This was a mistake.

  Josh was immediately overwhelmed by all the men staring at him. He did a good job staying quiet and small by hiding behind Gym Bro as he greeted all the different guys in Jack’s house. He also remembered to introduce himself as “Zoe” and endured the many times people asked if he and “Kev” were dating. A part of Josh kept considering it would be easier if he’d said that Zoe was dating Gym Bro. Then her disappearance could be expined by them breaking up.

  Eventually, Josh found his way to the kitchen where Jack had plenty of alcohol Josh could use to both boost his gaming skills and help him stop focusing on the skirt that only went halfway down his thighs or the feeling of his breasts jiggling with every step.

  After chugging two beers, he found Gym Bro in the main area and sat next to him on the couch. For a moment, Josh started to pull away from snuggling so close to Gym Bro since they weren’t at home and he didn’t want the guys to think they were gay. But then he remembered that girls were allowed to be super touchy-feely even in public, so “Zoe” getting snuggly with her friend wouldn’t be weird.

  One of the guys called everyone to attention. Josh figured there were over twenty, maybe even thirty people. “Okay,” the guy said, “it’s already eight-thirty, so we’re going to get started. Anybody who isn’t here already is automatically disqualified for this month.”

  “They take this thing pretty serious,” Josh thought to himself, “It makes sense considering how much money is on the line.”

  The guy continued, “This month’s game is Mortal Kombat as selected by Jack,” he paused to point at Jack. Most of the guys cpped, but all Josh could do was gre at the man he’d decided was his arch rival. The announcer guy continued, “This is a basic one-on-one fighting game, so we’ll do a single elimination bracket to find the champion.”

  “Since we have a few newcomers into the tournament, we’ll do a pool of three fights each to determine seeding. You’ll be pced against three random opponents and you both have to pick random characters for the fight. Best of ones only.”

  Jack coughed loudly. The announcer guy rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ve been asked to crify that they are technically best of threes since that’s how the game works. But fact of the matter is you get one chance to beat your opponent. We good Jack?”

  Jack replied, “I want to make sure we don’t have people compining about the format.” One of the other guys spoke up. “You mean outside of you cheating like you did st time.” Some of the men ughed. Jack walked to the front next to the announcer. “Hey, hey. I beat you guys fair and square. It’s not my fault nobody took advantage of the rules.”

  “Whatever man, let’s py!” The other men cheered. Josh had to smile a little. This was starting to remind him of some of the frat parties he’d been to in college. He was pretty much the weird newcomer then as well, but he’d managed to have fun.

  “Of course,” he thought to himself as he looked down himself once more, “I don’t think I would’ve been able to blend into the crowd back then if I dressed like this.”

  Not all of the men in the house were competing. There were two people designated as referees, the announcer guy kept all the people moving and handled setting up each match, and some people were obviously there to cheer on their friends. Josh was, once again, surprised at how well organized everything was. He figured this was going to be a fun-loving time with guys drinking and pying games together, but everyone took things pretty seriously.

  The tournament had a straightforward yout and proceeded orderly. Josh handled himself perfectly in the seeding rounds by winning all three matches. Unfortunately, this didn’t automatically pce him at the top position since a few other people also won all three of their matches. They were then seeded by how many rounds each person won as well by the total game time it took for them to win.

  Still, a starting seed of fifth pce was nothing to ugh about. Gym Bro ended up second seed, and Jack was the ninth seed. Josh was a bit nervous from watching Jack’s games. He was obviously one of the better pyers, but his victories were always close. Most importantly, there was something off about how Jack looked after winning that threw Josh for a loop.

  Pcing fifth meant he had a bye in the first round, so Josh took the time to refresh his makeup in the bathroom after drinking another beer. His head was already buzzing and he needed to pace himself to be able to face Jack in the quarter finals.

  Josh returned and saw the same two guys still duking it out on the screen. Except they had different characters. And one of the guys was only in his boxers. Josh tapped Gym Bro on the shoulder. Josh asked, “Why is that guy in his underwear?”

