Conor took a deep breath as if he enjoyed every bit of the chlorine smell that had settled on the second floor. We walked past some offices toward the pool area and, as we found it, searched for each other's faces as if we both couldn’t believe what we saw was real. The brightly lit display window showed off the entire basin to everyone walking through the hallway. The water stood still as the place was wiped out. White and blue tiles around the basin direct our gaze to a colorful mural of some mountains framed by two doors that lead to the changing rooms. Even though it looked a bit rustic, the whole appearance was still inviting, with enough swimming space to get the motors running.

"I don't have any swimming trunks," said Conor as we admired the view.

"As if that were an issue," I replied, fully aware that I was in the same boat sailing down the river named Complication.

The entrance was located a few feet down the hall. Behind the counter sat an older lady who appeared to be waiting more for her next smoke break than paying customers. Her dyed, curly, golden hair looked almost like a halo in the spotlight placed directly over her head. She was reading a newspaper, and as we walked up to her, she didn't try to acknowledge us at all.

"Good evening. We would love to use the pool, but we don't have swimwear," I explained to her. She glanced over her newspaper, scrutinizing Conor and me as if we disturbed her inner peace. You could see that her wrinkled face had lived through hard times and could tell many stories about the world, God, and treason.

"I can sell you some—thirty dollars per piece. Plus twenty for an hour of swimming," she answered and pinned her eyes back to the newspaper.

Shit. That was more than I wanted to spend. Why is everything fun in this country so damn expensive? I turned to Conor to see what he thought about it, but he shrugged as if he didn't care about the price.

"Oh fuck it." I pulled out my old brown leather wallet, grabbed two fifties my grandma gifted me, and slammed them on her counter. That money was meant to be enjoyed.

With a sigh, she put down her newspaper, scanned us from head to toe, and reached behind her to a shelf, pulling out two pairs of swim trunks. "These should fit. Only color I have. No returns. Changing room, down there." She was so eager to get back to whatever she was reading that she didn't even make an effort to form complete sentences.

I grabbed the trunks, handed one to Conor, and stared into the innocent eyes of a yellow SpongeBob Squarepants printed on the blue shorts.

"Fashionable," stated Conor before I could even start thinking about how we would look in them. But who cares? Looking silly is probably what we need.

We followed a small, dark corridor to the changing rooms. Small booths separated the publicly accessible part from the showers and pool area. I walked into one cabin, closed the door behind me, and heard Conor walk into the adjacent one. He turned the lock around with a soft click before a slight rustling told me he was taking his clothes off. I inspected the swimwear designed for children.

"Are yours also… tight?" asked Conor from the other side of the wall in an amused voice. I slipped off my underwear, put my feet inside the swimming trunks, and pulled them up, but I had to stop before they reached my butt. I looked down, spotting SpongeBob so wrinkled that he appeared to be screaming in pain.

I raised my head to the ceiling as if Conor wouldn't otherwise hear me. "Shall we exchange them?"

"I don't care. No one else is here anyway."

My ears perked up as he clicked the lock on his cabin open, and I heard him walking to the other side. I pulled the trunks higher and somehow managed to squeeze into them. Grabbing my stuff, I opened the door, walked to one of the lockers, and stuffed my clothes and bag inside. 

Compared to the entrance, the back part of the pool area seemed far more imposing. The whole place was covered in oak panels and lit with warm orange light, making it look like one of these Japanese bathing houses you can see in afternoon anime, sometimes shown on Cable TV.

Conor was nowhere to be found, but I heard a shower being turned on. I closed my locker, wrapped the bracelet attached to the key around my wrist, and stepped inside. As I saw Conor showering, only wearing swimming trunks, I couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. His muscles were more defined than the last time I saw him like this, making him appear much more masculine. I peeked at his trunks, and they were, in fact, very tight. He swiped the water out of his face, forming a dirty grin as he noticed how awkwardly I stared at him.

"What?"

Without answering his question, I headed to the shower across from him and let some lukewarm water run over my body. I turned toward the shower head to help me resist the urge to keep staring at Conor's gorgeous body. We’ve been swimming together so often. But he really changed a lot in those two and a half years. And as if fate wanted to punish me for thinking about Conor like this, I felt a shooting pain coursing from my butt through my body. I turned around and realized that I hadn't noticed how Conor sneaked up on me to smack me heavily on the ass. Before I could adequately react to his actions, he ran for the pool, jumping straight in with a loud SPLASH. I followed him without turning off the shower, as I couldn't just let this slide. Conor dived toward the opposing side and panted as he emerged.

