Beach Goddess

I never thought I'd be sharing one of those bbw sex stories, but here I am, because what happened last summer changed everything I believed about myself and desire.

My name is Rachel Torres. I'm thirty-one years old, and I've been plus-size my entire adult life. Size eighteen on a good day, twenty on others. For years, I avoided beaches, pools, anything that required showing my body. My curves were my shame.

Until I met Daniel Chen in Cancun and learned that shame was just a story I'd been telling myself.

The trip was my best friend Amy's idea. "Beach vacation! Just us girls!" she'd chirped. What she didn't mention was that "us girls" included her new boyfriend and three of his friends, all of them looking like they'd walked off an Instagram fitness page.

I spent the first day hiding under a coverup, nursing a margarita, pretending I was happy while everyone else splashed in the ocean in their tiny bikinis.

That's when Daniel sat down next to me.

"You're not swimming?"

He was Asian-American, tall, lean with the kind of athletic build that usually made me feel worse about myself. Dark hair, warm brown eyes, a smile that felt genuine rather than polite.

"I'm not really a beach person."

"But you're on a beach."

"Observant." I didn't mean for it to come out harsh, but it did.

He just laughed. "Sorry. I'm Daniel. Rob's friend from college." He nodded toward Amy's boyfriend. "I couldn't help noticing you've been alone all day. Want company?"

"You don't have to, "

"I know I don't have to. I want to." He flagged down a waiter. "Another margarita for my friend here, and I'll have a beer. Thanks."

He settled into the lounge chair like he had nowhere else to be. Over the next hour, we talked. About our jobs (he was a software architect, I was an accountant), our families (both immigrant backgrounds, both high expectations), our friends (how we'd both been dragged on this trip somewhat reluctantly).

He was easy to talk to. Easy to laugh with. And he kept looking at me in a way that made my stomach flutter.

"So really, why aren't you swimming? The water's perfect."

The margaritas had loosened my tongue.

"Because I don't want to be the fat girl in a swimsuit."

He blinked. "What?"

"Come on. You see everyone else out there." I gestured at Amy and the others. "I don't exactly fit in."

Daniel was quiet for a long moment.

"You know what I see when I look at you, Rachel?"

"I don't really want to, "

"I see beautiful eyes and a great smile. I see curves that would make a Renaissance painter weep with joy. I see someone who's been keeping me company while everyone else has been too busy being loud and basic." He took a sip of his beer. "What I don't see is any reason to hide."