Tuesday 25 September 2018

MUSCLE FICTION STORY: AJ & NOAH (PART 5)

"I was friends with a fucking bodybuilder! He was taking me to hardcore bodybuilding gyms with pictures of shredded freaks on the walls, inviting me to his house to watch Netflix in his bedroom (which also had pictures of shredded freaks on the walls!), sending me pictures of him flexing in his obscenely hot posing trunks and making fucking jokes about taking them off and throwing them at me from the stage. What muscle addict wouldn’t absolutely fucking love to be in that position? Maybe I could play along with the whole thing and really have some fun with it? Get him to flex for me (oh God), let me squeeze his flexed muscles, even (OH FUCK)!"

Here we go with part 5 of "AJ & Noah"! This part is slightly longer than the previous ones. Only because chapters 15 & 16 work so well together and it didn't feel right to split them up.

In case you guys didn't know, I'm also posting the story on the "Muscle Growth forums" a little quicker than on here, but in shorter, more regular parts (usually one chapter per post) so you might prefer to read it on there.

Part 6 coming soon!


Thirteen
 
“So, I’ve been thinking about your style of posing for when you compete!”

I was lying on my bed exchanging Facebook messages with AJ on my phone. It had been two days since our second trip to Scorpio’s. After which he’d unexpectedly invited me to his house and I’d ended up sitting next to him on his bed watching Netflix and discussing the various muscle freaks stuck to his bedroom wall. I had barely been able to think about anything else since.

“My posing style?” I messaged back.

“Yep! After Mark Green’s helped you overcome your shyness, of course!”

“Hehe! I’m listening!”

“So, I can’t picture you being really cocky! Opening your mouth wide, grunting, groaning, roaring at the audience, that kind of thing.”

Fuck! My cock was suddenly rock hard.

“You’re a bit too much of a nice guy for that.”

I couldn’t resist sending the emoji with the blushing face, while simultaneously feeling like I wanted to melt into my mattress. Or into AJ’s obscenely huge arms. Whichever, really.

“But I definitely think you’d show a bit of attitude. What with being a huge, shredded muscle freak and all.”

“Ummmm. HELL YEAH!” I replied, with the flexed bicep emoji.

“Hehe! But I think you’d be more cheeky than cocky. I’ll give you some examples.”

As was usual whenever I was talking to AJ, I literally could not stop smiling.

“So, you could cheekily scrunch your face up, like “EEEEEE!” as you crank out an abs and thighs.”

And then he sent me a picture of a cute-as-fuck bodybuilder in a pair of the hottest golden posers, crunching down on the most phenomenally sliced abs, his eyes jammed tight shut and his whole face animatedly scrunched up as he flexed with effort and joy.

“That is one scrunchy little monkey!” I replied, my hard on pressing against my bed.

“HAHA! Yep! Or you could cheekily stick your tongue out like this…”

A picture of a bodybuilder I was very well acquainted with was suddenly filling up the screen of my phone. Twenty five year old American boy wonder Justin Hughes, who was just about the cutest fucking thing to ever pick up a dumbbell. Even his jug ears were adorable. And even reminded me of AJ’s a little.

He wasn’t exactly in monster territory, but he was in insanely shredded condition. His quads looked especially crazy in the picture AJ had sent me, as he squeezed out a crab most muscular pose, while, yep, sticking out his tongue in the cheekiest fashion imaginable. Much like AJ had been in the picture of himself stuck to his bedroom wall.

“I can picture me doing that!” I messaged. And then I sent three of the flat tongue emoji’s.
“Just practising!” I then typed.

“Hehe!! You’ve nailed it already! Here’s another example. Just to make sure.”

And then he sent the best, and hottest bodybuilder yet. Himself! Flexing a front double bicep in his lime green posers with his tongue outrageously sticking out. Only he wasn’t on stage this time. He was stood barefoot in his own back garden! FUCKING HELL! I could have easily tugged on my dick and blown a load into my boxers to it.

“OH MY GOD!!” I messaged.

He sent through a series of emoji’s in response. The monkey covering his eyes, the blushing face, and two of the AJ emoji’s.

“I hope the neighbours weren’t looking out the window!!” I replied.

“HAHA! I kinda hope they were!” AJ messaged, with a winky face emoji.

I loved that statement. God. He was such a cocky little fucker. He clearly loved being a juiced up muscle boy and flexing in his shiny posers, and not just when he was stood on stage at a bodybuilding competition. It was so unspeakably fucking hot.

I decided to play along with the idea. “What would Mildred at no.42 think? For God’s sake, Mildred. Whatever you do, don’t look out the window!!”

“HAHA!! I LOVE IT!!”

And I loved that he loved it. I pictured him, sitting on the bed I’d been on two days before, looking at his phone with one of his big, gorgeous grins on his oh-so-cute face, giggling away at my messages in the adorable, little manner that he did.

“OK, one last cheeky fucker who likes to flash his tongue! Guaranteed, you’ve never, EVER seen this guy before. He’s next level freaky!!”

FUCK! I braced myself for what AJ was about to send, then howled when the picture came through. It was him again. Only this time, he’d taken a selfie of himself, flexing a single bicep with his eyebrows raised and his tongue flat out in the cockiest manner. I was sure he’d taken it there and then, and it was possibly the greatest thing he could have done in that moment. Possibly the greatest picture anyone had ever sent me, for that matter.

“OMG! You weren’t wrong! Jeeez! What a FREAK! I mean, complete and utter inhuman MONSTER!”

Three of the AJ emoji’s came through.

“How does he find clothes that fit?” I messaged.

“God knows! Maybe he just wears his trunks all day!”

What a fucking thought!
 
“Hehe!”

“He impresses you then?”

The question completely threw me. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly as I looked at my phone screen. I didn’t really know what to make of it. I knew AJ was mostly just playing around, but maybe there was something behind it? Did he really care what I thought of his body? The idea of which made my heart flutter. Or maybe he just wanted his ego massaged? Maybe he’d gotten a kick out of the comment I’d made about him looking “pretty big” when we were sat on his bed just a few nights before and he was simply just fishing for another compliment?

I decided to play along.

“Hehe! Of course!”

And then AJ sent the blushing face emoji. Which was so fucking cute and adorable. A response came into my head. I was nervous to type it. Unsure of whether I should. But I was feeling brave.

“Do bodybuilders have groupies?”

My stomach twisted in knots as three dots appeared on my phone. And then AJ’s message came through.

“Hehe! The pros probably do!”

I wasn’t sure what to type. I felt like I maybe needed to change the subject, but another three dots appeared.

“Would you be that guy’s groupie?” AJ messaged.

FUCK! A jolt of excitement surged through me. He definitely wanted me to massage his ego. And then another thought entered my head. Is that what all of this was for AJ? Did he just want me around to feed his ego? To have a slim built, non-muscle beast friend to shock and wow with his freaky physique so he felt like an even bigger monster than he already did? Was this is all just one massive ego trip for AJ?

I continued to play along.

“HELL YEAH!” I replied.

“Hehe! What exactly would you do as his groupie?” AJ messaged.

Whatever was going on, I fucking loved this idea that we’d cooked up. Me being AJ’s groupie. The idea of him wanting me to be his groupie. I got the distinct impression that AJ was loving this particular conversation too.

“Hmmm. Well, I’d be in the front row at all his competitions, shouting his name and holding up a big banner that said, ‘WE HEART THE RIPPER!’”

I couldn’t quite believe how brave I was being with my messages. But it was such a fucking rush.

“HAHA!! What bodybuilder wouldn’t want THAT?” AJ messaged.

And then he sent me a message that simultaneously made me laugh out loud and caused my heart to start racing.

“Imagine if he took off his posing trunks and threw them into the audience!”

WHAT THE FUCK?!
 
