m/m Deano, Again: A Muscle University Story (Deano Story 3)

[muscleaddict]

On 12/17/2021 at 2:35 AM, suske said:

MuscleAddict, this chapter is like a chapter from my life when my dad had a heart attack. The angst, the urge or need to get home. And like Dean I was at Uni at the time too.

This big bloke (me) didn't have dry eyes from the moment I started reading (I was also thankfull that a very dear reader of the story with whom I've been conversing gave me heads-up that I didn't need to dread the worst). Otherwise I would have been bawling.

If you're not writing from experience, man, chapeau, but even if you are, truly gifted mate!! 

And from a silent team/camp Adam member, a sincere but very reserved, yeah. 

Wow - thank you for the wonderful feedback, mate. I'm touched it had that effect on you. (And also feel like I should apologise a little! )

On 12/17/2021 at 1:55 AM, Mdlftr said:

Of course! Knowing Deano, what else can you expect?

If there's ANY way to make a cock-up [see what I did there?!] of the situation, Deano WILL f---k it up!  And NOT in a good way!

Poor Deano. You know him so well! 

On 12/17/2021 at 7:29 PM, Lexfan said:

Obviously Adam and Ozzie wind up together, and Deano hooks up with Shaun.

Adam and Ozzie getting it on? Would I really be THAT cruel to Deano? 

[S01]

15 minutes ago, muscleaddict said:

Wow - thank you for the wonderful feedback, mate. I'm touched it had that effect on you. (And also feel like I should apologise a little! )

Seriously, it was like you were there with me. With the exception that the stars alligned and Dutch rail got me to my home town in a record time. No strikes, no jug-eared muscle tank driving me home. Whilest reading I relived my trip to my dad, finding him in hospital, telling us how he asked the ambo drivers not use the sirens, as he didn't to wake up the neighbours seriously dead, seriously. He's still here btw. Still cracking terrible jokes.

The previous chapter was very reminiscent to how I was called when something was wrong with my mum. Sadly that tale unfolded very differently. 

So yeah I was filled with so many emotions. But before you go and apologise, that's the mark of a gifted writer, to get under the readers skin and get them crying, laughing, rooting for one team or the other. 

You've got a lot of people emotionaly (yes hormonily too) invested in these dumb gits. So you'd better continue writing about them. And all their muscles, their huge bulging muscles, don't forget about that.

My utter appreciation and truly chapeau. 

[Kons]

2 hours ago, muscleaddict said:

Adam and Ozzie getting it on? Would I really be THAT cruel to Deano? 

Adam with Deano. When Ozzie comes to visit his besties to train for an upcoming comp meet certain single dad and readily available personal trainer

[Lexfan]

4 hours ago, muscleaddict said:

Adam and Ozzie getting it on? Would I really be THAT cruel to Deano? 

That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. 

[muscleaddict]

23 hours ago, suske said:

Seriously, it was like you were there with me. With the exception that the stars alligned and Dutch rail got me to my home town in a record time. No strikes, no jug-eared muscle tank driving me home. Whilest reading I relived my trip to my dad, finding him in hospital, telling us how he asked the ambo drivers not use the sirens, as he didn't to wake up the neighbours seriously dead, seriously. He's still here btw. Still cracking terrible jokes.

The previous chapter was very reminiscent to how I was called when something was wrong with my mum. Sadly that tale unfolded very differently. 

So yeah I was filled with so many emotions. But before you go and apologise, that's the mark of a gifted writer, to get under the readers skin and get them crying, laughing, rooting for one team or the other. 

You've got a lot of people emotionaly (yes hormonily too) invested in these dumb gits. So you'd better continue writing about them. And all their muscles, their huge bulging muscles, don't forget about that.

My utter appreciation and truly chapeau. 

I think I've said this before but I tend not to think or worry too much about potential readers' reactions when I'm writing these stories. With that said, like pretty much other every writer I imagine, of course I want people to feel things while reading and to connect to the story so I really do appreciate this wonderful feedback, mate and I love that it stirred up emotions for you (while also still feeling like I want to apologise!! ). 

