Muscle Lads, Inc.

[Bjort]

25 minutes ago, muscleaddict said:

See - I've messed up already. I guess my American bodybuilder is a New Yorker then. (Thanks Google.)

And maybe a New Yorker of Puerto Rican or Dominican background. . Or possibly Cuban from Miami?   We are the big old melting pot! 

[DennisFLL]

45 minutes ago, muscleaddict said:

See - I've messed up already. I guess my American bodybuilder is a New Yorker then. (Thanks Google.)

Yes, a New -Yawk muscle-guy from tirty-tird street and tird avenue!  Looking forward to that story, whenever!  

[muscleaddict]

TWELVE

ALFIE

“Curtis … are you okay?” I ask before I purse my lips in a pretend serious manner.

Curtis looks up from his menu confused. “Yeah …?” he replies, grinning slightly.

“It’s just …” I scoot over to the seat next to him, currently unoccupied by Nick. This happy look flashes across Curtis’ face. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but …” I hold my menu up to hide my face from the rest of the lads at the table and continue in a whisper, “You’re surrounded by huge competitive bodybuilders!”

Curtis beams and holds his own menu up to cover his face. “I KNOW!” he whispers back, his face in mock shock, which makes me laugh.

I look up over my menu and scan the lads on the table then peek under it again to talk to Curtis. “Do you think any of them have got their posing trunks on under their jeans?” I whisper.

Curtis lets out a little laugh and playfully buries his face in the menu out of embarrassment. Then he pulls it away and just looks at me, grinning.

I have to admit - although the whole reason I invited Curtis Mayhew out tonight was so I could execute my quite frankly genius plan to fix him up with Nick, I can’t deny how nice it is to see him again. We might be completely different from each other and have next to nothing in common, but for some reason, me and Curtis just seem to get on so well. I also can’t believe he teaches kids with special needs. It’s just so … wholesome. Like Curtis himself. Does this guy have ANY flaws?

I look down at his maroon red coloured jumper. “Do you have a woolly jumper in every colour?”

“Yep!” he replies, turning to look at his menu while trying to keep straight-faced. “Do you have any t-shirts that fit?” he cheekily asks, not looking at me.

“Nope!” I say. “It’s almost like … I WANT to show off how big my muscles are.” I pull an indifferent face and shrug. Curtis is biting his lip, trying not to smile so much. His cheeks have gone a bit red. I wonder how he’d react if I just started randomly flexing. 

“Fun fact about this polo,” I say, leaning into Curtis. “It’s got magic powers!”

Curtis looks at me confused, still grinning.

“Whoever wears it …” I tense my pecs and then start bouncing them under the tight polo material. I watch Curtis’ expression change and his eyes widen. “Just starts …” I look down at my arm and clench my fist so my biceps flex, “randomly flexing!” I say, still clenching my fist so my biceps pop and flex. Curtis has gone bright red.

“Look at that!” I say, doing quick, little flexes of my biceps and bounces of my pecs. The muscles moving and dancing in and around the tight material of my awesome bright red polo shirt.

Curtis puts a hand to his face to cover it up in embarrassment, in between cute little laughs. I kinda love his reaction. I look up to see Jason and the two guys he’s sitting with staring at me. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Jason asks, half-smiling.

I shrug. “Entertaining Curtis!”

Jason grins and shakes his head.

“So …” I say leaning into Curtis again, who looks happy and flustered and like he can maybe now die happy. “What do you think of Nick?”

Something flashes across his face. “Erm …” he looks down at my now unflexed chest. “Yeah. He’s nice.”

I hold up my menu to cover my face again and whisper, “He’s gay!”

Curtis looks genuinely surprised. Then he awkwardly nods. I give him a pointed wide eyed look and he bites his lower lip and looks kind of awkward. Like he’s not sure what to say. Or quite how to process the information I’ve just given him.

Then Nick comes back looking kind of nervous and flustered and I scoot over so he can sit back down to (his future boyfriend? Cute!) Curtis, whose rather serious facial expression I can’t quite work out.

I don’t get the chance to speak to Curtis alone again for the rest of the night. When I say bye to him before heading back to the flat, there’s an awkward moment where he just looks at me, not speaking, with this sort of hopeful look on his face. Like he’s maybe hoping I’ll hug him goodbye like I did the last time. I kind of want to hug him, but it doesn’t feel like the right thing to do with Nick here. Speaking of Nick - he’s been in this weird, quiet mood all night. Maybe just the last few hours. I keep asking him if something’s wrong and he’s been insisting there isn’t.