I sent a single shocked face emoji. My head was spinning. My chest was pounding. And I couldn’t help wondering, just for a split second, if there was any tiny possibility that AJ Jones was actually fucking flirting with me? And then it hit me. What if AJ knew I fancied him? Oh God. Maybe I’d given myself away the first time we’d gone to Scorpio’s and he’d seen the expression on my face when he’d taken his hoodie off? Maybe he’d known even before that? Maybe it had been obvious to him right from the start? Right from that very first encounter at Tesco? And maybe he’d gotten a kick out of it? Maybe he’d loved the attention? So he’d pursued me. He’d tracked me down on Facebook and added me as a friend. And then he’d messaged me. Maybe that was the real ego trip for AJ. Not being a bodybuilder impressing and shocking a regular sized guy with all things bodybuilding related, but being a bodybuilder around a gay guy he clearly made go weak at the knees? God, maybe AJ even knew I had a thing for huge, shredded bodybuilders?

And then I wondered, if any of those scenarios were actually true, would it really be that bad? I was friends with a fucking bodybuilder! He was taking me to hardcore bodybuilding gyms with pictures of shredded freaks on the walls, inviting me to his house to watch Netflix in his bedroom (which also had pictures of shredded freaks on the walls!), sending me pictures of him flexing in his obscenely hot posing trunks and making fucking jokes about taking them off and throwing them at me from the stage. What muscle addict wouldn’t absolutely fucking love to be in that position? Maybe I could play along with the whole thing and really have some fun with it? Get him to flex for me (oh God), let me squeeze his flexed muscles, even (OH FUCK)!

“OMG! I just caught The Ripper’s posers! His actual posers!” I messaged AJ.
“HAHA!! You better not sell them on EBay!”

I typed a message without thinking. “I love this”. And then I erased it. It was too much. Way too fucking much.

“Bugger! Need to dash, mate. Tesco shift!”

I said goodbye to AJ, put my phone aside and rolled over on my bed. I really did love what was happening with AJ and I. Whatever it was. I really fucking loved it. I wanted him there with me so much in that moment. Lying next to me on my bed, his face inches away from mine and one of his huge arms wrapped around me.

And then my mind started spiralling and I was imagining a scenario where AJ had asked me to take some pictures of him flexing in his back garden in his posers. I imagined him cranking up the ‘tude and really going for it with his poses. Slamming down hard, making loads of noises. Fuck! I squeezed my throbbing hard on through my jeans when my phone pinged. It was a text from Eddie.

“Hey, handsome. We still on for tomorrow?”

I looked at my screen. For some reason, I just didn’t want to message him back. I wasn’t one for playing games with guys, but I kind of liked the idea of just letting him stew for a while. Maybe it was a power thing. Because with AJ, I had none. It felt like the power was all very much with him. While with Eddie, he was the one who liked me. He was the one who’d start worrying if I didn’t send a reply. I felt like I needed to hold on that tiny bit of power. Just for a moment.

It didn’t last. It wasn’t long before I texted Eddie back, whilst feeling like a massive dick for purposely keeping him waiting. We’d arranged to go for a Chinese the following evening. I got the feeling he wanted to do something other than just go out and get pissed. Maybe it was a test to see whether I was actually interested in him, or whether I just wanted someone close to Little Denton to go out on the gay scene with until I went back to uni?

Which, admittedly, was kind of my intention at first. But I really did think Eddie was a great guy. I could very much see myself being friends with him. And you can never have too many friends. Maybe it was time to tell Eddie the truth. That, as lovely as he was, I wouldn’t be able to reciprocate his affections because I was fast becoming completely besotted with the local junior competitive bodybuilder who was sending me cute, funny, amazing messages with pictures of him sticking out his tongue and flexing in his shiny, lime green posing trunks.

Fourteen
 
“Wow! Noah, your arms look bigger!”

I was sitting opposite Eddie at a Chinese restaurant in town and I’d just taken my jacket off. I couldn’t suppress a smug grin at his compliment.

“The gym’s going well, then?” he asked.

“Yeah! I’m really getting into it.” I hadn’t told Eddie about my trips to Scorpio’s with AJ. The idea of doing so made me oddly nervous. I guess I was worried if I started talking about AJ I’d give away my feelings for him.

“Although my mum keeps moaning that I keep using all the milk for my protein shakes!” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Protein shakes? You’re turning into a right little muscle boy!” he said, which made me grin even more.

Shortly afterwards I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I was instantly filled with excitement. What if AJ had sent me a message? Or even another outrageously hot picture of himself posing in his trunks in the middle of his garden? I didn’t want to be one of those people who sat in restaurants or bars playing with their phone instead of talking to the person right in front of them. But still, as Eddie told me about the latest play he was putting together with his acting group, I couldn’t stop wondering what was waiting for me on my phone, and if it was a message from AJ.

When Eddie retreated to the toilet I eagerly took my phone out of my pocket. I felt deflated when I saw that the vibrating was just caused by a text message from Naomi, which I momentarily felt guilty about, before realising that Naomi would completely understand.

I hadn’t told her that I’d been going to the gym with AJ, either. Or that ‘d been messaging him on Facebook. I kind of liked that no one knew about us. It made whatever we were seem just that little bit more special.

When Eddie came back I was still texting. “Sorry! Best friend. She’s coming back next weekend.”

“Awww! That’s cool.”

My phone pinged again. “Oh, she says I should invite you out next Saturday!”

Eddie grinned and raised one eyebrow. “Oh, that’s nice of her. Tell your friend, thanks.”

I smiled and playfully rolled my eyes. “Wanna come out with us?”

“Sounds fun!” I knew Naomi would like Eddie, and vice versa. Pretty much everyone gets on with Naomi. I found it kind of weird how most of my friends were really outgoing. Maybe that was exactly why I got on with them. Because they were the opposite of me. I wasn’t convinced that two introverted people really worked that well together.

“Ooooh! I can probe her! Find out some gossip!”

Eddie’s comment reminded me that he really did like me. I felt a stab of guilt that I didn’t entirely feel the same, but also couldn’t help feeling flattered that someone felt that way about me. It was a nice feeling.

The thing about going out with Eddie was that it was always so comfortable, easy and fun and we always ended up having such a great night out. And he was so charming and nice that I started to wonder whether I did actually like him, or at least could grow to like him. And even though I wasn’t exactly feeling butterflies, even though I’d spent the past three weeks thinking about another guy, there was something there between us. I couldn’t deny it.

Which is why, whenever he made a move to kiss me on our nights out, I always reciprocated.

“You know I like you, don’t you?” Eddie said to me a few hours later while we were sitting down in the pub we went to on our first date. His fingers intertwined with mine and my knee was pressed against his. It felt nice. And for the first time in weeks, I actually wasn’t thinking about AJ Jones.

I guess it may have been my cue to tell him I liked him too, but I didn’t. To be honest, I’d never exactly been that forthcoming with guys. Even the ones I really liked. It wasn’t intentional. I guess I just wasn’t very good at talking about that type of thing openly. But also, a lot of the time, I wasn’t really sure exactly how I felt. Guys seemed to fall for me hard, and very quickly. And I very rarely felt the same.

“But you know I’m only here for the summer?” I said. “I’ll be going back to uni in September.”

“I know!” he said, gazing at me. “I’ll worry about that then.”

And then we kissed again. Only, for the first time, it was actually me who initiated it. Which obviously pleased Eddie, because he couldn’t stop smiling afterwards.

Surprisingly, I didn’t hesitate when he asked if I wanted to go back to his. My only concern was the tirade of questions I’d receive from my mum the next day.

Eddie lived in a studio flat. It wasn’t the nicest of places, but it had a certain character. And would have cost at least twice as much to rent in London. Most twenty-something Londoners would have killed to have been able to afford a place like Eddie’s. Probably a fair few thirty-something’s too.

