Chapter 7

Jason walked around to one side of the weight rack. In doing so, he had to sidestep William, who was laden down with Lauren’s big gym bag, with her exercise towel conveniently hung on her neck. William didn’t make too much of an effort to move out of Jason’s way, and Jason found himself getting a little irritated. What the hell was this guy’s deal, anyway? He briefly remembered back to the conversation he and Eve had had a few weeks before, about how William was openly submissive to Lauren in their relationship, but as Jason sidestepped him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of revulsion at William’s open and unabashed submission. He looked ridiculous in his oversized clothes that hung on his skinny body, making him look even smaller than he was. The fact that Lauren’s oversize gym bag was over half as big as he was only contributed to his weak, frail, and diminutive appearance. Lauren’s towel around his neck was just icing on the cake — he was basically her slave, her object to use however she saw fit. 

Jason couldn’t understand how a guy could possibly be ok with this kind of treatment. And not only be ok with it, but shamelessly embrace it! Didn’t William know what a bitch he looked like? How weak he seemed!? It was like he was…like he was less than a man. That was it — he wasn’t a man at all! He had the body, and the general disposition, of a shy, quiet, subservient early adolescent who’s used to doing whatever his overbearing, domineering mother tells him to do. Except that William was acting that way towards Lauren, someone his age, who nonetheless looked and acted ten years older than him. It was almost like watching some kind of weird fucked-up incestuous mother-son relationship. All of this flashed through Jason’s mind in a second or two as he maneuvered past William, making his way over to the weight rack. Jason took a quick breath in through his nostrils as he forced down his feelings of disgust and repulsion at William. He didn’t want to have Lauren feel like she had a kind of leg up on him in any way. Besides, he had to focus on putting Lauren in her place! He felt the warm anticipation of victory spread through his limbs as he put his hand on the racked weights, throwing Lauren a haughty smile. 

“So,” he said, delighting that his casually playful voice betrayed nothing of the few moments of disgust he had just experienced, “how much do you wanna start with, Lauren? Your call.”

“Hmmm, well let’s both do a couple warm-up reps with 135, why don’t we?” said Lauren, who met his confident smile with one of her own. “It’s a bad idea to lift heavy without warming up.”

“Oooo, did you hear that on an exercise video on youtube?” snickered Jason, ignoring his flash of irritation at his perception that Lauren was talking down to him. 

“No, I learned it from my father, who played college football at a Division I school,” said Lauren drily. Jason felt his heart rate pick up. Boy, Lauren sure did know when to be playful and when to be flat. It was so frustrating how she managed to control the cadence of the conversation.

“Oh,” was all Jason could manage in response. He quickly started racking the weight bar — he was about to slide a 45-pound plate onto the end when Lauren stepped in. 

“Hold up,” she said, raising her hand, “I think we need to adjust the bar height. It’s fine for me, but I think it’s a little tall for you.”

Jason looked blankly at the bar’s height, which he had not bothered to pay attention to before. He quickly saw that Lauren was right. But, in a flash of action that seemed to come from some irrational, hidden place, Jason put down the plate and walked under the bar. 

“Uh, n-no, no I think it’s fine,” he said. And as if to show, he stood on his tip-toes and was able to get the bar off the rack. He took a couple steps back, holding the empty bar on his shoulders behind his neck. “See?”

“Ahaha, no, I don’t think so,” laughed Lauren. “Come on Jason, what are you trying to prove? That we’re the same height? I’ve been taller than you for years. Here, just hold the bar there while I adjust the pegs here.” 

Lauren walked over and made the adjustments, with Jason just standing there stupidly with the empty bar on his back. What had he been trying to prove there? He knew Lauren was 5’10, and that he was only 5’8. So why had he tried to act like they were the same? He was frustrated with himself, and irritated with Lauren for acting so cool and casual as she altered the pegs on the weight rack to fit his height. 

“There,” she said, stepping back and allowing him to rack the bar. “Now we can both easily take the bar.” She looked slightly down on him and smiled deviously, giving him a little shake of her head, as if to say, “Sheesh, dude!” 

“Ok,” grumbled Jason, wanting to get on with the contest. “So 135 to start.” 

A few minutes later, both of them had done a set of 5 with 135 pounds. Neither seemed to be tired at all. Jason couldn’t help noticing how Lauren had to bend to get the bar on her back…and he also couldn’t help noticing how her thick thighs swelled impressively as she went up and down, lifting the weight effortlessly with perfect form. 

“So…a bit heavier now?” asked Lauren, smiling expectantly. 

“Yeah…yeah, how about we slap another 45 on each side?” proposed Jason. He wanted to end this contest quickly. William was creeping him out, just standing there, watching silently.

