I heard her start removing her clothes. “Oh, the breeze feels wonderful on my skin,” she said, in a happy tone. “Come on, now. Get undressed.” I started to unchanged and felt my ass bump into hers. Adrenalin spiked through my body in panic. “It’s fine,” she said, fully aware that I’d be freaking out.

“Ok…I’m done.” I trembled. My body was filled with nervous excitement. I was standing naked, next to Kaitlyn who was also naked, on a beach, where anyone could see me. And yet, I felt my heart beating steady. My breathing was controlled. Only my mind was dissonant.

I reached behind me, trying to find her hand. I didn’t think about how hard it would be to find her hand without looking, and without touching her inappropriately. “We did not think this part through, did we?” I asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Not very well, no,” she chuckled back.

I reached behind me and my hand hit her waist. The touch of her skin sent shivers down my spine. “Take it,” I said, spreading my hand over her side and onto her stomach.

She grasped my hand tightly and I took a deep breath. “Here we go!” she squealed. She yanked at my hand as she burst into a sprint towards the water. I kept my eyes forward and moved a full arm’s length away as we ran. We hit the water’s edge with a loud crash. The water was pleasant and inviting—still warm from the hot day.

“Oh my god!” I yelled in disbelief. Nervous laughter escaped me.

Kaitlyn squealed in delight. “I’m so proud of you! Isn’t this awesome? I promise I didn’t look,” she said, genuinely. “Now we can just relax with our shoulders below the water, completely exposed to the world while being simultaneously hidden from it.”

I had to admit, the water had a strong calming effect on me. It felt very freeing being unburdened by swimwear. The push and pull of the tides gently massaged my body. I felt the water gently moving my dick to-and-fro and my pubes floating around freely. The silliness of the observation made me giggle.

“Ok. Ok,” I said, still filled with nervous laughter. “This isn’t so bad.”

“Yay!” Kaitlyn said gleefully. She jumped into the air, clapping her hands, and began to do a dance. “Naked water dance emotion!” she declared.

I laughed at her enthusiastic energy and stopped when she jumped into the air and danced. She rose high enough to expose a lot of her cleavage. The brightness of the moon caused a deep shadow between each breast that accentuated their curves. I looked at Kaitlyn. She was in her own world, dancing to the sound of her own happiness. I looked at my best friend. I looked at her in a way I’d never looked at her before. I saw everything in her. I saw someone I never wanted to be without.

I moved towards her a little bit. I was close enough that I could see the colour of her skin below the water, but no detail. She looked at me, saw me getting closer, and looked down into the water. I stopped. We could see each other’s naked bodies, but only our bodies. I felt an intimacy I’d never felt before. She saw me looking deep into her eyes and looked back into mine.

“I like it when you call me Kait,” she said shyly.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You always call me Kaitlyn—which is fine, by the way—but last night, you called me Kait a couple of times. I liked it.” She looked down and grinned a shy smile.

“I never noticed,” I said, thinking back over the last day.

“You’re always so formal. You make everyone call you Jacob, except me, of course. It feels nice to have you call me Kait.” She looked up at me, a warmth in her eyes I’d never seen.

“Kait?”

“Yes?” she whispered.

“Will you dance with me again?” I asked, to her surprise. I outstretched a hand towards her.

“I’ll always dance with you,” she answered softly. She took my hand in hers and pulled me close. The gap between us exposed our nakedness, but our eyes never left each other's gaze. She offered me her other hand and I took it gently.

We swayed together in harmony. We rose and fell with the gentle wash of the waves. We spun in small circles and drifted our hands in and out of the water. The sound of water splashing from the droplets falling from our arms gently echoed in our ears. I moved my hands down to her hips and held her in a soft embrace. She placed her hand around my neck. Our eyes were still locked on the other person, the whole world contained within them.

I took her weight and began to sway her with the rhythm of our dance. I smiled at her and began lifting her. She didn’t resist. I lifted her high above the water and spun in a spiral, bringing her back into the water. Her breasts came fully out of the water, exposed and only a few centimetres away from me. But my eyes never left hers. The most beautiful sight to behold was the look on her face, and not the shape of her body.

“Jake,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” I whispered back. She didn’t reply. She didn’t know what to say, and neither did I.

“I feel…” She trailed off.

“…like I have never felt before,” I finished.

“You do? What do you feel?”

“I’m not sure. But I think you feel it too,” I answered truthfully. She smiled and ran her hands up my neck and down again. I caressed her sides with my thumbs. “I think I know what I feel,” I said with more confidence.

“Yeah?” she said, bringing us closer together

“For the first time…”

“Yeah?” she whispered.

“I feel hug emotion,” I finished quietly.

Kaitlyn beamed a beautiful smile. “Then let’s hug.”

We embraced each other. Our bodies intertwined under the moonlight. Our bare skin pressed gently against the other’s. We were experiencing an intimacy we never knew possible. We didn’t notice our nudity, or the sexual nature of our embrace. We only felt each other—the person, we realised, we loved most in the world. Nothing could separate us.

I held her tightly against my body. Her head rested on my shoulder. I pulled at her waist, wanting to bring her even closer, closer than possible. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around me. Hugging me with her whole body. I could feel her heart, beating against my chest, letting me know it beat for me. I could feel her breath on my neck. I’d never felt more connected to a person before. The warmth of her body made me feel complete.

“I love that you’re my friend,” I said into her ear.

“I love that you’re my friend,” she replied.