Ernie Boudine -- early thirties, still lives at home with mom -- has never had sex, hasn’t even been kissed. In his mind the only guys who get in on the action are the muscled-up bodybuilders he worships on his computer. But Ernie knows to attract such a god He’ll need to transform his current blob of soft muscles covered with an ample layer of fat into body beautiful. Personal trainer Butch Noonan discovers his boyfriend has been cheating on him. Troy is the last straw. Butch decides he’s done dating bodybuilders with their self-centered and egotistical attitudes. Butch longs for a relationship with someone who believes in romance, togetherness, and fidelity. Joining a gym, Ernie feels like a kid in a candy store. So many beautiful men working out, so much hard muscle to ogle. Ernie is disappointed when Butch is assigned as his personal trainer. Despite the man’s name, the other trainers have bigger and buffer bodies. Soon, however, Ernie begins to appreciate Butch’s sexy, compact body and what’s more, the man genuinely seems to care for and about Ernie. Much to both men’s surprise, a tentative relationship begins to blossom, but then into the gym strolls Butch’s former college roommate. Bill is a serious bodybuilder and Ernie is immediately captivated by the man’s huge muscles and confident swagger. Can Butch stand idly by and watch Ernie make the same mistakes he has? Or will Ernie wise up in time and realize true relationships are about more than muscle?

More Than Muscle

Ernie turned to his locker and inserted the key. He opened the door and hesitated. Stan still stood next to him, dwarfing Ernie in the process. Not sure what to do and ashamed to expose his lack luster physique in front of Hercules incarnate, Ernie opened his gym bag and started stowing his toiletries.


Stan also turned to his locker. Ernie could hear him rummaging around inside.


“Shit! Hey, Eddie, you got some deodorant I can borrow? I don’t seem to find mine.”


“Uh, sure, and it’s Ernie though, not Eddie,” Ernie said.Of course why would he remember my name, Ernie thought, pulling the deodorant back off the shelf. “Uh, it’s a solid not a spray.”


“That don’t matter none to me,” Stan said, reaching for the stick. “Unless it does to you?”


Chapter 8