“Straight to 225, huh?” said Lauren, nodding her head up and down slowly, stroking her chin. “Cutting to the chase. I like it. Sets of three now!”

Jason promptly banged out his set, barely breaking a sweat. 225 was heavy, but he had no problems. Lauren watching him with a grin on her face, enjoying the power dynamics at play. She had challenged Jason, and not the other way around. And now she was getting to enjoy the effort he was making due to her challenge.

“Very nice,” she said appreciatively, applauding humorously as Jason racked the weight. 

“Oh thank you very much Lauren, thank you, thank you,” said Jason mockingly, taking a series of bows. “It means so much.” 

“Now get ready, hoss,” said Lauren, ignoring Jason’s sarcasm as she walked up to the bar. “I can tell you think I can’t do this. Well, how about this?”

Without any more lead-up, Lauren accepted the weight onto her shoulders and went down slowly, until her legs were at a 90-degree angle, then up again. Jason swallowed as he watched — it didn’t look like she was making much of an effort. Her thighs were swelling sexily with feminine bulk through her skin-tight exercise shorts, and Jason found himself fixating on the tautness of her tendons. Lauren sure had great legs. She did it again, down and up. She turned to look at him, and she caught him ogling at her thighs. Too late, his eyes snapped up to hers. She smirked at him, and then, without looking away from him, she went down and up again for the third rep, her face reddening slightly from the effort as the veins in her neck became more prominent. She stepped forward, racked the weight, and turned to face him with her hands on her hips. 

“Surprised, Mr. Stud?” she asked, cocking her eyebrow amusedly. 

“That was…a lot of weight you just lifted,” admitted Jason, reddening a little. He hadn’t realized Lauren was so strong, although looking at her body now, he wondered why he had ever doubted her. She was super shapely, curvy…and solid. It totally made sense that the reason why she looked that way was because she lifted heavy weights. 

Lauren turned and snapped her fingers. William came scurrying over, and Lauren took the towel from around his neck and wiped off the thin sheen of sweat from her face. She hung it haphazardly back around his neck as she reached into the bag for her water bottle, taking several big sips before putting it back in. Then, with a lazy wave of her hand, she shooed William away, back to the periphery. Jason noticed with distaste that William appeared to be smelling Lauren’s towel as it hung around his neck, and that he had developed an obvious erection, which tented outward in his pants. Jason couldn’t believe it — did this guy seriously have zero self-respect? And also, did he maybe realize that most people probably didn’t care to see his erect dick sticking up in his pants like that? It was gross. 

Lauren noticed what Jason was looking at and gave one of her hearty laughs. 

“Oho, wow Jason, don’t tell me that you’re intimidated by by boy’s erection?”

“Uh…uh, what!?” asked Jason, not quite believing that Lauren had actually gone there. 

“I saw you staring at his big ol’ boner,” laughed Lauren, striding over to William and seizing his erect cock through his pants. William closed his eyes and threw his head back as he exhaled in a hiss through his teeth. Still looking at Jason, Lauren smiled widely as she started jacking off William slowly though his shorts.

“What, you see something you like?” teased Lauren. 

“N-no!” said Jason, hating that he sounded wrong-footed. He glanced anxiously around the gym. There weren’t too many people there, but he did notice that a couple of bulky guys in the corner seemed to be watching what was going on. He turned back to Lauren, who was still watching him and she jacked off William. 

“Can you…can you knock that off, Lauren?” he asked, trying in vain to sound calm. “People are…are gonna be watching.”

“Let them watch,” said Lauren coolly, bending down to William so that her mouth was even with his ear. “I think it’s wonderful that my little boy gets so hot watching me lift heavy weights, watching me get stronger.” She turned to William and breathed sexily in his ear: “You like that, don’t you, tiny boy?”

“Yes I do,” panted William, still with his eyes closed. Lauren hummed in his ear as she picked up the pace of her hand, masturbating him faster and quicker now.

“S-stop it, Lauren!” said Jason angrily, feeling his own heart start to beat faster. He hated this shameless display between the two of them, but more than anything, he hated that he had started to get hard himself. If Lauren saw that, he would never hear the end of it. Plus she would be sure to tell Eve, and then Jason would be left having to explain to his girlfriend how he had gotten an erection watching Lauren jerking off her boyfriend in the gym. It would be too shameful to face up to. 

“I’ll stop,” breathed Lauren into William’s ear, “when by boy shoots his load. You gonna do that, little guy? You gonna cum for your big strong girlfriend?” 

“Y-yes…a-ahh…yes!” squeaked William, his thin chest rising and falling rapidly. Jason kept glancing around. The other two guys in the corner seemed to have returned to their workout and were facing away. In another corner, a tall, shapely woman seemed to be working out on her own, doing lunges. Was everyone seriously not seeing this!? Or did they actually not give a shit?? Jason was at a loss — it was surreal what was happening in front of him…and yet no one else seemed to care. 

