“Oh, Nick!” Betty waded over to Nick and hugged him. “I am so sorry you had to go through that! And especially that it was our friend…”
“Ex-friend,” Janice said. “When’s the last time you enjoyed her company, Betty?”
“I don’t even remember,” Betty said as she released Nick and waded back to Rob’s side. “Guys, I promise, you’ll never have to see her again if I have anything to say about it.”
“I’d kind of like to at this point,” Rob said. “Let’s show her we’re all happy together.”
“I like that idea!” Betty squeezed Rob’s hand under the water. “We are, aren’t we?”
“I am if you are,” Rob said. “But what’s this about losing your self worth in ninth grade? Is that why you said you knew how it felt to be humiliated like Nick?”
“Rob, come on,” Nick said. “Maybe she doesn’t want to share that with us.”
At this, Betty couldn’t help smiling. “I already am sharing it with you.” She stood back a bit, hands on her hips.
“Something about your body, then?” Janice asked.
“You really can’t tell?” Betty finally gave up and patted her bush.
“That?” Rob was astounded, and acutely aware that he’d just revealed to everyone in earshot that he’d never seen his fiancee in the nude, but in the heat of the moment he didn’t care. “Really? Betty, it’s beautiful! I can’t believe…”
“Thank you, and I used to think so, too.”
“Used to?” Rob and Nick said it in unison; Janice looked more like she understood, but said nothing.
“You’ve obviously never been in a girls’ locker room,” Betty chuckled. “But you have been to a nudist colony, you must’ve noticed most women aren’t this hairy.”
“Although your sister is,” Janice squealed. “Yes, I noticed!”
“True,” Nick said. “That’s why we always thought it was perfectly normal.”
“Yes, and I wish it were more normal!” Rob exclaimed. “Betty, I can’t tell you how delighted I was when you first came out of the locker room!”
“Thank you, and I confess, I noticed!” Betty’s heart was flying.
“Of course I love it,” Rob said. “It’s such a wonderful mystique, like a last layer to your feminine charms, you know?”
“Great, I’m marrying an erotic poet!” Betty laughed, both from his comment and from relief.
“Yeah, that is beautiful, Rob,” Janice added. She was almost jealous, but Nick’s arm around her shoulders reassured her.
“I’m just so sorry the girls at school made you feel like it was…whatever they made you think,” Rob said. “But you liked it before then?”
“I did,” Betty said. “I loved the way it looked, the way it felt when I was, you know, playing.” She dissolved into nervous laughter. “Back then I’d never seen another woman naked and I didn’t know I was unusual. Once they saw me in the locker room, it was pretty hard to forget that I was.”
“Oh, no, is that when the weight problems started?” Rob asked.
“Yes, but it wasn’t just the girls.” Betty sighed. “There was a boyfriend, too, my first in every way you’re thinking. Steve was his name. We went out for about six months and right from the start he wanted to get me in bed, but this was when I was fresh from being made to feel like a freak in the locker room and I didn’t want him seeing this, and besides I figured we were too young. I mean, we were too young. But then he started threatening to break it off if I wouldn’t sleep with him, and I didn’t really have any other close friends, and I figured you had to lose it sometime…”
“I’m so sorry!” Rob said, putting an arm around her. “But why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Or me?” Janice added. “I thought you were a virgin all that time.”
“I’ve never told anybody,” Betty said. “And Janice, I figured might as well be a virgin. Steve was the only one I’ve ever been with. And after him, I thought for a long time I’d never want to be with anyone else again.”
“He was that bad?” Rob hoped to lighten the mood.
And evidently he did, for Betty smiled at the comment. “It’s not that he was bad,” she said. “I mean, it was my first time, so I really don’t know if he was any good or not. I did enjoy it, at the time. He didn’t hassle me about my weight or my bush, he even seemed to like both.”
“I guess he didn’t respect you in the morning, though?”
“Worse than that,” Betty said. “Monday at school, word was already out that I’d put out for him. So I was Betty the Hairy Slut, and he never even looked at me again. Not that I wanted him to, anyway.” She took a deep breath and tightened her arms around him. “So that’s why your true love lived like a nun all through college!”
“God, I’m so sorry,” Rob said. “And even more so that I said no that night.”
Nick chuckled, then stopped himself a moment too late. “Sorry,” he said.
Betty smiled to let him know it was all right. “Yes, well, you’re welcome to make it up to me next time we’re alone, you know,” she cooed.
“Guys, get a room!” Janice snickered. She looked at Nick expecting his agreement, but instead she saw he and Nick were exchanging looks.
“Are you gonna tell her or am I, Rob?” Nick said.
Rob looked over his shoulder to where they’d left his parents and Meagan and Dan. To his relief, they’d gone off to mingle elsewhere. “Okay, I just wanted to make sure our folks weren’t around…wait a minute, Nick, what if they’ve gone there?”
“Gone where?” Janice asked.
“Wait a minute,” Betty said. “Are you saying there’s a place you can go to have sex?” She whispered the last two words.
Nick nodded. To Rob he added, “I’ve never even heard them mention it. I don’t think they know about it.”
“Of course, Betty, if you wouldn’t feel comfortable with that…”
“Are you kidding?” Betty whispered just loud enough for the three of them to hear. “I have been dying for that ever since we came out here and the way you looked at my pussy, and yes, Rob, I noticed that!” She burst into girlish giggles, and Janice and Nick joined in.
“I’m game too, Nick,” Janice said.
Betty had heard that men at a nudist camp were supposed to cover up if they got hard. So she didn’t begrudge Nick and Rob both keeping their towels wrapped around their waists after they’d dried off on the poolside. Judging from the looks they got from some of the bystanders as they made their way across the grounds, she got the impression that everyone knew just what they were on their way to do, and she was thrilled at the knowing smiles she got from some of the other women. No one made her feel anything but beautiful.
Once the crowds were behind them, first Rob and then Nick pulled their towels away. Both were still rock hard. Janice helped herself to a playful squeeze and Nick let her lead him into the woods as if on a leash.
“It’s a clearing, down this path,” Nick said. “If there’s anyone already there, it’s understood we’re supposed to come back later.”
“Does that mean we’ve got to take turns?” Betty asked.
“It’s a big clearing,” Rob said.
That did not entirely set Betty at ease. But if she had to share this moment with another couple, she conceded, it would be this one.
It was in fact a big clearing, not nearly big enough for either couple to quite be able to pretend they were alone. But as Betty sank happily into the blanket they’d draped over a patch of heather, she was too turned on to care. She gazed up at Rob, who was looking reverently at her but making no move to touch her. To entice him further, she spread her legs wide. “Are you waiting for a written invitation or what?” she asked.