Lee - "Night Swim"

I wasn't sure what to do with Lee's colorful swimsuit in a dark bathroom, then I remembered a particular summer night with a straight friend at an apartment pool.

I was dating a bartender who had a straight friend as a roommate. "Guy" was a typical but also easy-going bro - a good Saturday night was a drink at a topless bar then watching a movie at home.

The bartender's apartment was on the other side of town so if I made the drive and he wasn't there - or the bartender was working an extra shift - then I would end up spending time with "Guy." He was easy to talk to, we drank, watched TV and sometimes went out to his bar, then mine.

This went on for months. "Guy" and I developed a very cool friendship. For some reason it's always been easy for me to be friends with straight guys - although I'm not exactly uber masculine myself.

We became such good friends that the bartender became jealous of the time "Guy" and I spent together without him. It didn't help that he came home late one night and he found "Guy" and me asleep on the sofa. "Guy" was laying on top of me with his face snuggled in my neck. We were comfortable with each other and that's all I thought of it. "Guy" had a girlfriend and was very into women, hence the happy hours at the Golden Slipper. Still the bartender openly and constantly suspected to me that "Guy" was closeted, or at least bi. Yet I shrugged it off, until one summer night.

The bartender, a friend, "Guy", his girlfriend and I had been playing board games and drinking on Saturday night. At some point someone suggested we hit the apartment's pool. We changed into our pool gear and headed out. "Guy" borrowed a pair of black swim briefs from the bartender. He looked so good in them. "Guy" always wore boxer briefs around the apartment so this was my first look at him in something that hugged his body, front and back. We all mostly chatted in the water with a little horseplay mixed in here and there.

At some point, we all just started chasing each other in the water and "Guy" embraced me with both arms from behind and tried to dunk me below the surface. I wiggled and pushed back against his body which was pressed against the length of my back. Under the water I tried to throw his leverage off by twisting my legs around him but he was stronger. And the more I tried, the tighter he pressed against me and tightened his arms around me. His face leaned into my neck teasing me, "It's no use. I've got you now." I realized that I was turned on but I played it off.

Someone yelled, "uncle!" and we all laughed. The bartender got out of the water and suggested we try to get into the sauna. Our friend, Guy's girlfriend followed the bartender as "Guy" and I got out of the water. We both were breathing hard while he teased that I couldn't get away from him. It was our typical banter but the vibe was different.

As we walked up behind the other three who were trying to remember the code to the door of the sauna, "Guy" and I were still breathing pretty heavy. I was watching the bartender trying different codes on the door when I felt someone watching me - like when you feel someone's eyes on you at the bar. I quietly turned to my left. "Guy" was staring at me, his hair drenched, his body dripping, his chest moving to his breath. I looked back at him and our eyes stayed locked.

We both didn't say a word. I could tell deep inside that if we were alone we would be all over each other at that very moment. Just then, his girlfriend says, "hey" in a very strong tone and breaks our gaze. Like out of a trance we both turn to her and I see a look on her face that says, 'what the fuck is going on here?'

She storms off, "Guy" goes after her and the bartender turns around to ask, "What just happened?" I was dumbfounded and just murmured, "I don't know. I really don't know what that was." It was the truth.

I only saw "Guy" twice more in public with his girlfriend after that summer night and he moved out soon after.

Still, it was a night swim to remember.