“You need a little extra something to push you over the edge, huh, little guy?” breathed Lauren, tonguing the outer edges of William’s ear aggressively. “You need a little extra reminder who owns this cock?”

“Y-yes!” panted William, almost in a whisper. “Yes!” Lauren’s hand was almost a blur now, it was going so fast. 

In response, Lauren suddenly plunged her long tongue completely into William’s ear, wriggling and roiling it around deep in his ear canal. William gave a squeal and promptly climaxed, his cum darkening the crotch of his shorts as he shivered and spasmed in Lauren’s hand. She continued to lick deep in his ear for several moments afterward, humming and cooing, encouraging every last drop of his orgasm from his trembling cock.

Jason watched the whole thing with his mouth open. He was completely dumbfounded. There was no way that he could feign nonchalance anymore — this was all way too crazy for him to process. Lauren looked up at him and chuckled. She had won; she had overpowered him with her shameless and vigorously intense sexual display. William was still breathing hard with his eyes closed as Lauren stood up to her full height behind him, her head rising 4 inches above his. Jason suddenly realized with an unpleasant jolt, even though Lauren seemed to dwarf William as she stood up tall behind him, that Eve was actually taller than he was by a larger margin than Lauren was taller than William. At 6’1, Eve rose a full 5 inches above Jason. People really must notice how much taller she was, how much bigger she looked…his mind shot back to the previous day, when those two guys had made fun of him for going out with someone “out of his league.” Jason’s nostrils flared and he grimaced inwardly, hating that Lauren and William’s dynamic was making him think of the one he had with Eve. 

But it wasn’t anything like theirs! He was thinking all crazy again…he was letting his mind run away from him, play tricks on him, mislead him. It was all Lauren’s fault; she loved doing stuff like this. She loved fucking with guys — it was her bread and butter. She knew exactly what she was doing; she knew that jerking William off in front of him was going to make him feel a certain way…and…and Jason wasn’t going to let her win. 

“It looks like you wanna say something, Jason,” said Lauren, bending down and putting her chin on the top of Williams head as she ran her full arms, big hands, and sharp, black-nailed fingernails up and down his shuddering chest. 

“Uh…” stuttered Jason, momentarily at a loss. Then he once again forced everything down and smiled, narrowing his eyes. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, Lauren, I’d think that you were trying to distract me from showing you that I’m stronger than you.”

“Oh wow, what a recovery,” laughed Lauren, pushing William lightly aside. Despite her relatively gentle motion, he stumbled slightly. “As if I didn’t see you get all hot and bothered watching me jerk my boy’s cream into his underwear.”

“You’re…fucking dreaming Lauren,” said Jason, shaking his head. “And you’re also insane, doing shit like that in a public place.”

“You’re a bad lier Jason,” chided Lauren. “I know you wish you and Eve could just do that kind of stuff in public.”

“What!?” laughed Jason as he gave a bit of a yelp. “I…don’t…what? No I don’t!” 

“Mmmhmm,” said Lauren, closing her eyes briefly as she nodded her head up and down. “You’re jealous, I can tell. You wish that you and Eve could just express yourselves to each other as naturally as me and William do.” As she spoke, Lauren was walking up to Jason, and she only stopped when she had gotten quite close. Jason stood his ground, even though he disliked that he was now having to look up into Lauren’s eyes. She stared down at him intently, as if studying him in the midst of her challenge. 

“Yeah,” she murmured, almost to herself, “we freak you out. Because you wish you guys could be like us.”

“That’s crazy, Lauren!” exclaimed Jason loudly. “I don’t wanna be like William! He’s…he’s like your fucking slave! N-no…no way would I wanna be like that! It’s…it’s just weird, Lauren! And…and I don’t think it’s natural! I think it’s messed up!” 

Silence passed between them now. Lauren let Jason’s words hang on the air as she flared her nostrils down at him. Jason immediately realized that he had spoken too loudly, and that William had probably heard. He glanced anxiously over at William, who was still standing there off to the side, with a blank expression on his face. He had clearly heard what Jason had said, but he didn’t seem to be at all affected by it. Jason turned back to look at Lauren, and his heart sank a little. She looked pissed. 

“You shouldn’t speak like that out loud,” she said in an emotionless, deadpan voice. “You should have some respect for other people, Jason.”

“I…I’m sorry,” he said quietly, bowing his head.

“Teasing is one thing, but when you start calling about other people’s relationships “unnatural” or “messed-up,” that’s when I start to have a problem.” Lauren sure knew how to twist the knife in. Jason felt the crushing weight of shame starting to weigh him down. He couldn’t just stand there like this, taking it…it was too much. He looked up at Lauren. 

