I left Madame Moiselle’s three hundred and twenty dollars lighter. Heather hadn’t liked any of the bra styles for the larger sizes and since she “had to get them delivered anyway” (her words) she insisted on having them custom made. She assured me they would be “way sexier” so of course I let the wrong head make the call. The extra twenty dollars was for a bikini she promised to model for me later. At least Heather was in a better mood as we ventured back into the mall.

“Heather? Is that you?”a voice shouted. I turned to a see a six foot tall roided up jock-type run up. He was wearing a tank top, undoubtedly to show of ‘his guns’, which immediately annoyed me. I recognized him vaguely from Sedgwick’s varsity football team.

“Kenny! Who else looks this good in spandex?” Heather smirked.

“No one but you babe,” Kenny replied suavely. “What are you doing with this squirt?”

Heather laughed, “You know Mike, don’t you?”

Kenny looked down at me and said, “Yeah... We had biology together right?”

“American History,” I replied

“That was it,” Kenny said disinterestedly before turning back to Heather as though I wasn’t there. “Hey do you want to get a picture in the photobooth? For old time’s sake?” I could have punched him right in his six-pack, but losing five inches of height tends to make one cautious.

“Sure, Kenny.” Heather looked down at me and said, “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

I opened my mouth to protest but they were already walking away. Someone trotted up behind me and I turned to see Jason, a climbing buddy of mine from Sedgwick. Black, athletic and an all around good guy; he was also a running back for the varsity team. “Hey man, how’s it going?” he asked.

“Not bad,” I lied, watching Kenny walk off with my date.

Jason noticed. “Don’t sweat it man. Kenny tried to get into her pants for months.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Tried, man. Did not succeed.”

“Seriously? How do you know?”

“Dude if anyone on the team banged Heather Vance, I’d know. We all would.”

I tried to remember who Heather had dated previously. “Didn’t she date some of the other players?”

“She went through half the first string man. And not one of them did any better than Kenny did.”

I hesitated to ask but I had to know,” And how far did Kenny get?”

Jason shrugged. “Second base. Got a squeeze of that giant rack of hers and wouldn’t shut up about it for a week.” Second base, huh? Mission accepted. “Anyway, forget about that shit man. We should go climbing,” Jason said.

“Yeah, we should,” I agreed. A thought suddenly occurred to me and I said, “Hey Jason do remember me being, I dunno, taller?”

Jason gave me a strange look and said, “Huh?”

“Nevermind.”

Jason seemed to sense my disappointment and said, “You’re a great climber. I’ve never seen you let your height get in the way of that.” Not what I wanted to hear but I appreciated that he was trying to cheer me up. Jason was a good friend. I probably should hang out with him more but it was so easy to lose touch with people when classes weren’t forcing us together.

“Seriously, forget I said anything.”

“Alright. Anyway, we should go climbing next weekend or something.”

“Sure, I’ll call you,” I said absently, watching Heather swagger back in our direction.

Jason followed my gaze. “Watch yourself dude, she’s a man eater.”

“On belay, bro.” I replied.

Jason laughed. “Alright alright,” he said giving me a good natured slap on the back. “Belay on.”

After a bit of small talk our groups parted ways and I kept closer to Heather, feeling protective and jealous. Being nearer had the added effect of reinforcing how much taller than me she was. Her long strides forced me to walk double time to keep up and I was still falling slightly behind. I felt like a younger brother chasing his big sister and probably would have looked the part too if I hadn’t missed shaving that morning. Stubble; my last and only line of defense.

“Look,” Heather said pointing to a brightly lit storefront ahead. “Full Time Fitness opened.”

“Uh, great?” I said. The plexiglass windows at the front of the gym revealed the typical rows of exercise bikes, treadmills, and weight lifting machines.

“Come on, we should check it out,” Heather insisted.

“I’m sure it’s exactly like every other gym.”

Heather scoffed, “Stop being such a stick in the mud. Getting a little exercise could be fun. You certainly look like you could use it.”

“Hey,” I said, offended. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve been lying around in bed for a week,” Heather said disparagingly.

