The first couple hours after Cooper joined me on the trail were quiet and a little awkward. Neither of us said much, and I noticed that we both avoided making eye contact with each other. We did say enough to decide how far we'd be going that day, and I was happy to hear that he wasn't in a hurry to finish the trail. We made plans to stop at the next lake, even though we would be reaching it in the mid-afternoon.
We finally got talking when we stopped to eat around noon. Most of the conversation was just first meeting material. We learned that our hometowns were a couple hours apart, in the same state. We even attended the same university, but he was two years ahead of me, and we had never even seen each other.
We had a surprising number of shared interests, but spent the better part of the day talking about our favorite backpacking trails, and the ones we hoped to do as well. I quickly felt more comfortable with Cooper as the day wore on, and the awkwardness I had felt when he first joined me was long gone by the time the lake came into view. We hurried to find a campsite, as both of us were sore and sweaty from the hike, and eager to get into the cold water. We chose a spot that was sheltered by trees, and large enough for both of our tents. We couldn't see the lake from the campsite, but I supposed we couldn't have everything.
Cooper set down his pack and made a show of sniffing his armpit. "Fuck, I smell terrible."
My stomach leaped a little, and I wondered if he was testing me. I tried to play it cool. "I'm sure you do, but all I can smell is myself," I joked.
"I'll set up camp later. I'm going to go jump in the lake." Cooper started trudging away, in the direction of the lake.
I threw down my pack and started after him. I caught up with him and gave him a playful shove as I ran past. "See you there, slowpoke."
He stumbled, then grinned and took off after me with a shout. I ran as fast as I could while being careful not to trip and fall as I crossed the treacherous terrain. When the lake was in view, I took off my shirt and threw it to the side without slowing. I awkwardly shed my boots, too, glancing over my shoulder to see how far behind Cooper was. He already had his shirt and boots off and was working on his socks, but was a good distance away. I paused long enough to get rid of my own socks, then ran again as I unbuttoned my pants. Cooper was close now--I could hear him stepping through the knee-high grass. I decided to risk it, and stopped moving long enough to drop my pants and underwear at the same time.
Not daring to look back, I made the final dash to the edge of the lake. I hesitated there, only to feel an immense force collide with me from behind as Cooper tackled me into the water. I thrashed my limbs as the cold water left me breathless. I surfaced, gasping for air, face to face with my new friend. His boyish smile faded as I splashed him then pulled him under the water.
As we wrestled in the clear water, I became more and more aware of how much of my skin was touching his skin. For whatever reason, that realization was incredibly exhilarating. Soon it was all I could think about. It was then that I realized I was rock hard. Even in the ice-cold water of that mountain lake, I had a raging boner. I quickly pushed away from Cooper, hoping he hadn't noticed.
Once I was a few feet away, I said, "I need to catch my breath!"
He chuckled. "Me too, man. You put up quite a fight." He winked at me, and my stomach lurched.
I glanced down and saw that my dick was clearly visible in the water. I groaned internally. Why was this happening to me? It's like I was 14 years old all over again. I tried to angle my body away from Cooper, just in case he could see from where he was. I treaded water until my body decided to behave, then swam to shore and dragged myself onto a boulder to bask in the sun. Before too long, Cooper did the same, choosing a boulder a few feet away. I watched him climb onto the rock, but quickly averted my eyes when he looked towards me. We lay there in silence for quite some time. I think he may have even fallen asleep.
It took a surprisingly long time to find all our clothes. I couldn't stop watching him as he searched through the grass for my socks, naked as the day he was born. I kept staring as we set up camp, gathered firewood, and started a fire. I had the strangest urge to be close to him. I missed the sensation of my skin on his, but I knew I couldn't just walk up to him and start feeling him up. I had to admit, that was tempting. I wondered silently what it would feel like to touch his biceps, or his chest.
He caught me looking more than once, but I played it off by acting like I was about to say something, or nonchalantly letting my eyes drift away from him. He didn't say anything, and didn't act like it was bothering him, so I must have been convincing.
After an uneventful evening, we crawled into our tents. Sleep came slowly for me, but I discovered that Cooper snored softly, so I knew he was asleep long before I was. Even his snores seemed to have a power over me, and I drifted off, listening to their comforting regularity.