I was just about to leap in when someone yelled, "No jumping." The entrance lady pointed to a sign that forbade almost everything fun in ten languages. I tried to slow down but kept slipping on the tiles and was barely able to keep myself from falling into the basin.

"Sorry! Didn't see that," I sheepishly replied, suppressing my laughter, as I didn't want her to call security. She rolled her eyes and mumbled something lost in the surging water's roar, thanks to Conor's swimming movements.

I sat on the edge of the pool and touched the surface with my feet. As the shock of almost ice-cold water hit me, I flinched back, forcing a splash onto Conor by accident. He glared at me as if he understood this as an invitation to another showdown. "Whoops," I laughed and pushed myself off the edge to dive under as fast as possible to get used to the temperature.

Conor swam beside me when I emerged, his mouth underwater, ready to flee if I should decide to get my revenge for his ass-smacking. But the most satisfying vengeance would be to demolish him in a fair contest.

"Wanna find out who is faster?" I asked, ready for a friendly battle. His eyes sparkled as his competitive side kicked in again. "Ten times from this poolside to this and back," I told him as we both headed toward the coping behind us.

Before I was in a suitable starting position, Conor yelled, "One, two, three, go," and pushed himself off the wall. I did the same, but my first push wasn't as strong as it could have been if he hadn't cheated on me like that. Nevertheless, I swam as fast as I could for a few minutes, as we were trying to outrun each other. I had no way of knowing if he had swum ten laps, but he was done by the time I was on my ninth round.

"You had an advantage because of how fast you counted without warning!"

"Or maybe… I’m just better than you are now." He made a face like a kid playing innocent, and I couldn't help but notice how cute he looked like this. But still, I felt cheated. Beaten by a theater kid. I can’t let that slide easily. So I airplane my arms up wide to gain momentum and drove them with power into the water, splashing a big wave into his face. He turned away fast enough so he could still see and returned the favor.

Our efforts to splash water in each other's eyes slowed my steps toward him. But as I, at last, was close enough, I jumped right at him, pushing his whole body down the water to prove that I was still stronger. But to my surprise, he somehow managed to wrap his arms around my waist, pulling me down with him. It was almost impossible for me to catch a breath before he dragged me underwater.

Damn, he became strong! What are they doing in those theater lessons?

A perfectly aimed kick against my leg made me lose my stance entirely. He pushed me further down and swam upward, regaining stability.

Shit. He has a real chance to gain the upper hand now.

He grabbed my neck to hold me down for as long as possible. I swam toward his chest, trying to press my head into his torso to topple him down, but he just laughed, unimpressed, not moving an inch.

I should change my tactics.

I turned around in an attempt to swim away from him, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me back before I knew it. I pushed my head above the water and caught some breath, but he used that to wrap his arms around me, making it impossible for me to flee.

Without hesitation, he jumped up and, since I was hugged in tightly, pulled me back to the ground of the pool with him. His skin felt warm in the cool water. I opened my eyes and saw the blurry outlines of the floodlights on the ceiling. I couldn't deny that being this close to him felt good. We often fought like that when we were younger. But now, his skin touching mine felt so different.

Almost forbidden.

I knew he expected me to free myself from his grip, even though, at that moment, I didn't want to for whatever reason.

Blood rushed into every fraction of my body. Unfortunately, also the part that would test how tight those swimming trunks really are. I suddenly felt hot, and even the cool water couldn't do anything about it.

Why the fuck did I get a boner from this?

"Stop it," I tried to say after realizing what was happening, but only little bubbles found their way to the surface as we sank further to the bottom of the pool. His strong arms held me closer, pressing my body tighter onto his, arousing me even more. I screamed "Stop" again from the top of my lungs, sending a small shockwave through the water, this time loud enough to be heard. At long last, he let go of me.

I panted as I emerged and, by and by, tried to find my balance again. Conor also surfaced, and his surprised face told me he was honestly just trying to have fun. He swung his head like a wet dog to shake the water off his hair and face.

"Everything all right?"

I moved several feet backward. Away from him, trying to calm down. But with every step I took, my swimming trunk tightened.

He searched my face, confused, trying to figure out if he had done something wrong. But the way my body reacted, he must have done a lot of things right, leaving me even more bewildered than him.

Conor took a deep breath, dove under, and swam toward me. I quickly turned to the edge of the pool, trying to hide the tightness in my trunk that I wished weren't there. But when Conor emerged right in front of me, I already knew it was too late as his eyes widened, and a big, fat gloating grin spread over his face.

"Do you have a boner?"