Skinny Guy (Patreon)

This story idea was sparked by my good friend JW Ripley noting that Alex Crockford seemed to be looking a lot more muscular in his recent pictures. For reference, Ryan Terry is on the left and Alex is on the right. Then again, if you've been following my work for a while then you probably knew that already!

Alex normally had a blast at the various fitness conventions he was invited to because there was nothing he loved more than to be surrounded by like-minded individuals all with the goal of bettering themselves both physically and mentally. He had put years of his life into sculpting his body and it had brought him great success including a recent partnership with the Underarmour brand. As such he felt like he had every reason to be proud of his achievements and hoped that others could recognize that his hard work had paid off. There were so many egos in the fitness modelling industry that it could get hard to navigate and unfortunately Alex found himself being put up in a hotel room with one of the biggest egos he had encountered throughout his years in the industry: that of Ryan Terry, a fellow Brit and Gymshark rep. To say there was some tension between them would be fair - brand obligations, of course - but to the untrained eye they seemed to be good friends. 

It wasn’t long before Ryan said something that grated on Alex’s nerves, namely starting to refer to him as “skinny guy”, a nickname that soon took off among their social circle. Sure, most of the guys were on the bulkier side of muscular and Alex had always chosen to remain lean and toned but he didn’t think that made him skinny at all. As is sensing his unease, Ryan merely slapped him on the back and muttered a quick, “It’s a joke. Chill out, man, you’ll kill the vibe we’ve got going.” Alex just forced a smile onto his face and pretended that he wasn’t as bothered by the nickname as he truly was. Muscles aren’t everything, he reminded himself, although it suddenly felt much more difficult to buy into that mindset.

As the weekend progressed and the new nickname continued to trail Alex like a dark cloud he grew increasingly irritated and Ryan’s smug grin whenever he heard it being said certainly wasn't helping matters. He could just tell that the other was so proud of himself for starting off something that had caught on; he felt justified and encouraged by everybody else’s approval. Meanwhile Alex was struggling to salvage the weekend and Monday when he would finally get to escape suddenly felt like a long time away.

It wasn’t uncommon for fans or his clients to provide Alex with gifts during meet-and-greet sessions at the conventions but he couldn’t remember when the box arrived at his signing table. Taking a glance inside he was met with two colourful fitness watches - expensive, by the looks of them - with a typed note reading a single message: Blue is for you, red for Ryan. Enjoy. A glance around didn’t reveal anyone to take take claim for the kind gift but Alex couldn’t tame his curiosity and once both men were back in their hotel room he decided to share the gift with the man who had quickly spoiled his weekend. Ryan was as expected delighted to receive something so expensive for free and all but snatched it from Alex’s grasp to try it on.

Feeling bold Alex made the suggestion that they test out their new fitness watches with a late evening workout and Ryan was quick to agree - no doubt believing it would be the perfect opportunity for him to show off his superior strength and size in another attempt to embarrass Alex. Before long they had made their way down to the hotel gym and started on their separate workouts, Alex choosing to focus on slow controlled movements at low weights while Ryan targeted some one rep maxes. Each man was met with a surprise though as Alex found himself almost irritated by how light his weights were while Ryan was unable to hit his usual stride and kept falling short of his usual personal bests.

Deciding to rocket up the weights, Alex was soon lifting well above his usual limitations and watched as his biceps flexed as he finished up his cable curl. His arms were certainly looking bigger, pushing out the sleeves of his form-fitting workout shirt and his chest appeared broader too. Feeling confident Alex paused for a few moments to strike some poses in the mirror, surprised by not only how good he looked but also the rush of adrenaline he felt at just flexing for his own enjoyment. He wasn’t just proud with what he saw in the mirror, he was damn near enamoured with it! Why had he never taken a moment to appreciate just how sexy his pumped up body was?

While Alex was continuing to flex and show off for himself Ryan was being steadily humbled by his body’s own sudden inability to lift, curl or pull his normal amount of weight. He’d dropped down to almost half of his usual weights just to be able to feel comfortable hitting out ten reps on an exercise, something he hadn’t had to do since his early days of strength training. Dripping with sweat as he returned the bar to the squat rack, Ryan inspected himself in the mirror and was disappointed with what he saw. His muscles didn’t look nearly as pumped as they should have and if anything he appeared to be smaller, his shoulders not quite possessing their usual width. It was an unsettling sight to behold and left Ryan aghast. 

“Hey skinny guy!” Ryan’s attention was suddenly caught by Alex’s booming voice from across the gym. “You wanna come watch me break my deadlift PB?” He glanced over to see the other man looking more pumped than Ryan had ever seen him before. Had he somehow missed Alex going through a bulking phase? Those big muscles couldn’t simply be the result of a single workout’s pump - he had to have been training to get bigger for months to achieve that kind of size! Ryan shuffled over, fascinated by the sight of the other and there was a smug grin on Alex’s phase as he easily lifted two-hundred-and-forty kilograms with little struggle at all. That was my personal best too, he realized in dismay. He’s stronger than me! It was quite the thing for the once proud bodybuilder to come to terms with.

Dropping the barbell back to the ground with an almighty roar, Alex bounced his pecs and threw up his arms in a double bicep flex. He flashed a smug grin towards his smaller friend and was unsurprised when Ryan turned away with a slight pink flush to his cheeks. Alex wasn’t stupid, he could tell what had happened just by looking at the other man. Where there should have been thick muscle was now a lean runner’s build - far skinnier than Alex had been earlier that day - and Ryan seemed to lack much of his trademark confidence while Alex was feeling better than ever. He was even sporting thicker stubble while Ryan’s own facial hair was a little on the lacking side. There had been some sort of transference between them and they likely had their new fitness watches to thank. Seeing the results so clearly in front of him and in the mirror though, Alex sure as hell wasn’t upset about it!

“Go on skinny guy, you look tired. Why don’t you head up to bed? I think I’ll keep going for a bit longer, I’ve got all the energy in the world!” Alex all but ordered, pulling off his shirt to show off his round pecs and cobblestone abs. Ryan’s gaze lingered on his muscles for a moment before he mumbled a quiet agreement and meekly hurried out of the gym. Chuckling to himself at the other’s sudden submissiveness, Alex turned back to his reflection and inspected his square jawline and handsome features, not to mention his thick muscular body. He was looking forward to another day as the centre of attention and then once the weekend was up he’d finally be getting away from the skinny fitness wannabe - until the next convention of course!