by Lanee Lane
"When our dessert came, he asked me if he could... feed me."
"What the hell? Why would he ask you that? How well do you know this guy?"
Melanie cracked her eye open. She was relieved that he didn't laugh like she'd half expected him to.
"This was our first time meeting in person. We met on one of those dating apps."
"That's a creepy request. What did you say?"
"I told him that it wasn't a good idea since we were in a public place, and it was our first date!"
"Did he say why he wanted to feed you? Was he trying to seduce you?"
"He said that he was attracted to girls of my 'stature'," she used air quotes. "Plus-size women infatuate him. When he saw my profile, he knew I was perfect. Basically, he has a fat girl fetish."
Taking the blanket from the back of her couch, she covered her head with it. She could not believe that she’d told this to Skylar. He was going to look at her differently. Not that he knew her well enough to have much to go off of to begin with.
"What a douche. You don't need someone like him."
"Yeah."
"I'm serious, Melanie. You can do way better. You have to have guys hitting on you all the time. You don't need a dating app full of weirdos with fetishes."
"Gosh, I was so stupid. I don't know why I thought I would be able to find someone who would see me for me. This is exactly why I don't date. It's too much effort for a whole lot of grief."
"Mel, don't beat yourself up because one dude was a dud. You are a beautiful woman. I'm sure many men want your body for all the right reasons, but more importantly; they will be intrigued by your mind. I don't know you that well yet, but I can tell what kind of person you are. Don't settle for just any guy. Make sure he treats you like you deserve to be treated."
Melanie was a little shocked by Skylar's words. He said she was beautiful. That didn't matter though. Skylar was just being nice and trying to cheer her up. It was kind of working.
"Thanks, Skylar, but I think I'm going to be off the dating scene for a while. I might swear off online dating forever."
"Don't give up. There is someone out there. He will probably turn up when you aren't looking; when you least expect it."
"I doubt it, but I'll take your word for it."
They sat in silence for a bit watching some show that was on the T.V. Oddly it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Melanie was comfortable with his presence. She wasn't sure why because she didn't have a lot of male friends, and she definitely didn't have men over to her home - like, ever. Even though she and Skylar had started off rocky, he seemed like an ok guy. He listened to her dating woes, and that had to count for something even if it was embarrassing to admit to someone like him.
"Hey," Skylar startled her from her own thoughts. "My parents are having a barbecue next week. It will be family and friends. They have a pool and a nice sound system, so it's usually a good time. You should come."
That was not what she was expecting to hear. She could use a little poolside relaxation, but she didn't know how much she could really relax around a bunch of strangers. Being shy wasn’t in her nature. It couldn't be in her line of work. Thanks to her love for fashion, she had some banging suits to wear; she was still unsure.
"I don't know, Skylar. I don't want to intrude on your family's gathering."
"You wouldn't be intruding. It's family and friends, and we are friends aren't we? I mean I've fed you. You've fed me. If that isn't friendship, I don't know what is."
She had to laugh at that. "When you put it like that, I suppose we may be becoming friends."
"See, so you have no reason not to come. My family will love you. You don't take any of my crap."
"And don't you forget it," she said with a playful tone.
"So that's a yes then? You can just ride with me. It's Saturday, and we can leave at noon. It takes about an hour to get to my folks’ house."
"How do you know that is a yes? What if I have to work?"
"Do you?"
"Well, no. But..."
"No ‘buts’, you're going."
* * *
It was eleven thirty on Saturday, and Melanie was standing in front of the mirror debating what to wear. She decided to wear her bathing suit under whatever she chose. A bright pink beach bag was filled with poolside essentials. Her e-reader had several beach reads downloaded and ready. Despite it being a party, she thought she may get a few moments of solitude.
She always struggled with clothing for things like this. It was heightened by the fact that she only knew two people that were going to be there. In her eyes, her outfits were personal reflection of her brand. Her life revolved around fashion. Every social opportunity had the potential to turn into a business opportunity.