When I awoke, I listened for Cooper's snores. Not hearing anything, I crawled out of my tent and looked around. His tent was gone, and I couldn't see any sign of him. Panic blossomed within me. Had he just left during the night? Why hadn't I heard him packing up to go? Had I scared him off with all my staring? Or worse, had he noticed my boner when we were wrestling in the lake yesterday?
I hurried through the trees to the lake, hoping he had decided to watch the sunrise. I knew the sun had been up for at least an hour, but refused to believe he would just leave. As I broke through the trees, I let out a sigh of relief. He was standing waist-deep in the water, washing his torso. I watched him for a few minutes, until it occurred to me that I could join him.
"How'd you sleep?" He called out when he saw me approaching.
"Like a log. You?"
"Same. I realized I should have warned you that I snore, though. I hope it wasn't too loud."
I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the water. "I hardly noticed. I guess I was just exhausted from all the hiking we did yesterday."
I waded into the water, wincing at the cold, and stood next to Cooper. He was a little taller than me, but not by much. It was then that I realized I hadn't brought any soap. I must have made a face, because he laughed and tossed me a bottle of biodegradable body wash.
"Lather up, dude."
I thanked him, and obeyed.
Cooper casually rubbed his shoulder. "Would you mind getting my back? It's hard to wash anything right when you're standing in a giant puddle."
I gaped at him for a couple seconds, then cleared my throat and nodded. I wanted to hit myself. Why was I being so awkward? I stepped towards Cooper, and he turned to face away from me. My eyes were drawn down to the water's surface, where the top of his shapely ass protruded from the water. I could see just a couple inches of his crack.
I tore my eyes away and focused my attention on his back. I lathered it up with both hands, moving a little slower than I probably should have. I was savoring the feeling of his soft skin under my fingers. Once his back was covered with suds, I withdrew my hands.
"Can you do me now?" I asked hesitantly.
He was still facing away from me, and didn't answer. Instead, he slowly lowered himself into the water, his shaggy black hair disappearing last. When he emerged, he stepped a little deeper into the water. He didn't turn to face me completely, but kept his body angled away from me as he grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face away from him. I could feel him step up behind me, his hands still resting on my shoulders. With one hand, he reached around and took the soap from me.
I closed my eyes as I felt him cover my back with soap. I thought he probably went a little lower on my back than he needed to, but I didn't mind. I started to turn around after he had covered my back, but he grabbed me firmly by both shoulders and kept me facing away from him. He proceeded to soap up my arms, neck, hair, and even my chest and stomach, all while standing behind me. After that, he seemed to hesitate, then withdrew his hands. I just stood there, completely entranced. A splash of ice-cold water snapped me out of it. I yelped, and he laughed. The silence then dissolved into yelling and more splashing.
We put in a long day of hiking that day, because there wasn't another lake for quite a while. We talked about it, and decided we'd rather camp by water, so we'd go further today and then camp by a lake again tomorrow. It was a long, exhausting day, but I didn't mind. Being with Cooper was like being with a long lost friend. I felt like I could say anything to him. It was like there was no subject, opinion, or fleeting thought that was off-limits. We talked all day, and never ran out of things to say. We just moved effortlessly from one conversation to the next.
We were still talking when it got dark that night. Our tents were set up, we had a good-sized fire burning, and we even found a log to sit on. Cooper had draped his sleeping bag over it, which made it decently comfortable.
As we talked, I started to get cold. I was thinking about crawling into my sleeping bag when I shivered visibly, and Cooper noticed.
"Are you cold, Preston?"
I nodded. "Just a bit."
He seemed to consider, then raised his arm. "Come here."
I slid over and nestled against the side of his body. I felt him rest his arm across my shoulders. His hand lightly caressed my arm. I pressed myself against him, and rested my head in the crook under his chin.
"How's that?" He asked.
I pulled back enough that I could see his face. "Better already. Thank you."
I found that I was mesmerized by his eyes. I had never looked at them this closely. The firelight danced in the light green irises, speckled with brown. I couldn't look away. Time seemed to freeze as we stared into each other's eyes, his arm around my shoulders. Everything felt so right. I didn't think I had ever felt so at peace.
Then, he leaned in, and kissed me, right on the lips.