I was sick and stayed home from work on Friday. On Thursday night, Brady and I had pizza and margaritas then went to bed fairly early, but when I woke up on Friday morning I had to run to the bathroom to puke. Brady was already at work, but I immediately texted him saying, “Why am I sick?! Are you sick too?”

He replied, “No I’m not. What are your symptoms?”

I told him about puking and my tummy ache and he said, “Drink some ginger ale and you should be fine.”

That wasn’t exactly the sympathy I was looking for but I just put my phone down and went back to sleep. I woke up again just before noon and texted Brady again. “I took a sick day. I can’t get out of bed.”

“Are you actually sick or are you hungover?” Brady asked.

What a rude thing to ask! So I didn’t reply and slept until 3:00. When I woke up Luke had texted me, “Sick my ass!” I laughed and texted him back saying we should get something to eat. Obviously not pizza. We decided on Mexican. And I was still feeling a little bit gross so the thought of drinking a margarita made me queasy.

That night I made Brady watch Teen Mom 2 with me. He thought it was weird that I was watching a television show about teenage mothers and I had to explain to him the progression of the show. He said, “This is still a little weird.”

Brady’s parents were in town so he hung out with them all day Saturday. They had gotten reservations at a nice restaurant downtown for Saturday night so I was supposed to meet up with them at 7:00. I hung out with Preston and some of his friends on someone’s rooftop for the majority of the day. Mostly we just gossiped and drank Bloodys and ate Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. At around 6:30 I looked at my phone and realized I needed to go get ready for dinner.

I rushed home and showered and washed my hair. I put on a black dress, my Rockstuds, the bracelet Brady got me for Valentines Day (I just found it after losing it for five months), and a pair of understated stud earrings. By the time I left to go to the restaurant it was 7:20 and Brady texted me, “Are you close?”

Shit. I told him I would be there soon then sped to the restaurant. Luckily it wasn’t too far from my place and I strolled in just after 7:30 PM. The maitre d led me to the table and Brady and his parents all stood up for my arrival. Such good manners!

Brady’s dad actually reached out for a hug so I hugged him then I think the mom felt obligated to hug me too so she walked around the table to hug me. It was weird.

As we were all sitting down, Brady’s dad said, “Reese, did you get caught up in all the traffic as well?”

“Yes, it was awful,” I lied. The restaurant was a straight shot from my apartment and I ran into no traffic at all.

I was sitting across from Brady, but next to his dad and Brady’s mom was across from the dad so the setup wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. There was wine already on the table and to my surprise, Brady poured me a glass. Guess I needed wine to deal with his mom.

They started talking about the menu then we ordered then Brady’s mom said, “So I hear that you’ll be joining Brady in New York City.”

Wait, was I? I still didn’t even know. I looked at Brady and he was taking a sip from his glass. So I said, “Oh. Yes.”

“I think it’ll be a great opportunity for him especially since Africa fell through,” his mom continued.

“And you’ll be closer to us,” Brady’s dad added.

Ew. I didn’t even think about that. I bet they’d want to visit us all the time and be really annoying.

“How do your parents feel about you and Brady staying together?” Brady’s mom asked me.

That caught me off guard and I think my reaction showed it. “Oh, they don’t mind.”

“Really?” Brady’s mom looked at the dad like she was shocked. I’m not sure what answer she was expecting. She’s met my parents and saw how crazy they are.

I nodded and smiled.

“So if you’ll be living in New York full time, what do you plan to do for work? Do you have something lined up?” Brady’s mom asked.

“I’ll travel back to Chicago three days out of the week to work at the office. I’ve already discussed this with my boss and she approved,” I explained.

“That’s extensive traveling,” she said. “Is that something you’ll be paying for out of pocket or will your company cover it?”

“It’s out of pocket, but my dad has really great airline benefits,” I assured her.

“This sounds like it’s going to be quite expensive.”

I glanced at Brady and he was resting his mouth on his hands just staring at me.

Brady’s mom went on. “Is this a move you’re financially prepared for, Reese?”

“Yes,” I answered automatically.

“So you’ll be paying for your apartment here in Chicago, for your share of the expenses while living in New York City and the cost of traveling back to Chicago each week for work? At what point is following your significant other too much?” Brady’s mom looked around the table and kind of chuckled, but no one else laughed.

Awkward silence.

I glanced at Brady again and he was facing his mom and drinking his wine.

“I think if you two have it all figured out then it’ll be a great opportunity and experience. We are not too fond of you living together unmarried, but if you’re willing to take that risk then we won’t stop you,” Brady’s dad said.

I smiled at him.

“I think my main concern, Reese, is you becoming pregnant during your stay in New York. I hope you are taking proper precautions to prevent something like that from happening,” Brady’s mom said.

I just blinked at her. Wait, what? Pregnant? Why was she afraid I would get pregnant of all things?

“Oh, that isn’t a problem…” I said slowly.

“I certainly hope not. You are not ready for that. Not without a more stable career and steady home. And of course, marriage if that’s something that is meant to happen between you two.” Brady’s mom actually smiled at me then patted Brady’s hand on the table. “Right, son?”

Brady didn’t even glance at me as he said, “Right.”

Stable fucking career? My career is plenty stable! Why would she even say that and why would Brady agree with her?

Brady’s dad started talking about how proud he was and blah blah blah. Our food came (steak on salt blocks) and the parents told us all the places we needed to visit in New York.

“Go here for an inexpensive dinner if you don’t want to cook.”

“This church has services six times a day on Sundays so surely you’ll be able to find one service that fits into your schedule.”

“You can save a lot of money by shopping here over this other place.”

I couldn’t even look at Brady so I just smiled and nodded like I cared. Once the check came and the dad pulled his wallet out, I turned to Brady and glared at him. He had the nerve to smile at me and I rolled my eyes.

We all walked outside together and Brady’s dad hugged me and said it was nice to see me again. Brady’s mom grabbed my elbow just inside the entrance and pulled me aside.

“I want you to know that I am happy and excited that you are taking this journey with Brady. But I want you to handle and carry yourself like the Christian woman I know you are,” she said.

I was probably looking at her like she was crazy, but I still nodded and said, “Okay.”

“I want you to promise not to take advantage of my son and his opportunity. You must contribute to this move and all the expenses it entails. The two of you are not married so he is not obligated to take care of you or provide for you. This is your financial responsibility just as much as it is his.”

It’s like she reads my blog! I nodded again. “Okay.”

Finally, Brady’s mom pulled me into a hug with her skinny little arms. In my heels, I was a good six inches taller than her so it felt weird.

“It’s good to see you as always. I hope to see you again soon,” Brady’s mom said as we pulled away and she actually sounded genuine.

Since Brady and I arrived at the restaurant separately we left separately, but I immediately started toward his place. Oh, did I have some words for him! He beat me there and I stormed in. I found him in his room, changing his shirt.

“What the actual fuck?” I blurted out.

“Hmm?” he replied, looking at me like I was a fucking maniac.

“That was the most awkward dinner of my life. Why didn’t you say anything?” I yelled.

“What was I supposed to say?” Brady asked defensively.

“Maybe defend me or something! She made me sound like a gold digging slut! Are you like afraid to stand up to your mom?”

“No! She didn’t make you sound like that!”

“Did you tell her about my pregnancy scare?” I demanded.

“No.”

“Yes you did! You’re such a liar! That’s why she’s all concerned about me getting pregnant.”

Brady sighed and turned away from me and I followed him.

“You were all agreeing with her about everything. How do you think that made me feel? You could have at least had my back or said something.”

Brady didn’t say anything and it pissed me off so I blurted out, “This isn’t working out. I no longer want to be in a relationship with you and I will not be joining you in New York.”

I spun around and started to march out of there and I made it to the end of the hallway before Brady finally chased me.

“Don’t leave,” he said. “I’m sorry. It isn’t worth it to get in a fight with my mom. I just agree with her so it doesn’t turn into an argument.”

I looked at him expectantly.

“I’m sorry. I love you. I want to be with you no matter what my mom says.”

I said, “I don’t want to go to New York.”

“Okay,” Brady said.

“But go if you want to. I’ll be here waiting when you get back.”

“I don’t want to go either.”

“Okay.”

Brady cautiously kissed me and I grabbed his neck and made him kiss me for real. I just love bae.

On Sunday morning, we woke up and laid in bed talking. I told Brady about subleasing my apartment and he said, “Just move in here.”

As if I had any other options!

I said, “Okay if you insist!”

“You can be my little housewife,” he said, snuggling my neck. Little does he know that he’s actually going to be my little house husband. I can’t wait.

We got up and went to brunch then I dragged Brady shopping. We only made it to Topshop because I spent so much time trying on clothes. I haven’t been in Topshop in so long so it was completely necessary. Brady only complained a couple times.

So yeah. Officially not moving to New York! I’m a little bummed about it, but I’m also relieved. I think it was actually becoming pretty dreadful and tearing us apart so it’s probably a good thing we decided against it. Maybe one day.