  Gym Bro leaned down to be able to speak to Josh over the cheering crowd. “It’s strip salvation; one of the ways we keep things fun during the tournaments. If you lose an elimination round, you can strip one piece of clothing to get a second chance.”

  “For this game, neither person can py the same character for a rematch and you also can’t ban the same character you did the first time. So it’s a bit risky. You might be able to get lucky on a second chance, but it’s also likely that the person who beat you will pick their best character for the rematch since you can’t ban them again.”

  Josh nodded his head. It was a very interesting mechanic indeed. He asked, “Which character is Jack’s best?” Gym Bro shrugged and shook his head. “I have no idea. None of us know why he picked this game. I mean, he’s good, but nothing special, you know?”

  Josh observed the rest of the first round’s games and wasn’t worried about anyone he saw. Soon enough, it was his turn. He took his pce on the couch and grabbed the controller. The announcer said some things, but Josh was too focused on getting his mind focused on winning to notice.

  He crushed his opponent easily. It only took two rounds and less than five minutes total. His opponent opted to strip off his shirt for a second chance. He made a big show by dancing and whipping the shirt around in front of Josh. Josh kept a slight smile on his face and ughed a little, but internally he thought the guy was ridiculous.

  “He’s not even hot,” Josh thought to himself, “If he’s going to strip for a girl, he should at least have visible abs.”

  After losing again, the guy demanded a second rematch. He, once again, made a big show of stripping out of his pants. The other guys whooped and hollered as the man danced around and even put his foot up on the couch next to Josh. Josh used all of the uncomfortable energy to crush the man once again. Thankfully, the man didn’t opt to take off his boxers.

  Jack continued to progress in the bracket. Josh couldn’t help feeling like there was something off still. Jack’s match was close once again, but he never seemed nervous. To top things off, after beating his test opponent down to his briefs, Jack turned around and winked directly at Josh.

  Gym Bro was fantastic. As the second seed, people didn’t even bother asking for rematches after he crushed them. Josh was happy to cheer for his friend. He also enjoyed the freedom Zoe had to give their friend a hug after each victory.

  Josh’s next opponent was the fourth seed, but Josh wasn’t too worried. The only thing that separated them was their game times. Who cared that Josh took a little longer to beat people? What mattered was winning.

  Their battle was hard fought, but Josh came out on top by a hair in the third round. He leaped off the couch with a squeal of joy before remembering not to let his skirt fly up and risk exposing his bulge. “Rematch,” the guy said. He ripped off his shirt, tossed it behind him, and took hold of the controller again. Josh gulped. He’d been so caught up in winning, he’d totally forgotten about the possibility of a rematch.

  Because of the rules, Josh wasn’t allowed to ban Scorpion a second time, so of course that’s who the guy picked. Josh lost in two rounds. He sat, dazed, on the the couch until he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned and saw Gym Bro gesturing towards Josh’s feet. He looked down.

  Socks.

  “Rematch!” Josh yelled. He took off one of his socks and held it up as if he’d already cimed victory. He felt a buzzing in his mind and looked down at his chest. His fast movement made his bra poke out slightly from the very low-cut top he was wearing. Josh quickly lowered his arm and adjusted himself.

  One of the referees spoke up, “Things like socks have to both be taken off to count.” Josh blushed and quickly bent over to remove his other sock. Several whistles went out across the room. Josh snapped back to attention as he realized he’d just given everybody behind him a little peep show.

  With all his might, Josh held in his shame and embarrassment as he sat on the couch to finish removing his other sock. He crumpled them into a ball and handed them to Gym Bro to hold onto.

  He settled into the couch and tried to refocus his mind. He had to make the right decisions to give himself the best odds of winning. He needed to show these guys that Zoe wasn’t some ditzy girl who was only good for showing off her tits and ass. They were a serious gamer. After another hard-fought match, Josh emerged victorious.

  Only for his opponent to demand another rematch. And another. And another. Josh was happy that he was able to beat the guy so consistently, but pying game after game with the stress of needing to strip again if he ever lost in order to avoid elimination was getting to him. A part of him felt really happy getting to py so many games, but Josh knew that part was ridiculous. All that mattered was winning the prize.

