Weight of Everything

  Weight of Everything

  A Meadow Street Brothers novel

  Anna Wineheart

  Contents

  Weight of Everything

  1. The Most Humiliating Wardrobe Malfunction

  2. Gage is Intrigued

  3. Ulric Forgets His Phone

  4. Gage is in Trouble

  5. Tensions—And Other Things—Rise

  6. Ulric Doubles Down On Losing Weight

  7. Gage Moves In

  8. Why Does Gage Have To Make The Perfect Breakfast, Too?

  9. There Is Only One Couch

  10. Insecurities

  11. The Better-Than-Sex Cook-off

  12. The Other Side of Ulric

  13. The Better-Than-Sex Cook-off, Part 2

  14. Gage Doesn’t Realize It, But

  15. Burn

  16. Burn Part 2

  17. New Arrangements

  18. You’re Dating An Alpha?

  19. The Surprise

  20. So You Want A Baby?

  21. The Box At The Back Of The Fridge

  22. Ulric Has A New Secret

  23. Gage Is Suspicious

  24. Gage Finds Out

  25. The Wrong Gamble

  26. Gage Gets Grilled

  27. Trouble Befalls Ulric

  28. Gage Makes Amends

  29. Gage Convinces Ulric That He’s Beautiful

  30. A Family...?

  31. Making Babies

  32. Pregnancy

  33. Childbirth

  Epilogue

  Also by Anna

  About the Author

  Copyright Anna Wineheart 2020

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This novel contains graphic sexual content between two men. Intended for mature readers only.

  Warnings: Past emotional abuse, Present emotional abuse from an abuser, Past bullying, Past child neglect, Some consensual dubcon-play, Some violence and gore

  Welcome back to Meadowfall!

  You are beautiful.

  You are worthy.

  You are loved.

  .

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  Weight of Everything

  Imagine a wardrobe malfunction at the gym. In front of the most handsome man ever.

  Dumped by his longtime boyfriend because of his weight, Ulric O'Neil moves to the quiet town of Meadowfall, hoping to start afresh. He's tired of being chubby, and he's tired of being lonely. He's tired of being attracted to the wrong sort of person, too. Which alpha only likes other alphas?

  The bigger question: Which man would fall for a chubby, nerdy guy who loves his sweet snacks more than he loves to exercise?

  Definitely not Gage Frost, a personal trainer at Ulric's gym--he's got the most beautiful face and a stomach-dropping smile, and Ulric knows he'll fall for Gage sooner than later. Especially when Gage hugs him and kisses him and tells Ulric they can be best friends. But that's where the line is.

  Ulric promises Gage that he won't fall in love. Thing is, with how often Gage tells him he's cute, he isn't so sure he can keep his word.

  Weight of Everything is a 74,000-word standalone non-shifter MPreg romance with eventual double-alpha-preg, lots of hurt/comfort, as well as the sweetest alpha who convinces his not-boyfriend that your looks aren't the only thing that matters.

  1

  The Most Humiliating Wardrobe Malfunction

  Ulric stepped self-consciously into the gym, trying not to attract any attention to himself. Eyes on the floor. Don’t take your time. Look like you know what you’re doing.

  No one here knew him, after all. He’d moved away from New York a week ago, traveling all the way across the country to the quiet town of Meadowfall. The warm southern California weather was such a change—it put a spring in his step and some cheer on his face... all the way until he’d arrived at the gym.

  The last time Ulric had stepped into a gym, he’d been in high school, the stares of other alphas heavy on his skin. Physical Ed classes were his least favorite. Nothing like being scoffed at, or being picked last to join a team. And then having everyone on the team act like you didn’t exist. All because you had some extra weight you couldn’t get rid of.

  At least, making friends wasn’t a requirement for this gym.

  Ulric hurried to the alphas’ locker room, picking out an inconspicuous locker. He shoved his duffel bag in halfway, took out his towel and his phone, and then paused when he realized that the locker didn’t come with a lock.

  What did the membership fee pay for, then?

  He turned and glimpsed a bit too much skin—a couple of men had stripped down in front of their lockers, all bulging biceps and trim abs.

  Yeah, that. That was what he was paying for.

  Ulric tore his gaze away, hurrying past them. He felt like a bit of a whale next to these guys. Maybe he should’ve brought a bath towel to wrap himself in.

  He stepped out of the locker room and made for the far end of the gym, where no one was. There were some treadmills there, and some cycling machines. He could start with that. Better yet, the treadmills faced a window overlooking a forested area. Ulric could pretend that he was in a world of his own.

  Except the funny thing was, he’d come to the gym because he was tired of being alone.

  His last boyfriend—friend with benefit? College roommate-turned-on-and-off-partner?—had straight-up said that Ulric wasn’t his type anymore. Mick had found an omega, a slender pale wisp of a man, and he’d told Ulric that he was tired of all of Ulric’s extra flab. Not to mention that Ulric was an alpha.

