Heavy: A Contemporary Romance by J. C. Mells Page B

actor back in my younger years. I have to say, I was quite the thespian, as it turned out.”
    “Oh yeah ? What were you in and who did you play?”
    “My cousin Harry has a little photography studio back home and also does short ads and commercials and things like that . YouTube type stuff,” Zak said.
    “Yes?”
    “I filled in on a dog food commercial. I think I captured the role of a warm and caring dog owner to absolute perfection,” Zak smiled proudly.
    “Gosh, I wish I had even half of your talents, Zak,” I said , trying to suppress a giggle.
    “Well, what is it you want to do ? What are you interested in? What are you good at?” We had stopped at traffic lights and Zak turned to face me as he asked his questions.
    My face fell . “I’m not good at anything. As my stepmother delights in telling me often, I’m just an overweight lump of uselessness with no ambition to speak of. I barely made it through high school, and I didn’t even go to college. The last year has been a never-ending sea of partying with my stepsister or attending fundraisers with my stepmother.” Each one of them using me and the fact I was Brock Huntington’s daughter for their own, sort of similar, reasons.
    “First of all,” Zak replied as he moved the car forward again, “you are most certainly not overweight. You may be heavier than an emaciated stickpin of a model, but being overweight is not one of your problems. Trust me on that, as I know.” Here he gestured down to his rotund physique squeezed in tight behind the steering wheel. “Secondly, you’re only twenty-years-old. If you want to go to college, then go to college. Maybe you’ll find an interest in something there? I’m going to assume that funding is not going to be a problem for you.”
    “I’m a trust fund baby, Zak,” I said rolling my eyes at him jokingly . “I don’t actually need to work to survive, especially since I came into my money last year. It would be great if I did something with that money – something other than squander it on an excessively privileged lifestyle. The college idea is a good one. I might look into that. I don’t have the grades to get into anything prestigious, although my name might help me where that’s concerned. Maybe I’ll think about community college or something.”
    “California Huntington going to community college . The earth just tilted on its axis at the thought,” Zak laughed.
    “You know what I mean – like a regular college and not a fancy one like my father would expect.”
    “You sure have an axe to grind with him, don’t you?”
    “You have no idea, my friend.”
     
    ***
     
    It wasn’t until I was sitting down to watch Ultimate Ninja Athlete later that night that I realized my phone had been dead for the last eighteen hours or so. I wasn’t used to having it over the last few months, so keeping it charged had been low on the priority list.
    Once I plugged it in , I found there were at least a dozen messages and texts from Lake, as was to be expected. It felt quite satisfying deleting them without reading them.
    There was also a message from my therapist to check in with me . She wanted to make sure I looked into ABA – Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous – groups in my area. I guess my area was Las Vegas now. Did they even have ABA groups in Las Vegas? I’d look into it first thing tomorrow.
    Earlier on in the evening, when I was looking for a blank CD so I could record Thatch in action, I discovered Eric’s not-so-secret stash of gay porn and homemade sex tapes. With no shame whatsoever, I watched a couple of them out of curiosity about the man who, so generously, lent me his house to stay in.
    Needless to say, porn is porn , whether it’s girl on girl, guy on guy, or just normal straight out heterosexual fucking – it all gets me hot and bothered, just as it’s intended to.
    By the time Thatch appeared on the T.V. screen, I was squirming in my seat, hornier than a brass band on