“I was sick!”

“All the more reason to sweat it out.”

“We aren’t even members,” I countered.

Heather pointed to a sign I’d missed in front of the entrance that read: “Free day! No sign-up or membership required! Try before you buy!”

I couldn’t think of any other compelling arguments. The truth was I didn’t want to go in because I felt weak. My previous bench was two hundred, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be anywhere near that today. Not exactly a great opportunity to impress my date. Unfortunately it would sound even more weak if I declined now. “Fine,” I said finally.

Heather led the way into the store and quickly shut down a personal trainer that started pitching all of the gym’s perks. “How about you go stand over there, and we’ll work out over there.” Heather said pointing to opposite ends of the gym. The trainer wandered off grumbling.

“What do you want to try first?” Heather asked me.

“Don’t look at me, this is your idea.”

“Lets warm up on the stairmaster,” Heather said cheerfully.

“I’ll cycle,” I said, worried about falling from a dizzy spell.

“Suit yourself,” Heather said as she pulled a complimentary towel off a nearby rack. They were probably meant as gifts for new members but Heather obviously didn’t care and emboldened by her actions I grabbed one too.

I walked over and sat down at one of the bikes and began to pedal. Immediately my jeans and t-shirt were soaked with sweat. Why did I let her talk me into this? Movement out of the corner of my eye made me glance up and I saw Heather stepping onto a stairmaster in the row in front of me. She was near enough that I was in prime territory for checking her ass out as it flexed and bulged with every step. Was she showing off to me on purpose? Wood began to sprout in my pants and I forced myself to look away from gyrations of her plump posterior.

Five minutes later I was exhausted. I hadn’t been pedaling particularly hard, yet sweat soaked my collar all the way down to my stomach. Heather stepped off the stairmaster and turned to me with a smile and said, “Ready for a real workout?”

No, I thought. “Sure,” I said.

I followed her over to the weight benches, which were blessedly out of sight of the main mall area. A couple guys who were mid-set did a double take when Heather walked around the corner. One nearly dropped his bar bell and had to bail on his squat- not that I could blame him. It wasn’t every day a six plus foot tall girl with outrageous curves walks by. “What is that lift guys always brag about?” Heather asked.

“The bench press,” I sighed. “It isn’t even a great exercise. It’s much more important to build core strength with exercises that cover broader muscle groups like pull ups and dips. In fact, you can get a great workout with bodyweight exercises alone unless you’re trying to body sculpt or undergo hardcore strength training.”

“Thanks for that, Dr. Fitness. Are you gonna bench or what?”

Everything I had said was true, but Heather wasn’t buying it. Now I had to do a damn bench press or I was never going to hear the end of it. Scowling I began to load up a bar with free weights. The moment I grabbed a thirty five pound disc I knew things were going to be rough; it was heavy as hell. I loaded three more thirty five pounders onto the bar, plus the bar itself which was another forty five pounds or so, bringing the total up to 185. Pretty ambitious considering that was more than my freshly reduced body weight.

Finally I got into position and said, “Spot me, please.”  

“Ok, what do I do?” Heather said.

“Stand behind me and if the bar slips out of my hands or I’m having trouble help me lift it off.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Heather moved to stand over me, covering me with her intimidating shadow. I took a deep breath, grabbed the bar and heaved it off the rack. My arms began to tremble immediately, this was too much. “Grab it, please.” I said.

“One sec, I got a text.”

Was she fucking with me? Sweat beaded across my brow, my arms began to tremble uncontrollably and the bar sunk slowly towards my chest. Behind me, Heather giggled. “Heather!” Panic crept into my voice. “A little help?”   

A hand reached over my head and gripped the center of the bar just before it fell. The barbell stabilized and I breathed a sigh of relief. I glanced at Heather in irritation and realized she had stopped the bar with one hand, her other hand was on her phone- texting. “Seriously? You’re texting now?”

“Kenny said something funny.” Kenny again… that bastard.

With Heather’s help I re-racked the bar and said, “I’m gonna need to drop some weight.”

