chapter 1

BIG BUSINESS

-- Beginnings --

Jesse Bryant is the hottest person EVARR!!

At least that's what was written all over the girl's bathrooms at the local YMCA. Jesse got a lot of attention there as a lifeguard. He started about 2 years back to pick up a little cash and since then the pool had been packed every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and every other weekend when Jesse was on duty.

He was quiet something to look at. His dad was a military man so Jesse grew up clean-shaven with neatly trimmed blonde hair; it was a good look on him since it amplified his strong wide jaw line and didn't distract from his uniquely grey eyes. From the day he could walk his father had him running drills and lifting weights, and the results spoke for themselves. He was BUFF! He had about a 44" chest with a 30" waist and stood tall at 6'2. Everyone thought he was destined to a model or actor or something, but Jesse never loved the limelight, he loved numbers. He wanted to be in the business world and travel everywhere and anywhere.

However, first he had to graduate -- and in order to do that he had to get a job. His Dad cut him off when he came out and since then he had to search all over NYC to find work. By his senior year at NYU he was a part-time everything - delivery boy, waiter, receptionist, desk clerk, and his favorite lifeguard. Lifeguarding was well paying and easy, but boring most of the time. There was only one incidence in his 2 years there that anyone actually needed his assistance and it all turned out to be a ruse by a guy in his economics class to get a kiss, it was a bit humiliating, but that guy ended up being Jesse's soul mate, so everything worked out okay.

Derek was his name, Derek Timbler. Their relationship was definitely a case of opposites attract, because their personalities could not have been more different. Whereas Jesse enjoyed midnight runs and working out, Derek enjoyed moseying around his apartment and cooking. Jesse liked to swim and be outdoors while Derek preferred to be on his couch all day coming up with new recipes to cook and perfect. And even though their lifestyles were at opposite ends of the spectrum, they loved each other's company and hung out ALL the time. Eventually their different lifestyles found a sort of happy medium and both of them grew from the experience.

-- Slowly But Surley--

Jesse pretty much stopped going to the gym when he and Derek got more serious and instead started yanking Derek's chain to come out running and swimming with him. And Derek showed Jesse how to cook gourmet foods so after a long day of outdoorsy exercise they could have a nice romantic meal together. However, since Derek had never run a day in his life, or swam, or done anything outdoorsy for that matter, Jesse had to go at a much slower pace, and fairly soon running turned to jogging then jogging turned to walking and after about 2 months walking had turned into staying in, watching movies and eating the gourmet popcorn Derek would make in his kitchen. They still would go swimming from time to time, but that pretty much stopped when Jesse started to fill-out around the edges. He hadn't gained much, just maybe 7 or 8 pounds, but he didn't want Derek to see his ab-less stomach or slightly softer pecs until he got it under control. He even stopped going shirtless at the pool when he worked. He would just wear a baggy tank top and suck it in when he had to walk past anyone. But as Derek and him got more serious anytime Jesse had to work out was absorbed by couples activities and job hunting.

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It had been 4 months since Jesse graduated from NYU and he still couldn't find a job. It was humiliating. He had quit all his part time jobs, besides lifeguarding, and moved into Derek's apartment in hopes of saving some money and focusing on the job search. But so far all he saved was those few inches on his waistline.

Between Jesse's countless interviews, work, commuting, and Derek, Jesse had less time to work out then he did when he lived alone. He thought moving in together would at least give him a little time to go to the gym when Derek was at work or busy, but ever since Jesse moved in Derek always seemed to be in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Don't get it wrong, Jesse LOVED it when Derek was home, he just wished he could do a few sit-up now and then. Living with Derek, however, meant nights filled with heaps of pasta's and other leftovers from Derek's restaurant, gourmet desserts, and cuddling. And although this lifestyle reacted havoc on Jesses waistline Derek didn't seem to gain an inch; he had even got a little leaner from the brief exercising he did with Jesse a couple months before.