My birthday is next Sunday and as of right now, I don’t have any plans. Brady hasn’t even mentioned it so if anyone talks to him, make sure he’s planning an extravagant surprise! Have a good week!

On Monday, I worked until close to 11:00 PM. I feel like a slave these days. I mentioned to Brady that I would probably be working late and he said okay then didn’t bother talking to me at all throughout the day. On Tuesday I made plans of leaving work at a decent time then going over to Brady’s to talk about life. I left the office at around 6:00 PM, but made a pit stop at Bloomingdale’s to find some new booties. It’s never to soon to start shopping for fall! I couldn’t find anything I wanted so I walked down the street to Neiman Marcus. Much better selection. I ended taking home a pair of black Rag and Bone booties and then preordering a pair of Loubs that will be perfect for the holidays. So excited!

After I left I called Brady and he didn’t pick up. So I texted him, “Heyyyy, are you home yet? I’m coming over.”

He didn’t respond right away so I stopped by Sephora and got a new tinted moisturizer, setting powder, under eye concealer, red lipstick and a face wash. By the time I left Sephora, Brady had not texted or called me back, but I figured he was still busy at work. I sat in my car and played around on Facebook and Instagram because I had nothing better to do. Do you know the “following” tab on Instagram where you can see the pictures your followers liked and stuff? I don’t usually click on that, but because I was kind of bored, I did. The second thing that popped up was that Brady liked a picture 12 seconds before. It was of something really stupid like a guy surfing I think.

So he wasn’t busy at work. He was clearly on his phone and had to have seen my missed call and text. I was livid. Like, filled with rage. I wanted to delete and block his number and never speak to him again. I wanted to completely disappear from his life so he would see the consequences of ignoring me.

But instead, I sped over to Brady’s hoping he would be home so I could rip him a new one. How fucking dare he ignore me? And for close to two days straight at that. When I got there, Brady still wasn’t home so I let myself in. I made myself a sandwich then sat and ate it alone with a glass of wine. It was actually really pathetic.

When Brady finally texted me back, it was around 8:45. All he said was, “Hey.”

Hey. Hey. Are you kidding? I took a deep breath and said back, “Why are you ignoring me?”

He said, “I’m not.”

Ew. He was being so short and mean. I said, “Where have you been then? I called and texted you.”

“I’ve been busy at work.”

I was so irritated that I didn’t even say anything back. Then Brady said, “I’m on my way home now.”

I said, “K.”

Obviously I was waiting by the front door when he walked in. His hands were full with his laptop bag and what looked like takeout.

“Oh, hey,” Brady said, sounding surprised to see me.

“Hi,” I said pointedly. “I’ve literally been here for four hours waiting for you. Why are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not ignoring you.”

“Yes you are. I saw you liking pictures on Instagram before you even replied to me! You’re so fucking rude, Brady! What’s your problem?”

“Stop yelling at me,” he said. I was so surprised that I didn’t even know what to say. Where did he find a set of balls at? He never stands up to me!

Brady walked past me and I followed him. He brought home Chinese and even though I had just eaten I started going to town on the fried rice. I suddenly wasn’t as mad anymore.

“How was your day?” Brady asked, finally breaking the silence.

“It was fine. I got new boots! You have to see!” I said and excitedly pulled them out of the bag.

Brady barely looked at them before saying, “Did you really need another pair of shoes?”

I gasped, offended. “Obviously yes. We’re switching seasons so I need some new pieces.”

“You mean you don’t have boots from last winter? What’s the point of spending money on designer shoes if you’re only going to wear them for one season?” he wanted to know.

“Because…” I actually didn’t know how to answer that.

“Don’t you want to save your money for something significant? You spend it like it’s going to vanish,” he went on.

“Whoa, okay. I do not. I just like to have nice things. Why are you picking a fight with me? It’s not like I’m spending your money.”

“I know. I’m not trying to fight with you. I just think you shop a lot.”

I tucked my shoes back in the bag while pouting. We finished eating in silence then I dug around the takeout bag to find the fortune cookies. Best part of the meal. My fortune said something about money. Ha ha ha.

We retreated to the couch and I turned on a movie. Brady pulled out his laptop and I watched the movie and we didn’t talk until he asked if I was ready for bed. It made me really sad. I feel like all we do lately is bicker and fight and sometimes have sex. We used to have so much fun together. I definitely don’t want to go to New York if it’s going to make us hate each other.

On Wednesday I worked from home and quit early so I could meet Preston and Kendra for drinks. Preston and I arrived first and I filled him in on the latest drama.

“Reese, baby doll, I love you to death. You know this, right?” Preston began. I nodded. “But you’re a crazy bitch.”

“Heyyyyyy,” I whined.

“Did Brady ever even ask you to go to New York with him? You just started making plans to go before he even said he wanted to go.”

“I assumed when he told me that it was an invite and he wanted us to go together.”

“What you need to do is apologize for jumping the gun and making assumptions and ask him what he really wants to do. I feel like even if he did want to go to New York, you kind of ruined things already.”

I pouted.

“I’m not trying to be mean, boo. If I can’t be honest with you then who can?”

I knew Preston was right and decided to apologize for inviting myself and not allowing Brady to do what he wanted. After drinks I drove to Brady’s and when I got there he was in the shower. I poured a glass of wine and found myself sitting at the dining table in front of his computer. There were stacks of papers all over the table so I decided to casually look through them. I think I wanted to find a bank statement or a lease for an apartment in New York or something, but I didn’t. I did, however, find what appeared to be some sort of official offer letter for the position in New York. I didn’t read it and just focused on the bold writing down at the bottom which had the compensation. Brady was right about the relocation money not covering the rent of that Central Park apartment, but the salary for his six month contract would be much, much more than what (I think) he makes here. For only six months! So I’m not sure why he was complaining about money. Why would he even think about turning that down? Plus he has a shitload in savings that he wouldn’t even have to dip in to. I took a picture of the offer letter for my records then went and got in bed.

After Brady got out of the shower and got in bed with me, I hugged him and asked him to tell me about his day. After he told me, I asked, “Are you kind of sad you turned down going to New York?”

“I haven’t turned it down,” he replied.

“Oh. Why?” I wanted to know.

“I know you want to go and I don’t want to take that away from you,” he answered.

I shook my head furiously. “This isn’t about me at all. My job isn’t sending me to New York, yours is. I want to do whatever you want to do.”

“I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

“I’m unhappy because we’re fighting about this all the time. You just let me know if you want to stay here or go or if you want to go alone…”

“I don’t want to go alone,” Brady interjected.

“Well, you need to figure out what you want to do as soon as possible. You’re being more indecisive than me right now.” I rolled my eyes.

He laughed and pulled me on top of him so we could have sex. Afterward he dropped a bomb and told me that his parents are going to be here this weekend. I groaned and complained about them visiting too much. Brady agreed.

So yeah. I still don’t know if we are going or not, but I’m leaning toward no? I’m okay with not going although I don’t see how Brady could turn down that much money to live in New York for a few months. Oh well. Not my problem.

Brady and I got in a huge fight over the weekend. I’m honestly not even sure why. On Friday after work we got dinner then went home and made drinks. The plan was to meet Brady’s friends at the bar and we ended up getting pretty tipsy before we even left the house.

We met up with some of Brady’s friends and their girlfriends and I took it upon myself to make sure all the girlfriends were getting along and having fun. I was like the girlfriend den mother. We all hung out at the first bar for a while then walked to the next bar so we could dance and stuff. We continued drinking and having fun until last call. The details start getting blurry, but I recall standing at the bar with Brady while he signed for his tab. He was saying something like, “Reese, I don’t want to get into this right now!”

I started whining then one of the girlfriends (I think her name was Alaina?) came and put her arms around my waist, pulling me into a hug.

“Brady, are you being nice?” she asked in a teacher voice.

“Is she being nice?” he snapped back.

“Don’t be rude to her!” I said a lot louder than necessary.

Brady rolled his eyes and walked off. I started saying bye to all the girlfriends and giving them hugs before meeting Brady outside so we could go home. We got in a cab and I immediately started in on him.

“I can’t believe how mean you were to Alaina. I’m honestly embarrassed,” I said.

Brady threw his hands up like he was fed up.

“They will probably never hang out with us again,” I continued, crossing my arms. Brady was staring out the window, not saying anything back so I felt like I needed to keep going. “We could have all had fun without you. You shouldn’t have come out if you were going to be like this.”

“I would have been fine if you hadn’t started this shit,” he said.

“I didn’t start anything!” I exclaimed.

“Of course you didn’t. Nothing is ever your fault!”

I was starting to yell something else, but stopped when I realized what he said. “What’s that supposed to mean? I can admit when I’m wrong but this time I’m definitely not. Why can’t you just stop being a douche and apologize?”

“Apologize because you’re being ridiculous?” Brady scoffed and laughed which pissed me off more.

“Don’t say I’m being ridiculous. You’re being ridiculous!”

“Yeah, okay Reese.”

I started blabbering on about how disrespectful and mean he was being and Brady let me go uninterrupted for a bit before saying, “Oh my God, would you shut up?”

