The Irresistible Deal- Chapter 2

A month later, the boys were really enjoying all the candy Michael was earning from that deal. They would grab the bags filled with the sweetest candy ever made and plop on the couch to binge watch their new favorite show, What We Do In The Shadows. All this sugar did leave the roommates with a desperate need of something salty, so together they started to order takeout. It started with a pizza for them to share, or two McDonald’s combos… But that order soon started to grow, just like their waistlines.

Even though they had a rough start, Jim and Michael started to get along in the following weeks. Having to go to the boys room so frequently to drop off the candy bags forced Jim to make some small talk to Michael, who he previously loathe, and during one of these small talks, the roommates found out Jim loved playing Call of Duty, which they also loved. A few days later and Jim had arrived at the dorm room carrying three pizza boxes and more candy bags then they would ever consume:

“What’s up guys, is everything set for us to play Call of Duty? I brought food!” Jim seemed relax and in a very unusual good mood.

“That you did. Dude that’s way too much food, we can’t possible eat all of this” Kevin raised his eyebrows in awe.

“Oh please, don’t be such a baby, I’m 100% sure we can finish that” Michael unconsciously rubbed his little gut, which made Jim blush.

“You should really listen to him Kevin, he is like the one person in my classes who will actually amount to something after college.”That made Michael’s face lighten up and he smiled gently.

“Oof… Well, this shall be my last binge then, on Monday I will start a new diet!” Kevin tried to convince himself he was actually gonna do it.

“Whatever you say buddy.” Michael scratched his newly acquired stubble and grinned.

The three guys started playing videogame for hours and devoured everything. Needless to say, Jim didn’t eat more than two slices of pizza, whereas Michael and Kevin polished all of the rest by themselves. At the end of the night, they were stuffed to the brim and having more fun than ever, talking about college experiences, parties, dungeons and dragons, their favorite foods and interests. Jim actually really enjoyed hanging out with them and decided to do it more often, specially considering he was going to be close to Kevin.

As time went by, they started to become really close friends, hanging out more within the three of them than any other social group. With all the food Jim always provided, Michael and Kevin slowly started noticing some unwanted gains, specially around the middle. Michael did not care that much, he lost weight once and he was sure he was going to do it again… But Kevin? He freaked out! He had always been thin so when he saw some love handles forming, he realized he needed to change.

Kevin started to refuse Jim’s food more often, and stopped helping Michael finish all the candy he was receiving from his deal, which was still a huge thing between those two. That meant Michael started eating even more, more candy, more junk food, more take out… He started to join Kevin in the gym to keep the good habits he had built previously, but even that wasn’t helping that much, it was just guaranteeing he wouldn’t be gaining even more weight.

The biology major on the other hand, was thriving in his new lifestyle, after gaining 30 lbs during his first semester, he managed to lose them plus a few extra. He started going to the gym daily, lifting some weights, doing some cardio and even visiting the campus pool when the team wasn’t training. It would be a lie to say he completely lost his cravings, in fact, they seemed to get stronger every hour. It didn’t help that Michael seemed to be finishing Jim’s assignment at the speed of light, which meant there was so many candy available, he had to start eating them again, smaller portions of course, but still candy. One particular day, his professor made the entire class stay on the laboratory doing extra class stuff, which made Kevin miss his usual workout time. Not wanting to completely give up, he went to the gym as soon as he was done with his tasks.

In the middle of his routine, he noticed Jim get on the treadmill arrive at the gym with his headphones on and as soon as the jock saw his friend, he left out a mischievous smirk and went to say hi to his friend:

“Heeey buddy! How have you been? I haven’t seen you since last Saturday!”

“I’ve been… surviving I guess hahaha, my professor is forcing us to stay after class on the lab to finish some tasks, which totally ruined my schedule. I’m gonna start training around this hour everyday.” Kevin vented.

“No kidding? That’s the time I usually go to the gym!” Jim pushed Kevin in a friendly way. “So are we going to be workout buddies now?”

“It appears so! “ Kevin smiled, assuming that training with a guy as ripped as Jim would only make him even fitter.