I couldn’t help grinning as I looked at his DVD collection.

“It’s pretty geeky isn’t it?” he said.

“A little!” I said, playfully.

“I make no apologies and give zero fucks!” he said.

I chuckled. Along with pretty much every superhero film ever made and a vast number of box sets of sci-fi series, he had a surprisingly large number of Disney films, which, for some reason, I found utterly adorable.

“OK, you get big points for the Buffy box set. What’s with all the Disney films, though?”

“Oh!” he said, a little coyly. “It’s erm … a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. I dunno. I just love them!”

I grinned. “Awww! That’s actually really cute.”

“Hmmm. A bit like you then!” he said, wrapping his arms around me from the back.

We ended up on Eddie’s bed soon after. We started off just kissing with our arms wrapped around each other. Then we undid each other belts and our jeans came off not long after and we started fooling around with each other. Neither of us took our t-shirts off for the entire time.

It was a little awkward and fumbly. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but it felt a bit mechanical. Like I was just going along with it for the sake of it. I didn’t cum, either. Eddie did. We giddily laughed as soon as he had and he jumped off the bed to clean himself up. When he came back, we started talking about which Disney films we liked and the moment sort of went. I had no desire to try and get it back either.

Touching Eddie, lying in his arms afterwards with my head on his shoulder was kind of nice, even just to share an intimate moment with him. Nothing was really going on with my insides though. No fluttering. No fuzzy feelings. And definitely still no butterflies. His flat also had this weird kind of smell to it too that I couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t like AJ’s bedroom. I loved the smell of AJ’s bedroom.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore head and an overwhelming urge to be back in my own bed. I fumbled for my phone in the pocket of my jeans lying on Eddie’s floor to check the time and saw the very thing that made my whole body want to burst with adrenaline. AJ Jones had sent me a Facebook message.

I excitedly unlocked my phone, Eddie asleep next to me. AJ hadn’t just sent me one message. He’d sent a series of messages in the past hour. Fuck!

“Guess what I’m doing? Watching Dom and Cole...STONED!”

“It’s ducking MAD!”

“Fuvking.”

“FUCKING. ARGH!”

“Noah. You up?”

“You’re missing it.”

And lastly, a single crying face emoji, sent just ten minutes before.

Something twisted in my stomach when I saw that crying face emoji. I had the sudden, overwhelming urge to wrap my arms around AJ and make him feel better. Which was absolutely absurd. Because it was a fucking emoji.

I could have easily just ignored AJ’s messages. Put my phone back into the jeans of my pocket and gone back to sleep. But I couldn’t resist. I suddenly wanted nothing more in that moment than to talk to AJ. My gorgeous, cute, little AJ.

Careful not to wake Eddie, I took my phone and sneaked off to his bathroom.

“I’m up!’ I texted.

Three dots.

“YAY!! Cookie! The Cookster! Ickle Noah Cook!”

Sitting on Eddie, toilet, gazing at my phone, my heart just wanted to burst. It was the happiest I’d felt all night.

“Hehe! You’re wasted!!”

And then he sent three of the AJ emoji’s. I suddenly had the urge to tell him exactly what I’d named that emoji in my head. If there was ever a time to say it, it was probably then.

“This is so fucking TRIPPY!!” AJ messaged.

“Hehe! POTHEAD!!”

“I’m watching the one where they go into Dom’s dream and they’re being chased by the massive doughnuts.”

“I LOVE that episode!” I replied.

He sent me the smiling and blushing face emoji.

“They should bring it back. Do a revival series!” I typed.

“OH MY GOD! YES!!” AJ replied.

An idea suddenly came to me in that moment. Just popped into my head. I decided to run with it.

“Or a spin off!” I typed. And then I quickly followed it up. “How about...AJ and Noah in the Land of Beef?”

“OMG!! HAHA!! I LOVE IT!”

My heart expanded. I loved it when AJ reacted in such a way to something I’d said, or messaged.

“What would the Land of Beef be like then?” AJ messaged.

“Full of shredded muscle freaks!” I typed, my cock growing hard at the mention of the thing that turned me on more than anything else in the world.

“HELL YEAH!!” AJ replied.

“Except maybe my character.” Then I sent the blushing face with eyes wide open emoji.

“Hmmm. Maybe not at first. What if you started out as a regular sized person then slowly transformed into a monster throughout the series?” AJ brilliantly messaged.

“Erm...FUCK YEAH!”

“Hehe! The season finale could be your first bodybuilding show!”

“GRRRRR!! You’d be competing with me, obviously!” I replied.

“Of course!”

And then AJ sent a message which made my head feel like it was going to explode.
“I’ll be there to hold your hand.”

Fuck!! My heart began to pound. I knew that it was most likely just an innocent comment, but something was racing through my head. What if it meant something more? Was there any minute possibility? Any remote chance, that there was something more to that comment?

None of us were typing. I tapped the blushing with eyes wide open emoji, unsure of whether to send it. Fuck it, I thought.

There was a pause. Three dots. And then no dots. Nothing. Fuck! The emoji had been too suggestive. He probably thought that I was flirting. Fuck, fuck, FUCK!

And then it came through. One single emoji. The AJ emoji.

I stared at my phone for the next few minutes. Neither of us were typing anything else. It felt like the right time to call it a night. It felt like a good note to leave on.

The next morning I woke up with only one thing on my mind. The last thing AJ had said to me. “I’ll be there to hold your hand.”

“Morning! You look happy!” Eddie said to me as he wrapped his arms around my waist and back. The ecstatic grin I’d been wearing as I’d thought of AJ had transformed into a sheepish smile as I looked at Eddie’s face, just inches away from mine. I felt like such a dick.

“Were you okay last night?” he asked me.

“Yeah. Why?” I asked, surprised.

“I was only half asleep but it seemed like you were in the bathroom for ages.”

FUCK!
 
“Erm. I think I went a few times,” I lied, feeling like even more of a dick. “My bladder’s terrible when I’ve been drinking.”

“Well, thanks for a good night, handsome,” Eddie said, his arm still gripped around my back. I smiled and closed my eyes. My whole body was buzzing. Bursting with excitement and happiness. Not because of the guy I was lying next to, his face mere inches away from mine while his arm wrapped tightly around me. But because I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea of holding AJ Jones’ hand.

Fifteen
 
“Oh, here he is. The dirty stop out!” my mum said to me when I arrived back home the next morning. 

Far from being annoyed though, I couldn’t help but grin in amusement. It was going to take a lot to threaten my good mood on that particular morning. 

“Who’s this friend then? You haven’t told me his name!” 

I groaned. “Just someone from school!” 

“Oh yeah. You think I was born yesterday? You don’t have to lie to me anymore, Noah. You’re an adult now!” 

“It’s Reece Miller!” I replied, with a mischievous smirk. 

“It better not be!” she exclaimed, sharply. 

As I retreated to my bedroom, she shouted after me. “Tell him he can come round and meet your mum any time!” 

I could still smell the scent of Eddie’s flat on my clothes. I was so relieved to finally be able to take them off and change. I hadn’t regretted going home with him, but I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to do it again. I didn’t hear from AJ for the rest of that day, which wasn’t unusual. But when the evening of the next day came and the weekend was almost over, I had started to get a little anxious. 

I was starting to regret sending him the blushing face emoji when he said he’d hold my hand at my first imaginary bodybuilding competition. It had been suggestive. Whereas what he’d said had very most likely been completely innocent. Fuck! But I couldn’t help thinking that it was kind of on odd thing for a straight guy to say to another guy. Wouldn’t another, “I’ll look after you!” have sufficed? Unless he thought it was acceptable to write what he did because I was gay? Then regretted saying it afterwards? Maybe I was completely over analysing the whole situation? 