[muscleaddict]

21 hours ago, Kons said:

Adam with Deano. When Ozzie comes to visit his besties to train for an upcoming comp meet certain single dad and readily available personal trainer

Yeah - I don't think Deano would be too happy with that scenario either!!  But...Ozzie and Ryan North together? Hmmm. You've got me thinking! 

[macookie]

20 minutes ago, muscleaddict said:

Yeah - I don't think Deano would be too happy with that scenario either!!  But...Ozzie and Ryan North together? Hmmm. You've got me thinking! 

Ummm… it’ll be a small world if Ryan has already fucked Ozzie.

[muscleaddict]

28 minutes ago, macookie said:

Ummm… it’ll be a small world if Ryan has already fucked Ozzie.

It's possible though! The British bodybuilding scene is small. They could have competed in the same show or met at an expo. Ozzie impressing Ryan with his pec bouncing. Ryan charming Ozzie with his impression of Sloth from The Goonies. 

[Kons]

2 hours ago, muscleaddict said:

Yeah - I don't think Deano would be too happy with that scenario either!!  But...Ozzie and Ryan North together? Hmmm. You've got me thinking! 

There will be a lot of cheek biting on the double date

[muscleaddict]

Twenty Five

Holy fuck. I just had sex with Adam Lloyd. Ridiculously handsome, tank-sized, jug-eared Adam Lloyd. Who’s wrapped around me right now. In my bed. In the bedroom and house I grew up in. With my big brother asleep down the fucking hall.

“I can’t believe my plan worked!” Adam says to me. His mouth and lips and face are right there. His huge arm wrapped around me. I feel small next to him. I like that. I guess the way I did with Ryan North.

I furrow my eyebrows at him in confusion.

“Drive you down here. Hope you ask me to stay over!” Then his mouth curls into a mischievous grin and I roll my eyes.

“Couldn’t you get fired for this?”

Adam screws up his face and shrugs. “Probably!” he says, grinning and giving me a squeeze. God - this feels so fucking surreal. Being here with Adam. In this room. In this fucking bed. 

“Serious question - do you have some kind of weird ear fetish?”

I poke the inside of my cheek with my tongue to cover up my smirk.

“You were touching them. A lot!” 

I shrug. “I wanted to grab on to something. They were the biggest thing I could find.”

Adam’s mouth drops open. He gives me a playful death stare, then grins and squeezes me hard. I smile back, feeling kind of smug at my own joke. And now Adam’s just looking at me. This smile on his face. And something suddenly pulls in my stomach. This weird, sort of horrible tug. And Adam’s face flickers. Like he’s noticed.

“You okay?”

I frown and nod, my fingers digging into his back.

“Do I need to sneak back downstairs?” he asks, in a hushed voice.

I pull a face. “Mmmm. You probably should. Sorry!”

Adam nods, leans in and kisses me before climbing out of my bed. As soon as he leaves the room, another weird, horrible wave of sadness washes through me. I can’t really pinpoint why.

And when I wake up the next morning, it's still there. It’s like I’m in this really weird, shitty mood. I check my phone. Nothing from Shaun. Or anyone else.

As soon as I go downstairs and spot Adam sitting on the sofa, bulging out of his white vest, my mood lifts. His eyes light up when he sees me and he gives me this mischievous little smile. And then I hear my bloody brother in the kitchen.

“Morning, D!” he says, his smile getting bigger. 

“All right,” I say, sitting down next to Adam, feeling sort of sheepish and giddy as I roll my tongue around the inside of my mouth. 

It feels kind of exciting. Sitting here in my lounge next to Adam Lloyd. My brother in the next room, completely oblivious to what's going on. And what happened between me and Adam Lloyd last night.

“Your brother’s just making me a coffee," he whispers.

I screw my face up. “Really?!” Who knew Josh was such a good host? 

Adam nods and bites his lip. Then he reaches his hand over and tickles the back of my hand gently and quickly before Josh walks in.

