I held my gym bag firmly and stared at the ground as I took each step, my toes getting numb with each passing minute. I'd managed the walk to the gym alright, but it seemed even more icy out here than before. The cold Saturday morning simply refused to thaw out with the midday sun and so I had to tread carefully.
This routine had steadily grown on me, an early morning work out to get the day started, and on the whole I liked it now. I'd only been going to the gym for about 18 months and I could feel and see the improvement in myself. No longer the scrawny little guy I had been now I could look in the mirror and see a 23 year old man looking back at me. My body was growing, my confidence was growing. It was all coming together. Finally.
I trudged along the pavement, getting lost in thought. The awkward teenager that had left this town all those years ago to go to university had come back changed a couple of weeks before. Physically changed at least. People who recognised me from school had that same look of surprise. I hadn't been on steroids, but it seemed like that was what everyone thought. "Is that... James?" they would ask with shock. I would nod back and smile, cringing inside. Only my mum called me James, or me when I was annoyed at myself. To the people I liked I was always Jay. None of these others stopped to chat for long though, just as well. I'd come back to this town to get my career going, not for the people.
Except for maybe one. Growing up my real support had always been Matt. We were opposites in so many ways but we worked well together. He was bigger, and more confident. An arrogant prick sometimes, but straightforward. Practical. When I'd left, he'd stayed and gotten a job in construction. A 'hands-on' job as he wanted, instead of learning from books or old professors. The years I'd been away had done him good in earning some money and making him grow up a bit. So, when my graduation had come and gone, he was looking at moving into a new 2-bed flat. He asked if I wanted to join, and I had no hesitation or regrets in the few weeks since.
I turned off the road and into the block of flats where ours was. It was nothing special, but it worked for us. With my frozen feet and tired body, I looked at the stairs, and then at the lift and pushed the button. I didn't fancy climbing all the stairs to the seventh floor right now. The bell dinged and the doors slid open. I pressed 7 and leaned back against the wall looking at my reflection in the mirror on the other side. My 5 foot 5 reflection looked bulky with all the clothes I was wearing. I scratched at my stubble and brushed my short, brown hair. Most guys were taller, bigger, and had more presence. But it felt like I was making something out of what I had. Progress.
---
The front door slammed behind me as the warm air comforted me; Matt always kept the heating on and the flat pretty warm despite the ice outside. I kicked off my shoes and started taking my coat off.
"Jay? Mate is that you?" a deep voice called from the back.
"Yeah." I called back.
"Finally! Mate, is there a key on the kitchen table?"
What? Matt was always a bit weird but what was he talking about? I shrugged off my layers and hung them up in the entryway. It felt better to be back down to the sleeveless gym top again.
"Hurry up Jay. Is there a key? Like a little silver one?"
I wandered through into the kitchen and looked on the table. There was a key, but I'd never seen this one before.
"Yeah I found one!"
"Thank fuck! Bring it into my room, mate."
I padded along the corridor to his door and opened it. Moving through I immediately scrunched my eyes closed, glimpsing something I shouldn't have.
"Jay? Please tell me it's you."
"Yeah." I sighed as I gingerly opened my eyes again. Splayed out on his bed was the full 6 foot tall frame of my best friend Matt, naked head to toe except for a blindfold. His hands were cuffed above himself to the bedframe, and his feet were tied to the other end.
"Untie me, please. My wrists are killing."
Walking closer I could see more details, that really I didn't want to be seeing. His flaccid dick was lying against his thigh, and just above it was a pool of... stuff across his abs. It felt odd to be able to see all of him like this when he couldn't see me. He was a muscular guy, big broad shoulders and a solid chest that I'd always envied. But he didn't have facial or chest hair like me, just his short black hair on his head. Stretched out on his bed like that felt like he was on display.
"This is a new one." I muttered as I reached over to untie the shirt improvised as a blindfold.
Matt shook his head and blinked his eyes open as he looked at me. "Yeah thought I'd try something new."
"Well, I guess it was good then."
He looked down himself at the mess. "Haha, yeah mate. She proper went for it. Didn't realise I nutted so much!" He chuckled.
"At least check she didn't nick anything." I scolded, working at the handcuffs and noting some bruising underneath.
He rubbed his wrists as he sat up and then undid his feet. "Yeah, yeah. In a minute, shower first though."
Matt hopped up and stretched, then headed out of the room and down the hall. It felt absurd seeing him walk away like that, and I tried not to look but my eyes scanned across his ass as he left and saw a red sore patch shifting as he walked. I shook my head and smiled ruefully to myself. Another day with this lunatic.
---