Suddenly, Jim stared at Kevin’s brown eyes and smirked, from outsiders, he looked like a lion eying its prey. It was almost as if his brain engines were trying to come up with a mischievous plan.

“Hey, Kevin” he said, catching his breath after lifting ”Ever think about ditching these dumbbells for a date with me?”

“What?? date?” Kevin caught off guard but secretly thrilled, raised an eyebrow

“Yeah!” Jim chuckled, wiping his forehead with a towel “We'll go grab a bite, then maybe swing by the mall and catch that new superhero flick everyone's raving about.

“But… we are friends.. Michael he…” Kevin tried to reason, but was failing to find words.

“C’mon Kevin, I know you fancy me since you first entered the Candy Shop, before I even we started to hang out.” Jim teased.

Kevin hesitated, his heart racing with excitement. He had always admired Jim's mysterious personality and infectious laughter, but at the same time, dating a friend could end so badly.

“Uh, sure, why not?” Kevin finally replied, trying to sound nonchalant despite his racing thoughts.

“There you go man” Jim teased “Even though you claim to be a fantasy nerd, with all your dungeons and dragons campaigns, your obsession with fantasy books, I bet you secretly love superhero movies. You've got that brooding hero vibe going on, you are gonna love Madame Webb.”

“Well, I suppose every hero needs a sidekick, right?” Kevin laughed, feeling a blush creeping up his cheeks.

“That was low Kevin, reaally low” Jim laughed.

As soon as they were done with their respective workouts, they headed to the showers to get ready for the date.

“Where do you wanna go?” Kevin asked while nervously sitting on Jim’s car.

“I really want to try that traditional diner on 7th Avenue…. it’s kind of close to a mall.”

“A diner?” Kevin’s mind started racing, he couldn’t eat junk food, he was doing so great “Hum… sure…”

“Neat! What kind of music do you like?” He smirked and then chuckled “No need to tell me, I already know you are into some gay stuff like Chappel Ronan.”

“You???” Kevin gasped “How did you know that?”

“I’m a very good at reading people. Michael not only is gay, but he is definitely into Taylor Swift… He just has that vibe.”

“Well, you are absolutely correct, he can’t stop blasting her new album. How about you mister good people reader?” Kevin teased “What do you like?”

“I really like King Gizzard… that band is so… - He stopped taking” I don’t have words to describe them, just listen to this shit and tell me it’s not the best song you have heard.”

Jim turned on Spotify and started playing Crumbling Castle. It was definitely not Kevin’s style but he loved how passionate Jim was.. When you first glanced at him, he seemed like a annoyed jock who would rather die than speak to you, but as you got to know him, you would see how amazing he truly was… If only Kevin knew Jim’s true intentions. A few songs later, they arrived at Papa Brian’s Diner, it was a really rusty old place, but the reviews were amazing, Jim grinned, nudging Kevin playfully as they settled into their booth at the diner.

“Man… all of this looks so amazing. I wish I could eat it” Kevin sighed while reading the menu.

“Why don’t you? It’s Friday!”

“I gained a bunch of weight this semester… I’m trying to avoid stuff like burgers, fries, milkshakes.”

“That’s nonsense Kevin! You are getting a big burger, some fries and a chocolate milkshake, cause I know that’s your favorite. One night won’t ruin your diet.”

“Are… are you sure?”

“Absolutely! I have cheat meals all the time! Specially when I’m going out with someone” He waved at the very fat waiter, telling him what they would have.

“Good night guys, my name is Toby, I will be taking your orders tonight! Do you know what to get?”

“Ah! That we do! I’m getting the Bacon slider with an extra burger, some fries on the side and a strawberry milkshake… For that lovely fella” Jim was scrolling through the menu “He will want the Ribs Triple Decker, with a large portion of fries and the Chocolate Choco milkshake!”

The waiter eyed Kevin from the feet up and scratched his head with a pencil:

“Are you sure he can pull that out? It’s a lot of food.”

“Of course he can! I will make sure he finishes it! This guy has lost so much weight in the past few months, he deserves a cheat meal, right?”

