Luke invited me to a wine tasting and I haven’t seen Luke in forever plus I love wine so I agreed. It was on a Friday afternoon after work at a cute wine bar. I didn’t plan on after work plans, but I always keep a spare outfit in my office just in case something arises. I changed into a dress and a choker and kept on my nude heels. I met Luke on a corner near the offices and we Ubered to the bar.

I was checking my makeup in my phone’s camera as we walked up to the bar. Their patio was open and when I glanced over, there was a man sitting there who looked so good that it made me stop dead in my tracks. He noticed me at the same time and gave me a weird, tight smile before laughing. He was tall, I could tell even though he was sitting, with James Dean hair and the sharpest jaw I’ve ever seen. He was wearing Ray Bans so I couldn’t see his eyes, but I just knew by the rest of his face that they were warm and gorgeous.

I regained my composure and kept walking, deciding that I was going to meet whoever this man was. We sampled a few wines then went to the bar to get actual drinks. Luke told me about all the office drama and no matter how long I’ve been gone, I will always want to know about drama in the office.

“Dale will never going anywhere in his career. Fact,” Luke said.

“Ugh, what a loser,” I said. “Honestly, he’s lucky to even be in the position he is now.” I started thinking about what it would be like if I was in Dale’s position at my old company and have Luke takeover my old job.

“I know. He keeps hiring all these people and then Dave will say we need to cut expenses and he will just eliminate their job. It’s happened like three times.”

“I would sue,” I said matter-of-factly.

“But anyway, what’s new with you? How’s work?” Luke asked.

“Well… there’s this thing with my boss,” I started.

“What kind of thing?” Luke asked, looking down at his phone.

“I guess I don’t really know. Like it’s weird. He’s married, but we have this connection.”

Luke’s head jerked up. “Reese, no.”

“I know. Believe me, I fought it for as long as I could. I used to hate him. Like he’s so annoying. But something about him just isn’t as annoying,” I said.

“But he’s your boss. And he’s married.”

I rolled my eyes. “He would leave his wife without hesitation if I asked him to.”

I turned back to the bar and saw that the hot guy from outside was approaching the bar next to me. He gave me another of his tight, awkward smiles.

“I can’t tell if you’re trying to be friendly or making fun of me with that smile,” I said as he joined me.

He turned slightly as if he was making sure I was talking to him and then his mouth dropped open a little bit.

“That’s how I smile at everyone,” he told me. And then he gave me a real smile, one that looked confident and sexy. I just stared at him. “What are you drinking? It looks like you gave up on the tasting.”

He introduced himself as Nick, an investment analyst originally from Michigan. I usually try to stay away from the finance boys (and Michigan boys), but Nick was really cute and even though he looked like Clark Kent, he had a small town vibe to him and that touched my little heart. We talked about brunch for a while, which normally would have been really lame, but I wanted to continue talking to him.

“Well, if you ever need a buddy to brunch with, I’m your guy,” Nick said.

I smirked and gave him a side eye. Buddy. Really?

“I’m not really looking for any buddies.”

Nick’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh… okay.”

“But I am super passionate about brunch.”

He laughed and we exchanged numbers. I fully expected him to wait two days to text me because that’s what boys do, but he texted me that same night.

“I’m suggesting Fig & Olive brunch on Sunday,” he said.

“I’m saying yes,” I replied back immediately. Usually I would’ve made him wait a couple hours/days to torture him, but no need.

He sent me a PDF copy of the menu because I told him I have to see the menus of restaurants before I go and even though I’ve been to Fig & Olive before, the gesture was sweet.

On Sunday morning, I woke up early, went a spin class, came home, showered, curled my hair, drank some champagne and put on a skort, a bodysuit, a jacket thrown over my shoulders and Stuart Weitzman Nudist heels.

Nick texted me, “Have you figured out what you wanted from the menu yet?”

I texted back, “I’m going to do their namesake salad sans the cheese and I was thinking we could share some crostinis – you pick. I’ll also do a couple glasses of rosé unless you think we should do a bottle and a side of fries.”

“Got it. I was just gonna do an omelette.”

