i can’t afford to lose my mind.

By the time Saturday rolled around, I was so fed up with work that I was actually considering finding a new job. Whitney had completely let her promotion go to her head and was marching around the office giving orders to everyone except me because she knows I don’t play that shit. I finally talked to Diana on Friday morning and she said, “From what I understand Dave gave her the go ahead to work on her projects and we really need everyone’s help to execute them.”

Ugh. Fine. I decided that I would start finding vendors for the winter warehouse sale and even got some responses from two potentials. I emailed Whitney a list of what I came up with and a few minutes later she stopped by my office.

“Actually Reese, I think we have enough vendors, but if you want you can start doing a physical inventory of everything in the warehouse,” she said.

Lol yeah right.

So naturally I was ready to let loose on Saturday. Carly was going over to Brady and Chris’s early to help prepare for the party and I decided that I should probably help too so I didn’t look like some useless girlfriend. I ended up spending forty five minutes on my effortlessly chic topknot so I guess I wasn’t very helpful after all.

In the middle of getting ready, I went out to the kitchen to pour another glass of wine. I was starting things off slow so I wasn’t a complete trainwreck by the time Brady’s friends arrived. I poured a healthy glass of vino then saw a Tupperware container full of cookies sitting on top of the refrigerator. I knew I shouldn’t, but I told myself that I could have just one – only because they were chocolate chip and that’s my favorite. The cookie turned out not to be that great which pissed me off because I wasted calories on it.

I finished getting ready and heard guests starting to arrive. I grabbed my glass of wine and went out to greet people in the living room with Carly. Brady and Chris were in the kitchen pouring drinks and shots while we entertained their friends. Once I finished my second glass of wine, all of my limbs started to get tingly. I thought the wine must be laced with something.

“Carly,” I said, turning toward her. “What’s in this wine? I feel really fucking weird.”

Carly was chatting with two guys, but gave me her full attention. “What?”

I just stared at her head which she cocked to the side and I couldn’t help thinking she looked just like my grandparents’ Shih Tzu. I burst into laughter.

“Reese!” Carly whispered loudly. “You didn’t eat any of those cookies in the kitchen, did you?”

I stood there laughing for what felt like half an hour.

“Reese,” Carly said very calmly. “Those are weed cookies.”

“No wonder they tasted like shit,” I said.

Carly started laughing and I laughed with her. She grabbed my arm and dragged me to the kitchen to find our boyfriends. They were huddled by the sink, drinking.

“Reese had a cookie,” Carly announced.

I gave my best Miss USA smile since they were all staring at me.

“You had a whole cookie?!” Chris exclaimed.

“Hey, don’t judge. I’ll work the calories off later,” I said.

“All I can say is have fun,” Chris said. 

“I should’ve warned you not to eat those,” Brady said to me.

“I am fine,” I assured him.

“They are very potent. You aren’t a smoker and you’re a tiny girl. An entire cookie is going to make you lose your mind,” he explained.

I blinked at him for several minutes and started to get nervous. I can’t afford to lose my mind. If I got any stupider I would probably be fired and have to start peddling on Michigan Ave. Oh my God, what if someone who knows me saw?

“Reese,” Brady said, pulling me out of my nightmare.

“Brady,” I said back.

“Do you want to lay down?” 

“Are you fucking kidding? No! Let’s party!”

So I partied. Since I was already high, Carly ate half a cookie to even the score then we went back to the living room to continue greeting people. Kendra and John showed up, but they immediately went to the dining room where all the sophisticated grown ups were apparently hanging out. I let Kendra know that I think she’s becoming a grandma though.

Eventually I met back up with Brady and demanded he introduce me to his friends because most of the guests I’ve never seen before.

I met a really pretty girl who said she works with Brady at the hospital.

“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed. “So you must know Jessica? Did you know that she sucked-”

Brady literally put his hand over my mouth to shut me up.

“Reese, don’t,” he said gently.

Whatever.

I also met a guy named Mark who turned out to be the realtor who sold Brady his duplex. Mark was cute and once I found out that he works in real estate, I gushed about how much I wanted to buy a house. We laughed about something for fifteen minutes and exchanged business cards so he can help me find a home. Love him for that. 

Brady had walked away at some point during my conversation with Mark and while I was trying to find him, I ran into Preston and a smoldering dark haired kid who looked like he had just landed from NYC or something. He was so chic.

“Preston!” I screamed and pulled him into a hug that felt like it lasted for twenty minutes. I started laughing.

“Reese, are you high?” Preston asked.

I laughed harder, but managed to ask who his friend was in between my fit of giggles.

“This is Dillon,” Preston answered and gave me a look that told me Dillon is the new guy he’s trying to start the three way relationship with. 