  “Why does this guy have on so many clothes?” Josh thought to himself.

  Finally, the number four seed gave up and Josh could breathe again. He got onto some wobbly legs and hobbled away until Gym Bro came to support them. He gave Josh some water and a banana. He said, “That was an awesome match Zoe.” Josh nodded their head in a daze. That was too close.

  All of those victories and none of it would have mattered if he’d made a single mistake. And now his head was all fuzzy. Were they getting drunk already? They’d only had a few beers. Beer wasn’t even that tasty.

  They sat down on one of the bar stools Jack had in his apartment before being shocked by the sudden cheers and roars from the main area. Josh couldn’t see over all the people hopping around and jumping. Eventually, he saw what was happening.

  Jack had beaten the number one seed in two rounds.

  Josh couldn’t believe his eyes. Apparently, neither could the guy who just lost. He stripped his shirt off for the rematch, but Jack simply decimated him again on a different character. Then again. And again.

  Josh was certain the guy would give up after losing while only wearing his underwear but then those came off too. “Rematch,” the man said to a smirking Jack. Jack replied, “You sure you’re not too cold? Maybe I should turn the heat up.”

  “Shut up and py. I ban Goro.”

  Jack won again. In only two rounds. Again.

  Josh was so terrified and stunned that he didn’t have the strength to cheer Gym Bro on in his next match. Simir to the other recent matches, they had to py multiple games until Gym Bro’s opponent refused to strip further. Gym Bro even lost his shirt in the battle.

  They had a short break before the next games. Josh managed to pull Gym Bro aside. “Jack has to be cheating, right?” Gym Bro cocked his head and replied, “I’m not sure. And if you wrongly cim someone is cheating you get disqualified for the rest of the year.”

  “But, there’s no way he’s that good. He was the ninth seed and he crushed the first seed! If he was that good, he should’ve been seeded first no problem. He’s got to be up to something.”

  Gym Bro pced his hands on Josh’s shoulders. “Hey,” he said, “get your mind under control. The only thing Jack is doing right now is getting under your skin.” At that moment, Jack walked up to the pair. He said, “I’d settle for getting under her skirts.”

  Gym Bro gred at him. “Fuck off man, she’s not in the mood.” Josh grinned and looked at his friend’s face with admiration. They were so lucky to have Gym Bro on their side. Jack held his hands up in false surrender. “Hey, she said she could handle this. Remember? She said she’d take the whole pot by the end of the year.”

  “And maybe she will. She’s actually really good at video games.”

  “What? Like Minecraft? Or Pokemon? Oh, or maybe, if she manages to win today, our next tournament will be Barbie’s Princess Dream House Adventure.” Jack cackled and walked away before Gym Bro or Josh could respond.

  “What an asshole,” Gym Bro said as he turned to face Josh again. Josh was starting to lose faith. “Maybe this was all a mistake,” he said. They sat silently. Josh looked up at his friend. Well, at his friend’s abs. Which reminded them. “Oh, hey, give me my socks back. I might need a rematch against Jack.”

  Gym Bro cocked his head. “You can’t put clothes back on. Why do you think I’m still shirtless? Or why Freddy is still naked.” He gestured over to the former number one seed who was quietly steaming in a corner. “Wait, what?” Josh said, “We can’t put our clothes back on even if we lose?”

  “Nope, that’s another risk with strip salvation. It’s also why people usually stop at the underwear. You have to stay like that for the rest of the night.”

  Josh immediately went from despondent to panicked. Without his socks, if he needed to rematch Jack, he would need to remove either his skirt or his top. The sound from the main area interrupted Josh’s thoughts.

  “Okay everybody!” the announcer said, “Let’s gather for our first quarterfinal match. The current reigning champion and the man who beat the number one seed: Jaaaaaack!” Jack ran into the room with his arms raised high to a mix of boos and cheers.

