[SwimTeamSpeedo]

“We’ll make a pit stop in Bangor, Mr. C said as the plane winged across Mid Coast Maine. It was a six seat Cessna single engine. Ben had never flown in a small plane and was a little freaked out earlier as they took off out of the county airfield in Virginia. He grabbed Erik’s hand as the plane rumbled down the runway and lifted off, bouncing a bit in the gusty headwind. The few quick drops on the ascent about made him jump out of his skin.

“We’re fine” Mr. C. said to the gang, noticing Ben’s anxiety. “These smaller planes feel the weather more than the big jets, but it’s nothing to be worried about. Once we get up and level, it should be calmer.” As he said that, a crosswind grabbed the left wing and pushed the plane sideways. A quick opposing flap adjustment leveled them back out.

“I think I just pee'd my pants” Ben said. He wasn’t exactly kidding, but it was only a few drops.

“Dude, relax,” Erik answered. Dylan was behind them in the third seat laughing.

“It will be fine,” Mrs. C said gently as they continued to climb up. “It took me a while to get used to it, too” she consoled Ben.

Ben was wearing red shorts and a cross country T-shirt. The shorts were really short, with about a one inch inseam. Inside them he had on a new print swimsuit he picked up just two days prior, Erik had not even seen it. His hair was jostled by his hand rubbing through it in nervousness. Erik could feel him shaking from the nerves as the plane continued to ascend. Erik was wearing a pair of swim shorts, cut like the really short basketball shorts of the day. Erik had cut out the net liner and wore a solid red Speedo under. He had on a T short from a recent 10k race he had run. Dylan had on jeans and a polo. The plane banked as Mr. C pointed it toward the northeast. Ben grabbed Erik’s arm.

“Hey, we’re close to our house,” Dylan announced.

“Want to do a fly over?” Mr. C asked.

“Cool,” Dylan replied. With that the plane banked back to the west and slowed as Mr. C leveled it at 2000 feet. Ben calmed as he became engrossed in picking out the sights. The plane descended to 1500 feet so they could get a closer look.

“I see my house,” Ben announced.

As the tour of the neighborhood closed out, the engine accelerated in power as the plane began to climb again. They would level out at 7500 feet as they made their way toward Maine. The air became much calmer, a few bumps along the way, but nothing like the gusty takeoff. They passed to the east of Washington, DC, picking up some traffic heading in and out of National Airport followed by more traffic as they went east of Baltimore, out over the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware. Ben and Erik watched as they flew over New York City, getting a good view of the World Trade Center and Empire State Building. Ben was much more relaxed and wasn’t even bothered when the plane would bounce a little from light turbulence. After a brief stop in Nashua, NH to refuel and take a break they were now above Freeport, Maine.

A hour or so later, they were crossing over Bar Harbor, Maine, descending to Bangor. All of them ready for the break. Ben had never been this far north. He was in awe of the Maine coastline. The plane started to bounce as it picked up the coastal breeze.

_______

Loaded with lunch, groceries and Dylan now in shorts, the jeans were just too warm, the plane ascended back into the sky. Ben was a pro, now. The bumps and gusts didn’t even make him flinch. They crossed over the University of Maine as they followed I95 north. A slight detour near Patten, Maine as Mr. C took them west to get a closer view of Mount Katahdin.

“Awesome,” Ben exclaimed as they flew along the Eastern side of Maine’s most famous landmark, other than lighthouses. They quickly passed over Ashland and Portage and began their decent. To the west was the wide open land of the North Maine Woods, beyond it Canada. They passed above several lakes, cleared the top of Hedgehog Mountain.

“Wait til we land on the water,” Erik said to Ben. “It’s really cool.”

“Yeah,” added Dylan with excitement. “The plane stops pretty fast and then it just bounces in the waves. Then we swim to shore.”

“Really?” Ben asked.

“Yup, hope you got your Speedo on,” Dylan added.

The Cranmore’s smiled as the boys teased each other.

