Both men stopped and stood quiet after the doorbell rang.
“Who could that be?” Rick asked.
Brendon paused, then answered, “Oh shit, that must be Jeff. I forgot he was coming over.”
“Jeff?” Rick asked quizzically. He could never seem to remember the names of Brendon’s friends.
“You know … uh … Dad …” Brendon felt awkward referring to this man who looked just a couple years older than him as “Dad”. “Jeff … he used to come over quite a bit and we’d often toss a football…”
“Still doesn’t ring a bell,” Rick replied. Though suddenly, for the first time in his life, he really wanted to toss a football around himself.
The doorbell rang again, and Rick looked toward Brendon. “Well, aren’t you going to answer it?”
Brendon looked awkwardly at his stepdad, unsure if he wanted Jeff to be a witness to Rick’s changes. The whole thing was too weird. He hesitated. Bu then, before he could say or do anything, Rick turned around and headed to the door.
“It’s rude to let your friends wait!” Rick called out behind him.
“Dad! C’mon, stop!”
But it was too late as Rick had already reached and opened the front door.
“Hello,” the young man at the door said, seeing the unfamiliar person answer, “Is … Brendon … here?”
Rick looked at the guy at the door. He looked familiar, yet not. He was a pretty big, strapping guy – tall (maybe 6’4”, quite a few inches taller than the 5’10” Rick), broad (he must’ve been carrying well over 250 pounds of hard, toned muscle) and extremely handsome (boy-next-door good looks, with blonde hair, a roman nose, and even slight dimples when he smiled).
“Oh, … uh uh umm…,” Rick stammered. Why was he feeling so nervous? “You must be Jeff.”
“Um, yes,” Jeff replied, in his deep, baritone voice. “I don’t think I know you.”
Rick quickly remembered his transformation, and realized he could not say he was Brendon’s stepdad. Instead, he answered, “I’m Rick. Brendon’s … er … um, cousin.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rick.” Jeff held out his own hand, and then shook Rick’s. “Now, is Brendon home?”
“I’m over here,” Brendon muttered a few feet behind Rick.
“Bren, is that you?” Jeff muttered, walking past Rick. “Why, look at you becoming a man?”
Jeff was a couple years older than Brendon, and the two hadn’t seen each other since Jeff left for college two years prior. Jeff had now walked toward Brendon and gave him a big bear hug.
Brendon was a little surprised to see his old friend. Jeff had always been somewhat of a jock, and had even been the high school quarterback, but he now looked so much bigger, older, handsomer. Brendon felt so small in Jeff’s large arms.
“Wow, Jeff. Look at you! You’re so …,” Brendon started, after being released from Jeff’s grip.
“Big!” Jeff laughed as he finished Brendon’s sentence. “Yeah, that’s what my mom keeps telling me whenever she sees me. You know, I’ve grown like 3 inches in height since you last saw me. And, well, with college football, I guess you can say I’ve been hitting the gym quite a bit.”
Brendon was a little speechless hearing Jeff speak, he had always harbored a secret crush on Jeff. Now, seeing him so much more mature and larger, Brendon was having hard time keeping his usual cool self together.
All the while, Rick likewise stood and stared at Jeff. He could vaguely remember seeing a younger version of this hunk being around the house years ago, but his memory was so unclear. Also odd was that he was finding himself particularly drawn to this guy – the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he stood. Rick had never looked at another guy like this before, yet he felt as if he were looking now at the hottest chick on the planet.
As the three guys stood in the living room, something strange began to happen.