“Sorry,” he said again, and then took a deep breath and stepped back, clapping his hands. “Ok! Well, let’s add some more weight to the bar! We’ve gotta finish the contest!” 

“Fuck the contest, we’re getting outta here,” said Lauren flatly as she turned and walked over to William. Jason felt panic rising up in him as he watched Lauren’s thick hips pivot and turn, and her big ass bouncing hugely up and down as she made her way to her small boyfriend. She stood behind him, wrapped her big hands around his shoulders, and started massaging them, bending down briefly to whisper something in his ear. William nodded slightly and laid his head gently back into Lauren’s bosom. They both looked at Jason expressionlessly. 

“But before we go,” said Lauren said, “I’d like you to apologize to William for what you said.” Jason felt truly alarmed now — it sounded like Lauren was having to make a real effort to keep her voice under control. 

“F-for…b-but, I…I already said I was sorry!” blurted out Jason.

Lauren shook her head. “You apologized to me. I don’t care about that. I can’t take whatever intolerant drivel comes out of your idiotic mouth. But my boy here, he’s not as emotionally strong as me. He’s sensitive…and you were kind enough to essentially shout your opinion on our relationship. I can take it, Jason. I don’t give a fuck what you think about anything. But I think you hurt William’s feelings.”

Jason felt like his feet were welded to the spot. Had he really fucked up that badly? Little pinpricks were attacking his skin all over his body as his heart buzzed and fizzed like acid. He had spoken without thinking, yes, but it was all in response to Lauren goading him! She…she was he one who suggested that he wanted to be…to be like William! Deep down somewhere that was inaccessible in that moment, Jason knew that he had reacted that way because Lauren was playing on his latent fears that had recently been swirling around in his mind…about fears of his own inadequacy…Eve’s superiority…the prospect of Eve outgrowing him…leaving him behind. Lauren seemed to be able to smell those fears on him, and take advantage of them for the sake of her own amusement and her own urge to dominate anyone who came her way. 

But as the moments passed by, with Lauren standing there behind William, rubbing his shoulders, with both of them waiting, Jason realized that he really had fucked up. He had made a fool of himself. He had said something hurtful, and he needed to apologize — that’s all there was to it. 

“William…I’m…I’m sorry, man,” said Jason genuinely, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean what I said. I, uh…I kinda just lost it there for a minute, and I…I said things I shouldn’t have said.”

William wordlessly nodded his head, blinking his eyes blankly. For a second, Jason thought William was going to cry, but then he realized that he was likely just imagining that. It was so hard to read William’s expression, since it was always so…blank. Lauren stared at him hard for a few more moments, and then shrugged her shoulders. 

“Well,” she said dismissively, “I think you did mean what you said, Jason, but whatever. You did as I asked and apologized, and that’s all I can really expect at this point. Let’s go, William.” 

Lauren swiftly turned foot and walked away, William following dutifully in her wake, trying to keep pace with her longer legs. Jason gawked after them, feeling an uncontrollable emptiness start to swallow him up from the inside. That was not how he wanted the exchange to end…not at all! But there was nothing he could do about it. They were gone, thanks to his big fat mouth. Why couldn’t he just control himself around Lauren? Why did it always feel like she was one millimeter away from exposing his whole masculinity as some kind of fraud!? 

Jason grew angry and went over to the padded wall, punching it a few times in frustration. When he turned back around, the two bulky dudes who had been in the corner were standing close by, looking at him curiously. 

“You know those two freaks?” chuckled one of the guys. 

“Uh…yeah…yeah I do,” said Jason, straightening up. 

“Haha, woowww, never seen a chick jerk of a dude like that in public!” laughed the other guy. “What is she, some kind of dominatrix!?”

“Yeah, is that skinny dude like you said…like…her slave?” asked the other guy. 

“Uh…y-yeah. Yeah, something like that, I think,” said Jason. He suddenly realized that he wanted to get out of this conversation, and out of this gym, as fast as he could. Lauren was definitely going to tell Eve about this whole exchange. And it wasn’t going to be pretty. 

“Well, just so you know, I’m with you on all that shit, dude,” chuckled one of the guys. “All that freaky stuff isn’t natural. It’s like some kind of perversion.”

“Yeah,” agreed the other guy, “it’s like what mentally ill people do to cope with being so fucked up they can’t have a real relationship.” 

“I…uh…I don’t know,” was all Jason could manage in response. He suddenly felt his pocket buzz. His heart sank. He knew who it was from and what it was about. Ignoring the tow muscled guys who were continuing to talk, Jason reached into his pocket and fished his phone out. A text from Eve:

“Jason, we’ve gotta talk.”