  The announcer continued, “And his opponent, the lovely, the sexy, the beautiful: Zooooooeeeee!” Josh managed to get to his feet and walk over to the couch. Several of the guys squeezed his arms or patted his head. Everybody was cheering for him.

  He was starting to feel better about things.

  “Give us a another show!” someone yelled garnering cheers from the crowd.

  At least, a little better.

  Josh cracked his knuckles and grabbed the controller. Jack said, “Oh? Somebody wants to get serious.” Josh could feel that sickening smirk on Jack’s face. Not to mention that Jack made no attempt to hide the fact that he was staring at Zoe’s boobs. They felt dirty sitting next to the man.

  They took a deep breath and selected their fighter. They must have pyed over four hundred hours on this game. They had everyone on his side; for one reason or another. Gym Bro was on their side. They could do this!

  Jack crushed them in two rounds. It wasn’t even close. Josh’s heart beat faster and faster. He tried to consider the odds; weigh their chances. His mind went bnk. Yet, somehow, as he sat there frozen and unable to do anything, Zoe’s voice managed to escape from his lips.

  “Rematch,” she said.

  Josh was as shocked as Jack was. Jack said, “Wait, seriously?” Another guy Josh couldn’t see spoke up, “Yeah, seriously?” Suddenly, a lot of the guys started cheering.

  “Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!”

  Josh felt himself stand to his feet. What the heck was he doing? There was no way he could actually strip in front of all these men. He hands reached underneath his skirt and the whoops and hollers grew louder. His fingers nimbly undid the csps holding the body suit together.

  “Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!”

  Josh’s arms crossed his body and he shimmied the bodysuit over his head. The crowd erupted into madness. Josh, finally back in control of himself, bashfully crossed his arms across his body. He didn’t even try to resist Jack grabbing his body suit from his hands and waving it around over his head.

  Josh sat back down and grabbed the controller. The announcer and referees managed to get the next match loaded during the chaos and then quieted everyone down before the fight started. It didn’t take Jack long to decimate Josh once again.

  “Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!”

  Josh didn’t want to give up now. He knew there was a slim chance of beating Jack, but he was going to have to walk around in his bra anyways. The only problem was he didn’t want to take his skirt off because it might expose his bulge. And there was no question that, right now, everybody’s eyes were roaming all over his body.

  His could maybe take the panties off, but then he’d have to be extra careful making sure the tiny skirt covered him as he sat and walked around for the rest of the night and he’d already had two slip-ups tonight. He could take off his bra. Maybe being topless would even give him an edge. His mind started buzzing loudly.

  Josh stood up and the cheers grew louder. The announcer came over and spoke in Josh’s ear. “Are you doing a rematch?” Josh felt his head nod before he had a chance to process the question. The announcer raised his voice and his hands as high as he could. “She’s doing a rematch!”

  Everybody roared. Some of the men started shaking and grabbing each other. Jack was staring directly at Josh with that, now familiar, hungry look in his eyes. Josh needed a drink. He managed to scoot off to the kitchen and downed an entire bottle of beer. He felt nauseous. He signaled a ref and got permission to go to the bathroom.

  He locked the door behind him. He could still hear the noise of the men losing their minds in the other room. Josh sat down on the edge of the tub and put his head in his hands. He wanted so badly to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come.

  *knock knock*

  “I’m busy!” Josh yelled.

  *knock knock*

  “I’m on my period! Give me a second.”

  “Zoe, It’s me.” Josh heard Gym Bro’s voice through the door. “Let me in.” Josh unlocked the door. Gym Bro stepped inside and locked the door behind him. They both looked at each other. Gym Bro sighed.

  “Well, what’s the pn?” Gym Bro said.

  “I don’t know. I already said I’d do a rematch, so I have to strip. I don’t want to take off my bra, but that might be my only option.”

  “Why not take off the skirt?”

  “If I take off the skirt then everyone will see my bulge!” Josh caught himself and lowered his voice. “I can’t lose and get outed as a guy.” He sniffled. Was their body shaking? Were they cold?