“I’m probably gonna stay at my parents for a few days,” Adam says to me when we’re standing at my front door a little later. “And I think I’m gonna get a flight back to Glasgow. I don’t really wanna do that drive again. Sorry!”

I shake my head. “It’s cool. I don’t blame you!”

Adam bites his lip and smiles at me. I still can’t believe what happened last night. That me and Adam Lloyd had sex. I don’t really know what this means. Or what’s going to happen when we get back to uni. I kind of just don’t want to think about it right now.

Adam looks up the stairs with a mischievous smirk on his face, my brother’s music is blasting from his bedroom, then he leans in and gives me a quick, soft kiss. I put my hand on his big chunky forearm as I kiss him back. Then I look upstairs just to make sure Josh is still in his room. Adam smiles back at me, making me feel like a naughty fucking schoolboy before we say bye to each other and he leaves.

And when I close the door, it’s there again. That strange, awful feeling. Along with this sudden urge that I want to be back at Montgomery. That I shouldn’t be here. That all of this feels wrong somehow. And yet, when Dad comes home later that day from the hospital, and things start to feel a bit more normal again, it’s surprising how quickly I get used to being back at home in Brighton. 

Johnny Hoxton texts to tell me I can take as much time off as I need and it won’t affect my final grade for the Future Pros Training Programme. Or my place at the end of term bodybuilding show next weekend. But by the time Sunday evening comes, I feel ready to go back to Montgomery. And face whatever the hell is waiting for me there. Besides, there's only one week left of the term. That’s all I have to get through. Just one week and then it’s the end of term bodybuilding show. And then it’s the Easter holidays.

But when I’m walking through the halls towards my Johnson Hall dorm room late on Monday afternoon, my stomach is twisting with nerves. Because I have no idea where I stand with Shaun anymore. In fact, I don’t really know where I stand with a lot of people here right now. Everything feels different somehow. It’s like there’s been some kind of weird cosmic shift since the last time I was here. 

As soon as I walk into the room, Shaun drops his Xbox controller, this surprised look on his face. I didn't text him to tell him I was coming back today. I awkwardly say hi to him.

“All right!” he says. He seems … weird. Not particularly pissed off at me. It’s more like, he doesn’t know how to be with me anymore.

“How’s your dad?” he asks me as I dump my holdall down on my bed.

I swallow. “Okay." I turn around and sit on my bed. "I mean … he’s gonna be alright.”

Shaun nods and bites his lip. God, it’s awkward. I kinda hate this. 

“Wanna game?” Shaun asks, waving his controller about. I feel my chest pinch.

“Okay,” I say, walking over to Shaun's bed as he scoots over. He hands me his second controller as I sit down next to him. I can’t quite believe this is happening. After everything that happened last week. I feel like making a joke. About him being scared that I’ll try it on with him or something. No. I’m not gonna do that.

We sit in silence for a bit, just gaming. Both of us focused on Shaun’s TV screen. Things don’t feel quite as awkward as before. But there’s still this weird sort of tension.

Then Shaun unexpectedly pauses the game and I feel a stab of nerves. 

“I wanna show you something!” Shaun says reaching for his phone. 

“Okay?” I say, having no idea what’s about to happen.

“What’s that thing called when something suddenly comes to you?” he asks, playing with his phone. “Like a really good idea?”

What the fuck?

“Erm … an epiphany?”

“Yeah! One of those!” he says. 

I furrow my eyebrows and bite my lip. I don’t know what’s happening, but I like how relaxed Shaun suddenly seems. It actually feels like maybe we’re friends again.

“Okay - check out this guy from Germany. He’s twenty-one. He just won his FIRST pro bodybuilding show. And he’s qualified for this year’s Mr Olympia!”

I pull a face. “You’re kidding?!” 

Shaun hands me his phone, biting his lip. And now I’m looking at a picture on Instagram of a lean, blonde shredded guy with an amazing physique on stage who even looks a bit like Shaun. He’s not wearing proper posing trunks though. I read the caption.

