I discovered Luke a couple of years ago and had followed him on social media. Big Luke was somewhat of a celebrity in the world of strongman competitions. He was a year younger than me, about 6'4", 300 lbs., and boyishly cute with a chinstrap. He was a leader, a true alpha male. I decided to attend a show he was at and introduce myself. Since I was a fan of strongman competitions, Luke was a celebrity to me.
About a month later, my mom (Sara) and I put out an ad in the local paper for a room we were renting out in the basement. Coincidentally, Luke ended up being one of the applicants for the room. I interviewed all the applicants alone while my mom was at work.
In spite of several more qualified candidates, I was eager to have Big Luke live with us. Taking advantage of my too obvious excitement, Luke "agreed" to move in with us only if I lowered the rent to half the amount my mom and I were asking. As if his initial demand wasn't outrageous enough, Luke also told me he expected me to cook his food, clean his weightlifting gear and equipment, along with any other errands he needed done. In addition, Luke explained that he would need to sleep in the master bedroom since he was a big guy. This was logical since the room in the basement had a smaller bed than his physique. Of course, if he was going to live the master bedroom, my mom would have had to relocate to somewhere else in the house.
Luke was used to getting his way. My hesitancy toward his surprising demands made him shrug his shoulders. "Better make a decision fast," He said, turning his body towards the front door. "I got other places to see, plenty of landlords would be more than happy to have a man in the house."
I was slightly offended by Luke's comment - he was implying that I wasn't man enough to be the alpha male of the house. In spite of that, just talking to Big Luke and having him judge me was a major geek-out moment for me. Afraid to see him go, I accepted his terms and told him it would be an honor to have him live with my mom and me.
My mom was not happy that I made this decision without her. She hadn't even met the big guy yet, and just like that, a total stranger was going to be sleeping in our room - in our bed, no less. She also wasn't thrilled about being 'kicked out' of her own room. Then there was the matter of accepting less money than we asked for.
"It's like you totally wimped out to this guy!" My mother said to me over the phone. "He must have left quite an impression on you, sweetie."
"I think you'll like him when you meet him, babe," I replied. "Besides, as he said, it'll be good for us to have a man around the house."
"He said that?!" She responded incredulously.
"Yeah," I said, realizing how puny I had made myself look. My mother now knew he saw himself as the man of the house. A title I held unspoken.
"Geez, I can't wait to meet this guy," my mom said. It sounded like she moaned into the phone a little at the end.
Sure enough, my mom liked Luke the second she laid eyes on him. When she shook his hand, it looked like a baseball in a catcher's mitt, size comparison-wise. In an instant, I was an afterthought - Luke had all her attention. She spent a while getting to know him while I prepared dinner for us. When my mom excused herself to change, Luke walked over to me, put his arm around my shoulder (which caused me to leap off the floor, he was that strong), and say to me with a smile:
"You didn't tell me your MILF mom was smoking hot, bro," The big guy chuckled. "Living with you guys is gonna be real fun for me."
I was about to talk to Luke about the room switch, telling him that I should have consulted my mom about that part first. Luke told me not to worry about it - that while I was in the kitchen, he apologized for imposing. He explained to my mom that the bed and couch in the basement were too small for a big guy like him, and she completely understood.