The I Love You Challenge

Nov 9th, 2012
Melissa decided the dating Jeff Skinner would be interesting. She did not particularly look forward to spending more time with him but she knew she would have to if she was going to pretend to be interested in him in order to win. She had barely done anything to get his attention, her good looks and feisty attitude had done that for her. Guys usually thought that her attitude was a method of flirtation but after a few dates when they realized that was how she was all the time, well; let’s just say there hasn’t been more than some one night stands in her life for a long time.

Melissa highly doubted that Jeff had a mean bone in his body, let alone that he would fall for someone who practically consists of mean bones. If she wanted to win this stupid competition, she would have to do a damn good acting job.

Jeff picked her up ten minutes before eight when he was supposed to pick her up because he was so nervous that he might be late. When she opened the door to her apartment to see him there dress in khakis and a button down she was surprised. He looks…good. She thought before mentally killing herself. She did not find Jeff Skinner attractive and she never would.

Inside Jeff’s head, he was stunned. He was convinced that he had never seen a better-looking girl in his whole life. He needed to be with her more than he needed air; he was also convinced of that. “You look stunning,” he told her. Melissa smirked and held back a laugh.

“Thanks,” she said not returning the compliment. “Are we going to get going?”

“Right, after you,” he said stepping aside to let her out of the apartment. Melissa grabbed her bag and they walked down to his car together.

“So we are going to that new place downtown right?” Melissa asked once they were on the road.

“Uhm yeah. That’s right. Eric took his wife Tanya there a few nights ago and said it was great and that I should bring you,” Jeff replied.

“Do you always do what Eric tells you to?” Melissa asked raising her eyebrows.

“Well he is my captain,” Jeff answered sounding slightly confused.

“And it’s perfectly right to listen to him on the ice but when it comes to everything else?”

“He’s a great guy; a role model,” Jeff explained.

“I bet you went right to him after setting up this date and asked him exactly what he would do and how to win me over!” Melissa said half joking, ignoring his role model statement. Jeff blushed and looked down at the steering wheel. “Oh my gosh you did! Wow. Does he tell you what time to go to bed and what to wear everyday too?”

Jeff said nothing instead; he kept his eyes plastered on the road in front of him. His face was bright red and you could see the hurt and embarrassment in his face. “Want some advice from me?” she asked quietly feeling bad that she was hurting him. He looked like an abandoned puppy, which she attributed to her feelings of guilt; in any normal circumstance, his reaction would not have fazed her. Jeff made eye contact with her and she stared at him. His eyes were a pretty, chocolate brown and Melissa couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away. Jeff noticed her staring as well and for a brief moment, she saw a new emotion flutter across his face, hope. For the first time Jeff Skinner thought, he might actually have a chance. Melissa quickly looked away mentally scolding herself for letting her guard down like that.

“What is your advice?” he asked.

“My advice it to be yourself, I don’t want the Eric Staal version of Jeff. I want the Jeff version of Jeff,” she told him nonchalantly.

“You want me?” he asked grinning.

“Okay. That was worded incorrectly. I do not want you.” His face fell. “However, Jeff Skinner as himself has a better chance than the Jeff Skinner as Eric Stall does.”

“Really?”

“Really, Eric’s married so his pick up skills are outdated anyway. I am always myself and it worked on you even though I wasn’t trying to get it to.”

“How many times has it worked for you?”

“Nice try but you’re not getting that out of me kid.” Jeff scowled.

“You are not old enough to call me a kid,” he protested.

“I’m 21.”

“You’re only a year older than me!”

“Yes, but I don’t get mistaken for a 12 year old, and I can legally drink where I live and work, which makes me seem far older than you are.”

“I can drink in Canada.”

“But unless this car magically transported us to Canada, we are still in the states.”

“I could get away with it if I tried.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t aware that I was on a date with Tyler Seguin,” Melissa said with a smirk. You didn’t have to be a Boston fan to see the 19 year olds drunk pictures that surfaced after his Stanley Cup win. Jeff’s face fell.

“Seguin didn’t win the Calder Memorial Trophy.”

“But he did win the Cup.” Jeff scowled and looked insulted which brought her back to feeling guilty. What was wrong with her?

“Then again I am here with you, not Tyler,” Melissa told him trying to make up for her hurtful words.

“But if you had a choice?” he asked.

Seguin, she instantly thought. She didn’t want Jeff to know that though. Luckily, they pulled into the parking lot and the conversation was forced to a halt. He got out first and then helped her out. They walked in with his hand resting on her back. She was trying to avoid admitting it to herself but Melissa liked the feel of his hand on her back. When they were brought to their table he pushed in her chair before sitting down himself.

“So tell me, was that whole gentleman thing Eric-Jeff or Jeff-Jeff?” she asked softly.

“It was me,” he replied hesitantly, unsure if she appreciated it or not.

“I liked it,” she told him as she rubbed his calf with her foot and grinned slightly. He smiled nervous and looked down at his foot. He looked up at her looking for permission but she was too busy reading the drink menu. Shyly at first, he returned the action, also running his foot up her calf; paying close attention to her face. When he first touched her, she glanced down and blushed. Melissa had blushed and Jeff had made her do so. Jeff was silently cheering. That must mean she was attracted to him!

Jeff was thanking cupid or whomever it was that he was supposed to thank in this kind of situation; it made the fact that he was already crazy about her less insane. The way her dress fell accentuating every good part of her body, the way the top dipped low enough to give Jeff a hint of what she had to offer but not too low to make her seem slutty, or the way her red lips looked so damn kissable against her fair skin. He loved the feel of her foot touching him, and her little smirk. Everything Melissa did drove Jeff insane in the best way a man could be driven insane. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were in public and that he was not ballsy enough to do it, Jeff would have done it with her right there on the table that separated them.