  “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to say anything, but…” Gym Bro trailed off. Josh felt a spark of hope ignite inside. Maybe Gym Bro knew of some obscure rule that could get him out of this giant mess. “But what?” Josh asked.

  “Well, after seeing the bulge problem, I thought it would be smart to find a better solution than trying to wear skirts all the time.” That wasn’t the solution Josh was hoping for, but it was better than nothing. He asked, “What did you find?”

  Gym Bro looked really uncomfortable. “It’s this thing called tucking. It makes it so your bulge would be completely ft.” Again, not what josh was hoping for, but it was still good information. “That’s perfect,” he said, “if I can make it ft, then I’ll just take off my skirt for the next game. How do I tuck?”

  “You sure you wanna try? You can still take the bra off.”

  “No way am I taking my bra off in front of those animals. Show me how to tuck.”

  Gym Bro nodded. “Okay, if that’s what you really want. Drop the skirt and panties.” Josh’s heart skipped a beat. He considered arguing for some privacy, but he could feel a ticking clock pressuring him to move fast. This was no time to ask for comfort; he needed to act. Josh stood up and slid the skirt and panties to the ground. “What next?” he said to project a brave front.

  “So, you sort of push your testicles up into your body.”

  “What?”

  “There’s, like, two little holes.” Gym Bro gestured around Josh’s groin. “There’s one on this side and one on the other side. You push a testicle into each one. It’s actually designed for them to go in there.”

  Josh fiddled around until he felt something that sort of felt like what Gym Bro was describing. However, he was having trouble getting through the mental block of trying to move his testicles around. He flinched and shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said, “this feels like it might damage them or something.”

  Gym Bro let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it,” he said.

  “What?”

  Josh didn’t have time to react as Gym Bro grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around. Gym Bro’s hand snaked around Josh’s body and took hold of his genitals. He easily maneuvered Josh’s testicles to the small indents in his groin. They slid into pce like puzzle pieces. “Oh fuck,” Josh said.

  “Okay, keep your legs together so they don’t slide back out. Good. Now step into the panties again. We need to fold your penis back and then secure everything with the panties.” Josh managed to move around with Gym Bro’s assistance.

  Gym Bro slid the panties up Josh’s legs. The sensation had his body quivering from pleasure. Or maybe anxiety. Could anxiety feel good? Gym Bro’s massive hand wrapped around Josh’s cock; making it instantly hard. Wait. No.

  “Um, Zoe? It’s kind of, well, hard.” Oh fuck. Oh no. Fuck.

  “I, um,” Josh stuttered, “It’s just the touching. And the fabric is so soft. And I didn’t jerk off today.”

  “Okay, okay, I understand.” Gym Bro let go of Josh’s penis and stepped back. “Hurry up and jerk off into the toilet so we can finish tucking. Everybody is going to be suspicious at this point.”

  Josh waddled over to the toilet and lifted the lid and the seat. He took hold of his erection and started to stroke. Everything felt wrong. He could feel the pressure of being in the bathroom for too long. He felt the pressure of Gym Bro standing behind him. He could vaguely tell that this whole situation was totally messed up in every conceivable fashion. He didn’t understand how his dick was holding an erection when it was impossible to feel comfortable enough to masturbate.

  For a moment, Josh broke away from all the physical sensations and experienced mental crity. In the past, he’d never had trouble masturbating, yet, recently, he’d had nothing but trouble. He had to be in the right mood or have the right kind of stimulus. In fact, in recent attempts he’d only reached a climax when he had the butt plug or the dildo inside of himself.

  “Um,” Josh said as he slowed down his stroking. His brain was throbbing. Could he really ask for help right now? With this? That would be insane. Surely it would be better if they gave up. Sitting shame for the rest of the tournament wouldn’t be too bad. They would still have their skirt on. Sure, everyone would be staring at their tits, and making jokes, and ughing at him. Especially Jack. They had to beat Jack.

  Josh felt his hand moving up and down his shaft once again. Except, this time, it was being moved by Gym Bro. Josh’s eyes widened and he turned his head to see Gym Bro’s face right next to his. “Shh,” he said, “close your eyes and focus on the feeling.” Josh stared down at the toilet. He couldn’t believe what was happening; this had to be a dream.