“Dillon, you’re so fucking fabulous. Can I be you?” I asked, but heard the doorbell ring before he could answer.

It turned out to be the pizza delivery man because apparently I ordered nine large pizzas on my company credit card. I don’t even remember doing that, but I proceeded to eat five slices while discussing if all males are colorblind (I think they are) with one of Chris’s coworkers.

I met back up with Brady in the living room and we collapsed on the couch.

“Do you remember when we fucked on this couch on my birthday?” I asked.

“Mmhm,” he replied and looked at someone passed out in the exact spot we had sex. We laughed for thirty minutes.

We started making out right there then Brady said, “I want to fuck you.”

And I said, “I do too.”

He stood up, but I felt like I was glued to the couch.

“I can’t get up,” I whined and toppled over.

Brady grabbed me and dragged me to his room and we immediately started getting undressed. We barely made it to the bed before I slid on his dick and started riding him. We completely forgot about the rager going on outside his door.

Best sex of my life. It felt like two hours of pure bliss. We were both moaning and telling each other how good it felt. I could feel my orgasm building in my body and started riding harder.

“Uhhhh, I love you!” Brady shouted.

“I love you too!” I cried and we both came hard as fuck and fell onto the bed.

We just laid there talking about the different ideas we had for our wedding. I told him that I want a very classic black and white theme and he loved it. We decided that the actual ceremony would be very traditional to please our parents, but do our own thing for the reception. I suggested we cater weed cookies.

When I woke up on Sunday, my mouth felt dry like I was eating baby powder all night. Brady was out cold and I watched tv for a few hours until he woke up. We showered and got dressed and went to brunch with Carly, Chris, Kendra and John. Brady never mentioned the fact that we exchanged the L word (gawd, I can’t even bring myself to say it) and neither did I because obviously it was only because we were under the influence. 

Honestly, the whole night was a blur. I think it was fun though. I kind of feel like I’m still recovering.

And I still don’t know how I’m going to explain nine pizzas on this month’s expense report.

Standard

three way relationship.

After making up with Brady on Monday night, life felt like it was back to normal. On Wednesday, I walked into work in a fantastic mood until I ran into Whitney in the hallway.

“Hi Reese! I just secured a venue for our holiday warehouse sale! It’s a little closer to the suburbs than I would’ve liked, but I’m glad that we can check that off our list,” she said excitedly.

Ugh. I thought about having a talk with Diana since my honest talk with Brady went so well. But I assured Diana that I would figure it out so that’s what I had to do. 

“Okay, great. I’m going to go answer some emails,” I said and began to walk away, but Dave was walking into the office.

“Hey ladies!” he greeted us animatedly.

“Hi Dave,” Whitney and I said obediently at the same time.

“I created some display ideas for the furniture bazaar. Can you look at them later and help me decide?” Whitney asked, sweetly.

“Of course I can! Just bring them by my office,” Dave said.

Whitney grinned.

“I like what you’re doing here, Whitney. You’re thinking ahead. We need to move some product and increase our cash flow before we create any more new collections. You hear that, Reese? Let’s not work on any more collaborations until we get this stuff situated.”

I smiled tightly and nodded. “Of course.”

Are you fucking kidding me? Is that not what I was doing with the flash sale website? Whitney stole my idea, but put her tacky ass spin on it.

I stormed to my office and barricaded myself all day. I mostly browsed net-a-porter.com and revolveclothing.com because I was not about to help Whitney with her bullshit. I hope Dave knows I’m not going to.

After work, I met the gang for dollar beers. Preston told us that he was in kind of a bind and he wanted our opinions. We told him to spill.

“So Mr. Murphy and I are doing really, really well, as you guys know.”

We nodded.

“Well, I’ve been talking to this other guy. He’s younger and so fucking hot.” 

“Preston…” Kendra said in a warning kind of tone.

“Just listen!” Preston said. “Mr. Murphy met him and thinks he’s adorable too. So I was thinking… We could have a three-way relationship.”

“Like sister wives?” Carly said.

“Or something like that. My thing is, I love being around Mr. Murphy and he takes such good care of me, but he’s just not great in bed. He’s older. It takes him forty five minutes to get hard and then he only lasts for thirty seconds.”

Carly gasped. “What?”

“I know!” Preston said, leaning across the table. “So, if we add this younger guy to the mix it will definitely spice up the bedroom. It’ll suck to have to share Murph’s money, but I’m just not satisfied sexually right now.”

“Are all parties involved okay with this arrangement?” Kendra asked.

“Well, I haven’t proposed my idea to anyone yet. Do you guys think it is even a reasonable thing to want in my life?” 