I took the plunge and messaged AJ. 

“OK, I’ve just thought of THE perfect nickname for when I’m a muscle freak!”
I grinned as I sent it and felt a jolt of excitement at the thought of a reply back. But nothing came. Fuck. Okay, he was obviously busy, I reasoned. Probably at the gym, or maybe even working. But when nothing came back an hour later I was seriously starting to worry. 

Hours passed with no reply. It was agony. I was starting to wonder whether it was all over. That whatever had been happening with AJ and I had come to an end. But it wasn’t just the fact that AJ wasn’t responding to my message that was making me anxious. It was just how much it was worrying me. The awful way it was making me feel. In fact, it was scaring the fucking shit out of me. 

Maybe I’d gotten way too in over my head with this AJ thing? Maybe I liked him too much? If I was feeling this way just because I hadn’t heard back from him for a few hours, how would I feel if he really did grow bored of our friendship and decided to put an end to it? Or if we did carry on as friends, but he one day announced he’d met a girl he really liked who we wanted to introduce me to? 

Maybe I needed to end this now, before things got out of hand? And so I switched off my phone off tried to put all thoughts of AJ Jones out of my head. Tried to reset my mind back to three weeks ago, before he’d come back into my life in the most brilliant and unexpected way. Before all the cute, funny messages and trips to Scorpio’s. Before the pictures of him flexing in his posers. Before the spontaneous most muscular he’d squeezed whilst standing over me at the gym. Before he’d playfully hit me with his pillow whilst sitting next to me on his bed and told me he’d be there to hold my hand for my very first bodybuilding competition. 

It didn’t work, obviously. AJ was the first thing I thought about when I went to sleep and he was the first thing I thought about when I woke up the next day. 

As I switched on my phone, I was praying to see that notification I loved so much. And when I did, I felt the most incredible wave of relief and happiness wash over me. It was stronger than I would ever have predicted. 

“What? Better than Noah “What’s Cooking? Shredded Fucking BEEF!” Cook?” And then he sent the AJ emoji. 

Literally. Couldn’t. Stop. Smiling. 

“Hehe! Yep! MUCH better than that!” I replied. And then I typed another message. “Get this...Noah “The Cookie Monster” Cook!” 

The nickname had come to me the day before. I was pretty proud of it, and was fairly confident that AJ would love it too. I wasn’t wrong. 

Two shocked faced emojis appeared on my phone, followed by another message from AJ. “OMG! That’s fucking AWESOME!!” 

I used the eyes tight shut with tongue out emoji. I wasn’t going to use the blushing face one again. I wanted to keep things as platonic and non flirtatious as I possibly could. 

“Genius in fact!!” AJ typed. “Watch out, fuckers! The Ripper and The Cookie Monster are coming!” 

“Hehe! HELL YEAH!” I replied. 

Three dots. 

“You up for Scorpio’s Wednesday?” 

My heart leapt. Yes fucking YES!! 

“Sounds good!” 

“I have a shift at Tesco’s in the afternoon, though, so I won’t be going till about six. Is that okay?” AJ messaged. 

“Yeah, that’s fine with me.” 

“Shall I pick you up from yours?” 

OH FUCK! I panicked. The idea of AJ. Here at my house. NO!! I could not let my mum see him. I didn’t want her to know about AJ. And I couldn’t handle all the questions she’d ask and the opinions she’d no doubt have about how huge and beefy he’d gotten. Or whatever words she’d use. 

“Or I could meet you at Tesco?” I reasoned. 

Say yes. Please say yes!
 
Three dots. 

“Nah. It’ll be easier if I just pick you up.” 

BOLLOCKS, BOLLOCKS, BOLLOCKS!
 
I reluctantly agreed. I’d literally have to stand by the window waiting for AJ to pull up and then make a dash for it in hope that my mum didn’t see him. Surely he’d just wait in the car, anyway? Surely he wouldn’t come to the actual door? But that dilemma aside, I was happy. Because I was going to get see AJ again. And, despite the radio silence the night before, and the worries and confusion about the hand holding comment and the blushing face emoji, all was apparently fine. I had no idea whether AJ had actually been ignoring me, whether he was just genuinely busy, or whether he just simply wasn’t in the mood to chat. Maybe it was best that I didn’t think about it. 

Wednesday came and it was the hottest day of the year so far. There was no way AJ would be turning up in his bright red Scorpio’s Gym hoodie, which made me feel even more nervous at the prospect of my mum seeing him. 

The realisation of just what I was doing seemed to hit me just as I lingered by the window in the living room. My dad on the sofa watching the news. My mum in the kitchen doing the dinner. A competitive bodybuilder was coming to my house to pick me up in his car. Fucking HELL! When did my life get so utterly fucking awesome? 

As soon as AJ’s car pulled up, I dived to the door. Please don’t beep the horn, I thought. Please don’t fucking beep the horn!
 
“I’m going. BYE!” I shouted. I heard my mum say something but I slammed the door and dashed up the drive. I had no idea if she was peeping out the window as I got into AJ’s car. I didn’t have the nerve to look back to see. 

I almost couldn’t believe how excited I was to see AJ. I couldn’t keep from smiling. He looked pretty happy too, to be fair. 

“Oh my God!” he said, in a faux shocked manner as I put my seat belt on. I looked at him, confused. “Is it? It can’t be! IT IS … The Cookie Monster!” 

I laughed. God, he looked gorgeous. I mean, he always looked gorgeous. But that day, sitting in his car, he looked even more so than usual. It was everything about him. His face, his slightly rosey cheeks, his smile, his eyes. God. I liked him so fucking much.
As predicted, AJ wasn’t wearing his Scorpio’s Gym hoodie. He was wearing something even better. The outfit he’d been wearing the afternoon I’d bumped into him for the first time in four years. His tight, blue, Tesco polo shirt. His arms looked fucking ginormous bulging underneath and around the sleeves. 

“Love it, mate! It’s the perfect nickname!” he said. 

And then something happened. I looked at his huge, bulging arm, and he caught me. Fuck! He didn’t say anything, but I knew he’d seen me looking. He’d been smiling anyway, but his grin seemed to suddenly take on a slight, cocky, smugness. 

“What are we training today?” I asked, now facing forward. 

“Arms, baby!” AJ replied. It was a laddish “baby”. Like, “Yeah, baby!” 

“That okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah. Fine!” I said. I suddenly flashed back to Eddie’s comments in the Chinese the Friday before. “Oh, one of my friends actually said my arms looked bigger at the weekend!” 

AJ grinned. “Awesome! They definitely do!” he said, which made me blush.
It felt different being with AJ during an evening. Like uncharted territory. I didn’t know whether it was that, or the heat, but it felt like there was a different vibe to when we usually met. A different kind of atmosphere. It felt new and exciting. Even more exciting than usual. 

“Oh. Before I forget, there’s erm … something in the back seat for you.” AJ’s tone was casual, but I couldn’t help detect a slight hint of nerves in his voice. 

Confused, I turned my head to see what looked like a folded up, bright blue jumper of some sort. And then I realised what it was. My stomach did a somersault and my heart expanded in my chest. Fuck! 

“What? This?” I asked nervously, picking it up and bringing it to the front of the car. 

“I know the guys who run the gym, so ...” he said. He sounded a little less nervous than before. 

I held it up in front of me. My very own, bright blue, Scorpio’s Gym hoodie, to compliment AJ’s red one. I couldn’t believe AJ had done that for me. Had been so sweet and considerate to get me my very own hoodie. My heart was literally melting. 

“Oh, wow. Thanks, mate!” I said. I couldn’t stop grinning. I cautiously looked at AJ. He was gently biting his lip. He looked kind of coy, but he was smiling too, clearly pleased that his gesture had gone down well. 