Since it was casual, she decided on a pair of black shorts with lace detailing. On top was a light-weight, off the shoulder top in yellow. Yellow looked great on her brown skin. She kept her shoes simple as well.
Ten minutes later, she heard a knock on her door. She knew it had to be Skylar. No one else knocked on her door unannounced except Claudia, and she knew that Melanie was going to be gone. Why was he early, though? Didn't he know that women needed up to the last second to get ready? She headed to the door and checked the peephole to confirm it was him.
He was standing there in cargo shorts, a tank top with some logo on it, and flip-flops. Sunglasses were perched on the top of his head. He knocked again, and she pulled back from the peephole. She needed to stop being a peeping Tom and open the door. Not wanting him to know she’d been standing there staring, she waited a few seconds to open the door.
"You're early."
"Good day to you, too, SpongeBob."
She rolled her eyes at him. “Stop calling me that."
"Why? Your slippers are adorable."
Adorable is not what she wanted a man like Skylar to call her. Maybe temptress or vixen. She'd settle for beautiful or pretty.
"I was bored, so I decided to come up. Don't let me interrupt. You can finish getting ready.”
"Thank you so much, Skylar."
She gave him a fake smile and walked into her bedroom. In her bathroom, she checked the mirror one last time. When she went back into her bedroom, Skylar was perched on the edge of her bed looking at a picture of Melanie and her dad.
"What are you doing in my bedroom?"
He had the nerve to look confused by her question. "Um, waiting on you to be ready to go. Is this your dad?"
"You could have done that in the living room. I didn't invite you in here. Yes, that's him."
"You didn't not invite me either."
"You are impossible." She picked up her bag off of the bed and headed toward her bedroom door.
"Come on, get out of my room. I'm ready to go."
They headed out to Skylar's car. He walked toward the passenger side door. She wondered what he was doing, but figured maybe he needed to move some things out of the seat. When he reached the door, he opened it and motioned for her to get in. He waited for her to get situated before he shut the door and went around to the driver side. Maybe he did have manners.
She glanced over at him as he started the car and eased out of his parking space. This wasn’t anything formal, but she was still nervous to meet his family. Brendon and her clicked immediately, and she loved him. Fingers crossed the rest of his family were as nice and easy-going as him. They couldn’t be stuck up if they raised someone like Brendon. When Skylar described them, they sounded like nice people.
She was also worried about meeting their family friends. The fear of other's judgment was always in the back of her mind no matter how far she’d come in accepting and loving the skin she was in. Not everyone was as open minded as others. Oh well, who did she need to impress? She and Skylar were just friends.
CHAPTER TEN
They rode in silence for most of the ride. About thirty minutes into the drive, Skylar glanced over at her.
"Why so quiet? You nervous?"
&
nbsp; She took a moment before she answered. "No...Yes. A little."
"Why are you nervous? You know Brendon and me. The rest of my family is nice. Nicer than me, and you hate me, so it can only go up from here."
She deadpanned over to him. "Well, if they’re nicer than you, I'll be fine."
He chuckled at her sarcasm. "I can't be that bad because you agreed to come today."
"I like swimming, and Brendon."
"You sure know how to inflate a guy's ego."
They passed the rest of the car ride in silence. Light music played over the radio. She assumed the mix came from his phone because several genres played throughout the ride. They had a lot more in common music-wise than she would have imagined.
Skylar's parents lived in a secluded country area. A two-story house painted in a light blue with white trim came into view. Melanie's mouth dropped open. There was a wraparound porch that matched the white of the trim. Flowerbeds lined the front of the porch, and a swing hung to the left of the front door. It was beautiful. The home seemed to be sitting on many acres of land. She felt a sense of peace surround her.
