Game Of Love Ch. 01

A/N: Hey guys this is my first story. I hope you guys like it. The first couple chapters aren't going to contain much sex (if any) because I'm going to try and build up to it. Comments welcomed!

-C

Melodi-

'I have no clue why I keep letting Trinity keep setting me up on these things' I thought to myself as I clutched my purse tighter to my chest as I walked into Buffalo Wild Wings, the restaurant I was supposed to be meeting my blind date at.

My best friend Trinity and her boyfriend Micah seem to have made it their life mission to inflict the same relationship happiness they have on everyone else. It's like they wont be completely happy until they can find me my "perfect match".

I've never had a hard time finding dates. It's not like I'm an ugly woman. In fact I was told often that I was extremely pretty, gorgeous even. I stand at 5 feet even and happened to be on the thicker side. My breasts were a healthy C cup and were well proportioned to my petite size and slim waist but unfortunately my ass didn't get the memo on sizing, because it was huge.

Nowhere near Kardashian sized, but for my small frame, it was out of place. Having a medium top and a size 12 bottom made shopping a challenge for sure. To accompany my tiny frame I also had tiny feet to match wearing a size 5. My light caramel colored skin and wildly long, curly hair set off my looks topped off with lusciously plump pink lips, dimples so deep you could play hid and seek in them and unusual green-gray eyes that people often mistook for contacts.

So no I wasn't hurting for dates, it was just the matter of finding someone who wasn't a complete jerk who could actually last past the first one.

Tonight was one of several dates that they have set me up on in the last few weeks and most likely it would end the same way it did with all the others: disappointment. While their hearts are in the right places, their choices had left a lot to be desired.

My first date with Charlie was the tip of the iceberg. Charlie didn't have a job and still lived with his mother so I was forced to pay for our dinner. And of course the lazy jerk ordered the most expensive item on the menu. Then there was Robert, the slob, who showed up for our date a half hour late, with his clothes dirty and his body odor was completely rank.

Needless to say Robert hadn't lasted more than an hour before I had to get out of dodge. The most recent was Ronny who was a complete egotistical jerk, who spent the entire night literally talking about himself. I couldn't even get a word in edge wise with him and honestly he bored me to tears.

Tonight's date was one of Micah's coworkers, Ben, who recently got divorced and was looking to get back into the dating game. Hopefully this one wouldn't be as painful as the last three or else I would seriously go out of my mind.

Taking in a deep breath of the cool night air, I stepped into the loud, crowded bar themed restaurant. I took in the atmosphere around me while running my hand through my long hair that fell in curly ringlets to the middle of my back.

"Hi welcome to Buffalo Wild Wings! Are you eating in or taking out?" the preppy hostess asked me coming up from some where in the crowded restaurant.

"Hi I'm supposed to be meeting somebody here." I say throwing a smile up at her. The woman couldn't have been more than 5'5" but everyone for the most part towers over me. It's just one of those things in life that I have accepted.

"Oh of course. Can you give me your parties name and I can check to see if he has already arrived. If not I can get you set up at a table and get you situated with drinks while you wait." She said to me.

"His name is Ben. He had sent me a text not too long ago saying he was here." I say glancing back down at my phone to check the time and then back up at the hostess, whose smile had slowly started falling from her face.

"Oh yes I remember him saying he was meeting someone here. Follow me to your table." She said sharply leading me through the crowded restaurant to a booth in the middle of the place. "Sir the rest of your party is here. Your server will be over shortly to take your drink orders." She said to the man seated out of my view before disappearing back into the crowd.

I walked over to the other bench, putting my purse and my phone on the table before turning to greet my date while shrugging out of my pea coat. "Hi Ben? I'm Melodi." I say sliding into my seat.

"Yes I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you finally Melodi, although I will say you are different from my normal tastes. Micah didn't happen to mention that you were black." He said as I got settled causing me to pause.

' I know this Zac Efron wannabe didn't just say that. Just because he's cute doesn't mean I won't light his butt on fire.'

And Ben was cute. He closely resembled a cross between Zac Efron and James Franco just with blond hair. But just because he was cute didn't give him an excuse be rude.

"Yes I'm black. I would assume you knew because Trinity, Micah's girlfriend and my best friend, is also black. And what do you mean by I'm not your usual type?" I asked trying to keep the bite out of my tone.

Our waiter coming over to our table interrupted his answer before I could find out what he meant by that. "Hi my name is Eric and I will be your server tonight. Can I get you two started off with something to drink and an appetizer?" He asked in the same upbeat tone the hostess had earlier.

