Page 30 of Loving the Sinner
“I’d actually really appreciate that, thank you.” She finally says, and I almost sigh in relief. “I don’t have any options at my place, would you mind coming to the mall with me?” She asks shyly.
“Of course not, do you want to head there right now?”
At her nod, I take off in the direction of the mall. While we’re driving, I replay the plan I’ve come up with in my head to psych myself up to ask her. When I finally feel confident enough, I clear my throat.
“So, I’ve been thinking about what you said on Monday.” I start, “And I have an idea I want to run by you.” She nods, so I continue. “I know you’re worried about being happy outside of the church. I can see how the unknown can be scary, and going through that big of a change by yourself would be extremely overwhelming, so I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m listening…” She says carefully.
“I propose that for one month, you try all the things that go against the rules you grew up with, and at the end, you can decide if you’re happier with or without them.”
“Okay… so like, try coffee and alcohol and dressing immodestly?”
I nod, “Exactly. For one month, you live like any other twenty-four year old would. You skip church on Sundays to go out for coffee with your friends, you go to a club in a strapless dress, you go out for drinks on a Friday after work…”
“I try masturbating for the first time.” She says quietly, then covers her mouth. “Sorry. That was awkward. That was supposed to be an inside thought.”
“Right. That too.”
Fuck.
Visions of Elli sweaty, writhing on the bed with her hand between those thick thighs flash through my head. I clear my throat to try and get them away, and continue my pitch.
“Today is a good start with this experiment. We’ll find you a suitable cocktail dress that’s ‘immodest’ towear out with Matt. Maybe we can find some summer clothes that you wouldn’t have worn before too?” The imagery of her in a pair of short shorts and tank tops doesn’t quell my arousal, but the thought of her on a date with Matt definitely dampens it a bit.
I glance over at Elli who’s biting her bottom lip while she mulls over my offer.
“You’d help me experience all of these things?”
“Well,almostall of them.” Although the thought of helping Elli figure out how she likes to be touched is so fucking appealing, that’s the line in the sand. “I’ll help with the coffee, alcohol, and immodest clothes. If you want to get more piercings, I can take you to my person. If you want to try weed or something, I can help with that too.”
I pull us into a parking spot and wait for her to answer. I could have totally just overstepped and made everything super awkward between us. That would suck, but overall, I’d respect whatever decision she makes.
“I’m in.” She says firmly, and the relief is instantaneous. “If you’re sure you want to do this with a girl you only met a few days ago.” She adds.
I turn to look at her and see the trepidation in her eyes. “I’m positive, Elli. I’ve been thinking about a way to help for the last two days. I know we’re practically strangers, but if you put your trust in me, I won’t let you down.”
“Thank you, Wes.” She sucks in a deep breath and with a determined nod says, “Let’s do this.”
An hour later, I'm sitting in the dressing room of the third store we’ve been in. Apparently a lot of stores don’t carry clothes for plus size women and that makes me irrationally angry. Why don’t companies makeclothes bigger? Don’t they know the profit they’d make if they extended their sizing?
We went into Torrid, where it’s a bit pricey, but she was able to find some cute shorts and some casual dresses on their clearance rack. Then, we went to H&M where Elli says she can usually fit into their largest standard size for tops, so she got some tank tops. Now, we’re in Forever 21 because it’s relatively cheap, and they have a decent plus size section. Elli’s got two dresses and some skirts she’s trying on.
We weren’t able to find any cocktail dresses that Elli liked at the other two stores, and if these don’t work, I guess we’ll have to try another store.
“Alright. Are you ready for option number one?” Elli calls out from behind the door. This is the first dress she’s trying on, she’s already tried on the skirts but she didn’t show those to me.
“Bring it on.” I sit up straighter as Elli opens the door and steps out.
I clench my jaw to stop it from dropping when she walks out in a sleek, black satin dress. It’s got spaghetti straps and a sweetheart neckline that sits just above her cleavage, hits her mid-calf, and has a slit that runs up one side to her thigh. She spins, showing me the whole thing. It crisscrosses in the back and it shows her lack of bra, and the sexy little rolls on her back. Ibarelysuppress a groan of appreciation.
“What do you think?” She asks when she stops spinning.
I think that dress would look much better on the floor, and you naked.
But I don’t say that, of course. I say instead, “It’s the perfect cocktail dress. Simple and classy. Let’s see the other one and then we’ll decide.”
“Okay. Thank you, this is really comfy so I think it’d be good for my date.” She turns back into the dressing room shutting the door.