The plane came down between two hills and hard banked west as the lake opened up in front of them. It was an amazing view, the crystal clear blue water. The wind out of the west pushed back at the plane as it dropped quickly toward the water.

“Quite a bit of chop,” Mr. C said as they neared the water. “It’s gonna be rough.”

He pulled back on the yoke as the plane slowed, keeping the nose up so the floats would hit rear first. The first splash came, startling the boys, as the floats hit the tops of the waves. The plane bucked as it hit, skating across the water. Mr. C. dropped the nose. As Dylan had promised, the plane quickly slowed, pushing them all forward in their seats. They finally stopped a little ways down the lake.

“I love that!” Erik exclaimed.

“That was cool,” Ben added. “When do we have to swim?” he asked, reaching to unzip his shorts and shed to his swimsuit.

“Oh, they were just joshing,” Mrs. C. replied.

“But, if you want to get in the water, we can stop once we get to shallow water and you boys can jump in.” Mr. C offered.

“Cool,” Ben replied and with that he yanked off his shorts revealing his new print swimsuit. Erik’s eyes about popped out of his head. He smiled at Ben with an alluring look. Dylan looked over at the two of them with a knowing look. He had suspected that there was more to their relationship. He was fine with whatever made Erik happy.

The plane made its way toward the Cranmore’s lake home. Because of the winds, the landing put them quite a distance up the lake. The plane bobbed as it made the U-turn and headed back towards the East, While they moved along, Erik also slipped off his swim shorts revealing his fire engine red Speedo. He was a little large in it, his bulge showing his interest level in Ben. Finally the plane slowed as it neared an impressive log home with a long dock. A Pontoon boat and speed boat sat up on boat lifts, waiting to be lowered into the water for a cruise on the large lake. Two wave runners also sat against the dock, screaming “ride me” to the young men in the plane.

“Okay, guys,” Mr. C announced as the plane stopped a few hundred feet from shore. “It’s probably six feet deep here, but it will get shallow fast.”

Ben jumped in first, the strongest of the three guys in the water. Erik followed and the two swam toward the dock until they could stand up. It wasn’t far, but for Erik it seemed like a mile. Dylan jumped in last, in a tight fitting pair of gym shorts. As he dove in, his shorts pulled down on him. He swam over to the other two, pulling his shorts back up as he stopped.

“You never showed me that suit,” Erik said to Ben as he stood up. Erik’s eyes wandered down Ben’s body to check all of him out.

“Ah, Dude…. Red?” Ben responded. They both smirked. Erik blushed, which made his complexion match his suit.

“This is going to be a fun week,” Erik replied.

“Dude, you need a Speedo, too” Ben said to Dylan.

“Yeah, probably,” Dylan replied back.

The three guys walked over to the dock and climbed up. The plane was now tied up. They each grabbed luggage and carried it to the house. As they unloaded the last of the groceries, Mr. C proclaimed it was time to jump in the lake and then maybe a boat ride. It was midafternoon, so they had plenty of time left.

“Cool, Mr. C” said Erik.

“Hey guys, you can just call me Jack, and my wife is Mary Beth, no more formal stuff.” Jack instructed. “Now let me go change,”

As the guys sat on the side of the dock, feet in the water, Jack and Mary Beth came back out of the house. She had not changed, but Jack had a towel around his waist. On the dock he stripped the towel and threw it over the side of the Pontoon boat.

“Cool,” thought Erik as Jack revealed a red and gold print Arena suit. He was really fit, with a tight abdomen and well defined arms.

“Awesome swimsuit,” said Ben.

Jack smiled. “You guys, too,” he said, just before diving off the end of the dock and swimming out into the lake. He was a really good swimmer.

“Now you really have to get a Speedo,” Ben said to Dylan, emphasizing the really part. They watched as Jack swam out of sight along the shore of the lake.

“He’ll be gone for a while,” Mary Beth said. “He loves to swim up here. He’ll probably never take that swimsuit off until we leave,”

To be continued...