The next day I wake up to a text on my phone which instantly annoys me. It’s from my brother, Ross.

Why haven’t you texted Dad back yet?

Yeah - fuck off, Ross. I’m pretty sure it was his weekend to see Dad so no doubt the two of them spent the day talking about me and slagging me off. I head to Instagram and my chest expands when I see a DM waiting for me from Curtis’ shredded_muscle_lover97 account. 

So something a bit crazy happened to me last night. I was out having a nice meal and this big (but kinda short) muscle man in a tight polo shirt started randomly flexing his big biceps and bouncing his pecs at me

I tip my head back and laugh. I love it so much.

OMG! That sounds terrible. Are you okay??

I grin like mad, flop my head on my pillow and stare at the screen as I wait for Curtis’ reply. 

It was! He was one of those gross bodybuilding types. You know the sort? Cakes himself in fake tan and wears those ridiculous shiny thongs. Then gets on stage and flexes his muscles with a group of other mentally disturbed Neanderthals. 

I laugh and type my reply. Why do Curtis’ DM’s make me laugh more than anyone elses? 

Eeeew. GROSS! So what went through your head when he was flexing his huge and awesome, erm, I mean gross biceps and fucking massive, erm, I mean disgusting pecs?

I feel a weird pinch of nerves as I grin into my phone and wait for his reply. I really have no idea how he’s going to respond.

Honestly?

Three dots tell me that Curtis is writing another message.

BETTER THAN ANY SEX I’VE EVER HAD!

What the hell? My mouth actually hangs open in shock. Another three dots appear.

I can’t believe I just wrote that!!

I laugh as I read the words. I can’t quite believe Curtis wrote that either! It was pretty brave. And risky. Which, I have to admit, I kind of love.

It’s also pretty crazy to think that flexing my muscles had such a big effect on someone. Not just anyone. On Curtis. It feels kind of powerful, I guess. And like I just want to do it again. I reply to see his last message.

Haha!! It’s fine! It made me laugh. 

I look at the words I just messaged Curtis on the screen. Somehow they don’t feel enough. Maybe it’s time for ME to be risky and brave. I leap off my bed and go into my posing trunk drawer, a rush of excitement surging through me. I get my hot pink Next Level Posers branded trunks out and throw them on the bed. Then I take a picture with my phone and send Curtis a follow-up message.

Ridiculous shiny thongs, huh? What - like these, you mean?

I feel a rush of adrenaline as I send Curtis the picture of the trunks I just took. The appearance of three little dots causes my excitement levels to soar.

YOU’RE KILLING ME! 

I laugh and flop down on my bed again. Curtis is writing another message. It takes an agonising amount of time to come through.

Okay. Genuine question. Do you take suggestions for Instagram videos because I think I have one? Picture the scene. You in the middle of an aisle at Tescos wearing nothing but THOSE very pink trunks flexing and posing as a bunch of poor, unsuspecting shoppers drift in and out of the shot?

I laugh at the message. And oh shit. I fucking love that idea. And now my mind is racing. I wonder if I could actually get away with that. And I wonder if I could persuade Curtis to be the one to film it.

OMG. Okay. YES I take suggestions. And I love that one.

I suddenly have a genius idea for a reply.

But do you know what I think would be even better? Two bodybuilders with the same matching hot pink Next Level Posers! I wonder if I could persuade Nick to join.  

There’s a pause. Curtis isn’t replying. Huh. Is that because I mentioned Nick? Then three dots appear on my screen.

That could work!!

I bite my lip and stare at the message. I’d love to ask Curtis what he thought of Nick, but wouldn’t that be too obvious? Wouldn’t he know straight away what I was up to?

And now I’m suddenly thinking - how can I get Curtis and Nick together? I know I’m not going to get Curtis to make the first move. It’s going to have to come from Nick. Suddenly a plan starts forming in my head. A plan I can kick-start into action pretty much right now. I’m pretty sure that Nick is home. 

I jump off my bed and look in the mirror. I observe my outfit of grey shorts, white novelty socks with little yellow bananas on them and the tight white vest I sleep in. I think about changing or at least putting a hoodie on. But maybe if I go into Nick’s room wearing this, he’ll be more likely to give me what I want. I laugh out loud to myself at that thought (it's more of a surprised chuckle than an evil cackle!) and head to Nick’s room.

