It was an accident the first time Chris saw me naked.  I had stayed over at my boyfriend Bobby’s apartment Friday night, as I often do.  Bobby had to work early Saturday so he left me asleep in the bed.  His roommate, Chris, was on a camping trip with friends, so I was alone in the apartment.  I took a shower, wrapped my hair in a towel and walked down the hall toward the bedroom without any clothes on (I was alone, right?)   That’s when I saw him. 

Chris’ eyes shot open wide.  I shrieked, know I blushed bright red with embarrassment and ran into the bedroom.  I was mortified.  I’m not a prude, but I’d never been exposed full-frontal nudity to a guy like that.  I huddled on the bed with a blanket around me, wondering how I’d live this down.  There was a timid knock on the door. 

“I’m really, really sorry,” Chris called from the hall.  “The camping trip was cut short when it began to pour.  I should have made some noise.  I’m really sorry, Adrienne.”

I didn’t answer.  I didn’t know what to say.  I was very embarrassed.  But at the same time, there was a sexual tension coursing through me.  Knowing he saw me, all of me, was arousing.  But I stayed silent.

After a while, I dressed and went into the living room.  Chris was on the sofa.  I couldn’t avoid him forever.

“Hey Adrienne,” he said.  “Are you okay?”

“I guess so.  I’m probably not the first naked female you’ve seen,” I ventured, trying to soften the situation.

“No,” he said.  Then after a slight pause, he added quietly “But you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

The sincerity of his statement stopped me.  This wasn’t a pick-up line at a bar.  It just came out.  I know I’m pretty.  I have a nice body, trim with full, high breasts, and a curved backside that fits snugly into a pair of jeans.  But nobody had ever spoken so openly to me about my naked body.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll never mention this to Bobby,” he said.  “This can be our secret.  I don’t want to get between you and him.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I make you breakfast?” he offered?

“Thank you.”

I didn’t say more.  Keep this from Bobby?  Of course.  But you can’t put toothpaste back into the tube.  I felt things would be different with Chris from now on.  I just didn’t know how.  But I was to find out.

We ate breakfast, making small talk, avoiding the subject that was too awkward for me to discuss.  Chris and I hadn’t ever talked privately before.  I always encountered him when I was with Bobby. But now, almost for the first time, I observed him.  He was 6 feet tall, muscular without being musclebound, handsome, and had a ready smile.  He was also sweet and sincere.  Like his comment to me that still echoed in my head.  ‘You are the most beautiful woman.’  Wow.  Was I?  It didn’t matter.  He thought I was.

I left to return to my apartment.  I only saw Bobby on weekends.  We’d been dating for a few months, but our work schedules and that I lived across town meant that we didn’t just pop in to see each other.  But it happened that Chris worked near me.  He sent me a text.

“How would you like to have lunch?  I owe you more than one breakfast.”

He didn’t “owe” anything, of course.  It had been an accident.  And in truth, I was to blame; I shouldn’t parade around naked in someone else’s apartment.  I suspected he had more in mind.

We met for lunch in an open-air cafe near the waterfront.  We talked amiably and not just the small talk as before.  Enough time had gone by that the shock had worn off.  I could see being friends with him. 

“I can’t stop thinking about you," he finally said.  “Not just because you are beautiful, but because of the grace with which you handled that awkward situation.  It was all my fault, but you didn’t hate me in return.”

“It wasn’t anyone’s fault,” I said.  “Or it was mine, for being so careless in someone else’s place.  It happened.  Let’s forget about it.”

“No,” he replied.  “The last thing I want to do is to forget.  I still see you in my mind. “

I’m sure I blushed again.  I knew what image he was referring to.

“And you are beautiful on the inside too,” he continued.  “This is hard to say, and I wouldn’t ever mention it under normal circumstances, but I think Bobby cheats on you.  He has another lady.  His secretary.  They go out to lunch together.  Recently a very long lunch.  She’s married.  I guess that’s why she’s not available on the weekends.”

I was surprised and hurt.  While Bobby and I had only been seeing each other for a few months, I liked him.  I wasn’t in love, but still...

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

“I don’t know.  Maybe hoping you’ll give me the opportunity to get to know you better,” he said.  “I know it’s awkward, what with you and Bobby.”

“There is no me and Bobby if he’s sleeping with someone else.  I have a little pride.”

“Can I see you again?” he asked. 

“Let me first resolve things with Bobby.  I owe it to him to let him explain – without revealing my source, of course.  I’ll say a friend of mine saw him being very friendly with a woman at lunch one day.  Let’s see what he says.”

That was the plan, then.  We talked through lunch about other stuff.  He was very nice.  I definitely could see us being friends... maybe more than friends.

Bobby picked me up the next Friday at my apartment.  He noticed right away that I did not have my overnight bag with me.

“Hey, can’t you stay the night?” he asked.

