On the Plus Side (6 page)

I stared back at the gorgeous man sitting across from me. He couldn’t have been more perfect. It was like someone took all the physical qualities that I found attractive and put them all into this one extremely sexual stranger. It was almost unnatural that this beautiful man even spared me a look, much less talked to me, and yet, he was here and he was asking me out.

Even sitting his tall frame towered over me. He made me feel small and anything that made a girl my size feel small was a damn good thing.  His dark, wavy tresses melted down the side of his face and connected with his facial hair. I enjoyed the way his thin mustache and light goatee encircled his seductive mouth and turned it into a target for kissing.

His wandering green gaze held sexual secrets and promised fulfillment as it slid over my face, down my neck, and then very brazenly over my cleavage. He was fearless, confident, and it was such a huge turn on.

I remember at the jewelry store having to look up at him and the way he smiled when he looked down at me. Can you say sexy? Because I sure as hell can! The man had a smile that could bring a girl right to her knees, which would be bad considering I’d have a hell of a time getting back up. He had on a hunter green sweatshirt and relaxed jeans that looked like they were specifically made for him. He was born and bred to be eye candy. No other qualifications necessary with a man like this.

I realized then that he was talking to me and I had no idea what he was saying. Embarrassment seeped in when I was caught gawking at him like a drooling dog, or should I say like a drooling, fat sow? I almost burst out laughing at my own thoughts, but instead, a huge, goofy grin spread across my face. He smiled back at me and got quiet.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I could feel my face burning.

He chuckled a little before answering. It was as if he’d heard all my crazy thoughts.

I said my name is Devin…and you’re Lilly?” He leaned over and ran his finger softly across my name tag, which was practically on my left boob.

I felt his touch through my clothing and soon I felt my nipples getting hard inside my bra. They were probably pointing out like daggers saying, “Hey, hot guy! Look at me, look at me!” I put my head down and took a deep breath. My nervousness was becoming annoying. You’d think I’d never talked to a hot guy before in my life. It’s not like they’re lined out my door waiting to have a conversation with me or anything, but I’ve spoken with attractive men. Of course, those conversations were nothing like the one we were having. He was verbally screwing my brains out as far as I was concerned.

I had to pull it together and fast. I wasn’t some fifteen-year-old virgin…I was a twenty-year-old virgin. The extra age alone should give me more nerve control. Not to mention, with my undying virginal status, it was obvious that I was in need of some male attention. My nipples practically leapt from my body with a single caress of my damn name tag. I was minutes away from stripping naked and screaming, “Oh yeah, baby, finger my name tag!”

I made a mistake by letting my eyes dip to his mouth again and his smile knocked me stupid once more.

“Yes, my name’s Lilly. It’s nice to meet you, Devin.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Now, are you
gonna put me out of my misery and go out with me?”

His voice was so rich and creamy. Yes…creamy. It was becoming obvious to me that I watched entirely too many cooking shows since the only word that even came close to describing his voice was creamy. The word made me imagine him smoothing peanut butter all over me and licking it off.  I’d make myself a Lilly peanut butter cup for this man…no questions asked.

He asked again and again his voice shook me. It vibrated through me like the sound waves were attacking my nervous system and all I could think about for a minute was the little colorful penis toys that my friend Erin had purchased at the local sex toy store.

What could one date hurt?

“I will,” I said breathlessly.

The words came out before I could stop them. What I really wanted to say was, “why me?” but I thought that might have been unattractive, so instead I just smiled and shook my head yes or no to his questions. I pretty much acted like I belonged on the short bus during our entire conversation.

He asked me how Friday night sounded. After telling him I had to work Friday, we agreed that he would pick me up after work. I heard him say something about dinner and a movie. He was doing something to my senses. I pretty much went deaf, dumb, and blind all at the same time. The man knocked me senseless!

I gave him my number and he wrote his number down on a napkin. I enjoyed the way his thick fingers maneuvered the pen.  Then, just as quickly as he came, he was leaving me. I watched him walk out of the café. He slipped my number into his back pocket once he made it to the door.  I was sad to see him go, but I enjoyed watching him leave.

I couldn’t wait to tell Shannon and I can’t believe I am saying this, but I had to get my ass to the nearest fat girl friendly store and buy some new clothes for our date, which just so happened to be my first date ever.

After work, I practically broke down Shannon’s bedroom door to tell her the news. I was out of breath and had broken a sweat by the time I made it there. We jumped around like sixteen-year-old girls and then collapsed on her bed while I described how unbelievably hot he was. I explained why I was so confused and didn’t understand why
he
would want to take
me
out.

“Lil, you’re crazy! Why wouldn’t he want to take you out? You’re gorgeous!”

“Thanks, but guys like little skinny girls…and hello?” I grabbed at my fat roll and laughed.

“Not all guys like skinny women, babe. Some guys love a thick woman. They like a little junk in the trunk.” She popped her butt out in emphasis. “We call them chubby chasers.”

I laughed so hard I almost pissed myself. Chubby chasers?Thank God I had an awesome sense of humo
r
about all this. Of course, I always have. Whenever I watched a comedian on TV I always laughed at the fat jokes. Why not? They’re funny and since I’m a fat girl I’m allowed to either laugh or be offended. Getting mad would be a waste of my time. If I got offended every time someone said something funny about fat people I’d spend my life pissed off.