I gasped. We stopped in front of Brady’s house and I hopped out and slammed the door while he paid for the cab. I realized that I didn’t have keys to get in so I had to wait at the gate for Brady to let us in. I glared at him while he slowly unlocked the gate.

“Can you hurry? Some of us don’t want to be outside all fucking night,” I said.

Brady ignored my comment and unlocked the gate, walking inside before me. When we got inside I said, “Take me home.”

“I’m not taking you home right now,” he said.

“Yes you are. I’m not staying here with you tonight. Oh and I’m certainly not going to New York with you!” I said loudly. He was walking toward the kitchen and I needed him to actually hear me.

“Good! I don’t want you to go with me anyway!” Brady shouted.

I followed him into the kitchen. “Really? You don’t want me to go?”

“No! Hell no! Not if you’re going to be like this! You can stay in Chicago and we will probably both be much happier!” he yelled.

“Fine! You’re a fucking asshole!” I screamed. I stormed off down the hall and added, “I hope you’re happy! I never want to see you again!”

I don’t even know what I was talking about. I got undressed and got in bed in my usual spot, farthest from the door so I wouldn’t have to see Brady when he came in the room. Then I cried until I fell asleep. I vaguely recall hearing Brady getting in bed, but neither of us said anything to each other.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I didn’t move. I didn’t want to be the first one to wake up and have to acknowledge what happened the night before. So I just stared at the window pretending to be asleep for a really long time. I had assumed Brady was still sleeping next to me, but then I heard the front door open followed by a lot of movement in the kitchen. When I heard the bedroom door open I quickly shut my eyes, pretending to be sleeping.

I felt Brady on the bed and then he gently nudged me a few times. I pretended to stir a bit until he said, “Hey. I brought breakfast.”

That’s when I got up. I thought about ignoring him, but I was starving and not about to turn down breakfast. Plus, maybe this was a truce.

“Oh. Thanks,” I said, sitting up. Brady had a plate with French toast and syrup and berries on it. I took it from him. I began cutting my French toast into little pieces and felt Brady watching me.

Finally, he said, “I’m really sorry about last night.”

“Oh. Okay,” I said back.

“I didn’t mean any of what I said.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“Because I was upset and drunk.”

“Why were you upset? You had no reason to be upset.”

“I honestly can’t even remember.”

“I can’t either,” I giggled. “I’m sorry too.”

Seriously, how stupid. I honestly think that was the stupidest fight we’ve ever been in. We didn’t even bring it up again and just went on with our lives. I had to spend Saturday afternoon trying on dresses with Kendra. Afterward we got dinner with John and Brady. They had spent the day playing golf.

They talked us into going to church with them on Sunday because they said it has helped tremendously with their relationship and obviously Brady and I need all the help we can get. The service was nice and I made Kendra take a picture of me and Brady outside the church to send my mom so she knows how holy we are. My mom is actually kind of religious (we are from the south after all).

We got brunch with Kendra and John and then we headed back to Brady’s. Later that night we were sitting in the living room. I was watching Snapped and Brady was working out some details about New York. I heard him mumble something like, “This is going to be so expensive.”

“What is?” I asked.

“Going to New York,” he replied without looking up.

“Oh.”

“The relocation money they are giving me won’t even cover half. It won’t even cover half the apartment.”

“Did you find somewhere for us to live?” I asked.

“Yes,” Brady answered, sounding frustrated.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Since Brady was sounding all annoyed and frustrated, I said, “Well, we don’t have to go then.”

“I didn’t say that I don’t want to go. I just said it’s going to be expensive.”

“I don’t want to go if you’re going to have a bad attitude about it. I just thought it would be fun for us to get out of Chicago for a little while.”

“Reese, I’m not saying I don’t want to go! Why don’t you understand that? I do want to go, I just mentioned that it’s going to be expensive!”

“What’s the point of even saying that unless you want to make me feel bad? I know it’s going to be expensive! Fucking obviously!”

Brady finally looked at me. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad,” he said.

“Like I said, we don’t have to go. Especially if you’re going to be bitter and complain about money the whole time. No thank you,” I said.

“Fine.” Brady stood up. “I’ll decline the offer tomorrow.” I watched him walk toward the bedroom, leaving his computer open on the table.

I was really shocked and didn’t know how serious he was. As soon as I heard the shower turn on, I slid over on the couch so I could look at his computer and investigate why he thought it was going to be so expensive. Brady’s email was pulled up and I found a thread with the subject: “NYC living.” I opened it and the sender said, “I have this one available next month. Take a look at it and let me know what you think.”

I clicked be link and found a listing for a beautiful NYC apartment. Huge (1,050 square feet!), a beautiful updated kitchen with marble counter tops, crown moldings, windows everywhere, a chic claw foot tub and overlooking fucking Central Park. $7,500 a month. Which is kind of a steal if you think about it, but I guess I can understand why Brady would say it’s expensive. What he pays for his condo here in Chicago is much, much cheaper, but it’s New York City, you know?

I exited out of the NYC email and had intentions of going to bed and crying, but another email caught my eye. It was from Anna, his ex girlfriend with the really long last name. I clicked on it and quickly read what she wrote.

“Also, my friend is having a burlesque show on Sept. 10. We would love to have you there. Looking forward to you being in my city :-)”

I forgot that she lives in New York. So for everyone who wants to make me feel bad about talking to my ex, Brady is talking to his and even talking about hanging out with her. I don’t even care. I’m not threatened at all by her.

We didn’t talk about it again at all so I guess he’s really going to decline the offer and I guess we really aren’t going. Which sucks because I already found a guy to sublease my apartment for six months. I’m really annoyed.

I wouldn’t stop bugging Brady about moving to New York. I emailed him probably ten or fifteen different places that are all available now. He entertained me for the first few then he responded with, “Reese.” I don’t know why he even told me if he wasn’t serious about it. He knows how obsessed I get about stuff (hello, where’s my puppy?).

On Monday I stayed at work super late and I was so busy that I didn’t even eat all day. I got home and immediately got in bed then went right back to the office at 8 AM. Needless to say I was exhausted and cranky by the time I left at around 6:30 PM. I called Brady and told him I wanted something greasy and disgusting for dinner so we went to Shake Shack! I got a burger, cheese fries and a strawberry shake. I felt like shit after I ate it all though and decided to just stick to my diet.

Kendra wanted to go to happy hour on Wednesday so I left work early to meet with her.

The first thing she said after I sat down was, “If you ever get married, just elope. I’m so stressed out.”

I gasped. “I’m not going to elope. We are going to have a huge wedding ceremony and reception with at least three hundred guests. But I’m going to hire a wedding planning team and I’ve already started so I won’t be rushing around.”

Kendra laughed. “Yeah right, Reese.”

I started telling her about New York and how unenthusiastic Brady is acting now.

“I think it’s a good compromise. Aren’t you guys always fighting about him wanting to go to the east coast and you wanting to go back down south? He should be happy you are willing to go with him,” she said.

“I know!” I exclaimed. “That’s what I think too!”

Kendra grabbed my hand to shush me because apparently I was being loud. “Maybe just talk to him about it, but in a non confrontational way.”

So I decided that’s what I would do. After happy hour, I met Brady at his house. He was in the kitchen making a sandwich (hubby material!) and I asked for half.

“I’ll just make you one,” he suggested.

“No, I’m not that hungry,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll make you one, but I’ll only use one piece of bread.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Ew, no. I want yours. People always make sandwiches for themselves better than they do for other people.” I held out my hand so he could give me the food.

Brady sighed and I could tell he was annoyed so I said, “How are we ever going to get married if you won’t even share your sandwich with me? You’re being selfish.”

“I just haven’t eaten all day and I’m offering to make a sandwich for you so you don’t have to eat mine,” he explained, trying not to sound frustrated.

“Fine,” I said, crossing my arms. But then Brady cut off half the sandwich and gave it to me and I ate it. It was delicious. Then he made another sandwich and we split it too.

As we ate our second sandwich, I asked him why he was suddenly hesitant about going to New York.

“I never said I was going or wanted to go. I was just asked to go and I haven’t given a definite answer,” Brady explained.

“Well you should go. And I’ll go with you,” I said.

“I don’t know…” he started, but I interrupted him.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t see myself staying there long term. New York is dirty and it’s really expensive. I don’t want to go there and have to pay rent while also paying for my place here. It just seems like more hassle than it’s worth.”

“I think you should live a little. This is a great opportunity for you. You’ve already turned down going to Africa so if you turn this down they might not ask you to do anything again.”

Brady looked at me like I was his mother and I was lecturing him. So I gave him my sweetest smile.

“They want me to go next month,” he said.

“Perfect!” I squealed, already mentally picking out my outfits for NYFW.

Brady leaned against the counter with his head down like he was so stressed out.

“You should probably decide soon,” I told him then I grabbed a granola bar and headed for the bedroom.

