"You could seduce anyone you wanted to Mandy." I laid there in my beach chair next to the pool, considering the question. "You really could."
I turned to look at Sara, a friend from my graduating class, also college bound somewhere far away. She smiled mischievously and raising her delicate eyebrows above the rim of her gaudy sunglasses. "You just have to use what you've got." Sara looked me up and down. "...and you've got plenty," she added. I blushed and reached for the beer sitting on the pool's raised edge.
"Not as much as you," I replied, returning the full body gaze she'd given me. Sara was a knockout; blonde hair, sleek toned limbs, full breasts and hourglass hips showcased perfectly by her simple red bikini.
"Hi girls. Enjoying my booze?" I looked up, shading my eyes to see my father standing over us, smirking theatrically. He was dressed casually; shorts and a t-shirt. He spent most Saturday mornings working out at the gym and most Saturday afternoons on the couch, sipping a beer and watching whatever game happened to be on. He and my mom had split years ago. He and I had been close when I was younger. We still were, I suppose. I loved him. I knew he loved me and he always took care of everything I needed. But I had grown up a lot in the past few years and needed less and less, so it had just been the two of us in the house, living almost like roommates.
"Yes we are," Sara said nonchalantly, deliberately picking up her own bottle. She stood slowly, and I noticed my father's eyes flick up and down her tanned length before realizing he was ogling her and focusing his eyes back on me.
"Just go easy," he said. "I know you're going to college in a week anyway."
Sara was standing next to him now, close at his elbow, staring directly, one hand holding her beer and one hand lifting lazily to his shoulder.
"We will, Sam, we will," she purred. "How's the dating scene?"
This was a running joke they'd developed. Sara spent a lot of time at our house and she loved talking to my father like any other adult, rather than as his daughter's friend. His dating life was an endless fascination to her.
As always my dad blushed just a shade at this line of questioning. I think that's why Sara liked asking. He looked back at her and I could tell he was consciously keeping his eyes from straying below her face.
"The same," he said. "Plenty of options, but I'm looking for someone special."
Sara smiled and moved closer, pressing her chest against dad's arm and tilting her head to the side.
"Well I'm sure you're enjoying the search," she purred, and raised the sweating beer bottle to her lips. She took a long pull, keeping her eyes locked on my father's as she slid the tip of the bottle just inside the circle of her red, puckered lips.
"I'm optimistic," Dad said, watching the not-so-subtle show she was putting on for him. I'd never consciously watched a man looking at a beautiful woman before. Sara had his total attention, and I could almost feel the effort it was taking to keep himself from looking down her smooth barely covered body.
"Leave a few beers for me, OK?" he said, finally breaking Sara's gaze and walking back inside the house. Sara watched him go, then sat down, glowing.
"You're gorgeous, you have beautiful dark hair and a great figure and that mysterious thing going. Guys like that," she continued, glancing occasionally in the direction he had gone. "Plus your boobs are bigger than mine. That white bikini pops and I love that it ties on." She pointed at the center of my back where the fabric of my bikini top came together on each side and tied loosely, and the other thin ties at each hip.
"What do the ties matter?" I asked, curious.
"I mean it can be easily untied. Guys are always thinking in that direction, and if a guy looked at you right now he would immediately wonder which strings to pull."
I blushed. Sara and I had gotten quite close over the summer and we'd started talking very openly about our bodies and sex but I still wasn't as comfortable with the topic as she was.
"And that's what I'm saying; looks are just to get that first bit of interest," she continued. "After that it's easy to keep his attention and if you decide you want to fuck him, you just lead him where he already wants to go."
I knew what she meant now. I hadn't believed her at first. I'd lost a lot of weight the last year of high school but my image of myself hadn't quite caught up. We had been at a party together a few weeks earlier and I'd pointed out to Sara a guy at that I wanted to talk to.
"He hasn't noticed me," I had said.
"Just walk up and talk to him." she replied. "You're hot. He's a dude. It will go fine."
I'd been shy all through school, probably because of my weight. But the guy across the room was from another school and only knew what he saw in front of him. I hesitated just a moment, then I grinned at Sara, gritted my teeth, and stepped confidently toward the guy I'd noticed, standing near the kitchen. He was sipping beer from a plastic cup, talking to a friend.
"Hi," I said, appalled how little thought I'd given to what I was going to say.