First Time(s): Roger and Tony

[arpeejay]

I can't really believe this is happening.

For one thing, he's 20 years old!

For another thing he's my dog sitter!

Did I mention he's 20 years old?!

Twenty years old and drop dead gorgeous. Sicilian, 5'7 on a good day, all state soccer player, 150 lbs., nice broad shoulders, beefy pecs and arms, not an ounce of bodyfat.

Watching him bounce the soccer ball up and down, shirtless, in his front yard (he lives with his parents across the street) was enough to take my breath away. Cold showers helped...

But then it was time to take a trip out of town and I needed a sitter for Coco, my 12 y.o. beagle. Marie, Tony's mom, volunteered his services. "He could use a summer job..."

So he came over and I showed him where to find Coco's food and treats and her leash and where she liked to hang out and all of that.

And then he seemed reluctant to go so I started thinking of other things to talk about, like the gym.

"You look like you've been hitting the weights hard," I told him. "Those aren't your typical soccer player shoulders."

His eyes lit up.

"Well, yeah, but look at you. You make me look like a piece of spaghetti."

I blushed.

"Well, I dunno..."

"Oh, c'mon," he said. "You're built like a tank."

He had a point. I might be 50 years old but I'm a 50 year old muscle daddy. Only 5'10 1/2" tall but that's a good 3 1/2 inches on Tony. And at a solid 220 lbs. I'm nearly half again his size.

"Have you ever competed?" he asked.

I snorted by way of reply.

"Oh, heck no, I've never come close. I'm kinda beefy but I've never been ripped. No point..."

He just stood there, his handsome head cocked to one side, a faint grin on his face.

"Now, YOU, you are ripped. Man, if I had a bod like yours..."

It was his turn to snort.

"But you've got the mass, man. I'm just a runt."

I held my hands out to his sides, measuring his shoulders in the air.

"No one with shoulders this wide is runt, Tony, you need to get over it."

He moved just enough forward that my hands were touching his shoulders.

"The way I see it," he said, "my shoulders are only barely wider than your chest."

Holy fuck, I thought. What have I gotten myself into?

He put his hands on my chest, slowly massaging my pecs...

[arpeejay]

That was three years ago and, yes, we did it. Yes, there was a big brouhaha, his parents threatening to put the law on me, all that kind of crap. But there he was, of legal age, and willing to swear that it was his idea.

It was just as well I was renting the house. Tony moved in with me, almost immediately, which made for a tense several months. When the lease came up, I bought another house in a neighborhood nearby.

I suppose I felt a bit like Christopher Isherwood. Certainly my friends kidded me about it no end. There I was, a fully competent, high functioning, middle-aged professional, with a 20 y.o. live in going to college boyfriend. I think it's safe to say he had me wrapped around his little finger. Just as well he's such a nice guy.

It turned out that much as he loved soccer he really craved the idea of being a bodybuilder, he was just waiting for someone to show him the ropes and to give him permission to indulge his passion, which he's done with a vengeance.

In three years I've put on 30 lbs. of solid muscle, which is fairly impressive for a guy in his early 50s. At 5'10 1/2" tall and 250 lbs., with a 54 inch chest, 20 inch arms, a 32 inch waist, and 30 inch quads, I'm a tank.

Tony, though...

Well, put it this way -- he and I both weigh exactly the same amount, only he's 3 1/2 inches shorter than I am.

That's right. In three years the Boy Wonder, as I call him, has put on 100 lbs. of solid muscle. At 5'7 and 250 lbs., he's basically a Sicilian version of Branch Warren and I expect in another year or two he'll make Branch look like a piece of spaghetti. Which is kinda the way I feel now, as you might imagine. Given our height differential I'd need to be about 285 in order to have his proportions. I might get there someday but he'll be long past me by then.

What's next?

California, I think. He wants to compete professionally and he's just a contest or two away from having his pro card. Certainly he's exhausted all the training possibilities to him available here in Western New York.

So I'm working on positioning myself to enter the California market. Not a great time to be looking at a career change but, hey, California real estate prices are the best they've been in years.

As for Tony, he has his newly minted master's degree in exercise science and not much use for it here.

We'll be seeing y'all out there shortly, I'm sure!

END