When I knock on the door to his room and go inside, Nick’s sitting on his bed with his laptop in his lap looking up at me with a totally bewildered expression. I realise I’ve never actually just hung out with Nick in his room before. 

“All right?” I say. “I’m gonna sit down on this VERY carefully!” I joke as I sit down next to him on his bed. He still looks baffled. And slightly flustered. But there’s a hint of an excited smirk there. His eyes keep going down to my arms and chest on display. 

“What ya doing?”

“Ummm … nothing really.”

Have Nick's cheeks gone a bit red? Sigh. The things my pecs and biceps do to adorable and slightly geeky gay lads. It's outrageous, really. 

“I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about. According to Danny King, your bedroom is the place to be!”

Nick’s mouth curls into a giddy grin.

“So … first day of training with Jason tomorrow? Excited?”

“Erm … yeah. And … also kinda nervous, I guess!”

See - I told you he was adorable.

“You’ll be fine! Started your Instagram yet?” I ask, with an eyebrow arched. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t. His expression gives me the answer.

“Let’s do it now!” I suggest, scooting over to sit closer to him. Nick's eyes go down to my chest and his lips curl into another happy grin. Would it be downright cruel to just start bouncing my pecs and flexing my biceps in front of him?

“Ummm. Okay. I don't really know what to have as my username, though.”

I clear my throat. "Hmmm ..." I say. Oh, fuck it. Just one little bounce. Boing!

“Okay, so you don't wanna use your real name."

Nick looks slightly shell-shocked. He's probably wondering whether he really just saw my pecs bounce or whether he hallucinated it. I carry on talking as if nothing just happened. 

"So I'm thinking your username should be something bodybuilding related. How about … crazy underscore shredz? With a Z!”

Nick smiles but screws up his face. “Mmmm. I dunno, It’s not very … me!”

“Ummm. Geeky underscore shredz?”

His mouth falls open and he gives me a look like he’s offended and I laugh. “Okay, how about … speccy and shredded? Specs and trunks?"

Nick’s grinning.

"Trunks and PUMPS?”

Nick's eyes widen. “I actually kinda love that one!”

“Trunks and pumps! Sorted!”

Nick excitedly bites his lips as he starts setting up his new bodybuilding-related profile (username: trunks_and_pumps) on his laptop. I wonder if he has this much fun playing Xbox with Danny?

“Ooooh - what’s your first pic gonna be?”

“Ummm. Dunno," Nick says, scrunching his nose. "Probably, like … a progress pic, I guess? Whatever Jason wants me to post.”

“Nah. Post a pic now,” I order.

“Like what?”

I laugh. “Oooh. Erm. How about ... one of the pics of you competing in your last bodybuilding show?”

“Mmmm. I dunno,” Nick replies, unsure.

“Nick!” I say, sternly. “Come on! You look awesome in those stage pics you showed me. How about the one of you sticking your tongue out in your shiny pink trunks? Upload it now!”

Nick looks amused. “Yes sir!” he jokes.

I grin at him. Sir? Huh. I weirdly kind of like being called that.

“I know what I’m doing, Nick. Thirty thousand followers.”

Nick sighs. “Fine!” 

I bite my lip to stop from smiling so much as Nick uploads his first picture to his brand new bodybuilding-related Instagram page. So far my plan is working perfectly! 

Once he’s done, I get my phone out, search for Nick’s new profile then start following him. Then I repost the picture he’s uploaded with the caption.

Check out my shredded little buddie @trunks_and_pumps giving it some tude on stage! He’s doing the Junior Classic Physique at the Tiger Classic North West in May. Too bad he won’t be able to wear these awesome trunks from @nextlevelposers

I bite my lip and feel a jolt of excitement as I post it. Then I DM the post to Curtis’ shredded_muscle_lover97 profile and write: Does this guy look familiar?

“Did you mention me?” Nick asks, studying his laptop. “Oh GOD!” he cries. I look at his laptop to see my new post open. I laugh. “You’re welcome!”

He groans and closes his eyes. “All of your followers are gonna see it!”

I laugh. “That’s kind of the point, Nick!"

Nick lets out a painful groan and I laugh again.

"Answer me this. What's the difference between all of my Instagram followers seeing a pic of you on stage and all of the people who were in the actual audience of that show?”

Nick wrinkles his nose again. "Mmmm. I dunno. I doubt many of the people in the audience were actually looking at ME though.”

