The following day, Becky was walking down the street in the neighborhood, finding herself in front of her friend's house. She knocked on the door and after a moment, it opened with a frazzled figure greeting her.
"Oh Becky, it's you. Come on in. I got your text. What's up?" Marisa ushered Becky inside, as she looked out and closed the door behind them.
"Hey Marisa, not much. I just wanted to stop by since I was out on my run." Becky explained. Marisa looked her over and sharpened her eyes with a tinge of jealously. "Figured it would've been rude if I didn't say hello!" Becky smiled.
"Certainly!" Marisa feigned a smile. "You just ran? You look great! Look at those abs!" Marisa waved to Becky's bare stomach.
"Oh stop." Becky was being modest. "It's just so humid out there, this is all I could put on without sweating myself to death." She motioned to her running tights and neon yellow sports bra.
"Well come on, let's get you some water." Marisa motioned her to follow. The friends walked into the kitchen where Marisa continued to clean her fine china. "Help yourself. How's everything going? Is Rob back?"
Becky made her way to the sink and picked a cup from the dish rack. "He's supposed to get back tonight. But everything is good... we just got some moving done." She looked out the kitchen window and her eyes fell upon Marisa's neighbor next door. "Dear god... do you see this every day?" She admired Jerome doing his pull-ups shirtless.
"What?" Marisa said as she looked up from her cups.
"Him working out in his backyard."
"Oh... Jerry is working out? What's he wearing?"
"Just his shorts and shoes. Why?" Becky asked.
"Lately, on days like this when it's really hot, sometimes he just exercises in his underwear."
"Are you serious?" Becky turned to Marisa, incredulously. Marisa nodded and Becky turned back to watching him. "...Have you ever seen anything?" Becky received no response but then looked at Marisa to find her smirking. "What?"
"Well... there was this one time." She continued to clean the cups. "We were having a cook-out, just the three of us before Ashley left for school. Jerome had installed his hot tub with Stephen's help. We were getting the food ready and I was cutting some stuff for sides. That's when he came out after his workout in a towel. I don't know if he saw us, but I know Stephen was busy with the grill and thank goodness Ashley was facing me. I saw him drop his towel and step into the hot tub."
"Was he wearing anything underneath?"
"No he wasn't. It was huge. Like almost the length of my arm." Marisa showed Becky her arm. "It wasn't even hard, it just hung there and swung around before he got in. I've never seen a dick so big before."
Becky's mouth was ajar. "Wow. Why didn't you say anything when I asked you at the book club?"
"I didn't want to say anything around the girls. They looked plenty uncomfortable as it was." Marisa explained. She looked at Becky, who appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. "So you got some moving done?"
Becky snapped out of it. "Oh yeah. Actually, Jerome talked to Rob and helped us get some our stuff from the old place here. OH! And you wouldn't believe who I met! Slim Jim!" She registered the look of confusion on Marisa's face. "James? Jerome's team-mate? Rob is a huge fan." Marisa's eyes widened and she nodded. "He actually helped on the move. Super nice. Gave me a card and everything if I ever needed anything else." Marisa continued to nod and smiled, reflecting on her previous meeting with James.
"That's great! I'm sure it'll come in really handy." Marisa recalled him giving her his card.
"Oh it will... and I sort of wanted to ask you a favor." Becky masterfully segued a request.
"What's that?"
"Would you be free next Thursday? Rob called me yesterday and said he got us tickets to Amsterdam for the weekend. But I scheduled a furniture delivery and couldn't reschedule it so short notice. Could you be there during the day, just to accept it? They should take care of the rest."
"Next Thursday?" Marisa asked to clarify as she thought about her availability for the week. "I think I can do that."
"Great! I'll let the movers know that someone will be there. Thanks so much!"
"Oh it's no problem! I love to help out." A quiet lull took over the conversation now that the main business was taken care of. "So what else do you have going on today?" Becky's attention had returned to the backyard. Jerome was squatting some weights.
"Oh... umm. I have an appointment this afternoon. That's about it."
"That doesn't sound too bad. Has business been slow?" Marisa pried.
"Slow?" Becky was slower to respond. "Oh not really. I've had some longer sessions, so it makes it easier to work on one person instead of extra appointments." She attempted to gather herself and tear her eyes away from the mesmerizing view. "I should really get going and prepare for it Marisa."
"Oh okay. Well just drop off the keys for next Thursday and I'll be there."
"Thanks so much. I owe you!" Becky rushed off to the foyer and out the door. She felt flush with excitement and used the extra energy on her run home.
**
Next door, Jerome stood naked in front of his mirror in the bathroom trying to decide what to wear. He had received sports massages through the team during his playing days, but never by a professional in a clinic. He went with the gray briefs and the sport-dry athletic wear. There was something about the way the silky, synthetic material hugged his muscles that he enjoyed. Jerome was convinced it made him look a little bigger all around, especially his groin area.
As he checked his pockets for all the things he needed before leaving, he noticed the absence of his cell phone. This was quickly remedied as it began ringing when he started to look for it. He noted the caller ID as the face of a mean mug appeared above the accept and deny buttons. The cornrows that greeted him were tempting Jerome to hit deny, but he rationalized that it could be work. Jerome slid to accept.
"What's up man." Jerome said as more statement than a question as he answered.
"Hey man, you busy?" James replied quickly.
"Naw, not that busy, just on my way out the house."
"That's cool dude... Listen, you got a minute to talk business?" James asked. Jerome looked at his watched and let out a silent exhale.
"Sure... what up?" He replied.
"First, you sure you not busy?" James asked again, having heard the hesitation in Jerome's voice.
"Yeah man, I was just on my way to get my back worked on. Last move I worked on was for a masseuse and she was nice enough to offer a discount on working some knots out." Jerome explained. A silence followed at James processed.
"Oh yeah?" James replied with a piqued interest. "She fine?"
Jerome shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah." Then he nodded in agreement, "Blond, thick in the right places."