Brock's Choice, Parts 9 and 10 (Conclusion)

Part 9

Luke knelt down on one knee and pulled a small black velvet box out of the pocket of his slacks. He held it in his left hand and put his right hand on top of it. “Brock, will you…”

But before he could continue, it was Luke’s turn to be interrupted. Not by Brock, but by a naked, muscular, blond man with a hard-on who had wandered into the kitchen from the dining room entrance.

“Good morning," said John.

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It was a strange and surreal moment for Brock. A marriage proposal from a man he didn’t know that well, interrupted by a naked man he hardly knew at all. He kept thinking about how his life had come to this point and what he should do to resolve the problem, and his mind flashed back to a movie he had watched a few nights earlier.

Strangely enough, it was “The Sound of Music.”

Now “The Sound of Music” was not a movie that Brock normally would have watched unless his ex-girlfriend, Heidi, had insisted he sit through it. His tastes ran more toward action/adventure and comedies, but he was spending another night alone in Luke’s condo and had nothing to do. As he flipped through the channels and stuffed his face with caramel corn, Brock stumbled upon Maria ascending the Alps and bursting into song, and realizing he had never seen the movie before, he stayed with her and the von Trapp family for the next few hours.

But it wasn’t the opening scene he flashed upon – it was later in the film, when Maria has returned to the abbey after realizing she had fallen in love with Captain von Trapp. Brock pieced together the scene in his mind when the Reverend Mother confronts the young postulate…

Reverend Mother: You've been unhappy. I'm sorry.

Maria: Reverend Mother…

RM: Why did they send you back to us?

M: They didn't send me back. I left.

RM: Sit down, Maria. Tell me what happened.

M: I was frightened.

RM: Frightened? Were they unkind to you?

M: Oh, no! No, I was confused. I felt…I've never felt that way before. I couldn't stay. I knew that here I'd be away from it. I'd be safe.

RM: Maria, our abbey is not to be used as an escape. What is it you can't face?

M: I can't face him again.

RM: Him? Captain von Trapp? Are you in love with him?

M: I don't know! I don't know. The baroness said I was. She said that he was in love with me. But I didn't want to believe it. There were times we looked at each other…I could hardly breathe.

RM: Did you let him see your feelings?

M: I don't know. That's what's torturing me. I was on God's errand. To have asked for his love would have been wrong. I just couldn't stay. I'm ready at this moment to take my vows. Please help me.

RM: Maria, you have a great capacity to love. You must find out how God wants you to spend your love.

M: But I pledged my life to God. I pledged my life to his service.

RM: My daughter, if you love this man, it doesn't mean you love God less. You must find out. You must go back.

M: You can't ask me to do that. Please let me stay. I beg…

RM: Maria. These walls were not built to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.

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The dialogue echoed around in Brock’s head.

I must go back. I must not shut out my problems. I have to live the life I was born to live.

And just like that, his epiphany came. He knew what he needed to do.

Brock turned to the naked blond man. “John, could you excuse us for a second? Feel free to use the shower in the master bath to clean up, OK?

“Sure thing, buddy. You two take your time.” John turned to expose his rippled backside to Brock and Luke, both of whom admired its muscularity.

“Luke, please stand up. There’s something we need to talk about.”

Luke did as he was asked, rising to his full height. “What’s been going on, Brock? I thought you were enjoying the life we had created here.”

Brock smiled. “Luke, I did. I mean, I do. It’s all been a fantasy. But that’s the problem – it’s not real life. Or rather, it’s not my real life. The life I need to live. This has been a wonderful few months, and I have truly enjoyed spending time with you, but it’s not what I really want.”

Luke reached forward, inserted his hands into Brock’s robe, and began massaging his gut without thinking about it – he just couldn’t keep his hands off the magnificent mound of blubber. “Haven’t you enjoyed being here and living in this condo?”

Brock put his hands on Luke’s hands to stop the massage. “Very much so, Luke. But I was really just escaping into a dream, and this condo was not built to shut out the real world. I need to go back and make things right. I need to go back to reality.”