Derek was just naturally skinny. He was fairly tall, about 5'10, with gorgeous wavy brown hair and deep brown eyes that were adorned with his favorite hipster paraphernalia; a knit burgundy beany and thick rimmed classes that his brother gave him. He kept a scruffy beard neatly trimmed to his jaw line that added a little age to his otherwise youthful face. But Derek had always wanted to be bigger and always appreciated the bigness of his partners. That's one reason Derek liked Jesse in the first place, because of his Adonis like body. And now that Jess had put on a few pounds it made Derek want him even more. But he wasn't sure how to tell Jesse that without sounding like a freak, so for now he was fine with just keeping Jesse near a constant supply of fatty pastas and decadent desserts.
"And!?!?!?" Derek squawked as Jesse walked threw the door.
"No," Jesse mumbled as he loosened his tie and flopped on the couch.
"14 rejections!" Jesse blurted out as he sat up on the sofa unbuttoning his tight pants. "I mean yeah I started out a little ambitious when I first went looking months ago, but now I'm getting turned down to be secretaries and mail boys! This is ridiculous!" Jesse ranted in-between handfuls of M&M he took from the bowl on the table. Derek came up behind him and started to rub his shoulders. "I know it sucks," he said in a comforting tone, "but just look at the positives. You have a place to stay, free food, and you can always ask for more shifts at the Y, until you find a way into the business world that is." Derek could feel Jesse's shoulders starting to relax as he pushed harder into his tense muscles. "I mean they love you there and...you can always search for jobs while you're on duty." Jesse just moaned in agreement as Derek moved his hands down Jesse's chest and leaned in to kiss his neck.
It had been nearly a month since the two of them had sex and Derek wanted it BAD! He could tell that Jesse wanted it to since he went hard the second Derek started messaging his shoulders, but he knew that once he started to unbutton Jesse's shirt he would get uncomfortable and pull away. Derek still wasn't sure how to tell Jesse that he liked the extra pudge - that it got him turned on to think of his big 8pack Adonis body filling out to become a big cuddly teddy bear. But he knew he had too, even if Jesse wouldn't understand. Only just as he got the courage to speak up Jesse turned around, pulled him over the couch, and kissed him back. Derek didn't know if it was the sugar buzz or if he was just horny as hell, but either way there dry spell ended 5 times that night.

-- Fate's Fat sense of humor --

Jesse got up the next morning feeling better then he had in weeks. He still was jobless and couldn't fit into half his clothes comfortably, but he decided to stop feeling bad for himself, beg for his old jobs back, and get back in shape. He didn't really want more shifts lifeguarding since he was getting sore sucking in his gut all day long so he tried all his old jobs. But he found that the desk jobs had already filled his positions and the restaurant he watered for had gone out of business, so he went to the old pizza place he started at when he was a freshman, but because of budget cuts all they gave him was 2 pizza's on the house. And after a depressed Jesse inhaled the two large pies on the drive home he headed to the pool to ask for more shifts.

Luckily, or unluckily from Jesse's point of view, one of the other lifeguards quit so he was actually able to start work right then and there. It wasn't ideal since he had just stuffed himself with enough bread and cheese to feed a birthday party, but money was money so he suited up.
Since he got the extra shift right before his own he was going to be working 8 hours straight. By hour 5 he was BORED OUT OF HIS MIND. He had finished the rest of the book he had in his locker and after counting the tiles on the celling 20 times he started to get hungry. By hour 7 his stomach felt like it was eating itself and if he didn't get food soon he would pass out or something.

" I can't believe I'm still hungry," Jesse mumbled as he rubbed his aching belly. "I'm still bloated from the Pizza and I only have one hour left.... I can wait.... Just need to last 60 more minutes and then..." just as he was about to convince himself he wasn't that hungry he spotted the most delicious looking sandwich across the pool. He recognized the guy holding it, or at least he thought he did since there was a guy of that size at the pool nearly every time Jesse was working, but the sight of that meatball sub was too much for Jesse to ignore.

"I have to eat something," he said to himself. "ANYTHING, just a tiny nibble that can tide me over...." Jesse knew he couldn't leave the pool unattended, but he couldn't wait. There was a vending machine a room over and he could be back in 5 - 10 minutes tops.