I expected Brady to join me right away, but he didn’t so I played around on my phone. A few things that probably make me a terrible girlfriend: 1. I redownloaded Snapchat. I haven’t sent anything bad lately (except me in a pair of One Teaspoon shorts with the caption, “90 degree weather attire.” But that isn’t bad right?) and 2. I’m still communicating with my ex. Don’t worry though, we’re just being cordial and nice to each other. I tell him about Brady all the time. I’m honestly shocked he’s still talking to me after I avoided him when he visited Chicago last month.

When Brady finally joined me I threw my phone down and grabbed his neck to kiss me. We had sex and it was amazing (thank you to Brady’s 40 previous partners for making him so good) and then Brady spooned me.

“If you really want to go to New York, we can go,” he mumbled. I asked him to repeat himself. He did.

I squealed and tried to jump up, but Brady held onto me tight. He wouldn’t let me go so we fell asleep.

When I woke up on Thursday, Brady was in the shower. I sat up and waited for him to get out. He finally emerged with a towel around his waist.

“Morning. You’re up early,” he greeted me.

“I’m just so excited,” I said.

“Me too.”

I watched Brady start getting dressed then I asked him if he liked any of the places I emailed him. He said he did, but to let him figure out the living situation.

“But don’t you have enough to worry about? It’s the least I could do,” I said.

He assured me that he had it under control, that his family has connections in New York and he would be able to get us what we needed. I started listing off my must haves and Brady stopped me and said he knows what my must haves are. I hope he knows I won’t live anywhere that doesn’t have a doorman, laundry in unit, an updated kitchen and bathroom, a view or isn’t in Manhattan though.

I talked to my mom about it last night. She was excited at first and then started asking questions about my job and my current apartment and stuff.

“You can’t just up and leave, can you?” she asked.

“Of course not. I’ll sublease my apartment obviously,” I told her. “And I’ll come back to Chicago Monday through Wednesday to work at the office. I already talked to Diana about it.”

“Really? So you’re actually going to move to New York?” my mom said, sounding surprised.

“It’s supposed to be temporary but I’m going to make Brady fall in love with it so we can live there permanently. It’s going to be like Sex and the City!”

My mom laughed, but I was serious. Call me Reese Bradshaw!

So anyway, we are moving to New York (I think)!

I don’t even know where to begin.

So a couple of weeks ago Diana called me to ask me if I was willing to take on another challenge. Obviously I said sure because my workload is pretty light considering I have a whole team who just does whatever I say. Later on, she called me into her office to tell me how she wanted to do an in house marketing campaign even though we work with an outside marketing agency here in the city. She gave me a marketing team (including Whitney) and I got started immediately. That plus doing my regular stuff was a lot. I was swamped.

The day after Diana asked me to start my new project, I was sick for two days. I couldn’t keep anything down and didn’t really have an appetite anyway so I was miserable. I was being really cranky and dramatic about it. I told Kendra what was going on and the first thing she asked was if I was pregnant. It never occurred to me that I could be because I was vomiting all times of the day and not just in the morning, but Kendra informed me that morning sickness could be any time of day.

Naturally I started freaking out and told Brady that I thought I was pregnant. We had actually never really discussed what would happen if I ever got pregnant before we were ready. I called him like six times while he was at work before he finally picked up.

“Hey, is everything okay?” he answered and I could tell he probably snuck off to the bathroom or something because he was speaking quietly.

“Uh, no. I think I’m pregnant,” I said.

Brady sighed and didn’t say anything for a while. Just when I was about to ask if he heard me he said, “Reese, can we talk about this later?”

Fucking rude. I was annoyed with him and after we hung up I texted him, “I guess I’ll just raise this baby on my own,” and he didn’t text me back. So I wanted to murder him.

I stayed at work until eight then I sped home (Brady’s house). Brady hadn’t even texted me or anything since I called him earlier. I let myself in and found him in the dining room working.

“Um, hi?” I greeted him.

“Hey. How are you?” he asked, giving me a weird look.

I started bawling. Brady sighed and asked what was wrong.

“I’m going through a pregnancy scare and you don’t give a shit!” I sobbed.

“Do you really think you’re pregnant?” he asked.

“Yes!” I screamed.

“Seriously?”

“Why would I lie about this?”

Brady didn’t say anything for a moment because he was probably thinking about the time I actually did lie and say I was pregnant.

“Why do you think you’re pregnant?” he asked.

I explained that I was no longer on birth control and the all day sickness.

“You aren’t on birth control anymore? Why didn’t you tell me that?” Brady wanted to know. He sounded irritated and I got defensive.

“Because I don’t have to tell you what I do with my body,” I snapped.

“You’re right – you don’t. But this kind of affects me so I think it’s common courtesy to keep me informed of something like that.”

I rolled my eyes. “What are we going to do?”

“First you need to figure out if you’re actually pregnant.”

“Okay, what if I am?”

“We will go from there.”

I didn’t really like his answers so I stormed off to his room. Brady joined me an hour later and we had the best pregnant sex ever.

I called my doctor the next morning and scheduled an appointment for my pregnancy test for a few days later. When my appointment finally came, my doctor talked my ear off for about twenty minutes before I interrupted him and asked if we could just get on with the test. He laughed and apologized then made me pee in the cup. After I peed, he took the cup and kind of swirled it around.

“Oh, it looks like a girl!” he sang and I think it was probably supposed to be a joke, but I wasn’t in the mood and it was super inappropriate.

I glared at him and he said he would be right back with my results. While I was sitting in the room alone, I started thinking up possible names for my daughter. By the time my doctor came back, I’d decided on Juliana. So cute!

But my doctor came back and informed me that my pregnancy test came back negative. No baby Juli for me! I was actually really relieved. My main concern was all the working out I’d have to do to lose my baby weight. And the thought of taking my baby to weddings and on trips and stuff. It seems like such a hassle.

I was super happy the rest of the day and since this happened on a Friday, I went out drinking that night. I didn’t invite Brady because I was pissed at him for not being more concerned about my pregnancy scare. The next morning he took me for bottomless mimosas so I got over it.

On Monday, I got a call from my doctor saying that he had some concerns about my blood tests and that I needed to come back in for additional testing. I was like, “Is it serious?”

And he said, “I hope not, but I need you to come back in at your earliest convenience so we can find out.”

That freaked me out. But I was so swamped at work that I couldn’t even find time to go see my doctor. I did however have time to get on Google and search up what could be wrong with me. I determined that I either had HIV or cancer. I was sad for a little while then I got so wrapped up with work that I forgot that I was potentially dying.

I was finally able to go see my doctor and he told me that I am extremely iron deficient and I am slightly anemic. Since blood work isn’t necessarily his area of expertise I asked if I should go to my regular general physician. He said no and prescribed iron supplements for me. When I went home I researched the condition and found out that it’s super common and easily treatable. So I was really annoyed with him for getting me all stressed about it.

Other than my pregnancy scare, Brady and I are doing really good. One day last week, he texted me while he was at work and said, “You’re going to love this. Guess what?”

And I said, “What?” then stared at my phone until he responded.

“I was offered an opportunity in New York.”

Brady knows my dream of living in New York City. I fired off a bunch of questions (Was he looking for jobs in NYC? What was the opportunity? How soon could we move? What’s our rental budget?) and while I waited for Brady to answer I started searching for apartments in midtown Manhattan.

“Whoa. I haven’t committed to anything. We can talk about it later,” he said.

I spent my entire lunch break bookmarking potential apartments. Later on we went to dinner and Brady told me all about New York. He said it’s a temporary contract position and he would be in more of a leadership/teaching role. It would be working directly with a university and the pharmacy students. I told him he should go for it! Even if it’s only for like six months or so, obviously he could find a job after that. Brady said he needs to think about it and that he doesn’t want to drag me with him. As if I need to be dragged. I’ve already talked to Diana about working remotely from New York.

Over the weekend we were in Houston for my friend Natalie’s wedding. We stayed with my parents and stayed up late Friday night talking to them and drinking wine. My mom woke up early Saturday morning and got Chick-Fil-A for everyone. She’s a saint. Especially because she didn’t know what we wanted so she got pretty much one of everything on the menu. I’m so happy I still fit into my dress.

The ceremony was cute. At the reception my friend Brittany ran over to us and gave both of us hugs. She was a bridesmaid so she was wearing one of the turquoise lacy gowns and it didn’t look very good with her dark hair and red lipstick. Or maybe I’m just being a hater bitch because Natalie didn’t ask me to be a bridesmaid.

“So how have you guys been?” Brittany gushed, looking at Brady and not me.

He shrugged and looked at me and he seemed kind of uncomfortable. I made sure to be all over him so she would get the hint. Eventually Brady said he was going to the restroom and as soon as he walked away, Brittany hugged me again.

“Y’all are just so cute! I can’t wait to be in your wedding next!” she squealed and I just couldn’t hate her after that.

I think that’s pretty much it. Oh, Carly is loving Philly and she and Chris have already planned their first trip back for Labor Day! Also, Brady’s brother, Hunter, and his wife are expecting their baby this month and Brady is really excited about it. It’s actually kind of cute. I’m going to be an aunt-in-law!