“OK, I get that. But why the boytoy?” Luke asked while nodding in the direction of the bathroom. “Wasn’t this body enough for you?” He began bouncing his massive pecs one at a time, and Brock tried to look away from the display of incredible masculinity.

“Luke, I didn’t want to hurt you, but I think I subconsciously asked John to come over last night just so I could find a reason to break up with you. But it would have just been an excuse. I truly loved being with you, and I loved you feeding me, and the sex was awesome, but I don’t think we can really say we were in love with each other.”

A surprised look appeared on Luke’s face. “Brock, that’s not true. Of course I love you.”

Brock chuckled. “Luke, you love my body – that I know for sure. You touch me in places that nobody has ever dared to go.” As he spoke, Luke used his left hand to push up Brock’s belly while his right hand slipped downward to grab hold of Little Brock. He tugged gently on the monster cock and felt it growing quickly.

But Big Brock maintained his resolve. “Luke, stop for just a moment and look at me. Can you honestly say we're in love? I mean, true love? Lust, maybe…”

Luke looked up from Brock’s gut and agreed. “Oh, lust, for sure.”

Brock continued. “But really, we could never stop fondling each other for more than two seconds to really get to know one another. For example, do you know what my middle name is? Or my favorite song? Or what one movie always makes me cry?”

He thought about the answers to Brock’s questions, but then slowly shook his head. As he did so, he let go of Little Brock and backed away a step from his soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.

“You deserve someone you really love, Luke. Someone who will be so fascinating to you that you want to know their middle name. And their favorite song. And the only movie that makes them cry. You deserve someone that you love so very much that it would make you incredibly sad or upset or angry if you came home and found out they had just cheated on you. But that’s not how we feel about one another, is it?”

Luke sighed. “No, you’re right, Brock. Deep down I think I knew it wasn’t really real, but I was having too much fun to care. But please know that the fun door will always be open for your return.”

“Thank you, Luke. Now put that ring away and save it for someone you really want to marry. Someone you will marry for all the right reasons.” Brock leaned forward and kissed his lover on the cheek, then walked toward the bedroom.

As Brock walked away, Luke sighed again knowing that Brock was right. He was only mildly upset at Brock’s sudden departure, but if it had been true love, he would have been devastated.

“Goodbye, Brock Hardt,” he said softly as he shoved the ring back into the pocket of his jeans.

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Brock dressed as quickly as he could, which was no small feat when you weigh almost 400 pounds and you have outgrown most of your clothes. He grabbed his essentials, but didn’t bother packing much – most of the items in the condo belonged to Luke, he reasoned, and he wouldn’t need them were he was going. He made a few quick phone calls to arrange for travel, gave Luke one more passionate kiss goodbye, and left through the front door.

A few minutes later, John exited the shower, dried off, and wrapped his towel around his shredded waist. He slowly walked into the living room to see what was happening with Brock, but was surprised to find the other man all alone, standing quietly in the hallway and still wearing his coat.

“Hey there, buddy. Where’s Brock?”

The other man spun around to face John with a not-quite-realistic smile painted on his face. “Um, he had to go. I’m Luke, by the way.” He walked forward and was going to shake hands, but decided to instead give a quick wave to the dripping, half-naked stranger.

John waved back with his free hand, and took in the sight of the behemoth in front of him – he was tall with broad shoulders and a beefy build, bright eyes, dazzling smile, square jaw – all the looks of a superhero.

Suddenly John realized the name of the hyper-muscular hunk he was waving at. “Dude, you’re Luke Brown! Oh, my brother is going to die when he realizes I met you.”

Luke’s smile changed a little, looking a little more genuine in the process. “Thanks, I think. And you are…”

“Oh, sorry. I’m John Phoenix, Jake’s son. From Metro Landscaping. I’m taking care of his accounts while he’s on vacation.”

Luke’s smile changed to a full-out grin. “You provide this level of personal service for each of his accounts?”

John laughed. “No, Brock and I just sort of hit it off last night. A casual thing, you know. I actually live down in LA and am just here for the holidays.”

“Really?” replied Luke. “I have a home in Los Angeles as well and have been looking for a new landscaper – my old one just moved away. Maybe we could get together sometime to discuss it?”