We had agreed to meet at the restaurant so I called a car. Nick was waiting outside with his Ray Bans on and hands in his pockets. Usually I’m intentionally 15-30 minutes late on first dates, but this time I was 10 minutes late and it wasn’t intentional. There was one lock of hair that wouldn’t cooperate. I ended up having to put it in a bun. He was looking around casually, chomping on a piece of gum, and something about him just warms my heart.

I hopped out of the car and Nick noticed me right away. He smiled (his hot smile) and rushed over to me.

“Gotta love Uber Black,” he said gesturing to the SUV I was stepping out of.

I rolled my eyes. “Well, I only use them because I give my driver the weekends off.”

Nick laughed, but I was serious. We made our way inside and got seated. The server came over and Nick ordered everything I asked for, almost word for word.

I smirked at him. “Well, I guess you past the first test.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And how many tests are there?”

I pondered. “I’m not sure yet. Maybe fourteen, fifteen.”

Nick just stared at me.

“And here’s your next one. Why did your last relationship end?”

“Well, she broke up with me,” Nick said.

I gasped. “You let her dump you? Why?”

“Complications,” he said immediately.

“Like?” I pried.

“When I got a new job I couldn’t spend as much time with her and she didn’t like that.”

“You couldn’t make time?”

“I was going to. I wanted to get settled first and she didn’t give me the opportunity.”

I gave him a sympathetic look. He wanted to know about my last relationship too since we were on the subject. I vaguely told him about the communication issues Brady and I had.

“So, I guess the takeaway from that is I need to know everything about everything and everyone,” I said.

Nick nodded. “Good to know.”

We talked and ate and it felt really natural – like we’d known each other forever. After we finished our food, we asked to see a dessert menu, but after pondering for half an hour, we decided we didn’t even want dessert.

After Nick paid for our meal, we went outside and started walking. There are some shops around the restaurant and we looked in the windows and continued talking. He has a finance background and kind of lectured me on the importance of saving and investing and I just nodded and smirked at him.

“I’m serious,” he said. “Almost every industry is struggling right now and if you were to ever lose your job, you need to be prepared.” I gave him a look and he added, “I’m not trying to scare you.”

I knew he was right and vowed to save a little bit more each month. He continued on, talking about 401k’s, IRAs, stocks and bonds. How my rent/mortgage budget shouldn’t be more than 25% of my income. 

“I think it’s adorable that you care about this stuff,” I said.

I could tell Nick was a little embarrassed. “Well, it is a part of my job.”

What I love about Nick is how natural it feels to be with him. Even on our first date. Like it felt like I knew him forever. He catches on to my sarcasm and humor right away and sometimes that’s hard to find.

We were walking and passed a high end jewelry store with a huge ring in a window display. I stopped and said, “Whenever you’re ready to propose, I want something like this. Just keep that in mind.”

Nick peeked around me to get a look at the ring and replied, “Noted.” And then he grabbed my hand. “That ring would look good on you actually.” And then he didn’t let go of my hand.

I joked and said, “You only did that so you could hold my hand, didn’t you?”

Nick looked down at me and said, “Yes,” in a serious way.

After we had walked all the way down the street and back up, we just kind of looked at each other. I don’t think either of us was ready for the date to be over.

“I don’t live far from here. You could come over and we could watch a movie or something…” I suggested.

“Cool. I’m free all day,” Nick said.

I led the way to my apartment which was within walking distance from where we were. Thank goodness I cleaned so the place wasn’t a compete shit show when Nick walked in.

“You have a nice place,” Nick commented and then he pulled me closer to him before I could respond and kissed me. It was quick, but sensual and left me wanting more. But then he pulled away and gave me that stupid little smile.

I pulled up a movie on Netflix and we both laid down on the couch. Before I knew it, we were both sleeping and we proceeded to nap for two hours. I woke up with Nick’s arms around my torso and initially I was super confused, thinking, “Brady’s arms aren’t this big.” Ugh.

Nick didn’t go home until midnight, but we didn’t have sex. To be honest, I thought about it because we were getting along so swimmingly. I even forgot it was the first date.

After that though, we have been kind of inseparable. The following day, Monday, we met for lunch on our lunch breaks. We met at a place in between both of our offices and Nick strolled up in the typical finance fuckboy uniform: dark suit, brown shoes, a tie and sunglasses. Even his haircut fit the bill.