Skylar put the car in park and came around to her side before she could get her seatbelt off. He opened the door and held his hand out to help her out of the car. She stared at his hand for a moment. Torn between taking it and being gracious or ignoring it and getting out on her own, she opted to ignore it. Any unnecessary physical contact with him was best to avoid.
A smirk played on his lips when she emerged, but she ignored it. He grabbed her bag from her hand and led the way to the house. A few cars already lined the driveway when they arrived. Skylar opened the door without knocking and led them into a beautiful foyer. They walked down a hall lined with pictures that had to be of Skylar and his family over the years.
He led her into the kitchen where a few women busied themselves.
"Hey ladies," Skylar said into the room.
All the women turned to see who the voice belonged to. A woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties ran and flung herself at Skylar. Her black hair was cut into a short bob. Big green eyes stared up at him. She was short, maybe five feet. Skylar caught the woman and swung her around before setting her down.
"Hey, Sammie, it’s good to see you too." He tousled her hair. She smacked him on the shoulder.
"What have I told you about touching my hair? I'm not five anymore," the woman, who Melanie now knew was his sister Sam, said.
An older woman that was almost an identical version of Sam came over and gave Skylar a hug. Her black hair was peppered with some gray. She had eyes a shade lighter than Sam's, and they had lines around them as if she laughed often.
"Hey, my sweet boy. I'm so happy to see you." When she pulled away she looked in Melanie's direction. "Who is this lovely girl here, Sky?"
Skylar turned toward Melanie and placed his hand on her lower back pushing her forward.
"Mom, this is my neighbor, Melanie. Melanie, this is my mom, Arabella, and my sister, Sam."
Melanie smiled and put her hand out to shake his mother's.
"It's so nice to meet you, Mrs. Stillman."
To her surprise, Mrs. Stillman bypassed the hand and pulled her in for a quick hug.
"Please, call me Arabella, dear. Mrs. Stillman is far too formal." When she released her from the hug, she said, "Neighbor, huh?" and looked at her son with a small smile. He acted like he didn't see it.
Sam was next to pull Melanie into a hug. "It's so good to meet you, Melanie. Can I call you Mel? I've heard so much about you. It's nice to put a face to the name."
She'd heard about her? What had Skylar told his family about her? Did they know that she didn't like him, or used to dislike him? She was coming around now. Melanie gave Sam a shy smile.
"It's nice to meet you too."
"Ok, guys, enough smothering Mel; we're going out back. We'll see you in a bit."
Melanie gave Skylar's mother and sister a small wave as she followed him. She happened to look back over her shoulder to shut the screen door, and she saw the two women with their heads together conspiring about something.
When they got outside, Skylar headed over to the grill; a man was tending to the food. He was a little shorter than Skylar and had light brown hair. He had a mustache, and glasses were perched on his face.
"Hey, Pops." Skylar slapped the older man on his back.
"Hey, Sky. Good to see you." The man turned around and did the one-armed man hug with his son.
Skylar turned toward Melanie and introduced her to his father.
"Nice to meet you, young lady."
"Nice to meet you too, sir."
"Call me Wallace."
She smiled up at the older man. "Ok, Wallace."
Suddenly, she felt strong arms snake around her from behind and she was being lifted into the air. She let out a little screech.
"Hey, good lookin," the familiar voice said in her ear as he set her back on the ground. When she turned, around Brendon had a big smile on his face.
"Brendon, you goon. You scared me half to death!"
He laughed at her admonishment. "What can I say? I like to sweep beautiful ladies off of their feet."
She couldn't help but smile at his silly antics. The pair had hit it off, and Melanie knew that he was a goofball. That was why she liked him so well. When she looked over at Skylar, he had a weird look on his face. He quickly replaced it with a smile once he caught her gaze. She thought it was kind of weird, but let it slide. He was the more serious of the brothers and she chalked it up to that.
"You swimming today, darlin’?" Brendon asked her.
"I brought my suit, so I hope to."
"We are going to play some pool games if you want to go change into your bathing suit."