"Yes, I'll have a Heineken and the lady will have..." Ben started off saying before turning his head back to me " I'll just have a strawberry lemonade please" I said smiling sweetly at the server.

"Awesome I'll have those right out to you and as soon as you're ready I can take your orders." Eric said before moving away from the table as fast as he came.

"So Melodi, what is it that you do?" Ben asked trying to move the conversation away from questioning him about his usual type as we scanned our menus.

"I'm actually a pastry chef. I just recently opened my own bakery in the city. It's doing really good business especially considering I'm a new comer to the baking scene." I say preening with pride over my job, which I worked my ass off to get off the ground. "Wow a chef and a business owner. You honestly look really young to have accomplished that already." He said in surprise.

"Well I'm 23. I graduated from school early with Summa Cum Laude from Stanford when I was 20 with my degree in business and went back to school so that I can turn my first love into my profession. I've been working on opening my shop for about a year now. It's been officially open and getting business for the last 6 months. What about you? Micah said you're an accountant?" I ask as our drinks get set on our table.

"I'm actually an forensic accountant. My job is very important. I get hired to look through companies finances for discrepancies and report them back to the CEO's and the government." he boasted.

I rolled my eyes at his answer while taking a drink of my lemonade. 'Great another egotistical jerk, let's just hope dinner goes by quickly so I can escape.' Before I could ask any more questions, Eric popped back over to our table.

"Are you two ready to order or would you like a few more minutes to decide?" he asked his pen posed to write as he glanced between the two of us.

"Yes, I'll have the Juicy Steak Burger with your Hot BBQ sauce and the Tablegate Sampler with Desert Heat sauce on the wings, please." Ben said glancing down out the menu. Eric turned his attention to me and just as I went to give my order Ben cut me off. "And the lady will have the chicken salad minus the chicken with a low-fat Italian dressing." He continued.

My face scrunched up in irritation, "uh no, the lady can order for herself. I would like the Chicken Wrap with Teriyaki sauce and ranch but can you do me a favor and make sure there are no tomatoes in it, I hate them. I also would like snack sized boneless wings with sweet BBQ as well please." I say flashing a smug smile to a now pissed off Ben.

"Okay I'll put your order in and that will be coming out to you as soon as possible." Eric said before disappearing again and I turned my attention back to Ben.

"What was up with that trying to order for me? A salad really?" I questioned, angry that he had the audacity to try and do so.

"I just figured, with your size, staying away from the calorie and fat enriched food would be a good thing." He said nonchalantly, while taking a sip of his beer.

'Is he calling me fat?'

"Are you calling me fat?" I asked the question that had just ran through my mind, my voice going up a couple octaves drawing the attention of people at the near by tables.

Ben shifted nervously in his seat before answering my question. "I just think, with your small stature, that you could stand to lose a couple pounds that's all." I felt my face turn red with anger and embarrassment as I grabbed my purse and my coat and slid out of the booth.

"And you know what I think? I think this date is officially over!" I yell before throwing my lemonade in his face.

Some of the people around that heard what he said started giving words of encouragement to me and mocking him as I stormed off. "Girl don't listen to him you are not fat." One woman called out while the group of guys who had been sitting right next to us started cracking jokes at Ben's expense.

"Damn you let that cute little thing get away? You must be an idiot."

"Call me when you're ready to get with a real man!"

I guess the jokes were killing Ben's pride even more than I did. his face was turning beet red. "Fuck you, you midget bitch!" he yelled out as I walked toward the front door.

Without looking back, I flicked him the middle finger and called over my shoulder, "Honey you wish this 'midget bitch' would fuck you. Too bad I have standards. You aren't man enough for me anyway. Tootles."

The laughter and the jokes at Ben's expense continued as I made my way out of the restaurant and back to my Jeep.

"The nerve of that guy calling me fat. I am not fat." I muttered as I dug around for my keys, snatching them up quickly from there resting place in the zipper compartment and letting myself into my car, throwing my purse and coat on the passenger side seat.

My movements were jerky as I started the car up and backed out of my parking space, not bothering to put on my seatbelt as I navigated my way through the mall parking lot. "And I wanted that fucking wrap too damn it." I said flicking on my turn signal so I could turn on to the main road.

Seeing that nothing was coming, I started my turn. Then out of nowhere, the glow of headlights was quickly approaching and I tapped the horn to alert them that I was in the intersection but the car didn't slow its pace. Trying to move out of the way before the car could reach me, I tried to move my car out of the way but my reflexes weren't working fast enough.