“This is so crazy to say, but I missed you,” he greeted me. The look on his face told me that he was annoyed to have to admit that.

“I should’ve warned you, I’ve heard I’m quite addicting,” I told him.

We were able to get a table at the busy restaurant and ordered sandwiches, salads and gin and tonics (my idea). I asked about his family and found out that his dad works in finance and his mom stayed home, which is exactly like my parents before their split. He has an older sister and a younger sister who I demanded to see pictures of. And he pulled up an Instagram post of the three of them looking stunning, honestly. Is it just me or do you not *really* know what people look like until you see a still picture of them? Like, obviously Nick was hot, but after seeing a photo of him, I realized he really could be some sort of super hero in a movie. I followed him on Instagram after that.

“What are you doing after work?” Nick asked as we stood outside the restaurant saying our goodbyes.

I thought about it. “I was gonna clean out my DVR, but I could hold off. Why, what’s up?”

“Well, I have some returns to make at Nordstrom, maybe you could come with me?”

I smiled. He was already inviting me to Nordstrom with him? Nick just knows the way to my heart.

“Fine. And we will pick out something new that isn’t so typical.” I rolled my eyes.

After work, Nick texted me his address so I could meet him at his apartment. I was kind of annoyed to see that he lives in River North. But his apartment is beautiful. Windows everywhere, dark wood and countertops, chic door knobs… I was a little weirded out when a cat came strutting out of one of the rooms.

“Who the fuck is that?” I asked.

“That’s Coco, my cat,” Nick said.

“You have a cat?”

He nodded and smiled a childlike smile.

“And it’s named after Coco Chanel? Is this your ex-girlfriend’s cat?”

“No, her name is Cocoa, like chocolate. Because of the color of her coat,” Nick explained.

The cat came and rubbed her body on my leg.

“She likes you already.”

“I can’t believe you have a cat and didn’t tell me,” I said. But imagining Nick taking care of the little feline kind of touched my heart.

We grabbed the returns and got in an Uber to Nordstrom. Nick returned some things he purchased online ($1,200 worth) and we proceeded to the men’s department so I could pick out things for him to try on. I noticed that Nick didn’t complain at all (Brady hated shopping and trying things on) and I decided that this was another test. We went to the dressing room and I convinced the sales girl to let us go in together. I really just wanted to see Nick undress.

And he did not disappoint. He has a swimmer’s body with big arms and shoulders and a really small waist. I tried to pretend I wasn’t gawking at him, but really I wanted to see more.

We ended up finding a few tops and a pair of jeans and then went downstairs so I could try on shoes. I can’t ever go in Nordstrom and not try on shoes. It’s physically impossible for me. I ended up taking home three pairs.

We called an Uber and took our loot back to Nick’s place. He poured wine and we sat on the couch talking for an hour before I ended up straddling him and making out until 2am. I had to physically peel myself off him.

“You could stay over if you want,” Nick said.

“No thanks,” I said back as I stood up and fixed my dress and hair.

We had lunch together (and dinner twice) the rest of the week and had our first sleepover on Friday. We both left work at 4 PM, met up to go to Whole Foods for groceries then went back to his place to make dinner. I thought it was so adorable how Nick’s tie was undone the whole time, almost like a signal of the end of the week. We decided to make mussels and pasta in a white wine sauce.

The cat hung out on the counter the whole time we cooked until I finally shooed her away.

“Doesn’t it bother you that she’s just chilling on the counter?” I asked.

“No, she’s not bothering anything. She just wants to be included,” Nick explained. And that made me feel kind of bad.

Dinner turned out amazing (thanks Pinterest) and we sat on the couch polishing off the bottle of wine (plus a second one) and talking.

The next thing I remember is Nick shaking me to wake me up. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over me.

“Hey, do you want to come to bed?” he asked.

I got up and followed him to his room wordlessly. Without even thinking about it, I threw off my dress and climbed in the bed. Nick grabbed me and spooned me, cupping my bare boobs. I could feel that his heart was actually racing. How adorable.

We fooled around for about an hour maybe and it was almost innocent (just lots of kissing all over the body, but no contact with any genitals). And then we fell asleep.

But the next morning, we both grabbed at each other when we woke up. It was like we both couldn’t wait to wake up so we could touch each other again. And obviously both of us wanted more of each other.