“Personally, I wouldn’t want to share my boyfriend with anyone,” I spoke up.

Preston narrowed his eyes at me. “Well, we know that. Your boyfriend can’t even have a life before you.”

True.

An hour later, Kendra needed to go home to do some work so we left. Carly and I decided to go to Brady and Chris’s. When we got there, Chris let us in and said he and Brady were hanging out in the basement. We walked down there and found Brady on the couch, watching tv.

He stared at me for a moment then said “Hey babe,” but didn’t get up to greet me.

“Hi!” I squealed, sitting down beside him. We hugged and Carly and Chris joined us on the couch.

“Are you guys just sitting here? How boring,” Carly said.

“Aren’t you glad I came to entertain you?” I said, turning to Brady.

“Of course,” he smiled. His eyes looked a little bit red and his eyelids were low. 

“Aw, are you tired?” I asked.

“Yeah, kinda,” Brady said. “What did you guys do tonight?”

“We had dollar beers with Kendra and Preston,” I replied and then got excited to tell Brady about Preston’s crazy idea. “Oh my gosh, so Preston is bored with his relationship so he wants to get another boyfriend and have two boyfriends! Like a three way relationship!”

“That’s crazy,” Brady said. And then waited a beat. “Maybe we should try it…”

Before I could even digest what he said, Chris added, “With Jessica,” and the two of them started laughing their idiot heads off.

Way too soon. I watched Brady double over in laughter and turned to Carly. She gave me a wide eyed look and shook her head indicating that she didn’t know what to say.

“How is that funny?” I snapped. 

“It isn’t,” Brady said, catching his breath. “Chris, you’re such a dick sometimes.”

Chris continued laughing. 

I felt my body start to warm up in anger. I couldn’t believe they were laughing at and making light of the Jessica situation. Did Chris even know the extent of what happened with Brady and Jessica? Or were they just laughing because I’d freaked out like a psycho? From my point of view, it wasn’t that funny. Why were they laughing so hard? Obviously they know more than I do. 

“Sorry babe,” Brady said, snaking his arm around my waist and nuzzling my neck.

“Get the fuck off me,” I mumbled and peeled myself away. We all sat there for an awkward silent few minutes.

“Reese, did Brady tell you we’re having a party on Saturday?” Chris asked me.

I shook my head, but said nothing.

“Oh yeah, we have to invite all our friends! It’s going to be so much fun!” Carly enthused.

“K,” I said shortly.

Carly and Chris started discussing the party and Brady leaned close to my ear.

“Hey. I’m sorry. That was completely inappropriate.”

I ignored him.

“I have something you might like upstairs,” he continued.

“What is it?” I asked sharply.

“Why don’t you come upstairs and see?”

I shot him a dirty look so he knew that I was still irritated with him then got up and headed for the stairs. Brady followed me and steered me into the kitchen. I stood there with my arms crossed standoffishly while he went through the cabinets. I couldn’t think of anything I could possibly want, but I was willing to entertain him. Seconds later, he pulled out a pack of birthday cake Oreos. I bit my lip.

“Do you want one?” Brady asked.

One? 

“Give me that,” I said, snatching the pack of Oreos from his hand. Birthday cake Oreos are literally my favorite things in the world. I tore the pack open, grabbed as many cookies as I could fit in my hand and gave it back to Brady.

“You got me hooked on these,” he said, taking a couple of Oreos out for himself. I was too busy chewing to respond. 

We munched on several Oreos in silence then Brady started walking toward to his room and I followed him. I kicked off my shoes and leaned back on the bed and Brady did the same.

“You smell very nice,” he said, nuzzling my neck.

“Thanks,” I replied, letting him kiss and grope me. Hearing Jessica’s name was a definite mood killer, but I couldn’t deny that I loved feeling his hands and mouth all over my body.

Brady pushed my top up to my neck and started gently sucking my boobs. He ran his tongue down my torso and yanked off my underwear and skirt before ducking his head between my legs. Within minutes, I was screaming and squirming about to come.

Brady stood up and pulled off his shirt and unbuckled his pants. I completely forgot about how annoyed I was with him as he pushed into me without even thinking about finding a condom (which frankly we haven’t used in at least two weeks). Brady pushed one of my legs up toward my head and placed his hands on the bed on either side of my face. He thrusted hard, like he had some aggression to let out and mumbled something inaudible in my ear. Brady never dirty talks during sex so I was surprised and I almost asked him to repeat himself.

Brady buried his face in my neck and groaned my name then collapsed on top of me. Usually he finishes…elsewhere but he didn’t even pull out. Brady rolled off me and I couldn’t help thinking that if we were going to be fucking irresponsibly like this then I had to get to the bottom of the Jessica comment.