  Ulric had kind of been in love with him. And it had hurt, a lot.

  He pushed the heartache aside, powering on a treadmill. The control panel had way too many complicated buttons. Which Ulric should be able to figure out, since he’d majored in statistics and all. It was just... He wasn’t really here to get healthy. He just wanted some weight gone, he wanted to look good enough to land a boyfriend, and...

  He wanted to be normal. He wanted to be an alpha who liked omegas, but he wasn’t. He wanted to look like the alphas on magazine covers, he wanted... someone to gaze at him, and not be repulsed.

  He pushed a button to start the treadmill. It was kind of slow. He found the button to speed it up. Then he sped it up even more. His shoes pounded against the treadmill belt, his heart thumping with the strain. Sweat beaded on his skin. Some discomfort was supposed to be good for you, right?

  Ulric grasped the support arms on the treadmill, leaning on them a little. Maybe he should slow the machine down. The belt rolled by too quickly, and he was starting to struggle to keep up.

  He tried to find the speed toggle button. But between the jogging and his glasses bouncing around on his nose, he couldn’t see enough to stop the machine.

  Ulric tripped; his stomach dropped and his entire weight lurched forward.

  He hit the moving rubber with a jolt of pain, his legs sliding out from under him. Ulric saved himself by gripping the support arms—just so he could keep his face from smashing into the belt.

  But pressed intimately agains
t the treadmill, Ulric hadn’t accounted for the belt’s friction. It dug into his exercise shorts and dragged it downward: down his waist, down his hips.

  If Ulric didn’t stop it soon, the machine would strip him naked.

  He lifted his hand to reach for the controls, at the same time his waistband slid down his cock, to his thighs. The treadmill belt ground rough and uncomfortably against Ulric’s sensitive head, trying to pull it further down—as though this had turned into some really weird sex scene.

  It felt like he was being dragged across a rough surface, except his cock bore the brunt of that friction, every inch of it plastered against moving rubber—without lube.

  And his fat ass was bare. Everyone could see it.

  Ulric reached for the control panel, his tip kissing the rubber belt, his fingers just inches away from the console, desperately seeking the word Stop.

  Just as he was about to hit it, someone stepped up to the machine, powering it down. The belt slowed. It stopped trying to pull his cock into a fourth dimension.

  Ulric looked up to thank the person. His voice stuck in his throat.

  Of course, who else had to witness his humiliation but the most handsome alpha in the gym?

  It was one thing to embarrass yourself in front of an omega. But alphas were a different breed entirely. As an alpha, you wanted to be better than the next alpha. You wanted to be more, you wanted them to respect you.

  And this was one hell of an alpha, with his pine scent and broad shoulders, his pecs bulging behind his tank top, his biceps thick and lovely. He had styled black hair and stunning green eyes, he had kissable full lips and a strong jaw.

  Everything that this alpha was, Ulric wasn’t.

  He was ready to bet a million bucks that Mr. Handsome had dates lined up every night until next year. Or maybe he already had a boyfriend. Or he was married. And somewhere out there, Mr. Handsome had an internet mailing list for “Notify me when this man becomes available.”

  He yanked his exercise shorts up his thighs, stuffing his cock out of sight. Bad enough that Mr. Handsome had seen his ass. He didn’t need to know that a chubby alpha like Ulric had gotten hard for him.

  Except when he looked again, he found Mr. Handsome’s gaze raking back up to his eyes. There was an odd expression on his face. Did he think... that Ulric had done this on purpose? Did he think Ulric was a flasher or some sort of pervert?

  “Are you okay?” Mr. Handsome asked, holding a hand out to Ulric.

  Ulric straightened his shoulders. He was an alpha. And he wasn’t about to show any weakness in front of anyone. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

  He ignored Mr. Handsome’s hand and picked himself up. Then he took his phone and towel, making his way back to the locker room. Several people stared at him along the way. Ulric’s skin prickled all over—he could feel them judging. He wished he’d worn black instead of gray—black was a slimming color, right? Maybe it would make him feel less out-of-place.

  It would be a month, maybe three, before he returned again. Probably at midnight so no one would recognize him.

  Not for the first time, Ulric felt all the pounds he’d put on when he’d let himself go after the breakup. At the back of his mind, he heard the constant whispers from school, telling him he was fat and ugly and everything undesirable.

  It was okay to be fat. Ulric just wished... that he believed it, himself.

  2

  Gage is Intrigued

  “I’ll be right back,” Gage told his client. Which was the first time he’d ever done that in the middle of a training session.

  Thing was, he couldn’t just let this go. The look on that alpha’s face when Gage had powered down the treadmill... He knew that look of abject humiliation.

  Gage hadn’t meant for him to feel that way. Deep down, he understood what it felt like to be so embarrassed that he wished the ground would swallow him up.