Nick climbed on top of me and kissed all over my shoulders and neck while trying to wiggle me out of my underwear. I tried to help him while also running my nails along his back. Guys love that, by the way. Try it.

When Nick finally pushed inside of me, I thought, “Finally. This is what I’ve been waiting my life for.” That few seconds felt better than any sex I’ve had for the past year.

Anyway, it was great. I had no doubts about it before, but still. I was hooked. When we finished, Nick said something stupid like, “That was cool.” And I wanted to slap him.

I went home and showered and got ready then we met for brunch. Again, we walked around for a little while after brunch before retreating back to his place to hook up again.

And I guess the rest is history. It’s only been a few weeks, but I feel like I’ve known Nick forever. It’s to the point where I’m asking about his family members by name, reminding him to do things that I know are a part of his everyday routine, and making grocery lists for his apartment. It’s fun because I can tell that he’s actually really, really into me. I feel like when I first got with Brady, I was unsure. And it just feels so natural. We talk about things in the future like we just know they are going to happen. Making plans for the rest of the summer and our birthdays and the fall. And we haven’t even had a DTR talk because it seems kind of unnecessary. We spend literally all of our time together so I’m not worried about being exclusive (except I see my other boyfriend, Scott, everyday at work 🙃).

Brady and I had plans to go to an awards ceremony for one of his work colleagues and then we would go out with his work friends after that. I thought it would be a nice time to meet the Poison Ivy looking chick from Brady’s Instagram.

I left work a little bit early on Friday to get ready because the awards dinner was supposed to be kind of nice or something and I wanted to look good for it (and for Poison Ivy). So I needed to get ready. I showered and changed into a tight black jumpsuit with a vest that I could ditch later when the real festivities began. I didn’t have time to deal with my hair so I swept it up into a high bun.

I texted Brady, “I’m ready,” and he said, “Meet me here? I just got out of the shower.”

Imagining Brady fresh out of the shower made my little heart palpitate and I immediately ordered an Uber. I’m sorry, but Brady is actually really hot. So I rushed over there.

“Hey. You look cute,” Brady greeted me at the door.

“Hi. Where’s my son?” I asked, breezing in past him. Brady looked good and smelled delicious, but I couldn’t let him know I was thinking that.

Tucker came bounding into the foyer so fast that he couldn’t stop and slid across the tile.

“Aww, my little angel face!” I exclaimed. I picked him up and kissed all over his face to make Brady jealous.

“Just give me 3 minutes and I’ll be ready to go, okay?” Brady said.

I nodded and watched him walk away. His ass looked hot in dark chinos, a button up and the preppiest loafers (who picked those out for him?). I hate that I am so attracted to him.

I put Tucker down and cleaned all the dog hair off me while I waited. Brady came back and told me that he called an Uber. On the ride over, he told me about Hunter and Dom and how much Dom has changed since giving birth.

“I’m sure she’s changed for the better. She was so awful before,” I said.

“Yeah well, Hunter thinks she’s pretty awful now,” Brady said.

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to tell him that Hunter probably just wasn’t ready for commitment (especially to a person like Dom) and wanted to continue meeting and hooking up with girls. Remember the girl he met in the grocery store here in Chicago and ended up spending the night with? That’s what Hunter wants. Not to be at home with a miserable woman and babies. And I don’t blame him.

When we got to the venue, I immediately discovered it was open bar. Thank God. I made Brady stand in the bar line with me to get drinks before we even went to find his friends because priorities. We needed to take full advantage of this situation. I got a modest glass of rosé and Brady got a beer. So then I was ready to see his friends.

Brady’s gotten pretty close with this guy named Alex, who recently moved to Chicago from New York. Brady talks about him a lot, but it was my first time meeting him. He reminded me of Chris – tall, dark hair, beard – but he’s a doctor.

“Reese! Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot,” Alex said. He glanced at Brady with a smile and of course, I glanced at Brady too, but I glared at him. Don’t talk shit about me to your new friends.

“Likewise,” I said, shaking his hand.

We hung out with Alex for the first hour and talked to some of their other coworkers. I was bored, but enjoying the mac and cheese balls, shrimp cocktails and blue cheese stuffed olives.

