Time did it's thing and moved without a care of the mortal world. Second became days, and days years. That time of the year came and passed many a time before it settled, for a moment on this one. Snow drifted down in slow, lazy flakes across the backyard, it was once again the kind of Christmas Eve snow that muffled everything and made the world feel gentle. Clean in a way. The porch light glowed warm on the white ground. Cody stood there waiting, sweater on, arms crossed, beard thicker, body broader than ever. In short, twenty five looked good on him. Bigger shoulders, thicker chest hair, abs still carved, but now under a strongman layer of mass. More bear than boy. Cody had grown into manhood and made absolutely no apologizes for it.
Without missing a beat, Evan stepped out behind him and almost laughed out loud.
“Dude… you’re like a Christmas lumberjack now.”
“Glad you noticed. Now come on.”
Cody didn’t even pretend to hide the smirk. They stood facing each other in the snow, breath drifting like smoke in the cold air. They hadn’t missed a Christmas Eve gut-punch tradition since they were eighteen, and even though they were older, busier, and way more grown into themselves, some things didn’t change. Why would they? Guys can be attached to things too, ours are just... a bit more odd.
“Ready to unwrap your present?” Cody teased.
Evan’s most definitely grown now, still managed to a grin spread
wide and still boyish.
“Yeah. Yeah I am.”
He reached forward and slid Cody’s ugly sweater up over his head. Cody raised his arms, letting Evan peel it off. Snowflakes instantly began sticking to his chest hair, melting against the warmth there. His torso looked even bigger without the sweater... broad pecs, hairy all the way down, abs still defined but with a thicker power behind them.
Evan stepped back just to look.
“Holy crap,” he breathed mostly to himself. “You’re huge.”
Cody flexed a little, just enough to make the chest hair shift and
the abs harden under the layer of winter fluff. Evan swallowed, he
noticed all right, breath clouding in front of him. For a moment Evan
once again blue screened, transfix on the sight before him. But just
a moment, and once it passed that evil grin returned.
"This year I’m gonna break you.”
Cody chuckled, deep and warm.
“Try me.”
Evan wasted no more time.
He’d been waiting a whole year for this, training like a mad man for it. Thinking about it every time he caught sight of Cody walking around the gym, shirt clinging to that ridiculous, hairy brick-wall torso. Maybe drooling a bit when he saw Cody checking himself out in the mirror. Every bicep curl, every chest day, every increase in pr, it was for one thing. He wanted to tenderize that meat, really tenderize it. But underneath the fire and tradition and playful bravado, Evan carried a secret he never said out loud: He wanted, needed, to break Cody’s abs. Not to hurt him or get the grunts. Well ok maybe a little because they were hot as hell. Not to win some dumb contest. But to prove something. To show Cody he had earned this place by his side. That he wasn’t just the kid Cody had taken under his wing. That he was strong enough, tough enough, worthy enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the man who once seemed unbreakable. Evan knew Cody loved him. Gods, Cody showed it a thousand ways, but some part of Evan still needed to match him. To give back what had been given. To push Cody the way Cody had pushed him all these years.
If he could break through those legendary abs, even once… Cody would see just how far he’d come. Would accept him more than just a boy. He never spoke that part, never would. He kept it tucked behind every grin, every playful jab. But it was there, always there, burning bright. So Evan stepped in with purpose, feet planted wide in the snow, shoulders rolling forward like he’d been waiting his whole life. And he fired a straight punch directly into the center of Cody’s abs. His fist slammed into the thick hair, into the heat beneath it, into the muscle that tightened instantly like a steel door locking shut. The impact jolted up Evan’s arm, shockwave like, but he didn’t pull back. He drove through it. He wanted Cody to feel him. All of him. Everything he’d built, everything he was. This year, he wasn’t just throwing punches. He was making a statement.
THUD.
Cody felt it. For the first time in years… he actually felt it.
Real pressure.
Real pain.
Real purpose.
Evan had gotten bigger, stronger. He wasn’t the skinny, eager kid throwing wild shots anymore. His punches carried weight. They had real technique behind them, real force. Cody didn’t let it show. He tightened his core, chest hair fluttering from the impact, and stood like a stone wall. But inside, he was proud, and hungry for more. Down below? He was already rock hard and lucky he was wearing layers…
Evan, completely
unaware of Cody’s thoughts or blood rushing south, shook out his
hand.
“Oh yeah. Yeah, this is happening tonight.”
Evan threw a left hook to the obliques, clean, tight, powerful.
Cody actually grunted.
It wasn’t loud, wasn’t involuntary, but Evan’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“You FELT that!”
Cody forced a calm, collected smirk. Cody knew there would be a time he couldn’t anymore, but for now he had to keep Evan hungry, coming for more… he wouldn’t disappoint or fail his man.
“Barely.”
Truth?
Yeah. Cody absolutely felt it.