“I got you a medium! Is that okay?” he adorably asked. 

“Yeah!” I reassured him. I didn’t know what else to say, but I didn’t feel like any more words were really necessary. I spent the rest of the journey clutching my gift from AJ. I didn’t seem to want to let go of it. 

“So …” AJ began, changing the subject. “I’ve been thinking about your idea for a spin off series. AJ and Noah in the Land of Beef?” 

“Yeah?” I said, still on a high from AJ gifting me my very own Scorpio’s Gym hoodie. 

“Yep! And I’ve had an idea for an episode. AJ and Noah … switch bodies!” 

OH MY GOD!!
 
“So AJ’s just a regular sized lad. And Noah’s a competitive bodybuilder!” he explained. 

FUCKING, FUCKING YES!!
 
I couldn’t stop grinning. “I’m liking it!” I said, enthusiastically. Which was a severe understatement. I loved it so much I could barely breathe. 

“I thought you would!” he said, with a huge, proud, gorgeous grin. 

“The question is …” AJ continued, “how would Noah react to suddenly being huge and jacked?” 

Oh fuck! I instantly started to swell in my trackie bottoms. 

“Hmmm …” I began, playing along. I was kind of nervous to answer, but not half as nervous as I would have been a few gym trips ago. I was definitely getting more confident at talking about bodybuilding related stuff with AJ. And it still excited me as much as it always had to do so. “Maybe he’d suddenly get really, really cocky?” I suggested.
AJ was beaming. “I can see that happening! Imagine if he just literally couldn’t stop flexing? GRRRR!” 

Oh fuck! The idea of me flexing (even a fictional, animated me). The “GRRRR!” My swelling quickly resulted in me having a fully grown hard on. Thank God I had my new Scorpio’s Gym hoodie in my lap to hide it. 

“What about AJ, though? How do you think he’d react to losing all his muscles?” I asked.
 
“Oh, he’d be gutted! He’d probably do everything he could to get huge again!” 

“I reckon Noah would tease AJ a bit, too!” I mischievously suggested. 

AJ beamed. “What, like, keep hitting poses right in front of him? Hey, AJ. Cop a load of these GUNS! BOOM! Front double bicep!” 

OH JESUS!
 
AJ was killing me. I suddenly felt a burst of bravery. “Or a most muscular?” I suggested. Saying the words of an official bodybuilding pose out loud to an actual bodybuilder gave me such a fucking rush. 

“You remembered!” AJ said, impressed and grinning. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Like I was tricking AJ. Lying to him, even. 

“Yeah! One of those. Right in his face!” I said. 

“Fuck yeah!” AJ said. And then he did one of his cute, little giggles. “Can you imagine if I actually did that to you?” he asked. 

OH MY FUCKING GOD!!
 
My eyes widened in shock, but I couldn’t mask the huge grin at the thought of AJ cranking out a big most muscular mere inches away from my face. FUCKING HELL! I had absolutely no idea how I’d react if that were to actually happen, but I suddenly couldn’t think of anything I wanted more. 

“I reckon you’d shit yourself!” AJ cheekily said. 

Hmmm. That, or fucking cream in my PANTS!!
 
I playfully screwed my face up, still unable to mask my grin. “I bet I wouldn’t. I’d probably just be like… er, mate, what the fuck are you doing?!” 

AJ couldn’t stop grinning. He really seemed to like the idea of shocking, surprising or just plain terrifying me by blasting out a pose and flexing his muscles in my face. 

“Maybe I’ll do it!” he mischievously said. “When you least expect it!” 

I didn’t respond, but spent the rest of the car journey feeling like I might burst with excitement. Because I was pretty sure that AJ was crazy enough to follow through with through with the idea. 

The changing room at Scorpio’s was surprisingly busy. Much more so than on our previous trips. Presumably because of the time of the day. At least three rather meaty lads said hello to AJ. 

Normally we’d just dump our bags into AJ’s locker and head out to the gym. But something else happened instead. AJ started to undress. Right in front of me. Fuck, fuck, fucking, fuck, FUCK!! 

I had no idea why I hadn’t anticipated it. Of course he was going to undress. He was wearing his fucking Tesco uniform, for fuck’s sake. 

It happened so fast I barely had time to think. But before I knew it, AJ Jones was topless. A competitive bodybuilder, mere inches away from me with his torso on full, unclothed display. JESUS CHRIST! Surreal was just one of the ways I could have described seeing AJ’s torso in the flesh. It was almost like I’d slipped into another reality. Or like the normal world had drifted away and I was suddenly in a scene of a film. 

As for his body. Holy fucking HELL. It was even more gorgeous and even more muscular in the flesh than I had expected. He really had moulded his body to become something not of the norm. I knew what I was looking at was something special. Something that you wouldn’t encounter on a daily basis. And something that was suddenly having the most incredible effect on and power over me. 

His tits were outrageous. Perfect even. Round and thick. Even his pink little nipples looked bigger than the average man’s. His abs weren’t as shredded as I’d seen them in his competition shots, but they were still very much there. Six, beautifully shaped bubbles of muscle, bulging through his super soft skin. What I wouldn't give to kneel down and gently kiss each of those abdominal muscles. To worship them in the way they deserved to be. I even loved the shape of his cute, little belly button. 

I was almost relieved when he put a tight fitted, black t-shirt on, instead of his usual vest. But also a little disappointed, too. Then his work trousers came down and holy fucking quads! His thighs were so crazily thick. It was like the muscle just hung off the bone. I spotted a few faint lines, obviously left over from his competition condition days. His calves were outrageously developed, too. And then there was his arse. Fucking HELL that arse. Two beefy, round, overdeveloped buttocks stuffed into the cutest crisp white boxers shorts with a bright green waistband. I didn’t even attempt not to stare. I just couldn’t not. I was transfixed. 

Curiously, AJ didn’t make eye contact with me as he changed. Maybe he felt a little shy doing so? Which was hard to believe considering how much he loved to show off his body on stage. And in pictures. Maybe that cockiness was just saved for the stage? Because he definitely seemed a little shy. Even a little nervous. 

That seemed to fade once AJ was fully clothed again, but a slight awkwardness seemed to linger afterwards. And then I wondered again whether AJ really did know I fancied him? And was even feeling a little uncomfortable at the thought of me checking out his half naked body? Checking out his arm in his car was fine, a nice little ego boost even, but ogling his naked torso in a changing room was just a step too far? A thought which caused a horrible, sick feeling in my stomach. Or maybe I was just being my usual neurotic self, reading way too much into the situation and just needed to chill the fuck out for once in my life? 

The awkwardness seemed to break when, en route to the gym, AJ asked me a question with a mischievous little grin. “Ready to get those guns even bigger?” 

It wasn’t just the changing room that was busier. The actual gym was packed. It also had a completely different atmosphere that it did during the day. The number of hot, fit, muscle lads was increased for a start. As were the testosterone levels. Grunts, groans, laddish banter and raised voices filled up the gym. AJ seemed a little different too. Still his lovely, funny, cheeky self, but just a bit more serious and a little less relaxed. Which, I guess, lent itself to the atmosphere of the gym. 

I didn’t know what it was about that particular trip to Scorpio’s. Maybe it was just being with AJ on the evening, maybe it was the fact he’d picked me up from my house, or that he’d gone out of his way to get me my very own Scorpio’s Gym hoodie, but when we were finished with our training and back in his car, I couldn’t help feeling like our friendship had suddenly been taken to a new level. 

I loved being at the gym with AJ. But there was something about being in his car sat beside him that felt really special. When it was just the two of us. And on that particular evening, it felt more special than ever. 