I feel like such a terrible blogger because the time I used to spend writing, I now use for actually working. I hate it. Is this being a grown up? I hope I can figure out how to consistently post though. Miss you guys so much!

Y’all,

I am so sorry for the lack of posts and being kind of missing in action. I’ve been crazy, crazy busy at work with no time to even sit down and think. I’m exhausted. I even worked through the weekend which I haven’t done that in forever. Y’all know I need my weekends! In addition to that, I’ve been having some health concerns that hopefully I’ll get figured out this week. I’m heading to Houston this coming weekend for a friend’s wedding and I really hope to post a full blog before then. but I can’t make any promises. Please be patient with me. I miss you guys!

❤ Reese

The summer after my first year of college, I went back home and stayed in H-Town. So basically I spent the entire summer going fucking nuts with Brittany, Natalie, Meghan, and some other girls we were friends with. At the beginning of the summer we all went to a party a bunch of NFL players were attending. I specifically remember what I wore: a red strapless bodycon dress, the most hideous chunky black heels and my signature gold hoop earrings. Obviously I thought I was the shit though. The party was at a condo complex downtown and apparently Brittany knew the host.

The place was packed. We elbowed through the crowd to get to the kitchen for drinks. Brittany’s friend greeted us and she gave him a really over the top hug and introduced us all. He introduced us to his friends and one in particular caught my eye. Let’s call him Adam. Adam was really tall and built, had dark hair and really straight teeth that were almost too big for his mouth. I could immediately tell that he was probably one of the NFL players because of his frame, but he was also kind of cute when he kept his mouth shut.

Plus, Adam was really into me. First, he just stood by his friends with a beer in his hand staring at me. And he wouldn’t look away when I caught him staring. That should’ve been my first sign that something was off with him. But I would just smile coyly back and he would smile and reveal his gigantic teeth.

He finally talked to me eventually. We decided to go hang out on the balcony and as I was walking away, Adam grabbed my elbow.

“I’ve been watching you all night,” he told me.

As if I didn’t notice!

But I smiled and said, “Really?”

“You’re beautiful,” he went on and I beamed.

We stayed inside talking in a corner of the kitchen and I found out that he was, in fact, an NFL football player and had just moved to Houston and bought a condo. He was kind of corny, but he was funny. Plus I was young and naive and gagging at the fact that a professional athlete was interested in me.

We exchanged numbers and had our first date the following week. He took me to Dave and Busters. Like to actually play games. And he won an oversized stuffed animal and gave it to me. Um, cute. It was so big that it had to sit in the backseat by itself.

When he dropped my off, he hugged me and gave me a peck on the lips. I got out and turned to shut the door and Adam was like, “Oh, you forgot your bear!” And wrestled it out of the backseat so I could keep it.

I said, “Thanks,” with a really big, fake smile because obviously I tried to leave it on purpose.

I continued hanging out with him for the next few weeks. He took me to the movies and to dinners and he would always give me a small peck at the end of the night, but we never did anything sexually. He was sweet, but not really edgy enough for me.

One night we went clubbing with his friend and Brittany. He wouldn’t let go of me the whole night and every time I tried to let go of his hand, he’d be like, “What, are you trying to find another guy?” And then smile at me with those teeth.

Eventually I talked him into letting me go to the bathroom and I grabbed Brittany to go with me.

“He’s smothering me,” I told her as soon as we got in there.

“He’s nice,” she replied, checking herself out in the mirror.

“He’s way too clingy. I can’t deal,” I went on.

Brittany turned to me and said, “Reese, you need to be happy a guy of his caliber is into you. He’s obsessed with you, takes care of you and isn’t trying to talk to every girl in the club. Stop being so ungrateful.”

Then she stormed out because I was being so ridiculous. I figured she was right and went back out there to find him. When it was time to leave, Adam told me he would give me a ride home. I was drunk and didn’t pay attention to anything until I realized that we missed the exit to get to my house.

“Heyyy, you missed my exit!” I exclaimed.

Adam looked at me. “Relax, sweetie. I have a surprise for you.”

Sweetie? Ew. But I’m into surprises so I calmed down and agreed. We ended up at some cute modern condos on the north side of the city. When Adam got out, I followed and he walked up to one of the condo doors.

“Is this your place? It’s so cute!” I squealed. I’d never been to his house before.

The inside was really industrial with concrete floors and exposed beams and ductwork. I walked inside until I found the living area, flipped on the light and flopped on the couch. Adam followed me in and didn’t immediately sit down. He messed around near the entertainment center until some slow music came on. He disappeared then came back with a bottle of champagne and a platter. I stretched so I could see what it was. Chocolate covered strawberries.

“Mmmm, I love those!” I enthused as he sat next to me. I reached on the tray to get one, but Adam quickly pushed my hand away.

“I’ll feed you,” he told me.

Oh. I’m not really into romance, but I let him feed me a strawberry. I wanted one that bad. He poured us some champagne then we leaned back against the couch.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Adam stated.

I indicated that I wanted him to feed me more strawberries and didn’t say anything about him loving me. Eventually he told me that my real surprise was in the bedroom. I just sat there and he’s like, “Are you going to go see your surprise, Reese?”

I got up and walked to his bedroom. Even before he turned the light on, I could see rose petals all over the floor. I had to physically stop myself from laughing. The light came on and I saw rose petals leading to the bed and some sort of pink and black lingerie garment laying on the bed.

“This is your surprise, sweetie,” Adam said behind me. He walked around me and gestured toward the lingerie. “Do you want to go change into this? I want to see you in it.”

That’s when I laughed. It was so fucking ridiculous. Adam stared at me and his smile faded once he realized I was laughing at him.

“I’m sorry, this just isn’t my style at all,” I explained.

“What isn’t your style?” Adam asked defensively.

“Just everything. It’s too much. You didn’t have to do all this,” I said.

“Really? So you’d rather sleep with a guy who doesn’t put in any effort?”

“Not this kind of effort.”

Adam threw the lingerie back on the bed and stormed out of the bedroom. He returned a minute later with a small trash can and started hastily shoving the rose petals in.

“You don’t have to do that, Adam. I appreciate the gesture,” I said. All the drama was making me sober up.

“No, it’s fine, Reese,” he said bitterly. “No one ever appreciates anything.” And then he went on this rant about ungrateful women who just want to sleep around with douchebag guys and don’t give nice guys a chance. I just stood there watching him uncomfortably.

I ended up getting him to calm down a little bit because I needed a ride home or at least a place to stay for the night. We got in bed to go to sleep and Adam actually spooned me so I thought we were good.

The next morning, I woke up to Adam nudging me.

“Are you ready to go home?” he asked as soon as I opened my eyes.

“Um, yeah. What time is it?” I said back.

“Six.” Adam got up and started getting dressed.

We’d left the club at around three am so we probably only slept for a couple of hours. I rolled out of bed and gathered my things then met Adam out in the living room. He informed me that he called me a cab and it was waiting for me downstairs. I wasn’t about to argue with him about not taking me home so I just said okay. I waited around for Adam to say goodbye and hug me or something, but he stood facing away from me staring out the window. So I shouted goodbye and let myself out.

Obviously he was pissed about how the night went so when I got home I texted him to make amends. But my message was undeliverable. He fucking blocked my number!

So that was the last of Adam. I literally didn’t talk to him again. A few days later Brittany asked me what I’d done to him because he was talking about me and how evil I am. All because I laughed at his little rose petal and lingerie set up.

Last I saw, Adam was making it rain in strip clubs around Houston so good for him.

I went out with Preston and company on Friday night. We went to some bars in River North and basically drank for free because everyone wanted to buy us shots and drinks. By the time we were ready to call it a night, I was stumbling and complaining about missing my boyfriend. I was probably being “that girl” and getting on everyone’s nerves, but whatever. Naturally, I had my Uber driver take me to Brady’s. He was actually still awake and sitting on the couch watching tv when I got there.

“Babyyyyyyyy,” I exclaimed and threw myself on top of him of him. He started to hug and kiss me, but I jumped up and pulled him off the couch.

I led him to the bedroom and started taking off my clothes and got in bed, hoping he would follow suit. He climbed on top of me and we started kissing like we hadn’t seen each other in months. Suddenly Brady got up and reached in the nightstand for a condom. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his waist and guided him into me before he could even get it on. Apparently I was sick of making him use them.

We proceeded to have two of the best sex sessions that we’ve probably ever had. I was pretty drunk, but it was amazing.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I was naked and sticky and could barely open my mouth. I felt like shit. Brady was next to me, still sleeping. I climbed over him and went to the bathroom to shower. An hour and a half later, I emerged feeling like a new person. Brady was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me to come out.

“Hey,” I said.

He looked up at me and said, “Hey,” back.

It seemed like we hadn’t had a normal conversation in weeks so neither of us knew what to say. I figured we should probably talk though especially now that we were both sober and willing to be nice to each other.

“Let’s go to breakfast,” I suggested and Brady nodded.

