Chapter 1

Jeff sucked in his gut to get his pants buttoned. He stood in front of the full length mirror and took a long, hard look at his body. He was no longer the slim young thing he’d been when he had graduated from university ten years ago. He had weighed 135 pounds then, just naturally. In those days, the stress of exams and essays had helped him shed the five or ten pounds he gained every year. After graduation, it had been different. Working long hours at a desk job, grabbing fast food at lunch, all those after-work beers and eating out in plenty of restaurants had meant the pounds had crept on. At first it had been a slight belly pooch, just a comfy softness. Then his belly had pushed out farther and become a definite pot. The rest of his frame grew more solid. His face filled out. His nipples had softened and spread, becoming small quivering mounds. His belly had inched outward.

The strange thing was that he discovered he loved it. He had always been attracted to plus-sized women and he found he revelled in his own fatness. The pounds piled on unintentionally at first, but as the years passed he had begun to deliberately bulk up, eating plenty of food and staying fairly sedentary. His family and friends had made smart remarks at first, but had grown used to his increasing bulk or put it down simply to aging. There had been girlfriends over the years, but none had ever lasted long enough to complain.

Jeff slapped his belly lightly, watching it ripple and jiggle. He wondered what people would think tonight. He was heading out to his ten year reunion. Many of his old friends he kept in touch with through Facebook, of course, but there were a few he’d never found. Such as his ex-girlfriend Marina. They had dated in junior year, before she went off to France to spend her final year in a study abroad program. They had tried to do the long distance thing, but had drifted apart, finally breaking up via e-mail three months before her return. He had skipped graduation in order to go backpacking with some buddies in Italy, so he hadn’t seen her again.

He had been crazy in love with her once, at least as crazy in love as his dope-smoking, video game-loving 20 year old self had been able to be. He remembered her lusciously plump body, her dark curly hair brushing like feathers across his then-bony chest, her rich laugh. In his memory she was always laughing. He wondered if she would be at the reunion, and shivered.

The shirt he had chose was blue with grey stripes. It barely buttoned over his big belly, stretching the fabric provocatively. He had recently reached a new high of 247 pounds and his clothes were all tight. He tugged at his shirt, at once uncomfortable and half-aroused. Oh, well. It would have to do.

He took the elevator down to the parking garage and drove across the city to his old alma mater. The reunion party was already underway down in the campus bar. Jeff felt a little nervous so he made a beeline for some liquid courage. He had a beer in hand when he heart a throaty, rich voice say, “Jeff Hamilton! Is that you?” He turned around.