I immediately bristle. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
She sighs as if annoyed that she has to explain. “Look, you have a pretty face and all, but you could stand to lose some weight. For your health, you know?”
Assault is illegal, I remind myself, even though I would love nothing more right now than to kick this bitch’s ass. How very dare she!
I cross my eyes and stare her down. “My body is beautiful. Being fuller figured isn’t indicative of being unhealthy. My annual labs always show that I’m the picture of health—far healthier, in fact, than some of my patients who spend their lives yo-yo dieting.”
Being a larger person in a world obsessed with skinniness isn’t easy. I’ve always been what I like to callluscious. When I started medical school, I learned a lot that debunked erroneous assumptions I’d had about being bigger all my life, and I fully embraced myself as the sexy, vibrant, and talented woman that I am.
Shelby huffs in obvious annoyance. “Whatever. I’m sure there are some women out there who like a thick partner.”
I glare at her coldly. “And I’m sure there are some women out there who like superficial idiots.”Fuck you very much.
With that, I open my car door and get in. Revving my engine and backing out, I leave my flabbergasted fool of a date behind.Eat my dust, asshat!
The minute I get home, I’m shedding my date outfit and slipping into my comfy loungewear as I call my brother. Felix picks up on the third ring.
“How’d the date go? Seems rather early to be calling me, so I’m guessing not well.”
“Bingo,” I agree, flopping down on my couch.
“What happened? You sound irritated.”
“That doesn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling right now.” I launch into an account of the date. When I get to the last bit, Felix growls in outrage.
“What a fucking asshole,” he says.
That gives me the warm fuzzies. My brother is six years older than me, but we’re super close. We kind of need to be since we’re the only family we have.
“That’s putting it mildly. A love match, it was not,” I say with a sigh.
“Sorry, Gemsy. This date sounds even worse than that one with the woman who wanted to help you find religion and join her church.”
I shudder in recollection. “At least her church was LGBTQ-friendly, but she didn’t want to take no for an answer. It was like she had proselytizing mania or something.”
Felix snickers. “Is that an official medical diagnosis?”
“Hardee-har-har,” I reply dryly.
His voice softens. “I’m really sorry that happened. You know you’re beautiful and perfect the way you are, right?”
“Damn straight! I don’t need to give anyone the time of day if they want to criticize my appearance in any way. Fuck that noise.”
“One hundred percent,” Felix agrees. “What now?”
I sigh. “No idea. The dating apps are kind of a nightmare, and I’m losing the motivation to keep using them. It’s not that I don’twant to find a partner, I do, but I’m wondering if it might not be in the cards for me.”
“Don’t say that, Gemsy. Your special someone is out there, I know it.”
“I could say the same for you. Your love life is about as bad as mine. When was the last time you even had a date?”
“It’s been… a while,” he confesses reluctantly. “In all honesty, I haven’t really had time lately. Work’s been busy, and I don’t have a lot of free time to myself. We get a lot of emergencies and need to be on call all the time.”
A veterinarian specializing in exotic animals, my brother also possesses the Taylor family smarts.
“Vegas has so many exotic animals used in performances that it can be hard to keep up when we’re one of the only clinics who specialize in their care,” Felix adds.
“Let’s face it,” I say, “neither of us has found another person we want to be serious with on a permanent basis. I think we both want what Nana and Gramps had, just a super queer version, and we don’t want to settle for less.”