We got dressed in silence then went to a place not far from Brady’s. We had to wait a few minutes for our table to be ready and while we sat on one of the benches waiting, I said, “I’m really sorry about the way I’ve treated you the past few weeks.” I guess I just wanted to get that out of the way right away.

Brady looked up at me and looked super surprised. “It’s okay.”

“No it isn’t,” I said. “You should really call me out when I act like that.”

He laughed. “Okay.”

“Why are you laughing?” I asked, confused.

“Because you don’t allow anyone to call you out. Especially me,” he explained.

Before I could clarify what that was supposed to mean, the host came and informed us that our table was ready. They put us in a booth and I was being kind of needy and didn’t want to leave Brady’s side so we sat on the same side of the booth. Brady pretended it was normal.

He ordered waffles and stuff, but since I’m on a diet I ordered an egg white and spinach omelette from the kids menu and one slice of turkey bacon. Brady asked if I was sure that was all I wanted and I glared at him.

After our waiter went to put in our order, I said, “I’m just having a hard time getting the mental picture of you and Jessica out of my head.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at the table and not at me.

“I talked to her, you know. We messaged on Facebook.”

“Oh.”

“She’s a bitch.”

“Yeah.”

I touched the side of Brady’s face and and made him look at me. “You agree that she’s a bitch?”

“Well, her actions have proven that she kind of is, right?” he replied.

“Absolutely,” I agreed. “So what happened after you had sex with her?”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems like you both dislike each other now…”

Brady shrugged. “I don’t dislike her, but I would prefer not to speak to her.”

“Why?”

“Because I have no reason to,” he said.

I didn’t say anything because I was irritated at him for not having a reason. Whatever. I was done talking about her. Time to talk about us.

“I just want you to know that I’m not upset at you for doing something with someone while we were broken up because I did too. I was just hurt that it was her and I had to find out from her,” I explained. 

Brady looked taken aback. I think he debated with himself for a moment before saying, “You did?”

“Of course I did,” I grinned. “Are you kidding? Guys were falling at my feet when they found out I was single.”

“Oh.” Brady looked back down at the table.

I hugged him and said, “Love you.”

After our food came we ate in silence for a little bit. Brady offered me some of his waffle and I told him I was fine. Then he cut a little square off and put it on my plate. I glared at him as I ate it. It was phenomenal.

I watched him take a bite of his food then I said, “Brady, I want to ask you something and I want you to be 100% honest with me, please.”

He nodded.

“Do you actually see our relationship going anywhere or are you just having fun?” I asked, using Aunt Kat’s phrase.

I started to panic a little bit when Brady didn’t respond right away, but then I realized he was still chewing. Even though he was probably chewing slowly to buy some time.

“I hope our relationship goes somewhere. I wouldn’t be with you if I didn’t think it would,” he answered. Then cautiously he asked, “Why do you ask?”

“I guess I’m just thinking about how your mom doesn’t think we have anything in common and now I’m wondering why we are together,” I said.

“I love being around you. I’m almost certain we could do anything together and enjoy ourselves. We have a ton of fun even when we’re just sitting on the couch watching tv. We rarely get tired of each other. And for that reason, I don’t think it’s really necessary to have a lot in common.”

I looked at Brady like this :D. It was such a sweet thing to say.

“How come you don’t tell me anything?” I asked.

“I do tell you things,” Brady said with his brow furrowing.

I shook my head. “You didn’t tell me you had the opportunity to go to Africa for two months!”

“I didn’t see any reason to because I decided not to go!”

“But don’t you think it’s a big enough thing that I would want to know? Or am I just so shallow that you didn’t think I would care?” I asked. Before Brady could say anything I continued. “I do care about things other than clothes and alcohol. I know it’s hard to believe.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep you more informed from now on,” he said.

“It’s not even just that. You started talking to Hunter again and didn’t even tell me. That’s a huge fucking deal. Why wouldn’t you tell me that? I had to find out for myself.”

“I’m sorry. I thought I told you.”

My mouth dropped open because I was so dumbfounded. “Brady, you know you didn’t tell me that. You don’t tell me anything. Almost everything I know about you, I have to find out myself. You’re so secretive and private. I should know everything about you! It makes our relationship feel so superficial when you don’t tell me what’s going on in your life!”

Brady’s neck started turning red. “I’m sorry.”

“I just wish you’d be more open with me,” I said after taking a deep breath to calm myself.

“I’ll try harder to do that,” he said.

We were silent as we continued eating and drinking our OJ. I thought about what Brady said about us not needing to have anything in common. I actually loved what he said and decided that I agreed completely. We balance each other out.

“One more question,” I said after several minutes.

“Okay,” Brady nodded, not looking up at me.

“Do you actually want to get married?”

“I don’t want to right now, but eventually, yes. I would love to.”

“To me?”

Brady looked at me and laughed. “Uh, yes. To you.”

“Really?” This was obviously the answer I was expecting, but hearing him say it made me squeal.

“If you’d be willing to put up with me forever,” he said.

“Not if you don’t ever tell me anything,” I rolled my eyes.

We stayed at the restaurant for another hour talking. I forced him to open up and talk to me. I made him tell me about Africa and why he decided not to go. I made him tell me about Hunter and where he was for six months. I asked him what his parents had to say about my parents. I asked him what he likes most about me. I was kind of interrogating him, but in a nice way. And right after he paid the bill, I made him promise that he wasn’t going to keep anything from me anymore and he said he would try really hard to be more open.

After we left the restaurant, Brady needed to go into work for a few hours. Annoying. So he let me keep his car while he worked. I’m actually really surprised he did because the last time I drove his car, I had a bit of an accident. He’s since gotten it fixed though.

I ended up going to Kendra’s to hang out with her. She had no idea what was going on with me and Brady and I decided not to tell her because we were past it. Plus, there was no reason to talk about such a negative thing when she’s so excited about her wedding. She’s getting married in like two months. Isn’t that insane? I thought she planned on having a long engagement, but I feel like they kind of rushed it.

Kendra kept mentioning how much stuff she had to do and how busy she was so I took that as her nicely asking me to leave. So I went back to Brady’s and waited for him to tell me to pick him up. To my surprise though, while he was at work he texted me: “You don’t have to answer this, but did you actually sleep with someone while we were broken up?”

“Do you really want to know?” I texted back.

“If you want to tell me.”

I debated with myself for a moment. He gave me the option of not telling him, but if I wanted him to be honest with me then I had to be honest with him. So I said, “I did.”

Brady just said, “Okay.”

And then I said, “It was Carly’s brother. That’s why she was so mad at me.”

Brady didn’t text back and then I fell asleep. I kept my phone right next to my head though so I could hear if he called or texted me. But he ended up coming home and climbing on top of me in the bed. I actually started to scream because I was so confused but then Brady laughed and kissed me.

“I missed you,” I said, still half asleep.

“I missed you, too,” he said as he started undressing me. And then we hooked up and Brady didn’t mention Kyle at all.

On Sunday we slept in then ordered lunch from GrubHub because we are lazy. We hooked up and I came like three times because Brady is so good. Afterwards, I realized that he is really good in bed for a reason. So I asked him how many sexual partners he’s had.

“God, Reese,” he groaned.

“What?” I asked innocently. “It’s just a question. And you promised you’re going to be more open with me.”

Brady looked like he regretted telling me that.

“Just tell me. I honestly don’t care,” I encouraged him.

And then Brady told me. Well, he didn’t tell me an exact number. He gave me a range which I feel like means he probably can’t even remember all his sexual partners. And I’m not a saint at all by any stretch of the imagination and it was literally over twice (almost three times) as many people as I’ve been with.

I gasped. “What? Seriously?”

He didn’t say anything.

“That’s so gross. I’m honestly shocked,” I went on.

“What? I was different in college. It was a phase,” he defended himself.

“I went to the biggest party school in America and even I haven’t slept with that many people!” I exclaimed.

Brady looked down and I realized that I was being a judgmental bitch. “But I suppose it’s different because I’m a girl. How old were you when you lost your virginity?” I added.

“I was sixteen. You?” Brady said, looking back at me.

“Eighteen. Who did you lose it to?” I asked.

Brady looked like he wanted to die. “I seriously don’t want to talk about this, Reese.”

I realized that I didn’t either so I changed the subject. Later on once the sun was setting we decided to go for a run. Three fucking miles. When we got back I was drenched in sweat, but I had that post workout glow. I decided to document it for some of my Snapchat boys (do y’all have a bunch of meaningless boys you Snap selfies to just to get compliments?). I sat on Brady’s bed taking a selfie that included my face and body and Brady said, “Who are you sending that to?”

His tone sounded accusatory so I said, “What?” innocently.

“Who are you sending that picture to?” he repeated.

“It’s for Snapchat,” I explained and showed him my phone. The picture was already sent so the screen was the list of guys I’d sent it to.

“Seriously? You took a picture with your boobs and body all out like that and sent it to a dozen guys?”

I was wearing a pair of Nike Pro shorts and a sports bra because I’d stripped as soon as we got inside. Obviously I’d made sure my workout outfit was in the picture because that was the point.