“I love this song!” he said, turning the car radio up. “It reminds me of being a kid,” he added. I loved it, too. It was one of those really uplifting, early noughties dance songs that got played to death on release, with this earworm of a line repeated over and over again over the top of this gorgeous, euphoric synth that you never wanted to end. It felt like the perfect song for that moment. I’d listen to it again when I got home, but I knew it wouldn’t sound the same without AJ next to me. I couldn’t help thinking how ironic, but fitting some of the lyrics were to mine and AJ’s situation too. “I’m the same boy I used to be.”
 
“See, this kind of music just makes me wanna go out!” I said. 

AJ grinned. “God. I’d actually love a drink now! Is that really bad considering I’ve just been to the gym?” he asked. 

I pulled a face. “When is drinking ever bad?” 

I knew the answer, of course. When you’re a two hundred plus pounds mini muscle bull and future 212 pro bodybuilder like AJ Jones, who’s training to get shredded abs and line plastered quads so he can show them off on stage in his shiny, lime green posers while pulling all manner of shamelessly cocky facial expressions. 

“Okay,” AJ firmly said. “I propose we go to Tesco’s, get some alcohol, go back to mine and watch Dom and Cole!” 

It was possibly the single greatest proposal I’d ever had.

Sixteen
 
I couldn’t deny that every time I had been at Scorpio’s Gym with AJ, I had gotten a kick out of the fact that I wasn’t just out in public with a bodybuilder, but one so utterly huge and cute. At Scorpio’s, though, people were so accustomed to seeing AJ, and lads even bigger than him (6’3 regional champion bodybuilder Mark Green for a start) that the image of a real life bodybuilder barely caused a second glance. This was not the case when AJ and I took a trip to Tesco. 

I was shocked at just how many looks and stares AJ received. And he wasn’t even wearing a vest. He seemed completely unfazed by it too, presumably because he worked here and probably experienced that level of attention on a regular bases. I, on the other hand, was completely unprepared. 

There were times when it annoyed me a little. Particularly if someone stared at him just a little too hard. But mostly, I kind of loved it. There was a certain look most people had when they saw the waddling bodybuilder bulging out of his tight, black t-shirt. A sort of mix of awe and intimidation. It was like they knew he had power. That he was something special and someone to be in awe of. Someone they would never be themselves, or even get close to being. 

“Can I ask you something?” I said, when I was sat back in the passenger seat of AJ’s car, clutching the bottle of work discounted vodka we’d just bought. 

“Does it ever bother you? People staring?” 

A cheeky, almost smug grin emerged on AJ’s painfully cute face. He shook his head. “Nah! It kinda just comes with being a bodybuilder!” 

I got the impression he really did love any and all attention. 

“It would be worse if I was taller! Imagine how many stares Mark Green gets when he waddles round Tesco’s?” 

“Mmmm,” I agreed, smiling and imagining some terrified elderly woman gawping at 6’3 muscle monster Mark as he filled up his entire trolley with egg boxes. 

“Which means you’ll definitely get loads of attention when we’ve transformed you into The Cookie Monster!” 

I giggled. “Do you think The Cookie Monster will have a waddle?” 

“Oh, deffo! And if he doesn’t, I’ll teach him how to do one!” he mischievously replied, while giving me his most utterly gorgeous grin. 

AJ’s mum and step-dad weren’t home. For some reason, the fact we were home alone gave me a strange kind of buzz. I still hadn’t seen Andy yet. I was dying to know what my first male crush looked like now. 

“And I wanna see you wearing that hoodie!” AJ said to me as we climbed the stairs to his bedroom. I grinned like crazy. I wasn’t sure if I’d have the nerve to go to a hardcore bodybuilding gym wearing one of their branded hoodies. Or anywhere for that matter.
Maybe I’d just save it for our nights in at AJ’s watching Dom and Cole. I suddenly had an image of me and AJ on his bed, watching TV and cuddling up to each other in our different coloured Scorpio’s Gym hoodies. 

The whole evening with AJ had this electric sort of energy, but I probably felt it more than ever when I was sat on his bed drinking possibly the strongest vodka and coke I’d ever been poured. 

“Oh my God! That’s so strong!” I exclaimed. 

He gave me a mischievous grin and I couldn’t help thinking about our texts from a few weeks before, when I’d teased him for always having being a bad influence on me, even at school. 

The alcohol hit me during our second episode of “Dom and Cole In The Land of Ug”, which also happened to be one of my all time favourites. I had a feeling I was going to love it even much after that evening. 

“And I thought Naomi’s vodka’s measures were strong!” I said to AJ, interrupting the episode. AJ bit his lip and flashed me one of his cheeky grins again. 

“She’s coming back to Little Denton tomorrow for the weekend,” I informed him.
“Ahhhh, awesome! What are you gonna get up to?” 

“Hmmm. Think we’ll probably just go for a pub lunch Friday. Just hang out. Saturday night we’re going into town.” 

“Gay pubs?” he asked. 

“Of course!” I replied. 

“Think they’d let me in?” he asked. I looked at him and he was giving with this cheeky little grin, but it felt like there was something else in his expression too. A strange hint of seriousness. It was almost like he was genuinely eager to know the answer. 

The question surprised me. AJ at a gay pub. I’d never really imagined it before, but suddenly I was. Suddenly I was imagining him in a gay pub with his ridiculously huge arm wrapped around me. People looking at us in awe and intimidation, wondering how the hell someone like me had bagged a huge, gorgeous bodybuilder boyfriend. 

“You’d get mobbed!” I scoffed. 

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?” he said, a mischievous grin emerging on his face.

“You know why! Bodybuilder! Huge biceps!” Oh God. I definitely wouldn’t have added the “huge biceps” if I hadn’t been drinking. 

AJ was beaming. “They’re not that huge!” 

I playfully shook my head and just carried on grinning. 

“I have heard guys are a lot more likely to be impressed with bodybuilders than girls are!” AJ exclaimed. 

Something suddenly twisted in my stomach. My mouth was trying to curl into a smirk and I was desperately trying to prevent it. I decided not to respond, and just focused on the last part of Dom and Cole which was playing on AJ’s TV. 

“I still can’t believe you’re interested in the whole bodybuilding thing!” AJ said. 

Fuck!
 
“Why?” I said, a little nervously and not looking at AJ. 

“I dunno. I just never would have guessed!” 

When the episode had finished, instead of putting on another one, AJ played around with his laptop and put some music on. I couldn’t help grinning when the early noughties dance song from the car journey started playing. “I’m the same boy I used to be.”
 
I was momentarily disappointed when AJ sat back down on the bed. Because instead of sitting right next to me, he sat near my feet with his back against the wall so he had a better view of me. 

“OK, Noah, genuine question!” he said. “I know we joke about it, but would you really wanna be a bodybuilder?” 

Oh God. This time I couldn’t stop my mouth from curling into a smirk. I was nervous but also incredibly excited at the prospect of discussing such a thing. “Ummm … I would,” I confessed bravely, but feeling a little embarrassed, “but maybe just for, like, a day?” 

AJ giggled. “I can understand that!” 

The statement took me by surprise. I furrowed my eyebrows. “I thought you loved being a bodybuilder?” 

“Oh, I do! I just sometimes wish I was, well … normal!” he said, giving me this earnest and adorable smile. “It just gets a bit tiring at times. I’ve often thought it’d be cool if my body was like some sort of suit that I could take off and hang up in the wardrobe for a while, until I’m ready to be a bodybuilder again!” 

I couldn’t believe it. I’d fantasised so many times about being a huge, shredded muscle bull. Wondered what it would be like to be a flexing bodybuilder, strutting around on stage in a pair of tiny posers. I’d never imagined for one second that an actual bodybuilder might be doing the exact opposite, and wishing he were more like me. 

“Or maybe you could have some sort of superpower!” I suggested. “So one minute you’re a regular sized guy, and then, when you feel like it, you could transform into a muscle monster!” 

