Brad Melnick is a quarterback football player and possible love interest of Mark in Coming Out On Top. His athletic abilities are excellent, and he wants to go pro in the NFL once he graduates. However, his academics outside of sports are suffering and risk holding him back.
Growing up, Brad's father was irresponsible and neglectful, forcing his brother Beau to act as a stand-in father figure.
Character Profile
Beau is given the false impression that Brad's failing academics were due to succumbing to the "college experience" with alcohol and girls, and that prompts Beau to hire Mark, a male, as Brad's tutor.
In truth, Brad was never good with academics. His failing grade in English comprehension is due to his academic insecurity and frustration at not comprehending the course material. Rather than attempt to study harder though, Brad prefers to bribe tutors and other students to complete the assignments for him. Brad does have an ability to work under pressure, especially when given proper incentive and rewards.
Brad is in the closet regarding his sexuality, partly due to his religious background and Beau's overprotective tendencies. When brought up, he tends to speak dismissively of any sexual encounters with girls. He admits to receiving blowjobs from some ladies before, but did not find the experience enjoyable.
Appearance
Brad has short red hair and pale blue eyes. He has a very muscular athletic build. He is 6'4" and often only wears a white tee and jeans in his room, sometimes a light grey muscle tee. He also wears a green and yellow Letterman jacket when he is outdoors. He wears white boxer briefs.
Relationships
Mark
Brad and Mark meet when Mark accepts an extra job to tutor him in English comprehension on Thursdays. Initially Brad was less enthusiastic about having him as a tutor. His initial plan was to bribe Mark to write his papers for him. If Mark refuses and gives him the right advice, then Brad can start to become more secure with himself both academically and personally.
Having another gay man like Mark around allows Brad to open up and experiment with his sexuality. During Brad's romance route, Mark finds himself extremely attracted to Brad, and must choose between sex or helping Brad succeed in his academics. If Mark resists his primal urges, Brad manages to complete his essay on time and gains confidence.
Beau
Beau is Brad's older brother, although their relationship is a bit strained. Beau tends to be overprotective and often acts more like a father figure than a brother. Beau tends to be suspicious of everyone who comes into contact with Brad. He is even wary of Mark, even though he specifically requested a 'respectable' male tutor.
Daisy
Daisy is a fellow student who frequents the football team's house. Daisy is unabashedly flirtatious with Brad and is annoyed when she learns she was replaced as his tutor in favor of Mark. This causes Daisy to begin a quasi-competition with Mark to win back her job, even going so far as to try and seduce Brad with sexual pictures and videos of herself (being completely unaware that Brad is not even interested in females).
Roman
Roman is a fellow student and football teammate. Brad and Roman aren't shown interacting much, although living in the same house indicates they are familiar with each other. Although not intimidated by Roman's tough guy routine, Brad does have some respect for him and often relies on Roman to talk sense into Beau if he is being stubborn and hot-headed. Like everyone else, Roman is unaware of Brad's true sexual preferences unless he is told during Mark's romantic pursuit of Brad.
Penny
Brad and Penny are only shown to interact if the player is fully pursuing the romance line. Penny outwardly behaves bored and slightly condescending towards Brad, based on an initial assumption that he was just using Mark to pass his class. After seeing the genuine effort he was putting in, Penny softens a little to Brad, and even goes out of her way to improve his laptop's abilities. Brad finds Penny to be pretty cool, even if he doesn't understand her or tech-speak.
Ian
Like Penny, Brad and Ian's interactions are only limited to late in his story line. Ian is very quick to put on an act to out "macho" Brad. It is not explained exactly why Ian behaves this way towards Brad, although it's likely a combination of suppressed jealousy as well as concern that he was using Mark to pass his classes. Brad seems unaware (or unfazed) by Ian's macho posturing, but does say that he seems "tough".
Trivia
- It is often described that Brad is very well-endowed.
- If Mark chooses to accept Brad's bribe to write his papers at any point, he cannot be pursued as a potential love interest, and they will not meet after his paper is completed.
- Brad is presumably a freshman and Mark is a senior, making them at most three years apart in age.
- Brad's zodiac is Sagittarius.