Heather finished her text, put her phone away and peered down at me. “Don’t I get a turn?” she asked. Oh great, I thought, if she lifts it I look like a total scrub.

Desperate to talk her out of it I said, “Are you sure? You might break a nail.”

“My big strong man wouldn’t let me break a nail, would he?” Heather mocked.

“No- I mean, I can’t guarantee because you don’t know proper form and-”

Heather ignored me and laid down on the bench. Her breasts flattened slightly, rolling off to either side of her body yet still managed to project proudly from her chest. Gripping the bar confidently, she hefted it off the rack and said,“Like this?” I reached out nervously, half hoping she would need my help. “This is how you did it right?” Heather asked as her face scrunched up with overly dramatic effort. Her arms shook and I reflexively moved to steady the bar- except that it stopped shaking almost immediately.

Heather laughed, “You really thought I would need help with this? That’s cute.” She proceeded to pop off a few quick reps. Quick because her fat tits wouldn’t allow the bar all the way down to her chest. She re-racked the weight without my help then sat up and yawned. “Honestly, I was hoping for more of a challenge.”

I was shaking with frustration. I had climbed and exercised and trained for years. I was by no means a prime physical specimen, but I had earned my strength. Heather’s most vigorous workout was probably brushing her hair every morning but her ridiculous genetics allowed her to waltz into a gym and do with ease what had taken me years to accomplish. She didn’t seem to care that she had pissed on my effort. She probably even enjoyed it! I was too angry to speak. Angry at myself for being weak and angry at her for rubbing my face in it.

I stalked away towards the water fountain to take a long drink and splash cold water on my face. When I turned around Heather was standing behind me. “Everything okay Mike?” she asked innocently.

I glared at her over the imposing shelf of her bust. “Did you drag me in here just to humiliate me?”

A smile twitched at the corners of Heather’s mouth. “Not *just* to humiliate you.”

I gaped. It took me a moment to regain my composure and say, “You are Un. Fucking. Believable. Why? What did I do to you?”

“Get down from your high horse, Mikey. How about that patronizing speech you gave me a few minutes ago about how unimportant the bench press is?”

“I was trying to be helpful! The bench really isn’t that big of a deal!”

“Then why are you so pissed off that I benched more than you?”

“I-” Shit. She sort of had me there. “I..”

Heather placed her hands on her generous hips and flattened me against the wall with a cold stare. “You thought I shouldn’t be able to bench more than you because I’m a girl, right?”

This was not going how I anticipated. “That’s not-”

“Please,” Heather interrupted. “Don’t bother denying it.” I looked away, unable to hold her gaze any longer. A moment of tense silence passed before she said, “Do you really think you can handle dating me?”  

“I...” I trailed off, feeling horribly intimidated by Heather’s body towering over me.

“I’m a big, strong girl Mikey and I am used to getting my way. Can you be with a girl bigger than you are?” She asked skeptically.

“Y-Yeah,” I replied.

“A girl stronger than you?” Heather’s arms braced against the wall, caging me in.

“I-I guess so.”

She leaned forward until my peripheral vision was filled with her statuesque form and said, “A girl that gets what she wants, when she wants it?”

That was the million dollar question. Could I truly handle spending time with someone as demanding - as arrogant- as Heather? I mustered the courage to look up to at her and drunk in the sight of her body straining the black jumpsuit’s seams in all the right places. I breathed her earthy, sandalwood scent- stronger now and mixed with the tang of perspiration. I felt the heat of her breath as her startlingly beautiful blue eyes bore into mine, and her lips parted with unsatiated hunger. Could I date this behemoth girl even if that meant letting her take control...

“Yes,” I said, sacrificing my pride on the altar of Heather’s body.

Heather grinned. “Good,” she said leaning back so I was no longer trapped beneath her. “Because I would hate for you to get the wrong idea.” I must have look downtrodden because she added, “Cheer up Mikey, I can make things *very* enjoyable for you if you make me happy. And you don’t mind if I call Mikey right? It really suits you.”

I started to protest but thought better of it. “I... guess so,” I said.