“I’ve been meaning to discuss something with you.  My friend Rachel was shopping downtown near your office, and she saw you and a woman being very friendly toward each other over lunch.  Is something going on?  Are you seeing someone else?”

“No, no, no,” he insisted strongly.  “Of course not.  Last week was Secretary’s week, and I took my secretary out for a long lunch.  Nothing more than that.  I’m hurt that you’d suspect me of that.”

Was Chris mistaken?  Or misleading me? 

“You’re the only woman I’m interested in.  Stay with me tonight.”

What a mess.  If Bobby was telling the truth, I had no reason not to continue my relationship with him.  We got along very well.  And the sex was good too.  If he was truthful, that meant Chris was deceiving me.  But Chris seemed so sincere.  I certainly wasn’t ready to reveal Chris as my source – if he was telling the truth that would end his and Bobby’s roommate situation.

I had no idea what to do.  I packed my overnight bag.

Chris’ eyes got wide when he saw me enter their apartment with Bobby.  I nodded my usual hello to him.  Did I mention this was a little awkward?  Chris kept staring at me as the three of us chatted, for all outward purposes, normally.  He was trying to read my face, to get me to send him a signal.  I mostly avoided his eyes.

That evening, Bobby and I got ready for bed.  I made sure to check that the coast was clear before heading down the hall to the bathroom.  Even though I had pajamas on that revealed nothing, I didn’t want to run into Chris.  But he must have heard the bedroom door open and close, and he opened his door to accost me in the hall.

“What’s going on with you and Bobby?” he whispered.

“We can’t talk here,” I whispered back, “but he denied everything.  Says he just took his secretary out because it was Secretary’s week.  I don’t know what to believe.”

His face became very sad.  “Do you think I deceived you?” he asked.  His voice had a plaintive tone.  I feared he might cry.  I felt terrible. 

“No, of course not.  I mean, I don’t know.  You’re both so nice.” 

“We’re both nice, but you’re sleeping in his bed tonight,” he whispered. 

He acted like a rejected lover – even though we had never so much as kissed.  Yikes, what is it about the male ego? 

“When he falls asleep tonight, will you come into my bedroom so we can talk?” he asked.

“I’ll try,” I said, although once I said those words, I immediately regretted it.  What was going on here?  Who is this guy, anyway?  Just because he saw me naked doesn’t mean he owns me. 

Bobby and I had sex, as we usually do.  It was sweet, and he was tender with me.  He caressed my face, and his lips kissed down my neck to the shoulders, to the breasts.  His hands were all over me, but gentle, stroking me as he knew I liked, building the sexual tension.  He entered me deeply, slowly building a rhythm to enhance my pleasure.   He waited for me to climax before he came himself.  I found it hard to believe that he was lying to me, with words and now with his body.  After Bobby drifted off to sleep, I thought about my “promise” to Chris.  I owed him nothing.  I didn’t have to slip into his bedroom if I didn’t want to.  But did I want to?  It’s hard to switch feelings on and off.  I had been attracted to Chris at the lunch.  I had considered if we could become an item.  His words, “you’re the most beautiful woman” still had power over me as I felt they were sincere.  Or were they?  If he lied about Bobby, did he lie to me about that too?

I crept out of bed, silently opened the bedroom door, and went into the hall.  There was a light beneath Chris’ bedroom door.  He was awake, waiting for me.  I quietly went in.

He was sitting up in his bed.  He smiled at me and motioned for me to lie next to him. 

 “I’ll sit here,” I said, sitting on a chair in the room.  “Did you lie to me about Bobby?” I asked. 

“No, never.  But I may have misinterpreted his boasting about how pretty his secretary is.  And their long lunch.  My longing for you may have led me to jump to a conclusion.  I shouldn’t have said anything.  I’m so sorry.”

His mournful look melted my heart.  I went over to the bed, and crawled in, next to him.  He embraced me, and I him.  We lay there for perhaps ten minutes, soaking in each other’s warmth.  We didn’t do more than lie together; I wouldn’t let him.  I needed time to think.  I now had two guys, not one.  Did I have to choose?  Who would I choose?

And then the door opened.  Bobby walked in.  He had awakened, and not finding me in bed, went looking.  When I was nowhere in the small apartment, the light coming from Chris’ room told him my location.

He stared at me.  I, who had only hours ago, accused him of infidelity, was lying in bed next to his roommate.  He turned without a word and left.

Bobby packed my overnight bag and set it out in the living room.  He called a taxi.  I tried to explain – although even I was having trouble coming up with a reasonable explanation – but Bobby was in no mood for a story.  I expected Chris to leap to my defense, but he didn’t.  Any fantasy of a fight over my honor was quickly dispelled.  What a wimp.  What did I see in him?  I left in the taxi.  A few days later, Chris also moved out. 

As for me, I’ve decided to give up men.  They are too emotional.  If I ever date again, the next guy better live alone.  Roommates are nothing but trouble.