"I um"—he gestured at his bare abdomen—"wasn't always put this well together. I used to be really fat and... sort of... not that great-looking, and shocking as it may sound, girls didn't seem to find me all that appealing."
A moment of stillness followed his explanation.
"Well, that pretty much answers everything, doesn't it?" She smiled. "How did you get to be this?"
"After I met Michela's mother, I started a diet and sports regime, and... there you have it."
"She made you do it?"
"No." He smiled, recalling Bianca's reaction to his dieting efforts in fondness. "She said I was taking away everything she loved about me."
"Then why did you persist?"
"I kinda felt"—he gulped—"inadequate. Bianca was better looking than I was. She was good-looking, actually, and I knew that all her frien