AJ beamed and laughed. “Yeah! That’d be a pretty awesome superpower!” 

I looked at the pictures of the hardcore, freakishly conditioned muscle monsters on AJ’s wall. Chris “Freaky Peaks” Jackson blowing up his insanely sized, nickname earning biceps. Blaine Holton cranking out a massive most muscular with his wide open. And AJ, himself, squeezing out his own crab most muscular in his shiny, lime green posing trunks while sticking out his tongue in the most brilliantly cocky fashion. 

And a familiar question entered my head. A question I’d been too nervous to ask AJ before. But now, with the atmosphere of the evening, the alcohol, the Scorpio’s Gym hoodie, and after weeks of cheeky, funny bodybuilding related banter over Facebook, I finally had the courage to ask it. 

“So, what’s it like being on stage at a bodybuilding show?” My heart started beating faster.
The whole of AJ’s mouth curled into an excited, gorgeous grin. “Ahhh, mate! It’s the BIGGEST fucking rush!” 

FUCK!! I started to swell instantly. 

“I mean, it’s hard work. Really knackering! But you sort of push passed that. And once you do? Fuck! It’s just … bonkers! Knowing you’re in super shredded condition, all the months of training and dieting and … other things, leading to that moment. The audience going mad. Cheering you on. It’s just you and your muscles. All on display. And a bunch of other super shredded muscle freaks, of course!” 

Fuck, fuck, FUCK!! I was rock hard. 

“Posedowns are the best!” he added, still grinning excitedly. God. I loved how much AJ loved talking about bodybuilding. “That’s when you’ve finished all the compulsory poses and you and all the other bodybuilders just hit random poses across the stage for a few minutes!” 

Not only did I very much know what posedowns were, but they were amongst my favourite kind of muscle videos to watch on YouTube. And often guaranteed to leave my boxers shorts in a sticky mess. 

“Posedowns are just your chance to go crazy. Really let rip. Just pose and flex your fucking glutes off! And be a bit cocky with it!” he said. 

I couldn’t stop smiling. What a fucking rush it was to hear AJ talk so openly and candidly about what it was like to be a shredded freak, flexing his muscles and cranking up the attitude on stage. 

“Was that one taken during a posedown, then?” I teasingly asked, pointing to the picture of AJ on the wall. 

He did his cute, little giggle. “I honestly didn’t plan to be that cocky! It just sort of happened. I got a bit carried away in the moment, I guess!” 

I raised one eyebrow. “Hmmm. I believe ya!” I teasingly said. 

“Ahhh, mate. I can’t wait to see your face!” he said, animatedly. 

I pulled a confused face. “What?!” 

“When I spontaneously squeeze a most muscular. Right in your face!” 

FUCKING HELL!!
 
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, all the time unable to hide the fact that I was grinning like crazy at the re-mention of the idea AJ had teased me about earlier that evening. 

And suddenly I was wondering what my reaction would be if AJ did make good on his promise by taking me by surprise and flexing in my face. Just the mere thought of seeing him squeezed into a most muscular up close made my dick swell and my heart pound. Fuck! It would undoubtedly be completely amazing. But there was something about the prospect of it happening which also made me nervous. Because what if my reaction or facial expression gave away the fact that I was a beef obsessed muscle addict, who was turned on by nothing more than the image of shredded, flexing muscle lads and bodybuilders? 

“It’ll be when you least expect it!” he teased. 

“I bet I wouldn’t even flinch!” I said, defiantly. 

He continued to look at me with a gorgeous, cheeky grin. “We’ll see!” 

A little later and AJ was pouring me another drink when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I did a little groan out loud when I saw it was a text from Eddie, then immediately felt like a dick and regretted it.
“I hope you don’t have that reaction when you get messages from me?” AJ asked. 

It was such an absurd comment. I couldn’t help smiling at the irony of it. If only AJ knew what kind of effect receiving that notification did to me. It was interesting though, because when he said it, he had a cheeky smirk on his face. Almost like he knew I very much didn’t have that reaction when he messaged me. 

“Who is it?” AJ asked, curiously. 

Oh God. This was completely uncharted territory. Talking to AJ about boys. But the alcohol and the atmosphere seemed to be breaking down all the normal walls. 

I sighed. “Just this guy I’m kinda seeing.” 

“Oh yeah?” AJ’s voice was slightly odd. A little distant. It even seemed to break a little. He had this weird look on his face too. I wasn’t sure if he felt completely comfortable with the conversation. Maybe he wasn’t used to hearing gay guys talk openly about dating? It was almost as if he was trying to cover up the fact that he was bothered by it, but not doing a very good job. 

“Well … he’s more of a friend, to be honest. Well, that’s the way I see it anyway!” 

His face seemed to relax instantly. In fact, his mouth even curled into a little smile. He clearly wasn’t out of his depth anymore. Or maybe he was just simply getting used to hearing a guy talk about dating other guys? It probably was a little weird for him, I reasoned. 

“And what does he think?” he asked, with one eyebrow raised. 

I pulled an “eeeek” face and he grinned at me in response. 

“He likes you!” AJ guessed. I playfully rolled my eyes and sheepishly grinned. 

“I do kinda like him back! But there’s liking someone. And then there’s liking liking someone.” 

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Oh-kaaay.” 

I sighed. I was feeling brave. “Maybe you’ve never had it. But you know when … you just can’t stop thinking about someone?” 

Oh God. I almost couldn’t believe what I was saying. My heart was pounding. AJ’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Yeah,” he replied, nervously. He looked a little weary, even a little embarrassed, but seemed to be relating to what I was saying. If only AJ knew I was talking about him

“And the idea of seeing them just … makes your stomach go, like, crazy? Like butterflies?” I continued. 

AJ was looking at me. He cheeks suddenly looked rosey again, like they sometimes did, and I couldn’t quite work out whether it was the heat, or whether AJ was actually blushing. He still looked a little weary about the whole conversation, but the left side of his mouth curled into a coy and adorable grin, like he was reminiscing about one very such (extremely lucky) girl he’d felt that way about. And it was funny, because in that moment, I could feel them more than ever. Those fuck off massive butterflies. 

“Eddie’s a really nice guy, though,” I continued. “That’s his name, Eddie. Just …” 

AJ finished the sentence for me. “No butterflies!” 

I grinned. “Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! I mean, he knows I’m going back to uni in September.” 

And then another weird expression washed over AJ’s face. Almost like a look of disappointment. Sadness even. It passed really quickly. Was it because I had reminded him I was going back to London in a few months? Which would be completely fucking adorable. And probably make me like him even more. But surely he didn’t value our rekindled friendship that much? I got the sense he really liked hanging out, but I was sure that AJ had a ton of friends to hang out with here in Little Denton. And ones he probably had a lot more in common with than me. Maybe it was the fact we had known each other for so long? Attraction aside, I definitely felt a strong sense of sentiment towards our friendship. Maybe he felt the same. 

A question came into my head. I was nervous to ask it. I almost didn’t want to, but curiosity got the better of me. 

“How about you? Been seeing anyone lately?” As soon as I said it, something twisted in my stomach. I suddenly didn’t want to know. 

AJ shook his head and groaned. “Nah! I can’t be bothered!” 

I grinned. I liked that answer. I really liked it. 

“I was seeing this girl last summer.” 

My stomach twisted again. The thought of AJ with a girl. Fuck! Hearing him mention it. I hated it. Because it made me realise that AJ would never be anything more than a friend.
“I dunno, though,” AJ continued. “This is probably going to sound really bad, but I think I was just seeing her for the sake of it! It was almost, just, something to do!” 

I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“That did sound really bad, didn’t it?!” AJ asked. 

I thought about Eddie. “Mmmm. A little! But … I totally get it! I think I might even be doing that with Eddie a bit!” 

