• It was a beautiful day.
    It was times like these spent with my best friend that lit up my days. It was unusual for a guy and a girl where we lived to be such close friends without hooking up eventually. Of course, nobody knew it was exactly what I’d been wanting for years, but never been brave enough to act upon.


    We sat quietly in a park together, just talking and enjoying each other’s company. I wondered if this was what a date was like. I had never been on one, so I wouldn’t know.



    “So what do you like, in terms of abs?” he asked, that crooked grin of his flashing at me before hiding itself in his mock-serious expression.

    “Well, I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.” I blushed, looking away. “I guess for starters I should mention that there is DEFINITELY such a thing as too much muscle... Have you seen those body builders? That, to me is kinda gross. Tho only way I can really describe it is through movies. Have you seen George of the Jungle?”
    
He nodded, leaning back on our bench and turning his face up to the sky, the sun deepening the shadows around his nose and mouth. It really was a beautiful day.

    

I continued, “Well a George-chest is pretty much my limit on how much muscle a guy should have. I’d have to say that once a guy starts to develop man-boobs of muscle, I start getting put off. A guy should be able to fill his shirt out a little, not stuff it full to bursting. On the other hand, a pencil-chest is a little disappointing. I’d say anything within that range is fair game though. I haven’t truly seen many real-life abs to be able to compare.”



    He looked over at me, smiling again. “I wonder if I’m within your golden range of ‘hotness’?” he mused aloud, winking at me. I blushed again, but then looked back at him with mischief in my eyes. Two can play at that game.
    

“Why don’t you show me and I can tell you?” I teased, raising my eyebrow mockingly.

    His grin faltered a little, surprised by my daring. I wasn’t usually so bold. 
I decided to push it, curious as to what he might do. “What? I’ve seen you shirtless before. Swimming, remember?”



    He conceded at that and sat up a little straighter. Looking around, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it back around his arms. I stared unashamedly at his torso. It was perfect, but I didn’t really want to let on that I thought so. He had definitely been working out more since I’d last seen him like this. 
I hummed, drawing my inspection out. Finally I looked back at his face, chewing my lip as if wrestling with indecision. “Alright, yes. You’re most certainly within my predetermined range. Are you happy now?” I laughed, amused by the frustrated expression of his eyes.



    He began to pull his shirt back on, but I stopped him, pushing my teasing a bit more. “You know, I don’t really get to hang out with many topless guys. What if I don’t want you to get dressed again?”
 Beautiful, I thought to myself.
    His eyes met mine in surprise and the breath caught in my throat. Perhaps I had pushed this a little too far. I was too shy to ever tell him. But now it seemed he felt the same.


    I felt his breath on my face as he sat closer to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and resting his forehead on my neck.
 Now it was my turn to be shocked, since he had never hugged me before. 
I could hear his voice crack as he muttered something under his breath. “Hmn?” I mumbled, too caught up in the warm sensation of his bare skin against my arms.

    His whole body trembled as he looked back up at me again, “ I said, do you have any idea how much it hurts when you say things like that and I know you can never feel the same way about me as I do to you?”


    I was speechless as he buried his face in my hair and began to sob. The inside of my chest felt like it was burning and my heart was racing at ten times it’s normal speed. I reached my hands out and slowly pulled his face up so I could look into his eyes once more.
“Who says I don’t”, I whispered, before he wrapped his arms around me and met my lips with his.


    This was such a beautiful day.