Twenty five year old Evan punched like a truck now. Gone was the eager, skinny eighteen-year-old. This Evan had presence, wider shoulders, thicker arms, chest filled out, legs planted like he owned the snow beneath them. No body hair yet, something Evan joked Cody took all of. He moved like someone who’d built his strength on purpose, with discipline, with years of wanting to earn his place next to the man standing in front of him. Cody braced discreetly, tightening his core beneath the thick, winter dark hair covering his stomach and chest. He looked as relaxed as ever, that same cocky grin playing at the corners of his mouth.
Evan wanted more.
He stepped in and unloaded. A sharp jab cracked right into Cody’s sternum, forcing the older man’s chest to hitch for half a breath. Then a heavy cross slammed into the lower belly, right where the hair was thickest, softer, deceptively protective. Cody’s abs tensed hard beneath it, swallowing the hit, but oh yeah… he felt that one. Evan followed instantly with a tight uppercut to the navel region, burying deep into that hairy core. Cody’s whole midsection tightened like a wall snapping into place.
Evan wasn’t stopping. Not yet.
He shifted his stance and drove a hook into the left oblique, Cody’s ribs shuddered under the force, not breaking but shaking. Another hook to the right, deeper, heavier. Then three fast body jabs, machine-gun quick, each one thudding through the warm fur and hard muscle underneath.
Every punch sank deeper than last year, and the year before that… and the years before that.
Cody swallowed every reaction. Every grunt he wanted to let slip. He kept his face loose, easy, that “is this all you’ve got?” expression he’d worn since they were teenagers. But Evan could just see it. He saw the tiny shifts that came, the slight buckle in Cody’s stance, the controlled exhales Cody tried to disguise as laughs, the way his chest tightened in ways it never used to. Evan could hear the faint difference in the impacts too. It was less bounce, and more thud.
Evan felt his heart race, and well felt it down below. So, he did what any man would do, he dug in harder. A right hook hammered into Cody’s liver area, A brutal double shot, left right into the center belly. Then another cross. Then another. Then a crushing uppercut that drove up under the ribs like he was trying to uproot a tree. Cody’s abs clamped down, every line rigid beneath the full spread of dark hair, sweat starting to mat it down despite the freezing air.
He could feel it all.
Every hit.
Every
improvement.
Every ounce of strength Evan had earned.
But break? Cody gritted, redoubled himself. Screw that, tot this year. No way in hell.
Cody held the wall. Held the posture. Held the tradition itself. He lifted his chin like he was carved from something solid, something permanent. Evan’s breaths turned harsh in the cold air, fog billowing with each exhale. His arms burned, shoulders trembling from effort, yet he kept swinging, heavy, determined, almost desperate to crack that fortress. And Cody, with his heart pounding, his ribs throbbing, his abs screaming under the strain and begging for this insanity to stop, just smirked wider.
“C’mon,” he said, voice steady despite everything, “you’re getting close boy.”
He didn’t admit how close, not this Christmas Eve.
Evan planted his feet, he had that look in his eyes. The one that could burn a city to the ground, that meant that Evan was raging and ready to go. It both turned Cody on, and made him proud. No matter what HIS man was rising to the challenge, and wouldn’t stop without a fight. Evan cracked his neck, made his shoulders set. Full power engaged...
Oh fuck yes.
A body shot combo hammered into Cody’s ribs, then a hook into the upper abs, then a crushing shot right into the solar plexus.
THUMP.
THUD.
WHAM.
Cody’s breath exploded out in a sharp grunt. That one hurt. That one he loved. Cody thought, no manifested the thought more, and Evan, did just that. He reset his stance in the snow. His breath came out in steaming clouds, his knuckles burned, his shoulders pulsed, but he wasn’t stopping. Not now. Not when he felt Cody’s defenses shifting, softening, even if only for milliseconds at a time.
No, he dove right back in. A brutal cross hammered into Cody’s upper abs. The thick hair cushioned nothing, Evan felt the muscle flatten under his fist before snapping back into a solid wall. A heavy right hook tore into the ribs. For the briefest moment the flesh gave, the muscle softened, Evan felt it, he knew he did, but Cody didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. Didn’t move. Evan growled through clenched teeth. Another left hook. Another. Another. Each one thudded deeper than last year, deeper than ever, until Evan’s fists felt swollen and numb. But Cody just tightened his stance and let the hits crash into him like waves against a cliff. Then Evan drove a savage uppercut into the solar plexus, the one spot he knew could end someone. He felt the muscle give, maybe just barely? It was warm, solid, shaking. Yet Evan watched, in both surprise and a little admiration, as Cody only stiffened, exhaling sharply through his nose, refusing to show anything else.
Evan’s heartbeat was roaring in his
ears.
His lungs felt raw.
His arms were starting to tremble
from exhaustion.