“Well, my main goal is to get into bodybuilding and modeling. That’s why I moved down there.” While continuing to hold up his towel, John did his best to hit a most muscular pose.

Luke knew a well-proportioned physique when he saw it. “You’ve got great potential, John. But listen – it’s a live-in landscaping position that only requires about 20 hours a week of work. The rest of the time would be your own. Think about it and give me a call if you’re interested.”

“I don’t have to think about, Mr. Brown, I’m interested,” John replied without hesitation. “Man, I can’t believe my dad didn’t tell me that you were one of his clients!”

Luke took a few steps closer toward John. “Please, call me Luke. And your dad probably didn’t know he was working for me. I’ve never actually met anyone from the landscaping company since I am so rarely home during the day. I told my business manager to get me the best, he did a little research, and your dad was the man everyone recommended. He may have seen Brock around and probably assumed he was the client living in the penthouse of the Rooker Building.”

“Well, I am definitely going to have to get your autograph for my little brother. He idolizes you!”

“Does he live nearby?” asked Luke.

“Yeah, my parents’ home is over on Queen Anne.”

“Well, why don't you call him up and see if he wants to come over and watch the Rose Bowl this afternoon? The caterers are bringing a big spread for lunch and I've got a big, big, big screen TV that isn’t any fun to watch alone.”

“Seriously?”

“Sure. Invite him and any friends that want to come along. You’re welcome to stay, too, of course. We’ll make it a party.”

John was taken back by Luke’s generosity, but for some reason he sensed that it was going to be good for Luke to have some company around. “Let me get dressed and I will give Jed a call.”

He ran back toward the bathroom before his host could change his mind.

Part 10

Brock sat in his first-class seat on the plane, trying to distract himself from the intense hunger rumbling in his belly. He wished he had purchased some more snacks before boarding, but he simply didn’t have any time to spare. Now every few minutes his belly would rumble, and the noise was getting louder each time.

“Sounds like your Dunlop needs some love,” said the man sitting next to Brock. He looked over to glance at his seatmate – he was young, probably about Brock’s age, with dark brown hair, tan skin, and what seemed to be a fairly athletic build under his coat. He also had a small cleft in his chin that added an air of roguishness to his look.

“Pardon?”

“Your Dunlop needs some lovin’, dude.”

“My Dunlop? What’s that?” asked Brock.

“Sorry, that’s what my dad calls his belly. He used to be this big superjock back in college – always running or lifting something. He gained a lot of weight once he settled down and had a family, going from a size 32 waist up to his current 52 inch waist. And one day while getting dressed, he noted that his stomach ‘done lopped’ over his belt. So we call it his Dunlop.” To emphasize his point, the young man reached over and patted Brock’s gut twice while saying the word ‘Dunlop.’

Brock smiled at the story. “Well, then, yes, my Dunlop does need some love. I wish I had come better prepared.”

“Here. You can have my bag of pretzels. I’ll be good until we land.”

“You sure?”

“No sweat, big guy. I’m Justin, by the way.”

“Brock. Thanks again – I think the other passengers were beginning to wonder what the noises were.”

“Glad I could help. Besides, I'm studying to get my degree as a nutritionist, so I'm not ready for a Dunlop quite just yet.”

Brock began to open the pretzels and politely continued the conversation his seatmate had started. “Well, speaking from experience, once your Dunlop appears, it's hard to get rid of."

"Oh, I know," replied Justin. "My dad has been trying to get the weight off for years, but he's hopelessly addicted to sweets. My older brother's in the same boat - he used to wrestle in high school and college, and all the extreme dieting really messed up his metabolism. As soon as he graduated and stopped wrestling, boy howdy, did the weight pile on. He went from a rock hard 190 all the way up to 320 in less than 18 months. His fiancée has really been pushing him to lose it before their wedding, but none of his old tricks work anymore. It's like the weight has become permanent."

"So he was a superjock, too?"

"Very much so. His name is Alex, but in high school everyone just called him Flex. I swear, he wasn't wearing a shirt 90% of the time just to show off his muscles. Especially his arms – those suckers were huge!"