Melissa had learned early on in her life from her older sister that a way to a man’s heart was through his hormones and she automatically knew that with someone as innocent as Jeff getting there would be a piece of cake. She wasn’t sure but she guessed that Skinner wasn’t a Casanova so to say and she easily predicted that her advances would be more than welcome. Her plan was to go far enough to lead him to want more and then leave; enough insurance that he would call for a second date. Playing footsie was just the beginning.

The waiter came out to take their drink orders and for the moment both feet went back to the floor. Jeff eyed the drink menu that was resting next to her hand and shortly considered trying to order from it. He imagined getting away with it and proving to Melissa that she was just as good as Seguin. However, that wasn’t like Jeff and she said she wanted to see the real him so he ordered an ice water. Melissa looked at him and could tell that that was his way of being himself to impress her. There was nothing more that she wanted than a nice cold beer, but she didn’t want to be unfair to Jeff.

“I’ll have the same,” she ordered as Jeff’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What? Is there something wrong with my order?” she asked him defensively once the waiter had left to get their drinks.

“No of course not!” he replied quickly. “I just wasn’t expecting it that’s all.”

“I’m not an alcoholic.”

“Oh, God, no I wasn’t trying to say that I just meant, well, you were examining that drink menu for a while and, well, why else would you look at it for so long?” he stuttered.

“I was just curious! It’s a new restaurant and I didn’t get to ask Eric about it like some of us here.” That was barely true. The truth was that she wanted to impress Jeff by humbling herself to his level. The truth was that she liked the feel of his foot on hers, not because it was a man touching her but because it was Jeff touching her. The truth was she liked chivalrous, sweet Jeff, a lot more than she should. This was not part of her plan at all.

“Do you have any siblings?” Jeff asked after their waters had been brought out.

“An older sister and an older brother,” she answered.

“So I guess I’m not the baby after all,” he remarked.

“You are!” Melissa scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Wait, you aren’t the baby?”

“I’m 2nd oldest. I have an older sister, three younger sisters, and a younger brother.” He explained matter of factly.

“Well you must’ve had a busy childhood. I was never close to my siblings and then some stuff happened with my brother and it tore the whole family apart. It was pretty quiet for me.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Okay. I’m not complaining, I love my family, but sometimes it would have been nice to have a emptier house.”

“I guess everyone wants at least a part of something they can’t have.”

They talked a little more about their childhoods, Melissa always avoiding the topic of her brother. Jeff didn’t need to know about that and he wouldn’t know if she could help it. When their food arrived, they changed over to the subject of hockey.

“So I’m assuming you are a big time hockey fan; unless of course you get tattoos of hockey teams for the hell of it,” Jeff said.

“Look at you Jeffy, using big boy words!” she teased laughing slightly as he frowned. “But, yes, I grew up in a hockey family so it kind of runs in my blood. MY dad played in college and my brother played in high school and then I got my 3 best friends out of it,” she explained. Jeff smiled as she told him that, not only was this girl physically perfect but she loved hockey. He didn’t believe that she was on that date with him so she could get his money and because he had a high social status; her insults and appreciation for the game he played told him that much, plus, she wasn’t even a ‘Canes fan. Jeff didn’t think he could ever find a more perfect girl.

When the date ended, even Melissa was slightly disappointed. Even though the idea of dating Jeff seemed like torture at first, she had been lacking male company for a while and it felt good to go on a real date again.

On the ride back to her apartment there wasn’t much conversation. As the radio softly played in the background, Melissa stroked his bicep, which to her delight was shockingly muscular. While she was circling his bicep Jeff drew small circles on her left thigh. Later on Jeff took her hand in his and drew circles there instead. His skin was rough and callused compared to her soft, baby like skin. When they pulled into the parking lot outside of her apartment building, she pulled her hand from his.

“Wanna come up?” she asked him once again looking into his brown eyes.

“I can walk you up, sure,” he replied getting out and getting her door for her again. They said hello to the doorman Ryan, who looked surprised to see her with a man and then took the elevator full of awkwardness up to her floor. They went into her small apartment and she awkwardly showed him around the main part of it.

There Jeff was, in a beautiful woman’s apartment and instead of kissing her he was listening to her talk about her living space. It got to a point where he couldn’t stand it anymore so he grabbed her hand, pulled her in and crashed his lips upon hers. At first Melissa was shocked; she had never pegged Jeff for such a forward guy or such a good kisser. After the initial shock she responded with enthusiasm and soon his hands were playing with the hem of her dress, unable to control himself. Melissa pulled her lips away, still staying close to his body, before anything could go any further. The air was filled only by their heavy breathing for a while before Jeff broke the silence.

“I should get going, early practice tomorrow,” he explained walking backwards slightly.

“Yeah I should get to bed too,” Melissa replied.

“I’ll call you?” he nervously asked.

“Of course, thanks for dinner, I had a great time.”

“It was my pleasure,” Jeff said staring at her slightly smudged lipstick. Not only did she look sexy, but also he was glad he was the one to smudge it. He leaned down and kissed her cheek before leaving.

Melissa wanted to scream and rip her hair out. She went to her drink supply to get a bottle of wine and came back with a bottle of vodka and a shot glass. She came up with her own little drinking game; every time she thought of Jeff in a positive way, she would take a shot.

She was drunk sooner than she would ever have liked.