Steam

Steam rises from the waters outside. He’s turned on the spa’s lights, tinted to the blue side of white, so that the vapor escapes into the chilly night air. From inside, where I’m lying on the sofa, I watch from the darkness, pretending to kill a little time with my computer while he takes a quick dip.

He plunges beneath the surface, disappearing suddenly, as if some unimaginable undersea horror had seized him by the ankle. Then he’s up again, sputtering and shaking the warm water from his hair. Droplets spray in every direction, splashing onto the deck flooring and leaving dark pools shining among the curled and drying maple leaves. He’s laughing to himself. He’s enjoying the sheer sensuality of the water lapping against his skin, his face, his naked body. Once again he disappears beneath the hot tub’s surface, plunging into the heated depths.

He’s smooth, and lean of hip. I can’t help but admire how fleetly he escapes the water when he’s done, slipping from it with barely a splash. He plants his sure feet on the deck’s planks, facing away from me. The towel I’ve given him he’s left on the railing. While he gropes for it, I admire his body—the even shoulders, the narrow waist, the surprisingly round and pert butt. He’s not at all self-conscious, this one. With steam still escaping every pore of his skin after the hot plunge, he stands in the chilly breezes and towels his hair, then his back. He doubles it up and runs it between his legs, letting the soft tissues between them dangle and swing with his exertions.

I envy that towel.

Finally he rests it on his shoulders and pads back into the house. When he pauses to wipe his damp feet on the mat inside the door, he looks to where I’ve been sitting and watching. He knew I was there, but perhaps the warm waters had erased all thoughts of me from his mind.

That’s when he smiles at me.

All the lesser attractions I’ve been witnessing vanish. The curves of his flesh, the flat lines of his abdomen, the planes and globes and perfect geometries over which I’ve been lusting—they all evaporate like the delicate steams of the tub into the night.

That smile is true beauty. It’s the one thing I want to remember, and always to see upon his face.