standing and grinning at the shore was bending down and stepping out of his trunks, his square and masculine ass looking back at Tanya, while the little boy near him shouted and pointed, and somewhere, somebody—probably the fat lady—yelled something in protest.

"Oh my god, what's happening?" Bobby lamented. They watched as the young man headed into the surf, and a parent rushed up to the little boy and grasped his shoulders, and before them all, one of the other guys tossed his trunks and headed into the water. One even shade of skin tone, completely uninterrupted, a natural human animal, now disappeared into the waves. It was at this point that Tanya and Bobby heard a blip of a siren, and they turned around to see a beach patrol vehicle grinding its way along the sand.

"Yeah, let's go," Tanya started. "We—"

Then there was a commotion on shore, and when Tanya looked back, the little boy had now lost his trunks and was sprinting away from his reaching mother, who dipped down to pluck up his discarded suit as he scampered completely free, like a dog that had been let out of the gate, bare and natural as any human being had ever looked, jumping into the shallow water and splashing, happy as could be.

Now Tanya had her hands on her head.

The siren blipped again and a dark-uniformed patrolman marched down the beach and blew a whistle. Nobody seemed to pay it any mind, though. Chassidy was now lost in the sea; Tanya saw the other girl, walking about, and the two guys splashing about, and now there were other nude women that she hadn't seen yet, and if Chassidy was among them, she couldn't tell.

"Get out, and get dressed! There are no nude beaches here!" the patrolman called out with his best ability above the roar of the surf, but nobody seemed to pay him any mind. In fact, others were now taking off their suits and running in, as if incensed by the freedom of the child, and though the patrolman blew his whistle and moved in their direction, they did not stop until they were in the water.

"Yeah, we should get out of here," Bobby said, watching as more and more people discarded their clothes and swam or ran nude. Some people were just walking along the surf, not even getting in, but just enjoying the feeling of standing and letting the wind buffet their bare skin. Some threw their arms out as if to embrace the wind. The only people not unclothed were a few beach-goers, some old, some Bobby and Tanya's ages, who were marching out of the water with the most displeased looks on their faces, going to their own umbrellas and picking up their things.

"Yeah, let's—" Tanya started, but then she saw Chassidy, walking out of the water, throwing back her hair, looking like a slow-mo shot in a movie, only completely nude, no skimpy two-piece to barely hide the features that were not to be seen in public, but seen now, from the dull red caps of her impressive breasts to the strip of unashamed pubic hair twinkling with water droplets. The patrolman shifted his attention to her, but she marched right past him and straight towards Tanya and Bobby before they could make any attempts to escape.

"You see, Tanya, it's no big deal," she said as she sashayed up to their spot and Bobby had to alternate from glaring at her angrily and casting his eyes away from her nudity.

"No big deal? You got the beach patrol up in here! People are probably going to be arrested!"

The said patrolman continued to shout to the nude crowd in vain.

"Get out and get dressed immediately! You are in violation of U.S. law! Please cooperate!"

Chassidy glanced back at the silly scene unfolding and then looked back to her friends and shrugged.

"They're not going to listen to him. And what's he gonna do? Arrest everybody?"

"They could all get fines. They all paid for parking with their debit cards, probably."

"I doubt that. I'm glad I inspired some people, though. So hey, weren't you guys wanting to swim?"

"Not like that!” Tanya cried, pointing out to the madness of mass nudity. "And certainly not surrounded by a bunch of naked people!"

"Man, you're weird," Chassidy said. Tanya nearly blew all the air out of her cheeks in frustration at how to respond to this, and she ended up just shaking her head in astonishment. I'm weird? she thought, staring at her. No, she couldn't look at her anymore. She couldn't even attempt to look at her in the eye without her eyes drifting down to her breasts, massive and magnetic at the bottom of her vision. It was too much. It was not normal. And everywhere she looked, there was yet another naked person to tear her eyes away from. Was I this antsy when everybody wore swimsuits? she wondered, knowing that she couldn't have been as averse to looking in anybody's direction before, in a normal beach setting, though even then, everybody was ninety percent unclothed.