“It was mostly just my face. And I set it for only three seconds so they won’t even have a chance to see my body,” I said.

“What’s the point of that anyway?” he asked.

“Snapchat? It’s fun. You should get it,” I enthused.

“I don’t want it and I don’t see why you have it especially if you’re sending pictures like that. Is that the kind of stuff they send you too?”

“It’s mostly just food and stuff.”

“That’s stupid.”

So I deleted Snapchat. Especially because one of the first responses I got was a shirtless pic from a guy that said, “Why don’t we ever work out together?” I never realized that my interactions on Snapchat could be considered inappropriate because I hardly ever even see any of those guys and the pictures last less than ten seconds. But I deleted it and I don’t even miss it. Yet.

Brady and I still haven’t had the conversation and I don’t want to say he’s the one to blame, but he is. Obviously.

On Monday, I called my doctor to talk about birth control options. He was busy so I had to talk to the nurse, who really just wanted to make me feel bad about not wanting a child and not wanting to use condoms with my serious boyfriend.

She said, “If you don’t want to get pregnant you really should use some sort of contraceptive and a condom every single time you have intercourse.”

That’s what they always say and I don’t and I’ve been fine. So I told her I’d come see my doctor later. All the talk of birth control and sex made me really miss my boo. He texted me asking what time I planned on leaving work, after I’d already left work and was having dinner and drinks with Luke.

“I’m off and I’m having Mexican food with Luke,” I told him.

“Will you come over after?” he asked and I replied that I would think about it.

After dinner I was tipsy and went shopping at Preston’s store with Luke then I had to take all my purchases home so I never made it to Brady’s. I could tell he was disappointed when he texted me, “Night,” at like 9:00 PM.

My ex Devin called me on Monday night and I sent him to voicemail. He immediately texted my saying, “Call me. I have to ask you something.”

Curiosity got the best of me and I ended up calling him back. He said he’s serious about opening his own office here in Chicago and he’s going to visit at the end of the month for meetings. He asked if I would work for him and I literally laughed until I cried.

“First of all, you wouldn’t even be able to pay me what I make now. And no offense, Devin, but you’re the last person on earth I’d want to work for,” I explained.

“Ouch,” he laughed. “Don’t you believe me that I’ve changed? I’m not that guy anymore.”

I told him I could refer some people to him, but I would not leave my current job. He asked if we could see each other when he visits.

“No way. My boyf wouldn’t like that,” I said.

“What’s his name? Bobby?” Devin said.

I rolled my eyes. “You know what his name is.”

“He can come to. He’s not gonna stop me from doing what I want.”

After we hung up Devin texted me telling me the dates he would be in Chicago. And I told him I would let him know my schedule even though I know I’m not going to hang out with him.

On Tuesday, Brady finally got me to come over. After work I got a mani pedi then went to the gym. After that I made myself a light kale and avocado salad for dinner. I’m going back to not eating like I want to end up on My 600-lb Life so no more cheeseburgers and hot dogs and donuts and shit.

While I was eating, Brady texted me asking what I was up to. I told him that I was eating dinner and could come over later. So naturally I took my time showering and getting ready and finally showed up at like 8:45. I can’t even lie, I was so happy to see him although I wasn’t about to let him know that.

“Hey, ‘sup?” I greeted him. He was in the living room on his laptop, but put it down when I walked in. I was making a beeline for the stash of wine.

“How are you?” Brady asked following me.

“Fine.” I poured myself a hefty glass of red and took it to the living room where Brady’s work station was set up. I sat in one of the side armchairs and propped my feet and Miu Miu sandals up on the coffee table.

“How was your day?”

“It was fine.”

Brady nodded and smiled like I was being really ridiculous which I kind of was. He worked in silence for a few minutes and then he said, “How’s work been?”

And I said, “It’s been okay.”

So I sat there drinking wine while he worked for an hour. He looked so good that eventually I got up and went to his room. He followed me and I started getting undressed. We started fooling around and I knew we were going to have sex because that was my goal, but I wanted him to think it was my idea.

“Braaaady,” I said in a super annoying high pitched voice. “Undress me.”

He undressed me slowly and sensually which is not Brady at all. After I sat on his face for a while, he grabbed my waist and pulled me down to his erect penis. I squirmed out of his grasp and demanded he get a condom.

“Oh really? Okay,” he said like he was surprised.

“Uh yeah. You had sex with the nastiest girl walking and I’d rather not catch anything, thanks,” I said really sarcastically.

“Okay, okay,” Brady said frustratedly. I smiled to myself.

So we had sex for a really long time. After a certain point it isn’t really enjoyable and it got to that point. I got really frustrated and pushed Brady off me.

“You can leave,” I informed him.

“Hmm?”

“Go sleep on the couch or something. The bed is mine.”

“What? Reese.”

I’m not sure why I was kicking him out of his own room, but the fact that he was attempting to stand up to me provoked me even more.

“I don’t want to sleep with you. Go away!” I yelled.

Brady mumbled something then got up and started getting dressed. He reached for one of the four pillows on the bed and I pushed him away like I was a mother lion protecting her cubs.

“I can’t at least take a pillow? Why are you being ridiculous?” he asked.

“You know why I’m being ridiculous. If I have to remind you, you’re going to wish you never met me. Now get out of my face,” I said bitchily.

He sighed and walked out, shutting the door behind him. I fell asleep almost immediately, but then I woke up in the middle of the night looking for my boo. He wasn’t there and I was annoyed at him for that. I crawled out of bed and padded to the living room where I found Brady sleeping on the couch with no pillow and no blanket.

“Brady!” I called. He didn’t wake up so I’m yelled his name so loud that the people upstairs probably heard me.

“What?” he said, rolling over groggily.

“Come to bed!”

Brady mumbled something I couldn’t quite make out and I grabbed his forearm tightly.

“Reese,” he said fully awake now. He tried to pull his arm out of my grasp, but I squeezed tighter.

“Come onnnn,” I whined. “Come snuggle with me.” I tried to pull him off the couch, but he pulled away hard.

“Stop! Get off me!” he said sternly.

I scoffed. “Ugh, what’s wrong with you?”

Brady realized how rude he was so he shook his head and said he was fine. I motioned for him to follow me then I skipped back to his room. I made him give me a foot massage because my sandals hurt my feet.

I woke up on Wednesday morning because Brady was up getting ready for work. He walked out of the closet tying his tie and I glared at him. I’m not sure why.

“What?” he asked like he was annoyed.

“I want a waffle,” I told him.

Brady just looked at me for a minute then checked his watch and said okay. When he came back with my yummy waffle topped with fruit, I asked him to feed it to me.

“Reese,” he groaned.

I snatched the plate and said, “Just kidding, jeez.”

Right before Brady left to go to work, I stopped him and said, “We need to talk.”

“Okay,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Right now?”

“Obviously not right now. I’ll let you know when. Bye!”

Brady didn’t talk to me all day Wednesday so I was even more annoyed with him. I finally met up with Kendra after work and all she wanted to talk about was her wedding and John and her parents. Literally I couldn’t get a word in at all. I let her talk though because she’s getting married soon and she deserves all the attention and blah blah blah.

On Thursday, Luke and I worked for a few hours then we told everyone we were going to do research around the city. Really, we were heading to the suburbs to go shopping. I was in the middle of a Nordstrom dressing room when Whitney texted me.

“Hey, are you close by?” she said.

“Not really. Why?” I replied.

“Someone is delivering flowers for you. Should I just sign?”

Ooo, flowers! I said, “Please.”

I knew they were from Brady, but a teeny tiny part of me was hoping that Devin really had changed his ways and was trying to win me back. Not that I would ever even consider thinking of possibly trying to date him again. Ew.

When I got back to the office I found a bouquet of red and pink roses on my desk. They were from Brady. And he sent a sweet one word card. I was kind of annoyed with him for the entire gesture.

Later that night when I got home, I texted him thanking him for the flowers. I was surprised when he sent me a really long text back. Basically he said that he loves and appreciates me and how he probably doesn’t deserve for me to forgive him, but he really hoped I would. It actually made me cry. I don’t understand why he even likes me. Especially after how I treated him for the past week.

I pulled myself together and told him that we should talk next week. He told me to just let him know when and I could tell he thinks I’m going to break up with him hence the flowers and texts and stuff.

I know I’m not going to break up with him though. Obviously. I know I’m crazy, but that’s bae. Last night I even bought us tickets to go to Houston next month. We will probably talk on Sunday after I party all weekend with my friends. Priorities.

I let Brady stew pretty much all day Thursday. He texted me around lunch saying, “I hope you’re having a good day.” As if I could have a fucking good day after that! And then he texted me telling me something funny his boss said and I didn’t reply.

I did, however, reply to Jessica. As much as I tried to hold off, I physically couldn’t. Especially since Luke was sitting in my office with me feeding me lines. The first thing I said back was, “Oh, super classy. Sneaking a pic right after having sex with someone? Not creepy AT ALL.” And then I added, “Babe looks good as always though.” Which, if we’re being honest, he did.