  Gym Bro’s voice entered his ears once again. “Try to rex.” Josh took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Doesn’t Zoe’s hand feel nice?” Josh nodded his head. He was starting to rex. “Focus on how good it feels to have a small, womanly hand stroke this cock.” Josh felt the small, but nice cock sliding inside his hand. “Zoe is beautiful. Zoe is sexy.” Josh slipped.

  He knew Gym Bro was still saying things, but all Josh could focus on was sliding his hand up and down the cock. How could holding an object be causing him so much pleasure? He sort of knew it shouldn’t feel so good, but he couldn’t deny how much fun he was having. He felt his body lean forward as he caught himself on the back of the toilet.

  He increased his pace. He was going to give whoever had this cock the best handjob they’d ever had. He moaned. A hand covered his mouth. Josh moaned again. He felt an arm wrap across his chest and a hand take hold of his right breast. “Ahh!” Josh let out a muffled cry and felt the penis release its energy.

  Josh leaned backwards and stood up. He could feel something fiddling with his underwear. He was spun around. Someone grabbed his cheeks. Josh’s eyes came back into focus. “Looks good. You back with me? You ready?” Gym Bro said. Zoe blinked a couple of times.

  She knew they didn’t have time to process what just happened and she knew what they had to do. She nodded her head and walked out of the bathroom. She ignored all the whoops and hollers as she took small steps to maintain the tucked position of their penis between her legs. She strode past Jack, took her seat on the couch and grabbed the controller. “Let’s go,” she said confidently.

  She and Jack picked their characters. She turned to lock eyes with him before hitting start. She straightened her back and watched Jack’s eyes flit down to her chest. An idea popped into her head.

  “You know,” she said, “I really don’t want to take my bra off yet. I was hoping to save it for the finals.” She turned her head to look at the giant television, but she could feel Jack gaze drift across her body.

  She won the first round. The crowd went wild. Jack chuckled nervously. Zoe grabbed Jacks thigh as the next round loaded up. “I hope you’re not taking it easy on me just because I had to cry a little bit.”

  “Dude! You made her cry.”

  “What the fuck man.”

  Jack spun around to defend himself. “Hey, she knows the rules.”

  Zoe chuckled and said, “Yeah, like that you’re not allowed to pause the game.” Jack turned back to face the TV, but it was too te. Zoe had already unleashed a long combo and taken Jack’s health down to zero.

  “FINISH HIM.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Zoe said. People started running around the room as Zoe’s character ripped Jack’s head and spine from the rest of his body.

  “Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!”

  The chants started again, but this time everyone was pulling at Jack’s shirt. He quickly removed it, but he had none of the fanfare that some of the others guys had. “Let’s go,” he said angrily, “rematch.”

  The announcer set up the next game and made notes of which characters weren’t allowed to be picked. Thankfully, one of Zoe’s favorites was still up, so she picked her. Jack said, “And no more dirty tricks.”

  Zoe held her hand to her chest and let out a gasp. “What? Me be a dirty little girl?” Jack choked on his breath and coughed a few times. Zoe smiled and locked into the screen. “The only thing on my mind is how interesting it would be if we were both on your couch in our underwear.” The match started. Zoe got an early lead as Jack forgot to move his character for a solid two seconds. That lead was enough to earn her a first round victory.

  The crowd cheered and hollered again. She heard Gym Bro’s voice start a chant. “Zo-e, Zo-e, Zo-e!” In the second round, Jack stayed focused and absolutely demolished Zoe’s character. She needed to distract him again. At least for another round. But, the only thing she could think to do was to take her bra off and that was the one thing she was trying to avoid!

  The chants of her name died out. She watched her favorite character in the game burst apart in the fatality. She lost. Jack stood up from the couch and turned to face her. He had that smug look on his face again. Zoe felt herself shrinking.