Bobby was already putting their things in the canvas bag, anticipating Tanya's next thought. She didn't have to say anything to Chassidy, whose disappointed face watched as they packed up, and knew, but Tanya said something anyway. "Sorry, but this is a bit too much for us. We're gonna head back to our B&B."

"That's fine," Chassidy said, still distracting to talk to, still crazy enough to stand there stark-naked and act like it shouldn't be distracting. "I'm sorry I weirded you guys out."

"Don't worry about it. Have fun, Chass."

Tanya said it with so much of an air of finality that it made it sound like she was never going to see Chassidy again, and indeed she did not intend to ever invite her out anywhere after that, at least not to places where sunshine and water were concerned. Chassidy almost looked hurt, for she may have been crazy, but she wasn't stupid, and could pick up on the tone of voice. She looked like she was going to say something again, perhaps a "nice to meet you to Bobby," but he was bent down, rolling up their towel.

"Alright, let's go, babe," he said, and with that, they were off, Tanya giving one last look at Chassidy standing there watching them go, then turning just as Tanya turned her head forward. She and Bobby walked in silence, up past the Crab Shack and off to the left where the parking area was, some fifty yards past the restaurant and through the sudden and welcome shade of some crape myrtles. They didn't speak until they paid for their parking pass and stood at the front of their car, looking back out at the distant line of the beach, where the tiny, tan-colored shapes of the nude swimmers were like a mirage, and they could hear the blip of the patrolman's vehicle as it sounded like it was driving off.

"I don't know how so many people could just all of a sudden lose their minds," Bobby wondered. Tanya shook her head, for she had no idea, either. It was like some sort of madness took over everybody. Maybe there was something in the water.

"Maybe it's just the type of people this beach attracts," she said instead, and Bobby said "or something in the water, who knows? Let's go get cool."

They both got in the car, Bobby behind the wheel, still shirtless, and Tanya still in her one-piece, sitting on her towel because she was still a little damp. It felt normal for the moment, because they were on a beach on a touristy island, but when they got back into the mainland and the city, it would feel strange getting out of the car a block away from where their B&B was, half-naked on the streets. They should have gotten dressed first, but they both wanted to get out of there. Despite that, though, Bobby only started the engine to get the A/C going but did not release the brake or put the car into reverse, watching instead a white station wagon pull up and open its doors to spill out three happy children (two girls, one boy), a very suburbanite, National Lampoon's Vacation-looking couple, smiling but tired-looking, and an older teenage boy, who wore a black metal band shirt and looked bored with the whole affair.

"Wonder if we should warn them," Bobby thought aloud, but the family moved so fast, grabbing bags and umbrellas out of the back so quickly that they were like a well-oiled machine, and they were already marching off the pavement and kicking up sand. Bobby took a breath and watched the family disappear around a row of scraggly beach shrubbery. Tanya could see his eyes scanning the horizon, where she looked and could still sort of make out that nearly everybody out there was nude. It was hard to tell. They were just blobs of varied skin tone, rippling with heat distortion, but if they had been wearing swimsuits, there would no doubt be spots of bright green or blue, or prismatic or muddy mixtures of colors. There was none of that.

Bobby reached to put the car in reverse when the family suddenly reappeared, and he and Tanya sat still and observed. Tanya could hear Bobby take a short intake of breath to say something, like "figures," or something predictable like that, but he stopped because the family didn't seem displeased or scandalized. Rather, they were beaming; the parents' tiredness seemed to wane, the children were jumping and skipping to the station wagon, and even the black-shirted teenager had a smile on his face. The husband unlocked the vehicle and the others opened the doors, and instead of getting inside, they started peeling off their shirts and throwing them in, and the children were the first to take off everything else as well, eager to get out of their constrictions.

"What in the hell..."

Now bare and hopping on the pavement, the children were set on skipping ahead, but had to wait while the parents slowly, a little more hesitatingly, took off all their clothes. The teenage boy was a little faster than them, though he looked nervous. None of them perhaps knew that Tanya and Bobby were watching from their car, not voyeuristically, but in disbelief. Soon, the clothes were thrown in the station wagon, and all the family carried with them were bags and towels, and they hurried away, all walking in a line of bare butts at varying heights.