And then the red headed girl showed up. And I had a cracker in my mouth. She reached out to hug Brady first, I noticed, and then Alex. Her hair was literally dyed bright red and she was about 5’2 wearing a tight black dress and lots of eyeshadow. She was cute though.

“Sorry, I can’t stay out long. I’m overnighting this week,” she said. “But I thought I’d come out for a little bit!”

“Great!” I said.

“You haven’t met Reese, have you?” Brady chimed in.

Homegirl looked at me. “No! Nice to meet you! I’m Amelia.”

“Hi Amelia,” I said, dryly. I had no reason to automatically hate her, but I did.

She gave me a big smile and then turned back to the others. I glanced at Brady at and he was giving me a weird look so I rolled my eyes at him. He obviously didn’t know that I knew who this Amelia girl was and was going to try to make me feel like an idiot. Not today.

We hung out with Alex and Amelia for a little bit, but again I was bored. Alex is funny in a frat boy kind of way. Eventually, Amelia had to go and as soon as she walked away, I said, “So what’s the story with her?”

“What do you mean?” Brady asked, giving me a weird look.

“I mean, she’s cute. Nice.” I shrugged. “I just didn’t think that was your type.”

Brady threw his head back and rolled his eyes – a look I’ve seen on far too many occasions. “Reese, it’s not even like that.”

I shrugged again like “No big deal, do what you want.”

“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Alex said, sensing that things were getting personal.

As soon as he walked away, Brady said, “Please don’t.”

“Please don’t what? I saw your pics on Instagram. You don’t have to pretend.”

“What are you talking about, Reese? I’m not interested in her in that way at all.”

At that point I realized that it was pretty obvious Brady and Amelia had nothing going on (I mean, come on). They had no chemistry and she talked about her ex (who she kept referring to as “they” and kept things gender neutral like it could be a man or a woman). But I couldn’t even stop myself from confronting him, especially after I’d already started. Am I addicted to drama?

And maybe Brady is too because he still invited me back to his place at the end of the night. We spent about 45 minutes at a couple bars then he called an Uber and asked if I wanted to come. I said, “Fine.”

We got undressed which was my goal for the night and then got in bed. Brady started rubbing my legs and I realized I forgot to shave so I pushed his hands away. He made a face like, “Oh, guess that’s not allowed,” and I was cool with that because then at least he would think I was calling the shots.

We had sex for a long time and got in weird postions we haven’t even tried before, but in the end Brady couldn’t come. I always feel like when guys can’t finish it’s because they’re either super sexually active or they masturbate a lot. Either way, I was unimpressed and got up to find something to eat in the kitchen.

I slept over and the next morning Brady reached over and started fondling me really early. I pushed him off because I was not about to endure that torture again.

“Well, I’m gonna go,” I said and before I could even finish my sentence, Brady asked, “Do you want to get breakfast?”

He looked at me expectantly like I hadn’t even said anything. Since he seemed so eager, I said, “Okay, fine.”

Before we left, Brady proceeded to eat me out so at the very least I would be satisfied and I appreciated that. I got up and put on a white romper I’d brought with me and we headed to Summer House. By the way, I really hate that place. So overrated and pretentious and the exact reason I’ve fallen out of love with Lincoln Park. I will stay in Gold Coast where everyone is open about their money and plastic surgery, thanks. I got lip fillers by the way! I love. 

I haven’t really spoken to or seen Brady since our breakfast date that morning. I heard from a reliable source (Preston) that he had sex with Tia and I’m just so fucking sick of Brady’s dick. Like, you’re kidding me, right? Plus I met someone. I’ll tell y’all about that later. Brady texted me two weeks ago telling me that Hunter was in Chicago for the weekend and invited me to hang out with them. I said no thanks in my head and then didn’t respond. 

One day Scott and I stayed at work late working on a project. After we were finished, we were the last ones in the office and Scott invited me out for a drink. This was after our makeout and we hadn’t really talked or hung out since. And I was dying to talk about it and ease the tension so I agreed. We walked to this bar near Merchandise Mart. It was a Thursday night and the bar was surprisingly really packed. We grabbed our drinks and went to a corner. 

We talked about work a lot for a while, about what Mike wanted for 2017 and what Scott was envisioning. Scott is up for a promotion for a position on the same scale as Mike’s and obviously I’m hoping his promotion will bump me up too. I know it’s a little bit far fetched since I haven’t been in my position long, but I’m really fucking good. Ask anyone.