  Jack leaned over and looked down at Zoe’s boobs. “Well?” he said, “or do you finally want to admit you’re outcssed?” Zoe didn’t want to admit anything. She heard the cheers. She heard the now familiar “take it off” starting. Her hands started to move on their own. The cheers grew louder as their fingers fiddled with the csps of the bra. She felt tears falling down her face.

  Suddenly, Jack was shoved to the side and fell on the ground. Gym Bro stepped forward and pulled Zoe’s hands away from her bra. “That’s enough!” Gym Bro shouted at everyone. The room grew silent. Gym Bro handed his rge shirt over to Zoe and helped her slide it on. Then he scooped her up with one arm and held her like a princess.

  “I think we’ve had enough for today. I’m taking the dy home.”

  Zoe’s eyes widened. The room stayed silent as Gym Bro carried her out of the house. She heard Jack ughing. Outside, Gym Bro carefully pced Zoe into the passenger seat of his truck. He tossed something in the back and then climbed into the passenger seat. Zoe was too stunned to say anything on the entire drive home. Gym Bro quietly listened to music.

  When they pulled into the driveway, Gym Bro shut the truck off, but didn’t immediately get out. He took a deep breath. “What a group of assholes,” he said. Zoe’s mouth twitched. “I’m sorry I ruined your game.”

  “What? The tournament? It’s supposed to be nothing but fun and games. It’s all that Jack guy. He’s such a dick, you know? Always trying to get a rise out of people.”

  Zoe nodded. Jack was the scum of the earth; that was true.

  Gym Bro continued, “I sure would have liked to show him up in the finals, but it’s fine.” Zoe flinched. That was right, her failure didn’t only affect them; Gym Bro had to leave the tournament early as well. Gym Bro kept speaking, “It’s fine. I was losing interest in the whole thing anyways.”

  He turned and pced his hand on Zoe’s bare thigh. “I’m gd we got you out of there before anything bad happened.” Zoe gave a small smile. They stared into each other’s eyes. Were their faces getting closer? Gym Bro suddenly pulled away. Zoe felt their face flush with blood. Their breath was caught in their throat. She leaned back into the seat of the truck.

  “Um,” she coughed and tried to turn on Josh’s normal voice, “Y-yeah. Thanks for standing up for us. For me.” She still sounded like herself. Like Zoe. They took a breath and tried to clear their head. Gym Bro nodded his head. “Yeah, of course, anytime. For a friend, you know.” He turned and pointed his finger at them.

  “Just promise me that if you’re ever in a situation like that again, you’ll clearly state that you don’t want to do something, you hear me? You’ve got to say “no” very pinly so guys understand.” Josh nodded their head. “Yeah, I know,” he said.

  Gym Bro was right of course. Josh had never told everyone that he didn’t want to take the bra off. In fact, he’d said the complete opposite to Jack’s face. It was his own fault that Gym Bro had to save them again.

  Gym Bro patted Josh on the shoulder. “Let’s go inside and rex, yeah?” The two went into the house. Josh scurried into the door way while Gym Bro grabbed the things from the backseat of the truck. As soon as he entered the home, Josh felt a wave of relief wash over him. He took a deep sigh and said, “It’s good to be home.”

  Suddenly, he was wrapped into a huge hug and lifted off the ground. He panicked for a moment until he realized it was just Gym Bro being a dork. Josh let out a small chuckle after being put back down. “What was that for?” he asked. Gym Bro had a big grin on his face. “That was the first time you called it home.”

  Gym Bro was still holding Josh by the shoulders. Josh felt the tension rising in the air. “Hey,” Gym Bro said, “would you like a bath?” Josh coughed. “What?”

  “A bath. You know, to rex after a long day. I know you already took a shower and everything after the beach, but I figured a bath might help. I’ve got this bubble oil or essence stuff from when my Ex lived here. I don’t know if it actually does anything, but she said it always helped after a rough week of work.”

  “Oh. Um, yeah, but my bathroom doesn’t have a tub or anything.”