The sound of metal hitting metal rang through my ears as the impact of jolted my body sending me to the other side of the car. The impact sent the car into a tailspin, righting my posture but not for long as the spinning continued whipping me around the car.

Another hard impact sent my car spinning in the opposite direction. My left arm some how managed to get stuck between the door and the steering wheel as the car spun leaving me somewhat immobile and contributing to my whiplash as the spinning finally stopped.

The sound of car horns and sirens pierced the air around me as my world tried to set itself up on its axis. The smell of gas and smoke permeated the air around me as I tried to pull myself together.

My whole body screamed in protest as I tried to move my arm out of it place between the steering wheel and the door so I could get out but it was useless. I could tell by the way my arm was swelling that I had broken it during the spinning.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a couple people come running toward the car at top speed in a panic. One of them stood out from the others who were obviously coming to my aid.

He was tall from what I could see and was dressed to the nines in a suit. I couldn't see his face very well but I could tell he had a strong masculine profile. 'Down girl, this is not the time to be checking out your savior.' I thought as they reached my door.

"Miss? Are you okay?" he asked through the window scanning my face.

"I think so. I might have broken my arm I can't move it and its stuck between the steering wheel and my door." I said feeling wetness trailing down the side of my face from my temple area.

"Okay I'm going to try and open your door. We need to get you out of here before the car catches fire." He said grabbing the handle. He was able release it from its latched position but he couldn't get it all the way open.

The smell of gas was becoming more prominent inside the car, making me light headed. Mr. suit must have smelled the gas and yelled frantically for the men standing behind him to help pry the door open. All three men grabbed a section of the dented door and pulled, the bent, destroyed metal groaning in protest as they forced it open.

My injured arm slid free, flopping down like dead weight to my side. My mystery savior reached over my lap, gently unbuckling me from my seatbelt.

"I'm going to pick you up slowly okay? We need to get you out of here now." He said, putting one of his arms underneath my legs and wrapping the other around my upper body.

"I don't want to hurt you but we need to move quickly the smoke is getting thicker coming from the other car and I don't want to risk getting blown up. Are you ready?" he asked.

"Wait my purse. I need my purse." I said reaching with my good arm for my bag sitting on the seat next to me.

"Here hand me your bag." He said reaching for the strap, throwing it over his own shoulder before positioning his arm back around my shoulder. "Ready? On the count of 3 I'm going to lift you out. 1...2...3" his deep voice sounded in my ear as he lifted me out of my mangled car, carrying me swiftly in the direction of the ambulance's, the paramedics already running toward the both of us.

The shifting of his body as he walked with me quickly away from the wrecked cars caused pain to flood my body coming from my hip, arm and midsection.

Screams sounded from the spectators who were standing around watching the scene unfold as a loud pop came from behind us. "Sounds like I got you out in the nick of time." He said as the paramedics reached us with the gurney and the firemen that had been on the scene rushed to go put out the fiery wreckage before it could get completely out of hand.

"Sir can you lay her down gently on the gurney? We don't want to risk any more injuries by moving her too quickly." The woman said undoing the straps quickly so I could be put down.

"Miss can you tell me your name, date of birth and where your feeling extreme pain?" they asked me as my savior placed me on the gurney.

" My name is Melodi Gray, my birthday is 10/31/1992. I'm 100% sure my arm is broken and when he was carrying me, I got sharp pains in my midsection and from my hip. My head is killing me too." I say relaxing back.

The adrenaline that had been fueling my body since I had thrown my lemonade in Ben's face all drained away, leaving me exhausted and unable to keep my eyes open. "Miss Gray stay with us. We need you to stay awake. You possibly have a concussion if the bump and cut on your head is any indication. For your health you need to stay awake!" the female paramedic said as they brought me to a stop outside the ambulance.

"Stay with me beautiful!" the guy said to me taking my good hand, hoping in behind me as they loaded me into the ambulance.

I heard what they were saying and I struggled to keep my eyes open, but it was no use. It felt like my whole body was going underwater, as their words became garbled.

"Please can you try and stay awake. I promise we will get you to the hospital as quickly as possible but until then stay awake!" the paramedic shouted at me as she jumped in and slammed the doors closed behind her, but her words barely registered.

"Jerry, we need to get out of here, she's fading fast!" the woman called out as she stuck an oxygen mask over my face.

I turned to the mystery man at my side, still holding my good hand, his deep blue gaze intensely watching me. With the last little bit of energy I had left I managed to breathe out, "Thank you for saving me." Before everything went black.