I frown in confusion. “Oh. He’s Classic Physique?”

Shaun’s eyes widen and he nods slowly. And then the penny drops. “Don’t you think I’d be kinda perfect for it?” 

I look at the photo again of the guy one year older than us who’s now on his way to the fucking Mr Olympia. A guy whose physique really isn’t THAT different from Shaun’s. 

“Actually … yeah!”

Shaun doing Classic Physique. It makes complete sense. It actually borders on fucking genius.

“So, basically … when Ash and Mafra are struggling against the biggest monsters in the world in the open class, I’ll be smashing it in Classic Physique,” he says with a cheeky grin as I hand him his phone back. 

I smile back at him. Wow. Me and Shaun are actually smiling at each other. 

“Means I’ll probably be competing with Henderson, of course.”

I bite my lip, still smiling. 

Shaun gasps. “Maybe we’ll ACTUALLY be friends. Maybe we all will. Me, you, Woody and Henderson.”

“Mmm. Now you’re just taking the piss!”

Shaun grins, picks up his controller and unpauses the game. Neither of us is talking now. Out of nowhere, I feel this sudden surge of bravery. It's almost like I need to say something.

“I never meant to lie to you or anything,” I say, looking straight at the TV screen. “About … you know …,” I add, my stomach suddenly twisting.

“I know,” he says, softly.

Fuck. My chest suddenly feels lighter.

“I just … didn’t know you’d react. Or whether, you know … you’d still wanna be mates.”

I see Shaun drop his controller out of the corner of my eye. I look at his face. He’s giving me this look. “Mate! Come on!”

I shrug. “Some people are funny about it! Especially bodybuilders.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t care if you like blokes, D. I mean … yeah, I was shocked. And I’ve never really had, like, a gay mate. Or, you know … someone who’s ... LGT plus whatever.”

What the hell? I bite my lip to stop from smiling.

“I was more just pissed that you didn’t tell me. But … I get it. I get why you’d wanna keep it a secret.”

I nod, this weird happy feeling going through me.

“You haven’t told Mafra and Ash?”

He gives me a look. Because of COURSE he hasn’t told them. He wouldn’t. I suddenly feel like such a dick. Why did I assume the worst of Shaun?

“You know Mafra wouldn’t care? I’m sure he said something about a gay cousin once. Ash … hmmm … dunno about that one!”

I chew on the inside of my cheek and nod. We go back to the game.

“LGT plus?” I tease.

Shaun smirks and shrugs. “I’ve been doing some Googling.”

I roll my tongue around the inside of my mouth and nod.

“What does the I stand for?”

I screw my face up. “How the fuck should I know?” 

Shaun grins and we go back to the game. “So …,” he says, this mischievous tone to his voice. I swallow and keep focused on the game. “You and that Ozzie guy …,”

Fucking hell. I cautiously look over at Shaun. He’s giving me this cheeky, tight-lipped smile. “It’s … not like that,” I tell him. My chest tightens. 

“Oh right! I just assumed." He sounds genuinely surprised. "So you two haven’t …,”

I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with Shaun. It feels weird talking about the Ozzie thing with someone. Like I'm betraying him somehow.

“Umm. No … we have,” I tell him as I stare at the screen. “We’re just … I dunno. Messing about. I guess.” My insides clench. Shaun doesn't respond.

I swallow hard. “He, erm ... actually has a theory about you, you know?”

"About me?!" he asks.

"Yep!" I say lightly.

Shaun drops his controller. “What?!”

I shrug. “That you’re secretly in love with me," I say casually.

Shaun screws his face up. “What?! You fucking wish!”

I pull a face. “I’ve pulled WAY hotter guys than you, mate!”

We exchange smirks and go back to the game, that warm happy feeling going through me again. Because, despite whatever else is going on right now, at least everything’s back to normal with Shaun. Who knows, maybe things will be even better between us than they were before. It actually kind of feels like they already are.