"Swept" Chapter 5

“Thanks,” Michelle said.

“Of course, baby,” Jason said, returning her grateful stare. “You don’t even have anything to thank me for.”

“No,” she reacted, “I do. I was a mess last night. It’s—a lot of stuff came to a head for me, that’s all.”

He flashed a wry smile. “I mean, I won’t lie and say that I hadn’t noticed that you’ve… filled out a little, up top over the last couple of months. But… you know…”

She chuckled to herself as she stirred her coffee. “Yeah, I know. But you kinda like it.”

“I think ‘kinda’ is an understatement,” he said, brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes from across her breakfast table. “Still, though. I’m so sorry you had such a shitty time in high school. I honestly had no idea.”

“It was an ugly duckling kinda thing. I just didn’t get to become a swan for a while.”

“I am positive that you’ve always been a swan,” he corrected. He stared deeply into her with those deep, blue eyes. He had this way… something that made her feel confident in a way that she had tried to learn over the years.

“Trust me. Super-sized Shelly was no swan,” she said. “I’ll give you an idea. When you’re 15, and you’ve got a pair of literal bowling balls strapped to your chest, you get more than a few weird looks.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, Jason,” she said matter-of-factly. “Believe it or not, yours truly was rocking a pair of, like, J cups.”

“Jeez. I don’t even…” he hesitated. “Like, how big do you think you are now?”

“I haven’t measured myself. But if I had to guess?” She pulled down the elastic top of her black tank, and reached inside, hefting one breast at a time onto the table top.

Jason felt himself stiffen, and found it hard to hold back an eager smile.

“Horndog,” she laughed.

“Well, what do you expect?” He returned with a guffaw.

“Anyway. I guess… maybe an...M? Shit, I have no idea. I just squeeze them in and pray.”

“Wow. Just… wow.”

She felt herself blush. The wonder in his eyes—this was not something she was used to. She had been proud of her body since the end of high school, and had made it a habit to keep it in shape. She didn’t have any lack of attention, that was for sure. But this was the first time she could recall that someone she cared for looked upon her as if she was something… rare.

“I respect the hell out of what you did,” Jason said. “I mean, you took matters into your own hands. You worked for it. Most other women would have just had a reduction and been done with it.”

“First, there was no way I could have afforded one. I saw a surgeon once, but he said I needed to exercise before they would consider it.”

“You were pretty skinny though, right?” He rose from the table to grab the coffee pot.

“Yeah, like a pole everywhere else. But my mom, my grandma, they all had the same thing.”

“What thing?” he poured a refill into her cup, careful not to splash the hot liquid onto her mounds of exposed flesh. He could hardly take his eyes off them.

“It’s… I mean, it’s not a condition or anything. But you know that girl who always bitches about how alllll the weight she gains goes to her thighs, or her stomach, or some shit?”

“Yeeeahh…” he could see where this was going.

“Well, with the women in my family…” she cut off the end of the sentence, instead pointing both of her index fingers squarely at the soft flesh of her breasts.

“Huh.”

“’Huh,’ huh?” She laughed, actually kind of amused by his loss for words. “Jason Browne, entrepreneur, CEO, business genius, fucking millionaire, and the best you can do is ‘huh?’”

“I’m still just a man, easily distracted by beautiful, beautiful things.” He lifted his eyes back up to meet hers.

Her blush deepened. “You’re cute. You know that?”

“And you’re a fucking goddess, you know that?”

Face, full red.

“Still,” he continued. “I do feel bad. I’m… sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“We’ve been having such a good time… going out, having fun, eating amazing food and going amazing places, and… I’ve been loving it. I really have.”

“Me too,” was all she could say, quietly.

“And, I honestly… I had no idea you felt this way about your…”

“What?” She smiled.

“Developments.”

She laughed. God, he was sweet.

“No. It’s not your fault. And yes, I’ve wanted to get back on the horse, and actually, you know. Exercise.”

“Totally. If that’s something you feel you need to do, I’m all for it.”

She could detect it. She picked it up. She wasn’t sure if he wanted her to. He was nothing if not intentional. That was where his charm lay.”

“But…” she said.

“But… Mmmf. Do you ever regret it?”

“Regret what?” she asked.

“Regret letting those assholes in high school get you down? You’ve got this… one of a kind body, and it… I don’t know. They beat it out of you. I hate it when people destroy something beautiful.”

She had never considered it that way before. She had spent so much of her life recently trying to keep herself fit, that she never considered the alternative.

“You really love this, don’t you.”

“I really love you.”

Her eyes widened, as she let out an involuntary giggle. This was it—around her breakfast table, with her shitty coffee, and her bare breasts laid out on the table before him, he finally used the ‘L word.’ She wanted to squeal. But she kept her cool.

She didn’t say anything. Her face felt like it was on fire. He only smiled, piercing her with his eyes.

“You’d miss them.”

“I want you…” he weighed his words, “…to be happy.”

A spark ignited in her mind. She felt an old wall come tumbling down. Here was this man. Passionate, funny, handsome—rich!—and utterly infatuated with her. She asked herself what happiness meant. She thought back to her ex. And her ex before that. She never felt this way about a guy.

And in that moment, it hit her. Happiness was… for now, anyway, it came from making Jason, the man sitting across the table, happy. And from that, an idea crept into her mind. It was counterintuitive. Irresponsible. But for reasons she couldn’t explain, it made a naughty sort of sense.

“What if… she said, cutting through the long pause.

“Yeah?” he said.

“What if… I got bigger?”

“Like, what do you mean?” he said, a grin creeping onto his face.

“I mean, this thing. It’s the family curse, you know? But what if we had some fun with it?”

“Would you want that?” he asked.

“Would you?”

She could see it in his eyes. And she could tell that he was enjoying this way more than she was. That was saying something.

“Come on,” she said, leaning forward, bringing her chin dangerously close to her splayed breasts. “Let me get a shirt. We’re going out for a big breakfast, and then, you’re taking me on a shopping spree.”