An hour later, Jessica said, “So you let your babe do whatever he wants? Sounds like a healthy, happy relationship to me. :-)”

Obviously I was sitting by my phone waiting for her to respond so I replied back, “Brady hooked up with you during the two months we were broken up when he was super sad and desperate. He still came running back to me though so clearly opening your legs can’t make him be with you. Sorry!”

She replied, “I do not want him, trust me.”

“So you just had sex with him and took a picture to show me because you thought it would be fun?”

“You started this and I finished it. 🙂 You should have attacked your babe instead of me because in the end he still asked me to come over and begged me to have sex with him.”

Ew. I imagined Brady begging Jessica to have sex and got really grossed out and embarrassed. “So you had sex with him to prove a point? You’re much more pathetic than I thought.”

“I did it because I wanted to. You were the furthest thing from either of our minds obviously :-)”

I wanted to fucking strangle her and all her fucking smileys. But from our conversation I gathered that she didn’t know Brady and I were broken up at the time. So he let her believe he was cheating on me with her. Why would he do that?

Brady asked me to get dinner that night, but I was so annoyed by my conversation with Jessica that I didn’t want to see him. So I said, “No,” and he said, “Okay.” Whatever. I stayed home and worked out.

On Friday, I made plans to go to dinner with Kendra and Preston. Obviously Brady wasn’t invited. He texted me on Friday morning saying, “How did you sleep?” and then later on when I didn’t reply he said, “How’s your day going?”

I was so frustrated! He was seriously just going to pretend nothing happened. So I said, “How the fuck do you think it’s going, Brady?”

“Not good,” he said back.

“Exactly. Can you stop pretending like everything is okay?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it.”

“OF COURSE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, I NEED ANSWERS.”

So for the next six hours Brady and I talked about everything via text. I knew we probably needed to have this conversation in person, but it was helpful to be able to actually think about my questions and not impulsively scream whatever came to my head. He probably thought the same thing.

From our texts I found out some important information though. I made him tell me exactly what happened when they hooked up including the date. According to him it was the middle/end of March so literally right before we got back together. Not a impulsive hook up right after getting his heart broken like me. Asshole. He said he was out with friends (Chris? Carly?) and he was texting Jessica who was also out. They ended up at the same bar, had some drinks and took a cab back to his place. I asked whose idea it was and Brady said he couldn’t remember. Meaning it was his idea.

We haven’t used condoms in months so I asked how he had one readily available when Jessica randomly came over one night (thanks Arianna for pointing this out!) and he claimed to have some left over which I guess I can’t argue with. Then I asked the most important question, why the fuck was he texting Jessica when they supposedly stopped talking ages ago?

Brady said that Jessica got a new job and doesn’t work in the hospital with him anymore. Apparently the week she was leaving she approached him and let him know that she wouldn’t be working there anymore. He said this was after we broke up and he figured he was allowed to keep in contact with her since I was no longer in the picture. Which I felt was kind of a rude thing to admit to me, but cool. They texted sometimes and only hung out the one time they had sex. And THEN – get this – after they hooked up Brady stopped talking to her and blocked her on Facebook because he regretted it. I even got on Facebook to confirm it and they aren’t friends. I don’t know how believable that is because I assume Jessica would have sent me the picture as soon as Brady stopped talking to her and stuff so I don’t know.

I asked him if he told Jessica that we broke up and he said he couldn’t remember, but he didn’t think so. He said he didn’t want to talk about me to her though because of everything that happened and he didn’t want her bad mouthing me. Lol yeah fucking right.

After I got all the answers I needed, Brady started groveling and apologizing and telling me how much he loves me and wants to marry me. It was really over the top and not Brady at all. I even said, “How come you never say any of this until shit hits the fan?” He made up some excuse about not knowing how to express his feelings. I told him he needs to figure that shit out.

I kind of just stopped responding eventually. Brady asked if he could see me and I told him no because I was hanging out with my friends. Kendra ended up canceling at the last minute so Preston and I met up for pizza. As soon as we sat down I started telling him what happened. He literally screamed at the top of his lungs and everyone at the surrounding tables turned to look at us rudely.

“That shady fucking bitch,” Preston hissed. “She didn’t wait a minute to bust it wide open for him, did she?”

“But apparently she didn’t know we were broken up. So she thought he was cheating on me,” I said.

“So she wanted to be the mistress? She ought to be ashamed,” he went on.

We took a shot in honor of her. Then we met up with some of his friends at a bar in hipster central (guess which neighborhood, Chicagoans!). This hot guy with a ponytail hit on me, but I was mean to him and gave him a really hard time. He was pretty persistent though which I admired. Another guy asked Preston’s friend, Julia, if she thought he had a chance with me. He definitely didn’t because he tried to talk to me through another person. Grow some balls, ya know?

When it was time to leave, I called an Uber and put in Brady’s address. It was kind of an accident, but I was kind of drunk and wanted see him. On the way there I texted him, “Let me in,” and buzzed the buzzer obnoxiously until he came and got me.

“Hi,” I said, walking past him.

“How are you?” Brady asked.

“Fine,” I replied. I walked to the bedroom, took off everything except my bra and panties and got in bed.

“Where did you go tonight?”

“Out.”

We were in the dark, but I saw Brady take off his shirt and lay down next to me. “Did you have fun?”

I climbed on top of him and started kissing his neck instead of answering. Soon we were making out and I was tugging at his shorts.

“Do you have a condom?” I asked.

“Uhh,” Brady paused for several seconds. “Yeah, hang on.”

You can never be too sure! Brady leaned over to look in the nightstand and couldn’t find one after a minute. He told me to hold on again while he got up to look elsewhere. I got really irritated that he didn’t have one on hand. What did he do when Jessica came over? Surely he wasn’t searching around his whole house for one. A short time later, Brady returned.

“Ugh, would you come on,” I whined impatiently.

He apologized then proceeded to go down on me. It was amazing per usual. After we had sex, Brady snuggled me and told me he loved me and that he was happy I was there. I was literally like, “Okay, whatever.”

I peeled him off me, got out of bed and started getting dressed and Brady said, “Are you leaving?”

“Mmhmmm!” I replied like it was normal.

“Oh.”

I called my Uber and yelled, “Bye!” before rushing out of there. I didn’t even get a chance to hear Brady say goodbye back. I made the driver stop at McDonald’s so I could get chicken nuggets then I went home.

I had a text from Brady the next morning that said, “Morning.” I didn’t reply.

I spent the majority of the day cleaning, shopping online and texting my ex. I know, it’s weird. He texted me on Wednesday night when I was dealing with everything with Brady and Jessica and I didn’t have a chance to block him. He texted me from a new iCloud account because I have all his numbers blocked. On Saturday he texted me again saying, “Hellooooo?”

And I was so bored that I actually replied saying, “What do you want?”

Devin said, “Whoa, I can’t see how my first love is doing?”

I rolled my eyes. I’m pretty sure Devin and I were never in love even though I thought we were at the time.

“I’m fine. Do you need something?” I asked.

And to my surprise, he actually apologized for how he treated me while we were in college. He was like, “I’ve grown up a lot and can admit that I acted like an ass to you. I want to make it up to you.”

I said, “It’s too late and I don’t care anymore. I don’t need anything from you.”

I continued responding to his texts though and realized that he actually might have grown up. He was being really sweet and nice to me, but not in the insincere way he was when he needed me to forgive him for being a douche. He didn’t end every text with an emoji or “lol” and he was actually using proper English. So we texted all day. It was so weird. He told me about life in LA and his job and all his friends who work in the entertainment industry. It sounds like he does aggressive party and event promoting for a sponsorship company. Such a Devin job. He said he spends a lot of time in Dallas too because his company has an office there. He said he wants to open his own office eventually too and asked if I thought Chicago would be a good place to do it. *eye roll* He asked me about Brady and I refused to talk about him. Not because I didn’t want to talk about my boyfriend, but I just knew Devin wouldn’t understand and it would piss me off. We were getting along so nicely.

Brady texted me throughout the day and asked me if I wanted to do anything that night. I said no because I had plans. Plans were watching HGTV and eating peanut butter. On Saturday night, he sent me a picture of a glass of beer and said, “Wish you were here.” I wanted to know exactly where he was and who he was with, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. So I didn’t say anything.

On Sunday I hung out with Luke at my apartment’s pool. We filled some reusable cups with orange juice and tequila and laid out talking. Brady called me and I sent him to voicemail so he texted me, “I had to go into work for a few hours, but I’m getting off soon. Do you want to come over?”

I sent back a sunglasses selfie saying, “Sorry, hanging out with my friend!” And he didn’t say anything back until later when he was like, “Will you make some time for me? I miss you.”

This made me feel a teensy bit bad, but not really because he hooked up with Jessica and wasn’t trying hard enough to make it up to me. I fell asleep really early last night which was nice because I was sleep deprived. I had texts from both Brady and Devin when I woke up and I only decided to text Devin back even though I dreamed about Brady. Oops.