Sam walked up to their little group.
"Sounds like fun," Melanie said.
"Hey, Sam, can you show Melanie where she can change into her suit. We're getting ready to get in the pool."
"Of course I can," Sam replied and reached for Melanie's hand before pulling her toward the house.
They were only a few feet away when Brendon yelled after them, "Need any help getting ready?"
Melanie stuck her tongue out at him and saw that Skylar hit him upside the back of his head. That didn't faze Brendon; he just laughed it off.
As Sam was leading her to the bathroom, she flooded her with questions.
"Where did you meet Skylar?"
"It's kind of funny. My friends and I were having a girls’ night, and Skylar came banging on my door. He and Brendon were watching some ballgame, and he said we were being too loud. I tried to offer him pizza, but he wasn't too receptive to my charm." Melanie chuckled remembering how gruff he had been the first night. "Your brother is easily ruffled. Brendon stayed and had pizza with us. He's a doll.”
"Oh, Sky's a big teddy bear. He just takes a while to warm up. He tries to put on that tough guy act, but that's all it is; an act."
"I suppose he has lightened up a bit."
"Are you two dating?"
Melanie's eyes grew wide. "What? No. We're neighbors. I wouldn't even call us friends really. Plus, he's dating some blonde girl."
Sam's mouth turned into a frown at that.
"Candace. He's not dating her; trust me."
Melanie got the feeling that Sam didn't care much for Candace. That was fine by her because she didn't either.
By the time they reached the bathroom, Melanie was overwhelmed by the third-degree questioning but managed to answer all of Sam's questions. She had a feeling that it was only the beginning.
Melanie took her time changing in the bathroom. She was none too eager to go back into the rapid-fire questioning. Skylar had said that his sister was forward. He wasn't lying. She slipped off her clothing exposing her high-waisted two-piece bathing suit. The top was a hot pink top that crisscrossed in the back and the bottom was a simple black. She'd worn bathing suits like it many times but, for some reason, she was nervous. She slippe
d on her bathing suit cover-up and slid her sandals on her feet.
When she emerged from the bathroom, Sam was standing in the kitchen talking to her mother wearing a strawberry colored bikini. She looked over at Melanie as she stepped out and smiled at her.
"Ready to have some fun?"
"Yep, lead the way."
The pair made their way out to the patio. More guests had arrived and were mingling around the pool. Melanie sat her things on one of the lounge chairs that were near the pool. Brendon and Sam came over and were discussing some games to play. There was a net set up for volleyball and a little basket on the side of the pool for basketball.
They decided on volleyball to start. Brendon went off to recruit some people to play with them. She looked around the patio for Skylar. Her eyes fell on someone she wasn't expecting to see; blonde bombshell, aka Candace. She walked in with a tiny dress that covered up her bathing suit.
What the hell was she doing here?
Sam leaned over and whispered in Melanie's ear. "I was hoping she wouldn't turn up since Sky canned her. She’s relentless and can’t believe that someone would dump her. She thinks she's the cat's meow. Really, she’s just a stuck-up brat. Sadly, her parents know our parents so she's invited by default."
Melanie had no idea why Sam was divulging this information to her, but she was glad. She liked having some inside scoop on Candace, and she felt like she had an ally. They both watched Candace take off the tiny dress to reveal an even tinier bikini. Not much was left to the imagination. When she had her cover-up off she sauntered over to where Skylar was talking to his dad and Brendon. She stepped in the middle of the group and grabbed onto Skylar's bicep.
"Barf," Melanie heard Sam say under her breath.
She couldn't help the snicker that escaped her.
Candace looked up at Skylar through her lashes and shimmied her body closer to him. He wasn't touching her, but it looked like she was doing her best to climb into his arms. When he didn't respond to her advances, she hooked her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to her mouth. She whispered something in his ear. He reached up and peeled her hands from around his neck and turned to Brendon.