Shannon’s a plus size girl, too, technically, except she’s the kind of plus size that barely registers on the fat-o-meter. She’s stuck in between worlds…too skinny to be in the fat girl club, but too fat to be skinny. She was only considered plus size because her jeans had a double digit size. Instead of calling her a big girl we just called her thick. Personally, I laughed in the face of size fourteen!

She has long auburn hair that never seems to be in control and pretty hazel eyes that show her sweetness, which was the only way you’d see it. Her height gave her a slimmer appearance, while her firecracker attitude and the random trickle of freckles across her cheeks matched the red in her hair. I’m sure her sarcastic come backs made high school a breeze for her, but still, her witty smartass nature won me over. I couldn’t ask for a better best friend.

I met her three years ago when she first came into Franklin’s looking for a job and we’ve been inseparable since. She’s a year younger than me and acted like the unruly little sister that I never had. She was my first real friend and even though I’ve never said it, I think she knew it.

We finished our uplifting “power to the fat girls” conversation and started getting everything ready for game night. Every Wednesday night a group of our friends came over and we had a few drinks and played board games.

There were six of us all together. Me and Shannon, of course, and then there was Erin, who was tall and bronze with long black hair. We called her our beautiful Indian friend, but she was made to be a plus size model.

There was Anna, who was the shortie of the group—five-foot-one, round, and adorable with shoulder length dark hair and green cat eyes that I’m sure you could see in the dark. Her soon to be veterinary status was perfect for her sweet and giggly personality. A rabid dog would love on Anna. The response she got from animals was freaky, so we all called her the pet detective.

Meg was the skinny blonde in the group. She wasn’t your average skinny blonde, though. She was different. We liked to call Meg, “a fat girl stuck in a skinny girl’s body.” She may look like the cheerleader you’d love to hate, but she had the personality of the sweet round band geek.

Last, but never the least, was Randy. He was the girlie one in the group and the only one who was getting any action in the sex department.  Occasionally, he brought along a new boy toy, but most of the time he kept his love life at the gay club down the street, which, by the way, was the best place to have a good time around here.

Once everyone showed up to game night, we got in an all-out Phase 10
war followed by a very long game of perverted Scrabbl
e
. Shannon, of course, blabbed about my date with a hot stranger, which had Randy fanning himself.

“Oh, honey, there
ain’t nothing like some hot stranger sex! Let me tell you!”

We all laughed even though I doubted any of us, with the exception of Randy, knew anything about stranger sex.

It felt like a whole other day when I finally laid my head on my pillow at one in the morning. I didn’t dream that night and as soon as I closed my eyes to go to sleep the alarm clock went off at seven.

I stopped off at Mirabelle’s for a coffee before I unlocked and opened the store for the day. Shannon and I watched TV in between customers and soon it was time to close for lunch. I was sitting at the corner table. It was now my favorite table in Mirabelle’s thanks to the inspiring love birds from a few weeks before.

When I didn’t have pockets in my pants, my bra became my phone holder. So, when my cell phone rang it vibrated my boob and caused me to jerk. I touched my screen and accepted the call from the number I didn’t know.

“Hello!” I answered happily

“Is this Lilly?”

“That’s me!”

“Hey, this is Devin. Can you talk for a few or are you busy?”

Six

Dirty Work

Today was a slow day. After I finished with the new water pump on an old Ford Dad left for me, I gave Lucy a bath. I grabbed a quick shower and soon it was noon and I had absolutely nothing to do. After I stuffed a ham sandwich and a coke down my throat, I decided to call Renee. I could use a little afternoon delight.

I was about to call her and make up a lie about coming home early, when I noticed the napkin with Lilly’s number lying across my dresser.

Why not?

It only rang twice before she picked up.

“Hello!” She sang into the phone.

“Is this Lilly?”

“That’s me!”

“Hey, this is Devin. Can you talk for a few or are you busy?”

The other line got quiet for a minute and I thought maybe she had hung up on me.

“Yeah, I can talk…what’s up?”

“I know I just got your number yesterday and we have a date tomorrow night, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” I smiled to myself.

It was more like I was completely bored and there was nothing better to do than sit on the phone handing out fake flattery. Work was work. I might as well have some fun with it. Either way, I was getting paid for this gig, so I might as well do it right.

I snuggled down into my dad’s big chair. The house was nice and quiet. Jenny was at school and dad was out running errands.

“Oh, whatever,” she giggled. “You’re funny.”

“How am I funny?” I asked.

From what I could tell this chick must never get approached by guys. That was strange considering she was kind of a pretty girl—she’d be hot if she just lost a little bit of weight, but hey, some guys like that kind of thing. I’m just not really into that.

“It’s just funny…anyway, what are you up to today?”

“I’m done with work and now I’m lounging around trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my day. Exciting huh?”

She laughed a little. “It could be worse…you could be stuck at a boring jewelry store with me.”

“Sounds like torture…being stuck somewhere with a beautiful woman all day? Just kill me now,” I joked.

She giggled uncomfortably. “You’re silly.”

We talked like that back and forth. We talked as she left the café and went back to work. We talked while she was at work, and while Shannon, who apparently is her roommate/coworker/best friend, put her in her two cents in the background. I realized after a while that I was actually enjoying our conversation.

She wasn’t like most chicks, all flirty and boring. She actually talked to me and asked me questions about myself. Not the normal stupid giddy female questions, but actual questions about my family and work. It was kind nice to talk like that. It was comfortable, maybe because I didn’t feel like I needed to impress her. Now that I think about it, it was kind of strange. I didn’t feel like I was talking to someone I barely knew. We talked like old friends.