I give him a pointed look. “Trust me, they were looking.”

Nick's lips curl into a shy and flattered grin.

“Unless the shine from your trunks momentarily blinded them,” I say, checking my phone to see if Curts has replied. Which he hasn't.

“Oh wow. I’m actually getting likes and followers!” he says, seeming genuinely surprised. I laugh in response. This guy is just TOO adorable sometimes. Just like his future boyfriend, Curtis.

Nick suddenly gasps. “Oh fuck. Next Level Posers followed me!” he says. He’s so excited. “And they’ve commented on the post. Two flame emojis.”

I check out Nick’s followers on my phone. “Danny’s started following you too.”

I look over at his face. He doesn’t respond. He’s biting his lip and grinning. So fucking much. His cheeks have gone red. Hang on - does Nick have a thing for Danny? I mean - I wouldn’t exactly be surprised. Danny’s a handsome bastard. The attention he got at that gay pub the other week was crazy. Something unexpected twists in my stomach. I flashback to what my brother, Ross, said to me earlier in the week. That everything with me is a competition. Is it so bad to want my new gay flatmate to fancy ME more than Danny? 

“So … who are you gonna follow? Other than me, Jason and Danny. Obviously.”

“Mmmm. Dunno. I might just … take it slowly.”

I internally groan. I look back at my phone. No reply from Curtis. “You know who you SHOULD follow!”

Nick shoots me a curious look.

“Curtis!” I say, with a casual shrug. And then … I can’t help it. My mouth curls into a smirk.

Nick narrows his eyes at me. “Are you trying to, like … fix us up or something?”

I give him an innocent wide eyed shrug. “Erm … maybe. Possibly. YES?!” I say, beaming at him. He grins back and rolls his eyes.

“Nick - you guys are perfect for each other!” I cry. 

“Why?!” Nick says, looking genuinely confused, but still smiling.

“Because … you’re both really nice. And also both a little nerdy. And he’s got a thing for bodybuilders. AND he’s written a children’s book! I mean - how awesome is that?”

“That IS pretty cool!” Nick replies, nodding.

“And he works with special needs kids. I mean … he’s like, adorable. He’s like a labradoodle in human form. Plus, you know, you’re both just so sweet and lovely.”

Nick’s giving me this happy, warm grin and gooey-eyed look. My chest does something weird.

“And … I’m not being funny, Nick, but … you kind of owe me one!”

His expression turns more serious. He looks confused.

“Well … it WAS kinda me who put the idea into Jason’s head about training you.”

Nick’s face falls. “Oh right.”

Oh shit. Have I said the wrong thing?

“I mean - he definitely wants to coach you! I just … planted the seed.”

His expression softens and he gently chews on his lower lip.

“He was telling me about the Junior Classic Physique class and I said you’d be perfect for it. I mean - I kinda thought you’d guess I’d had a hand in it?”

“Ummm. I dunno. I didn't really think about it.”

Is Nick really that naive?

“Anyway. It doesn’t matter how it happened. You’re on Team Fox now. You’re competing in four weeks. And … who knows, you could have … a boyfriend whose a special needs teacher slash children’s author by then?”

Nick smirks and rolls his eyes.

“Just go on ONE date with Curtis. That’s all I’m asking.”

Nick groans. “Does he even fancy me?” he says, screwing his face up.

I give him a pointed look. “With those chipmunk cheeks and these big arms? How the fuck could he not?”

Nick practically beams. “Okay!” he sighs. “I’ll go on a date with him. I mean, if he even wants to!”

I laugh. “Don’t worry. I’ve got that sorted.”

“What do you mean?” Nick asks, looking slightly panicked. I fight back the urge to laugh. 

“I have a cunning plan. To get the two of you together. Alone!”

Nick narrows his eyes at me suspiciously. “You know my prep starts tomorrow?”

“That’s fine. Just … let me know when your next night off from training is! I’ll sort Curtis out.”

I go back to my phone and feel a pinch of excitement to find a DM from Curtis. He’s replied to the post I sent him of Nick on stage.

OMG!! He looks incredible! And the trunks! 

I’m smiling as I read the message. But then … I’m suddenly not. My stomach does this weird clench. 

I type: Is he hot as me though then delete it. Don’t be such a twat, Alfie! 

I know, right?! Random question. I can’t set a day YET but … how do you feel about going to the cinema one night this week with two bodybuilders who both own the same pair of hot pink Next Level Posers?! (We probably won't ACTUALLY wear them on the night though.)

