She swam in the other direction to warm up, discreetly giving me the privacy to slip out of the little clothing I still had on. It was strange having nothing on outside. I tried to think of any other time in my life where I might have been completely naked outdoors, but unless I’d been a baby it had never happened. The cool air was nice, ticklish in places that aren’t often exposed. I imagined the water would feel less pleasant. I hesitated for a second at the edge of the pool, contemplating the jump. Then I decided to lay my clothes on the edge and try to slip myself in, inch by inch.

“Ahhhhh!” I screamed.

“Are you in?” Ruby asked. She was facing away from me, using the edge of the pool as a rest for her arms.

“Not yet.”

“Just jump.”

I couldn’t do it. I inched myself in further.

“Oh God.”

The water hit me in parts that don’t usually see the great outdoors and I responded with a high-pitched squeal.

“Get you in the vag, did it?” Ruby said knowingly.

“Don’t make me laugh. This is a delicate operation,” I said, but I couldn’t help giggling and I lost my grip and slid into the water, grazing my leg on craggy bits of rock sticking out. Strike three for my poor knee.

“Owww. Oh, it’s cold and it hurts.”

Ruby turned, bobbing in the water. I could only see her from the shoulders up. She paddled toward me, trying not to laugh.

“It’s OK after a minute. It doesn’t feel so cold now.”

I pumped my legs and swam in small circles around the rock pool until my heart rate slowed a bit and I stopped feeling like the cold was burrowing into my body.

“This was your idea,” Ruby said, laughing, when she saw the expression on my face.

“I have bad ideas.”

I didn’t mean it, because I was in a rock pool, in the nip, with a girl who was also naked, and that was pretty much the best thing that ever happened to me. I swam closer to her and we trod water, lazily. Her leg slipped against mine, and with imminent death by freezing no longer an issue, the wanting creature returned. It was the strongest urge I’d ever had. I got close enough to Ruby to put my hands on her waist and I pulled her closer to me. Her skin was silky underwater. Though we were prevented from getting too close by our legs kicking to keep us afloat, every bit of skin-to-skin contact burned, like it should glow from beneath the dark water. My hands on her waist, her hands on my hips, our legs brushing up against one another.