“Absolutely! I will be back with your orders in a few minutes”

Kevin hasn’t eaten that much since he started his diet, he didn’t even know if he was going to be able to eat all that. But, not wanting to disappoint his date, he decided he would finish it all. When the food arrived, he widened his eyes in disbelief, Jim’s portion was big, his on the other hand, was humongous. The milkshake alone was almost a liter, there was enough fries for a family of four and the burger… well… to sum up, it had three giant burgers stacked, with ribs on top of it and cheese… so much cheese!

The biology major started eating the fries while discussing some Fire and Blood theories with his date, who wasn’t struggling with his meal. He kept shoveling fries down and they didn’t seem to end, when he was finally done with them, he took a huge bite of his burger. It was heavenly, the flavors were melting on his tongue, he could sense how well seasoned that meat was, how fine the cheese was, the good quality bread… He felt the urge to keep eating… Bite after bite, his stomach seemed to grow a bit, notifying its owner how stuffed it already was, but, Kevin was not giving up, he kept eating like his life depended on it. After he finished the entire burger, he had to unbutton his jeans and let his small gutt out.

“Don’t forget the milkshake Kevin. Mine was so delicious.”

“Huff… I… I… I will get to it, just give me a minute.”

“Not to rush you or anything, but while you were eating, I already bought the movie tickets on the Kinoplex app… So… We have an hour and half.”

“Fuck….” Kevin took a deep breath and stared at the milkshake “Let’s do it then.”

He started drinking the milkshake vigorously. Sip after sip, with light burps in between to make more space in your belly. Jim managed to notice Kevin's belly swelling even more. When he was halfway through the glass, the liquid started to overflow, falling down the sides and leaving Kevin all smeared, and finally, when he finished, he was all dirty, stuffed, with his jeans unbuttoned, his belly slightly showing, a prime example of his near future.

Jim rapidly paid the bill and they left for the movies, where he bought some medium sized popcorn and Kevin, even though stuffed besides his natural capacity, ate them without complaining, after all, you can’t watch a movie without popcorn, specially on a date. The film itself was uneventful, like everything Marvel was releasing lately, they totally butchered Madame Webb. Jim drove Kevin back to his dorm and kissed him passionately before getting out of the car.

When Kevin entered his dorm, he was mesmerized by the amount of sweets on the counter and coffee table. Michael was snoring on the sofa, shirtless, with his newly fattened body on display, clearly stuffed beyond his limits. There’s no way Michael would be able to eat all of that food, even if he tried his best. Really concerned with his best friend, Kevin tried to reason with Jim:

“Jim this is way too much candy… There’s only Michael and I living here, you can’t keep giving him all of this candy.”

“You out of all people will be happy to know I refuse to break a promise.”

“But there’s no way he can eat all of that before it goes bad by himself… Look at him” Kevin pointed to his friend” Even with his best efforts he didn’t finish the candies on the coffee table! Let alone all of them.

“Well… Then I guess someone better start eating up, right?” Jim gently tapped his date’s small pudge.

“Jim… I can’t… My diet…”

“What about it? Just train harder… I know you want the candy.”

“I want it so badly… But I can’t… I can’t… I have been doing so well… not eating junk food… going to the gym everyday… I…”

Jim slowly grabbed a chocolate bar and opened it, he took a really small bite and got super close to Kevin, tempting him will the delicious sugary smell.

“Jim… No… I… can’t.”

“Oh Kevin, I think you not only can, but desperately wants some.” He gently put the chocolate bar on his date’s lips and they immediately started eating “Yes, you are going to be a good friend and help Michael finish it all, right?”

“Yes… I will… I will eat all the candy you give me Jim… Will you go to the gym with me tomorrow?”

“No, I have to take care of the shop” Jim smirked.

“How about on Monday?”

“Programming class”

“Oh… that’s hum… okay…”

“Yes buddy, now be a good boy and finish all the candy your friend couldn’t handle. Don’t forget the brownies, the strawberry cake and the salted caramel bars Michael left on the fridge” Jim made his way out the door while whistling happily. Kevin stared at the fridge for a few minutes and finally lost the last drop of self control.