  If it had been one of the regulars at the gym, Gage would’ve just brushed off the incident—they would recover from it easily enough. But something about that alpha... Maybe it was the way he’d looked so helpless, for a split second. Maybe it was because he didn’t have Gage’s looks. Maybe Gage pitied him.

  Gage had seen some overweight guests come and go from the gym. Some stuck around and lost weight. Others gave up before they could gain much headway. The way this guy had sprawled across the treadmill—Hell, even Gage would’ve left and never looked back.

  He stepped into the alphas’ locker room, thinking maybe he would offer an apology or something. Anything to be a good gym employee.

  Besides, he couldn’t afford to lose his job right now. The eviction notice from this morning still lingered fresh in his mind. Actually, maybe he should’ve just stuck with his client. Gage had never been known for his good sense.

  “Hey,” he said to the man on the far end of the lockers.

  The alpha looked over. Then he recognized Gage and tensed, his shoulders straightening, his entire body pulling tight in a show of aggression.

  “It’s fine,” Gage said. “I just thought I’d check up on you.”

  “Why, because you thought I’d break some bones with all this fat?” the man snapped.

  Rude. Gage reined in his temper. He was part of the staff. Whatever that man said to him, he couldn’t answer in kind. “It’s part of protocol to make sure our guests don’t get hurt,” Gage said. He was kind of fibbing. But the man wouldn’t know that. “Liabilities and all.”

  The man glowered, shoving his towel into his duffel bag. “I’m perfectly fine.”

  “That’s great to hear.” Gage tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He knew the sort of power he could wield, if he wanted. He had the looks. He had the strength. Someone like Chubby had nothing on Gage when Gage wanted to play suave.

  But Gage didn’t want to be a bully. He’d seen others like him become abusers. His own sister had fallen prey to some looker of an alpha who had beaten her up and swindled her of her hard-earned savings. By the time Gage had gotten to him and punched out his daylights, all that money had been long spent.

  So he kept silent, watching as the man yanked his duffel out of the locker. The alpha strode over to where Gage stood in the locker room doorway, his eyes narrowed, his mouth a thin line.

  He wasn’t a looker; he was plain in the way that Gage sometimes wondered about.

  Gage never had trouble landing a hookup or a favor, or any item he could possibly want. All he had to do was smile. But his looks were a double-edged sword—he’d never had a relationship that lasted. People flocked to him demanding things—always hungry for what he could give them: If not sex, then his connections, or money. Because good-looking alphas were always rich, right?

  So when Chubby spurned Gage’s offer to pick him up, Gage had been... offended. And also intrigued. What did it feel like to be someone invisible? To have people befriend you not for your looks, or what you could offer them?

  He couldn’t help studying that face—hazel eyes, brown hair that looked soft. Chubby smelled like honey oak, and his chest wasn’t so defined. Neither were his arms.

  But if Gage knew anything, it was that Chubby very definitely had some muscles beneath those curves. If he were to punch Gage, it would hurt. A lot.

  “The fuck are you looking at?” Chubby muttered.

  Gage glanced up, only to catch the alpha glancing at his chest. Chubby’s gaze swept down, heavy on Gage’s body, all the way to his hips. Gage’s skin prickled.

  Alphas at the gym sized Gage up all the time. But none of them had gotten hard because of him, not like this man had.

  He’d glimpsed that length hanging between this alpha’s thighs, and it had been clear that it wasn’t only Chubby’s arms that were thick. Then Chubby had looked up, he’d seen Gage, and his hard-on had been... flattering. It was the sort of cock that would make an omega throw his head back and beg for more.

  Gage shouldn’t be curious about the feel of it against his palm. He shouldn’t want to know
if he could make this alpha come.

  He was in enough trouble with that eviction notice. He couldn’t afford to play around with his job, checking on someone who didn’t need the attention.

  All the same, Gage couldn’t help seeing the thick line behind Chubby’s shorts, and he couldn’t help remembering the heavy balls that hung beneath.

  Chubby narrowed his eyes, curling his fingers in to flip Gage off.

  Gage’s instincts roared, Pin him. Subdue him. Let him take your cock.

  He barely bit down his response. Because he could see it now—this man beneath him, snarling, Gage’s cock opening him all the way up.

  Gage growled, his own length shoving against his pants.

  “Fuck you,” Chubby muttered, shouldering past Gage as he stalked off.

  From the way Gage throbbed, he was sure Chubby wouldn’t be the one ending up on top.

  3

  Ulric Forgets His Phone

  Ulric had gotten all the way home, unpacked his duffel, eaten three juicy beef burgers topped with sautéed onions and mushrooms, when he thought about checking his phone. His mom probably wanted to know if he’d found an omega.

  He’d said multiple times over the past years, that he wasn’t into omegas.