Bobby and Tanya sat there in shocked silence for a moment. The engine rumbled and the A/C blasting them was starting to make Tanya chilled because she was still a little wet. Finally, they looked at each other.

“Are we the crazy ones?" Bobby asked Tanya. She didn't have anything to respond with, but just looked back out at the beach, where she could make out the family in the distance, thinking about how the little kids so effortlessly and joyously threw off their clothes, and how the parents amazingly didn't admonish them, but joined them. They did all seem very happy. It made her think again about how she would raise her own child eventually.

Suddenly, Bobby cut the engine and opened the door. Before Tanya could ask what he was doing, he stood and walked to the front of the car, peering out at the beach. She got out and joined him. They stood and saw some groups coming away from the beach, younger people, some more families. Not all of them were heading towards the parking lot, but rather just enjoying a walk.

"Look at those kids," Bobby said, and nodded towards another couple, with children slightly older than the previous trio, perhaps eight or ten, almost preteens. They were a boy and a girl, and they ran ahead of their parents, chasing each other or perhaps racing each other, their bodies moving free and unhindered, the subtle movements of muscles on their limbs and torso almost mesmerizing, like something from The Nature Channel. It was the human body at work, in motion, and neither child seemed preoccupied with the apparent sex of the other. They just played in the sun, happy, unburdened. Tanya knew Bobby was thinking about their future child as well.

"I don't know," he continued. "Should we?"

She shot him a look and knew what he was suggesting. His returning gaze was calm, sure of himself, more serene than she had ever seen him. Looking into his suddenly-relaxed face put her at ease, and she nodded. "Sure, let's do it."

And together, right there in the parking lot, they took off their swimsuits. Bobby's was quick to remove: in one swift motion the shorts were yanked down and he stepped out of them, sliding his feet back into his sandals, and it shocked Tanya to see him like this, nude, something that was usually only seen in the bedroom, but here in the relentless light of the sun, he looked different, but familiar. She almost stared at him and forgot to undress herself, but she slid her straps down and more awkwardly wriggled out of her one-piece, feeling her heart beat furiously as the chest that contained it was suddenly bare to the breeze, and she felt pure terror as she pulled the swimsuit all the way down, freeing the rest of her, instantly wanting to cover it, but stepping out of the suit and standing there, almost petrified with fear, though there was no one else in the parking lot save for her husband, and when she looked at him, she felt calm again. Her heart was still beating, though.

"Let's go," he said, and he went back to the car and threw his shorts in, trading it for their canvas bag. Tanya did the same with her suit, taking the smaller bag she had carried, and they locked the car and bravely approached the sand, nervous at the first smile that would greet them. The first attention they got was some shouts far to their left, where they turned and saw people sitting outside at the Crab Shack some fifty yards away. "Oh God," Tanya said, half-amused, half terrified. "Let's hurry along." And they did.

Their umbrella and chairs were still where they had left them. The monger had not come back to collect them. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having fled once everybody took off their clothes, or perhaps having gone to join them. It felt like a crowded nude beach now. People were everywhere, and nobody was clothed. Old, young, fit, even fat, there had seemed to be a unified decision to become nudist. Because there were so many naked people, they did not see Chassidy, so they sat their things down on the chairs, and instead of sitting, took each others' hands and walked towards the surf, Tanya's heart still rattling in her chest but slowing down to normal the closer she got to the ocean, and there they saw Chassidy happily splashing with a younger girl, in her preteen years, who shrieked and threw water against Chassidy, but who soon drifted away when Chassidy suddenly looked and smiled at Tanya and Bobby.

"Oh hey! You came back!" she cried out and hurried to meet them. Tanya thought of what to say in response, and in apology, but she had nothing, and just smiled and joined her friend, now thinking she would invite her over to their house even in the future, and for now, she just enjoyed the day, with a brighter outlook on everything.

Get naked with these other P.A. Choi collections!

”Life's More Fun Naked!” “Naked Adventures” and “Why Be Embarrassed? You’re Only Naked”

About P.A. Choi

P.A. Choi has had a long, proud career of writing erotica for seven years, where he has mainly pursued his favorite themes of exhibitionism, public nudity, and the fine line between naturism and eroticism.

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