Curtis replies straight away.

Nah. Sorry. Not intere- I couldn’t even finish that sentence.

I laugh at my screen and Nick looks up. Curtis sends me another DM.

Sounds awesome. Count me in. (Maybe just think about wearing the trunks? )

I lock my phone, trying not to grin so much in front of Nick. This is perfect. Nick’s agreed to give the whole Curtis thing a try. Curtis has agreed to come to the cinema with me and Nick. Little does Curtis know that I won’t actually be there. That it'll just be him and Nick. Then the two of them can start getting to know each other. And realise they both like each other. My stomach does another weird clench.

“Everything okay?” Nick asks, studying my face.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Dunno. You just looked a bit … serious then.”

I screw my face up. “I’m fine. Future boyfriend of Curtis Mayhew!” I tease.

Nick rolls his eyes and shakes his head. My phone chimes. This time with a text message. I feel a horrible tug in my stomach when I see who it’s from. My dad. For fuck’s sake. What a way to ruin my mood.

Hi, Alf. As this month’s weekend for us to meet falls on my birthday, do you want to go for lunch next Saturday?

I internally groan. No. I don’t want to meet you for lunch next Saturday, Dad. I don't want to talk about the fact that you’re a secret bloody drag queen. But I also know that I can’t just ignore my dad forever. And I AM going to be seeing him for his birthday in a few weeks. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get out of that. Maybe he won’t mention the whole drag queen thing? Jesus. I really don't want to think about this right now.

More out of hope that the problem will just go away, I send a reply to Dad’s text telling him that yes, I’m free next Saturday. Then I lock my phone and put it in my pocket. Now … back to more fun things. Mostly my genius plan of setting my very sweet gay flatmate up with my funny and adorable new muscle loving mate slash teacher slash children’s author who I think might just be my favourite texting or DM’ing buddie ever.

[crushme99]

What a fun chapter to read.

[DennisFLL]

I love the way MuscleAddict portrays the character Alfie.  He seems to be a real cock-teaser of both Nick and Curtis and on some ego-boosting level getting off on their reactions to his muscularity.  And he's genuinely a really warm 'lad' trying to make his friends happy by bringing them together.  But I don't know, I also can't help but think that on some level he has a gay side that we may start to see as more of this great story unfolds.  Lead on, MA!    

[brawnygods]

6 hours ago, muscleaddict said:

“It’s almost like … I WANT to show off how big my muscles are.”

Maybe it’s just me but this feels like next-level (branded) muscle fiction from CJ.  He was already a master of pulse-raising, pec-bouncing, polo-straining, vest-stretching thiction-with-a-heart but the number of plates he’s spinning here, and how well, is really impressive.  So many compelling muscle-lust focused characters, all of them vividly three-dimensional.  And the swole lads blessedly so.

However many chapters there are planned, he could double that number and it wouldn’t be enough.

[muscleaddict]

18 hours ago, crushme99 said:

What a fun chapter to read.

I’m glad you’re still enjoying it, mate. 

[muscleaddict]

18 hours ago, DennisFLL said:

I love the way MuscleAddict portrays the character Alfie.  He seems to be a real cock-teaser of both Nick and Curtis and on some ego-boosting level getting off on their reactions to his muscularity.  And he's genuinely a really warm 'lad' trying to make his friends happy by bringing them together.  But I don't know, I also can't help but think that on some level he has a gay side that we may start to see as more of this great story unfolds.  Lead on, MA!    

Well, I can’t speak from experience but I feel like once you’d bounced your pecs at one cute, nerdy muscle lover and seen the effect it had on him, you’d naturally want to do it to another? 

[muscleaddict]

16 hours ago, brawnygods said:

master of pulse-raising, pec-bouncing, polo-straining, vest-stretching thiction-with-a-heart

Might use that as my new Twitter bio! 

This whole comment had me smiling into my phone as if I were Alfie getting a DM from shredded_muscle_lover97. Thank you so much @brawnygods. As for this...

16 hours ago, brawnygods said:

However many chapters there are planned, he could double that number and it wouldn’t be enough.

See - that just makes me want to bring all of these characters back and write a sequel. (Although, to be fair, I’ve had that thought already. )

[dredlifter]

So good.  

And ugh, Alfie.  So hot, so muscular, so good-hearted yes stubbornly misguided. 

But if he keeps bouncing his muscles and flexing in his polos I'll forgive him.