“So,” Scott asked with Australian/English accent. “Any new men in your life?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. Just the same old ones who I need to move on from.”

“I thought you and Brady would have found a way to make it work by now,” Scott said.

I shrugged. This was before the Tia tea. “I just don’t know about me and him. I feel like if it was going to work, it would. I shouldn’t have to fight so hard.”

“I know what you mean. Relationships are so complicated and…weird. I’m feeling like you feel. I shouldn’t have to fight this hard.”

“Really?”

Scott nodded. “When we first got married, my wife made me very happy and we had a lot of fun. Now all of that is gone. The excitement is gone.”

I frowned to show my sympathy.

“This sounds awful, but I’m not excited to come home and see her and I know I should be. I care about her a lot, but I don’t feel like I’m in love with her anymore. I feel like she’s my best friend and that’s it.”

“It shouldn’t feel like that,” I said, as if I know anything about marriage or have any business giving anyone relationship advice. 

“I know. I’ve felt this way before. I was engaged another time, but we were never married. It was my fault because I lost interest. In my fiancée.” Scott looked at me to gauge my reaction.

“So what happened?”

“Well, we called off the wedding. I told her I was getting cold feet, which was true, but I didn’t tell her that I flat out just wasn’t attracted to her anymore.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, feeling bad for the ex-fiancée. Especially because she didn’t know the full story (but didn’t need to). In my head, I was thinking wow, and now Scott feels the same way again. These poor women.

“I know. I feel like there might be something wrong with me. I don’t know if I’m capable of this large of a commitment. I love seeing new people and so I lose interest. I wish it weren’t like this.”

When Scott said this, it reasonated with me. Do y’all remember when I was having that crisis where I wasn’t sure if I could be in a monogamous relationship because I seek attention so much? I feel like the way Scott feels is kind of the way I feel. So then I felt sorry for him because you can’t help that you feel that way and you definitely don’t want to.

Scott and I got really close after that evening at the bar. We went back to working together a lot more and helping each other with various projects. We also went to lunch together most days – sometimes even opting for a liquid lunch. Scott and I are really similar in a lot of ways and I think that’s why we butt heads so much. We talked about each other’s love lives a lot because that’s how we bonded and he talked about his future and being single.

And we kissed again. A few times. A lot of times. Usually after too much wine at lunch, but sometimes not. I don’t know what it is, but we are just really passionate with each other. Our friendship/relationship is very fun and light, but also heavy and deep. This is going to sound really lame, but it almost feels magnetic. Like the universe is pushing us together.

One night, we were both the last ones left in the office besides the custodians. Scott and I had finished work and were sitting in his office talking. We were sitting way too close and if anyone was still in the office, people would be gossiping about it. 

“I guess I’d better get home before she starts texting me about my whereabouts,” Scott said.

I nodded because I understood who “she” was.

Scott leaned close to me like he was going to kiss me. “As crazy as this sounds, I would love it if you texted me about my whereabouts.”

I gave him a sassy look.

“I feel different about you than I have about anyone else. I could never lose interest in you.”

I gave him an equally sassy, but skeptical look.

“You would always keep me on my toes. When I’m not around you, all I can think about is when I’ll see you next and how you might surprise me.”

“What can I say? I’m unique,” I said, playing coy. I wasn’t about to admit to Scott that I imagine what it would be like if we were together often too. I know I shouldn’t and I can barely admit it to myself, but I can see it happening. And I go back and forth between wanting it and wanting to stay far, far away. But even when I try to stay away, the universe steps in (and also we work closely together so there’s that too).

Scott has been traveling a lot the past few weeks so I haven’t seen much of him. And I find myself texting him questions about work just so I can talk to him and see how he’s doing. I literally spend all day thinking up questions to ask that are relevant, real and don’t sound like I’m just looking for a reason to text him. I’m actually so annoyed with myself, but I can’t stop. And he’s always so happy to hear from me and talks about how he can’t wait to get back to the office to see me and plans where we will do lunch. And I kind of love that. 

Anyway, how are y’all? I can’t wait to tell y’all about my new man (not Scott) and it’ll literally be so soon! Promise!