Brock thought about how his own body used to look – it was hard for him to remember that it was only about six months ago.

"So is he embarrassed about his body now?"

"Not really. It's more that he misses being able to do some of the physical feats he used to do – for example, he holds several weightlifting and fitness records at our high school, and he's embarrassed that he now struggles to do a couple of sit-ups. And he used to be able to do 100 pushups without stopping, but last night he wasn't able to do even one pushup. I think he sort of feels like Superman after he got hit with Kryptonite."

"That sounds rough for him." Brock made sure to say “for him,” because he no longer felt that way about himself.

"Yes, but strangely enough, he's only really bothered by the way his body acts, and not so much how it looks. In fact, he still goes around shirtless a lot of time in the summer. He just gets stares from different folks these days – those that like the bigger guys, you know."

Brock laughed. "Well, thank God for them!"

Justin joined in with Brock's laughter. "So, Brock, now that you know all about me, tell me a little about you. What gets you on a plane in the middle of New Year's Day?"

Brock thought about his response for a second before he answered. “I’m on my way to fix something.”

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A few hours later, Brock looked at the text one more time before sending it. “I’m in town and was hoping I could see you.”

He had typed a hundred different versions, but decided to jettison the flourishes and keep it short…so he hit “send” before he could change his mind again.

Less than 10 seconds later, a response came. “Definitely! I’m available right now and will meet you wherever.”

A big grin came across Brock’s chubby face. He texted back he would meet in the “usual spot.”

After a quick Uber ride, Brock hoisted his giant body out of the car and found himself standing in front of the magnificent home of Luke Brown. But it wasn’t Luke he was going to see.

Brock lumbered to the security gate and typed in the code, and then strode up the driveway and around the house. He huffed and puffed past the patio, past the gardens, and right up to the big oak tree in the backyard.

As he said he would be, Declan was waiting for him in their “usual place” – under the tree where they lay each afternoon during the early part of the summer. He still looked the same as he did when Brock last saw him – short red hair, overfed physique, and big toothy smile. “Happy New Year, boyo,” he said. “Looks like you’ve gotten a wee bit bigger lately.”

Brock laughed as he approached, and then grabbed a big handful of his belly. “Yeah, just a bit. I’m over 400 pounds now.”

Declan whistled. “Well, you carry it well, Mr. Brock Aaron Hardt.”

If he wasn’t swooning already, the fact that Declan knew his middle name made Brock weak in the knees.

The Irishman continued. “But are you OK with it? You weren’t too happy about your weight when you left.”

“I am,” Brock responded. “I like being big. And fat. I like myself a lot more than I ever did. But there’s one thing I haven’t been truthful about, Mr. Declan Tadhg O’Malley.”

“What’s that?”

Big Brock took two steps forward so that his belly was almost touching Declan’s stomach. “I’ve spent time with a lot of wonderful people this past year, but you were the only one who made me feel like I could truly be myself. With everyone else, I was being who they wanted me to be…living up to their expectations. But with you, I could always let you see the real me. And I realized a little while ago why that was – because I am 100% completely in love with you, Declan. I thought I was in love before, but I didn’t really know what love was until I met you. And I’m sorry if I’m just laying this all you all of a sudden, but once I realized it, I didn’t want to waste another second without telling you. And I know you may not…”

Declan stopped Brock by putting his left hand on the bigger man’s wide fleshy stomach, standing on his tiptoes, and giving Brock a deep kiss. Afterward, he whispered, “I have felt the same way for a while, too, Brock. I was hoping to get to see you again so I could tell you how I felt.”

Brock asked, “So you don’t mind that I look a little different? Obviously I’m not going to be playing football anymore.”

The smaller man shook his head. “I like you better this way, Brock. You look so much more handsome with the added weight.”

“Well, good,” Brock said. “Because I’m afraid it’s only going to go up. As long as I figure out how to pay for all the food.”

“Don’t you worry, Brock,” Declan said with a wink. “You know Luke’s going to help you out until we can figure out what the future holds. You can stay with me in the caretaker’s cottage. I’ve got that big bed that will hold both of us.”

Declan took Brock by the hand, they kissed again, and headed off to their new home.