  Gym Bro chuckled and patted Josh on the head. “The bathtub is only in the master bedroom. I’ll let you use it tonight.” He paused and winked at Josh. “Special occasion, okay?” Josh nodded his head. He followed Gym Bro into his room. It felt like he was being granted access to a secret location.

  Gym Bro’s room was nothing too special. There were some cool-looking dumbbells in the corner. The walls were painted a blueish silver. Josh noticed Gym Bro’s bed was significantly rger than his own.

  “Which makes sense. He’s a bigger guy,” Josh thought to himself.

  The bathroom was incredible. There was so much space. Gym Bro started filling up the tub. He said, “I paid extra a few years ago to renovate the whole bathroom. I got this extra rge tub. It’s even got jets.” Josh walked over to admire the heavenly experience he was about to receive. “Oh, hold on a second.”

  Gym Bro rushed out of the room. He quickly returned with a few bottles Josh didn’t recognize. Gym Bro set most the bottles on the sink counter and then started squirting them one-by-one into the filling tub. He said, “I don’t remember how she set it up, but I figure putting a little bit of everything should be fine.” Josh replied, “I’m sure it’ll be great.”

  “Okay, well, yeah. You can use that big fluffy towel when you’re done. Turn this to stop the water. You can change the temperature with these knobs. Um…” Gym Bro trailed off. A funny thought crossed Josh’s mind. He said “You wanna watch?”

  Gym Bro’s eyes widened. Josh punched his arm and ughed. “I’m just joking, dude.” Gym Bro joined in the ughter. “Yeah, obviously. I’ll go watch a movie or something until you’re done.” He quietly left the bathroom. Before Josh had a chance to move, Gym Bro walked back inside.

  “Hey,” he said, “would you like to go to a baseball game with me?” Josh was surprised. “What?”

  Gym Bro said, “Well, today was supposed to be a rexing day at the beach with just the two of us, but then Jack showed up. And then the tournament happened. So, I was thinking, we could go to a baseball game. That way we don’t get a surprise visit from anyone we know.”

  Josh nodded his head. “I mean, yeah that sounds awesome. I haven’t been to game in years.” Gym Bro smiled. “Great,” he said, “I’ll get the tickets then. I think there’s a game next weekend.”

  “That would be awesome!”

  “Cool, then, um. Enjoy.” Gym Bro left the bathroom once again. Josh waited for a few moments this time before continuing.

  He stripped out of Gym Bro’s oversized shirt. He undid the bra and felt the freedom of having his chest drop a little bit. He let out a sigh of relief. “Even the better fitting push-up bras are terrible after a while,” he muttered to himself. He slid the panties off and stepped into the water. “Aaaaaaaaaah,” he said.

  Eventually, the water seemed to be as high as it would go, so Josh shut it off and y back in the tub. It was wide enough that he could even spread his legs a little bit and deep enough that the water covered most of his chest. Suddenly, he felt a popping sensation in his groin. Josh fiddled around and realized his testicles had slid out from wherever Gym Bro put them earlier. He hadn’t even noticed they were missing this whole time.

  “So weird,” he said to himself. After a few minutes of soaking. Josh took the hair ties out of his hair and let it all drape across his shoulders and dip into the water.

  Josh wasn’t sure how long he was in the tub, but the water eventually cooled down enough that it was no longer pleasurable to remain. He got out and dried off with the fluffy towel Gym Bro left for him. “That feels so much better,” he said to himself.

  He wrapped the towel under his arms and walked outside. He found Gym Bro asleep on the couch. Josh knelt next to him and lightly tapped his shoulder. “Hey, dude, I’m all done. You can go to bed now.” Gym Bro groaned and mumbled something. He rolled off the couch and slowly started to move around. Josh finally noticed the few empty cans of beer and understood perfectly.

  “Whoa there big guy, let me help you.” Josh managed to guide Gym Bro into his bedroom while maintaining a grip on his towel. Gym Bro colpsed into bed and started snoring. Josh smiled. It was nice to see his big, strong friend a little vulnerable for a change.

  Josh returned to the pink bedroom and changed into some pajamas. He climbed into bed and fell asleep peacefully.

  Qzar24