“We’re terrible human beings!” AJ said, laughing. 

“I didn’t even like her that much!” he continued. “All she seemed to care about was the way people looked. She was always going on about these reality TV people. Always showing me pictures of them on Instagram and telling me how amazing they looked. Who gives a shit about someone who was on last year’s Love Island? 

And whenever I talked about bodybuilding, or anything I was actually interested in, she’d sort of just glaze over and then quickly change the subject. Usually to her!” 

I had an image of this girl. Blonde, petite, really pretty, but gobby, shallow and completely self involved. Loving the fact that she’d bagged herself a sexy bodybuilder boyfriend with an insanely hot body, but not really caring about AJ at all. Not noticing all of his little quirks. The way the left corner of his mouth was always curling into this gorgeous, excitable grin whenever he talked about muscle or being a bodybuilder. The way his cheeks often looked more flushed than usual. Not noticing how great he smelt. Not wanting to constantly protect him and make him laugh and do anything to make him happy. Not wishing she could spend every moment wrapped up in his arms. I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming, almost sickening hatred for this girl.   

“Well, she sounds likes a real keeper!” I said. 

AJ did one of his cute, little giggles in response. “And you know, I was seeing her for three months and she never once asked me about my name!” 

“No way!” I replied. 

“Yep! I mean, it’s usually one of the first things people ask me about. What does AJ stand for?” 

AJ’s expression then turned uncharacteristically serious again. “Can I ask you a question?” he said, slightly cautiously. 

“Of course!” I replied, intrigued. 

He looked nervous again. And a little weary. For some reason I felt a pang of nerves. I had no idea what AJ was about to ask me. 

“When did you know that you liked lads?” 

“Ummm … probably when I was about twelve or thirteen!” 

AJ looked surprised. “That’s pretty young!” he said. 

“Mmmm. I don’t think I really admitted it to myself until I was older, though. It’s not really something you think that deeply about when you’re that young. I always just, sort of, pushed it to the back of my mind. And then when I was about fifteen, I just thought, yeah, I’m gay!” 

“Was it, like, one specific thing?” AJ asked. He seemed a little more confident about tackling the subject. “Or one particular guy?” 

Oh God! My mouth curled into an amused grin. I couldn’t help it. AJ furrowed his eyebrows. “What?” 

“Do you really wanna know?” I asked. 

And all of a sudden, AJ looked nervous again. Did he think I was about to say that he was the reason I realised I was gay? 

“Tell me!” he gently ordered. 

I groaned, and put my face in my hands, unsure of whether I really wanted to make the confession I was about to. 

I screwed up my face and closed one eye. “It was Andy!” 

AJ furrowed his eyebrows. “Andy, who?” 

Andy, Andy!” I exclaimed, with my eyes wide open. 

His mouth curled into an “O” shape. “Noooo!” he said, shocked but clearly amused. 

“What, you fancied my mum’s boyfriend?!” 

I nodded, embarrassed but also getting a kick out of confessing my old secret crush to AJ, while also loving his surprised reaction. 

“Why Andy?!” 

“Erm … the bike, the leather gear, the shaved head, the body!” 

AJ’s mouth seemed to erupt in a coy but cheeky grin. 

“There’s a LOT of gay men who would fancy Andy!” I informed him. 

AJ was beaming. He seemed to be loving my confession. “I’ll have to let him know that! He’d probably love it!” 

“Don’t mention me though!” I said, horrified at the thought. 

AJ shook his head. “I can’t believe you used to fancy Andy! Do you think you still would?” 

“Erm … I dunno! Has he changed much?” 

Still grinning, AJ took his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll show you!” he said. I felt a rush of excitement at the thought of seeing a recent picture of my first male crush. 

AJ handed me his phone with a mischievous grin. “Oh, wow!” I said, as I looked at the picture on the screen. It was Andy, alright. But he definitely looked different. His face was rounder. He still looked pretty big, but more stocky, rather than muscular. He even looked like he had a bit of a belly underneath the white t-shirt he was wearing. He was less The Rock, more Ross Kemp. And yet, there was still something there. An undeniable sexiness. Even if he did look a fair few years older and wasn’t so in shape anymore. 

“He doesn’t go to Scorpio’s much anymore!” AJ said, as if he was reading my mind. “Still fancy him?” 

I made a jokey face. “Errrmm…” I replied. AJ giggled in response. 

“So what’s drunk Noah like?” he asked, as he poured me another vodka and coke.
“You’re probably about to find out!” I said. 

He handed me back my now filled glass. “Thanks, Arthur-John!” I said, cheekily grinning. I thought AJ would wince, but he didn’t. He almost looked like he was blushing, and had this adorable little grin on his face. 

I suddenly gasped dramatically. “I haven’t tried on my hoodie!” I exclaimed, jumping up.
AJ giggled as I picked up the bright blue hoodie folded over my backpack. I don’t think I’d ever been more excited to put on an item of clothing. 

It fitted me perfectly. I looked at my reflection in the mirror on AJ’s bedroom wall. My very own Scorpio’s Gym hoodie, given to me by AJ. My gorgeous, cute, funny AJ.
“Think I could get away with going to Scorpio’s in it?” I asked AJ. 

He was smiling. This really warm, adorable grin. “Of course, mate! You don’t have to be a shredded muscle freak to wear a Scorpio’s hoodie!” 

“We can be hoodie buddies!” I said. AJ bit his lip. His grin was almost coy. 

“Shall we watch another Dom and Cole?” he asked. 

I sat on AJ’s bed, still wearing my hoodie. I didn’t want to take it off. AJ manoeuvred himself so he was sitting right next to me, both of us facing the TV. 

“Aren’t you hot in that hoodie?” AJ asked. 

“A little!” I said, shrugging. It was worth being hot for. 

Sitting so close to AJ, being on his bed in the hoodie he’d given to me, feeling the buzz of the alcohol and the events of the night, I felt this incredible warmth. It was the perfect night. I remember realising in that moment that in the two years since I’d left home for university, this was the happiest I’d felt. Right now. Which was the biggest irony in the world. I’d been dying to leave Little Denton and to live in London. And now I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. Or anyone I’d rather be with. 

And then something happened. One of AJ’s legs pushed into mine. Fuck. It felt like an electric energy shot straight through me. I knew it was an accident. That AJ would move his leg away as quickly as it had met with mine. Only he didn’t. His leg stayed there. Pressed against mine. Fuck, fuck, fuck! 

My heart started to race. Seconds passed. Only they felt more like minutes. It was like my whole body was fire. Because AJ was touching me. I felt like I wanted to die. A thousand ecstatic little deaths. And all the time, my mind was racing with questions. What is happening? Why isn’t AJ moving his leg? Is he touching me on purpose? Is he feeling anything even close to what I’m feeling? And the biggest question of all; what the hell does all of this mean? 

Something funny happened in Dom and Cole which seemed to break the tension and AJ finally moved his leg. I couldn’t look at him. I was terrified to. I just sat there with my eyes transfixed on the TV, watching the rest of the episode on the most euphoric high. Because I was sure, certain even, that something was actually happening with me and AJ Jones. I didn’t know what it was. I knew that it was probably messy and complicated. But there was definitely something there. And I’d never felt more excited about anything.

2 comments:

  1. Part 5 of AJ and Noah was amazing. I can hardly wait for Part 6 to find out the latest development between them. You gave many hints in this part, so I can only imagine what is coming next.

    I read many stories on Gay Authors, Gay Stories, but few of them include bodybuilding as one of the themes. I also like wrestling stories, so maybe AJ will make Noah wrestle him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the feedback matie! The next chapter is on the Muscle Growth forums if you don't want to wait! ;) https://muscle-growth.org/topic/15655-aj-noah/?page=19

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