But he wasn’t done. Couldn’t be! This was his year! He unleashed a flurry, short, violent body jabs, pounding directly into Cody’s center. Cody’s torso absorbed each one, hair damp now with sweat and melted snow. His abs softened for split seconds under the barrage, but always, always hardened again. Evan’s frustration twisted into something wild, determination, maybe? Or pride. Or maybe all the above. Or maybe that quiet, desperate wish that just once, just once, he could make Cody bend.
He stepped in close, teeth clenched, voice hoarse:
“Come on… come on… just give—”
He didn’t finish.
He powered up everything he had left.
His final wind.
His last spark.
His whole year of
training.
And he threw a massive, lung emptying, soul emptying body blow straight into Cody’s center. His fist crashed through the thick chest hair, slammed into the dense muscle beneath...and Cody caught it.
Caught it with his body.
He clenched everything he had left.
His abs locked.
Every
ridge.
Every layer.
Every slab of bulk he’d built this
year.
Evan’s arm shook violently from the force. Cody’s whole torso trembled from the impact, he felt it, oh yeah, he felt it, but he didn’t fold. Didn’t drop.
He held.
He endured.
He stayed standing.
Not this year.
Evan staggered back a half-step, panting so hard his vision buzzed. His knuckles throbbed. His shoulders burned. And Cody, big, bear-like Cody, just stood there in the snow, chest heaving, eyes bright, beard frosted with white, still unbroken. Still unshakeable. Still the wall Evan couldn’t quite conquer. Not yet. Couldn’t be yet. Cody love for Evan was to much. He would keep pushing Evan until Evan became even greater than him, and he knew Evan could do it.
Evan staggered back, breathless, chest heaving, arms burning.
“Holy… holy… okay… yeah. I got stronger but… ” He pointed weakly. “You’re still a tank.”
Cody stepped forward, chest hair glittering with snow, face softening.
“And you’re the strongest you’ve ever been… even if you are still a bitch.”
He ruffled Evan’s hair, then took him into a big bear hug. As Evan mocked annoyance and “tried” to free himself, they both enjoyed the moment. But there was something else, for Cody at least. Cody Saw him. Really saw him. For the first time since this silly tradition started, convincing themselves it was just a man thing (and totally not turning them on) Evan didn’t look like a kid trying to prove himself. He looked like a man, built, confident, powerful. Coming into himself and demanding the respect he should. And yeah… Cody felt attraction. Of course he did, he would have to be blind not to… and even then it was debatable, Evan was that hot. Evan’s body wasn’t the same as the thin, eager teenager he once been. His chest had filled out, arms thick and sculpted from countless hours lifting, punching, grinding. There was a presence to him now. A maturity. A strength Cody couldn’t ignore. So yeah, would he take Evan right there in the snow? Rip off that stupid tank and jeans and make sure even the neighbors were jealous on how they did it? Fuck yeah, in a heartbeat. He wasn’t made of stone. But that wasn’t the feeling that hit him hardest. What hit him was pride. A deep, warm swell of pride that settled right behind Cody’s abs, the same abs Evan had spent the last ten minutes trying to crack. He saw the progress. The discipline. The determination that had turned Evan from the kid who could barely rattle him into a man who could shake him to his core.
Speaking of core…
Cody waited until Evan glanced down, catching his breath, sinking his head into his abundance of chest hair, then allowed himself a single, tiny inhale of pain. A quiet hiss, more like a contained grunt, as the ache in his midsection finally pulsed through. God, his abs were burning. Not lightly either, not the usual “good workout” kind of burn. They throbbed with real damage. Deep fatigue. A soreness he hadn’t felt in years. He doubted, honestly doubted this time, he could take even one more punch from Evan tonight. If Evan fired off even a sloppy jab right now, those abs might fold. Cody might actually drop. He would be icing them later, absolutely. But Evan would never see that, not tonight. Not until the day Evan finally broke him for good. Cody had to keep Evan hungry, and he would do just that.
Cody straightened up, wincing internally while keeping his face perfectly calm. He looked Evan up and down, the sweat, the muscle, the exhaustion, the fire still flickering behind his eyes, and his chest swelled with something fierce and warm. His man was growing, he was changing. Digivoling? Fuck nerd, no he was becoming something formidable. Cody wasn’t worried. Not one bit, instead he was proud. So damn proud he almost forgot his abs were screaming. But he did notice that Evan was shaking a bit, the cold was starting to bite.
“You’re also freezing and about to fall over.”
Evan let out a
half-laugh, half-groan, as if saying no shit. With practiced ease,
even if his core protested, Cody scoped up Evan and headed inside.
“You’re seriously telling me I didn’t even get close?”
“Oh, you got close,” Cody admitted quietly, almost proud. “The closest you’ve ever gotten.”
“But you didn’t break?” Evan asked.
Cody shook his head,
carrying him toward the house.
“Not this year.”
A beat.
“But maybe next Christmas.”
Evan laughed against Cody’s snow dusted shoulder, happy, exhausted, and already determined.
And their tradition lived on.
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