Losing the bet

 

The scorching summer sun beat down on the park, but the heat radiating from the three friends was even more intense. Jamal, big and boisterous, had just slammed down his cards, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. Across from him, Leon, lean and sharp-witted, let out a triumphant cackle. "Looks like you're fucked, Marcus!" he crowed, slapping Jamal's hand.

Marcus, a broad-shouldered man with a meticulously groomed beard and an easy laugh, felt a cold dread settle in his stomach. "No, man, no! Not the device!" he pleaded, his usual confidence evaporating faster than sweat on a hot day. The "device" was their latest, most insane find: a sleek, black remote-like contraption they'd unearthed from some weird antique shop downtown. It had a single button, and when pressed, it swapped body parts. And the best part, the truly diabolical part, was the "awareness setting." You could turn it off, meaning the poor bastard on the receiving end wouldn't know a damn thing was different unless they figured it out. Three days. That was the bet. Three days to figure out what was swapped, or the change was permanent.

"A bet's a bet, my dude," Jamal chuckled, snatching the device from the picnic table. "And you lost."

Leon's eyes gleamed with malicious delight. "We're gonna have some fun with this, Marcus. And you're gonna be clueless."

Their gaze drifted, landing on a woman strolling by, her figure a symphony of curves. She was a vision, her ample breasts straining against a flimsy sundress, the thin fabric barely concealing the hint of a very skimpy thong beneath. Her hips swayed with a natural rhythm that made every man in the park instinctively turn his head. Her skin was a rich, caramel tone, smooth and flawless, and her legs, long and shapely, were a work of art.

"Oh, hell yeah," Jamal breathed, his eyes wide. Leon nodded, a slow, satisfied smile spreading across his face.

Marcus watched them, a growing unease in his gut. He knew that look. That was the "we're about to do something truly fucked up" look. Before he could react, Jamal aimed the device. There was no flash, no sound, just a subtle, almost imperceptible ripple in the air around Marcus.

Marcus felt… nothing. A weird, tingling warmth, like he’d been standing too long in the sun, but that was it. He looked down at himself, his heart pounding in his chest. Okay, what did they do? He saw his familiar, smooth, caramel-colored skin, the gentle swell of his own tits under the thin sundress. His gaze traced the curves of his wide hips, the long, shapely expanse of his legs, all encased in the flimsy, flowy fabric. Everything seemed perfectly normal, exactly as it should be. He ran a hand over his belly, flat and taut beneath the dress. His fingers, long and delicate, felt just right, just as they always had. He was solid, curvy, unmistakably female, and completely unaware it was any different.

Jamal and Leon were already howling with laughter, clutching their sides. "You'll never guess, man!" Leon wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Never in a million years!"

"Fuck you guys!" Marcus yelled, but there was a tremor in his voice. He glanced down again, scrutinizing every inch of himself. His chest still felt broad, his shoulders wide or rather, felt perfectly proportionate to the generous swell of his breasts. He ran a hand over his belly. Same old gut, smooth, flat, and leading down to his thighs, still thick, still rocking that sexy tattoo he got two years ago. His pussy… yeah, it was there, a familiar, exquisite throb beneath the skimpy thong, which was being eaten by his phat ass, the ass he worked to grow in the gym for years.

"What the heck did you change?!" he screamed, his voice echoing slightly in the open air. Did they even change anything? The thought, chilling in its possibility, flashed through his mind. Maybe they were just messing with him, playing a cruel psychological trick. His perfectly formed breasts jiggled with the force of his yell, a sensation he vaguely registered as normal.

Jamal just pointed, still gasping for air between fits of laughter. "Maybe we changed your undies, bro?" he choked out, barely able to speak.

Marcus scoffed. "My undies? That's it? You guys are pathetic!" To prove his point, and fueled by a sudden, inexplicable surge of bravado, he hiked up his sundress, flashing his black thong to his friends. "See? Nothing! I know you guys didn't change this, cos it's my favourite one to wear!"

Jamal and Leon erupted into fresh gales of laughter, doubling over and hitting each other. Marcus watched them, confused. They were laughing hard. Like, disproportionately hard for a simple undies swap. He didn't notice the strange looks he was getting from a family walking by, a mother pulling her child closer, a father shaking his head with a bewildered smirk. 

Damn it, what did they change?! he thought, a frantic energy building inside him. He felt perfectly normal, exactly like himself. But their laughter, their genuine, unadulterated amusement, told him otherwise. He ran his hands over his body again, feeling for any subtle differences. Nothing. Nothing, that is, except for the nagging feeling that he was going to lose this bet, and lose it spectacularly.