Chapter 1

Eric had no idea where he was. He knew he was walking, but he couldn't quite remember where he'd started walking from. He knew he was naked but had no clue why. And he knew he was thirsty but had no way to do anything about that. No clothes, no water, no one else to help him. Just heat and thirst.

Heat and thirst.

Heat radiating from a harsh sun overhead, and from the rough sand beneath his feet, stretching to the clear horizon that he could see in every direction. And thirst radiating from every cell of his body.

He woke, his eyes flying open to see the soft warm glow of the morning light creeping through his windows. He felt cool and refreshed, the thirst quenched in an instant, but he knew this dream too. It wasn't like him to have reoccurring dreams, or even ones this vivid, but that was easy to explain. Lately he had been taking better care of himself. Eating better, working out more, getting more sleep. This is probably why his mind is clearer and his memory in the morning is better. Yeah, that was it.

It might be a little intense having some crazy dream every now and then about being lost in a desert, or a jungle, or a shopping mall... but the improvements he was feeling was worth it. After just a few weeks of this new routine, Eric felt like he had more energy than he'd ever had. He was motivated at work, his confidence had increased, he could see the payoffs in his physique, and his libido was...

He reached a hand down. You could call this a part of his new routine as well. Eric didn't find anything strange about morning wood, but lately it seemed to come with such a burning need that he couldn't bring himself to leave his bed until he'd taken care of it. His stomach already slick with the precum he was getting used to waking up with, maybe today he'd be able to cum. That was another thing he didn't know, why sometimes he could and sometimes he couldn't, seemingly no matter how long he'd try. Probably just his body getting used to better nutrition. Yeah, that was it.

But today he couldn't try for long anyway. He was planning to finish early in the office, since he had a date that evening. Maybe. Was it? He certainly hoped so. He thought about when he'd first met his new neighbour, Toby. Perfect Toby. How had he got so lucky? He thought about that first meeting, about how he'd had some idiotic worries about this young dumb jock moving in and probably having loud parties and who knows what else going on at all hours of the night. He remembered thinking he should say something... about the type of town this was, and about the types of people on this street. Did he ever do that? Eric thought hard... he could remember knocking. Did he lay down the law like he'd intended?

Doesn't matter. All that matters is Toby opened the door and Eric got to see the new center of his life. He thought back to what he was wearing, how his shirt clung to every muscle, and how he'd styled his perfect hair and flashed that perfect smile. As he pawed at his groin, he thought about how these were things he had barely registered at the time. Of course, being straight, he doesn't usually take much notice of a man's appearance. But after getting to know Toby better, after starting to spend hours at a time over at his place, he now realised what he'd been missing out on all this time. He sped up his pace. He thought about how he’d gotten to know Toby. The real Toby, sweet and honest and trustworthy. He was close.

"Dammit!" Eric thought, as he swung himself out of bed, at least 30 minutes after he'd first woken up, "Guess today’s not one of those days."

After he was done with his run, he stumbled back home, both exhausted and pumped. Wow, it felt good. He sniffed at his pits. Yep. Good. If he thought he was horny when he woke up, that was nothing compared to how he felt after really pushing himself. He stripped off, his cock semi hard and leaking like always, and headed to his shower. He used to hate cold showers, but now they just felt... right. As he lathered his body, he took note of just how much bigger he was getting. He'd always tried to stay in shape but had never stacked it on quite like this. His pecs filled his hands as he massaged them, one after the other, and he could feel the definition starting as he ran his hand down his abs.

Who knew it could feel this good to just touch yourself? To rub yourself, exploring every familiar and yet unfamiliar inch. The shaving probably helped. Most of his life he'd had a thick pelt, but since he'd started shaving it all off his skin was like electricity. Every touch was magnified a thousand times. His cock was hard now, yearning to join in on this electricity. For a touch. But today wasn't one of those days.

The rest of his day passed in a blur. Eric got through work, which wasn't very important. At lunch he politely returned a call to his sister in Vermont, which was a snooze. Something about some inheritance coming their way. On his way home he dropped into the mall, he needed more workout gear. And while he was there, maybe a special new jockstrap for when he saw Toby tonight? Not that Toby would be seeing him in his underwear or anything like that. Just for... confidence. Yeah, that was it.

He knocked and waited. No reply. No sound from inside his neighbour's home. He didn't know if Toby was coming, but he could wait no matter how long it took. No matter how long he had to stand out here in the cold evening air, as he knew he must. Wait, why did he know that? What were the plans for tonight, exactly? When had they discussed him even coming over? The door swung open.

"Hey Eric, right on time! You're looking hot tonight!" Toby greeted him with a smile, holding out a glass of something he knew he was supposed to drink. "Hot and thirsty."