“Have you talked to Jessica?” I demanded.

“Nah,” Brady said, not missing a beat. He ran a hand up my inner thigh and I pushed it away. 

“So explain to me why y’all laughed so hard at what Chris said.”

“I dunno,” he said as he got up to pull his pants up. “It was a joke. Don’t freak.”

“Yes you do know,” I said. “And don’t tell me not to freak.”

Who the fuck was this and what did he do with my mature boyfriend? Brady was acting like a straight up frat boy. 

We got up and dressed and found Carly and Chris in the kitchen. Carly said she had to go home because she had to work early and asked me if I wanted a ride home or if I wanted to stay. I told her I was going home and Brady acted hurt that I didn’t want to stay the night with him. He needed to be punished though.

I thought the Jessica situation was fixed, but now I’m not so sure.

Standard

no more jessicas.

On Monday morning I woke up much earlier than usual, went for a run, got ready for work, and stopped and got donuts for the whole office. I ended up getting four dozen and couldn’t carry them all so I made one of the workers carry it to the office for me (before you call me a lazy brat, just know that I gave him a generous tip).

I immediately started working away until around 1:30 then decided to take a break and grab something to eat. I found my phone at the bottom of my bag where I’d left it that morning and was surprised to see a new text message from Brady. It said, “Do you want to talk?”

I let out a happy sigh. Finally. Of course I wanted to talk. I sat there drafting about a thousand different responses before ultimately deciding on, “Okay.”

I waited to see what Brady would say back for ten minutes then threw my phone in my bag and headed out to lunch. 

I continued working all afternoon and didn’t hear from Brady again until around 4:00. He said, “Do you want to meet for dinner?”

I said, “Okay,” again.

He responded back with the name of a place near my apartment and suggested we meet at 7:30. I typed, “Okay,” one last time. He gave no indication about what he wanted to talk about – whether he wanted to work our issues out or end things in person – which concerned me. In an ideal world, we would meet up, he would apologize profusely about not telling me about Jessica, he would beg for my forgiveness and then present me with a $12,000 designer bag.

I stayed at the office until 6:30 then went home and changed into a dress and booties. I didn’t plan well and ended up showing up to the place at 7:45. I pulled out my phone to text Brady that I had finally arrived, but I saw him sitting in a booth near the door. He stood up as I approached with an unreadable look on his face and kissed me lightly on the cheek. We both sat down.

“I already ordered. Do you want a beer or anything?” he asked, really properly.

I shook my head. Brady was acting like we didn’t even know each other which made me get defensive. He had no right to be mad. All I broke was his phone. He broke my heart.

“Okay,” he said.

We sat there for a minute not saying anything. Finally Brady said, “Reese, I’m sorry.”

I raised my eyebrows and nodded like “Go on.”

“I wasn’t completely open with you about Jessica. I should have been upfront and told you exactly what happened. That’s all I can say. I won’t make any excuses.”

I nodded in agreement.

“You have every right to be angry that I didn’t tell you and that you had to find out on your own. Seeing you that upset because of me was hard to watch. I apologize for that.”

“What’s the story with you and her?” I demanded.

Brady looked kind of surprised at my question. “Just everything I told you. We began working together a few months ago and she was quite persistent from the beginning. I’m very busy at work so I couldn’t pay attention to her and I think she took that as a challenge…”

“And she just randomly offered you a blow job and you accepted.”

He started to blush furiously. “I mean, yeah.”

“But y’all didn’t have sex?”

“No. I ended things before they could go that far.”

I glared at him for a few minutes.

“Um,” for the first time ever I saw Brady struggling with what to say. “I don’t want to throw everything away because of this. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

I uncrossed my arms as I started to soften.

“Yeah…” I began, unsure of what to say. Have I mentioned how much I hate talking about my feelings? “I don’t either.”

“You don’t what?”

“Want to throw everything away.”

He looked relieved. “I’m glad we are on the same page.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Those two days I gave you to cool off made me realize how much I really do like you.”

I waited a full minute before saying, “Me too,” really quietly.

“So I would like to make this work. If you want to.”

“What is ‘this?'” I asked.

“Us. Our relationship.” Brady looked confused.

“We never defined our relationship. Except the night when Jessica confronted you about it which doesn’t even really count,” I said in an accusatory voice.

Brady was unfazed by what I said. “I mean, I introduced you to my parents. I told them you were my girlfriend…”

My heart jumped. “Oh.”

“Is that not what you want?”

“It is,” I said. I decided that I was going to have to stop playing coy and hiding my feelings. If I wanted this to work with Brady I had to be open too.

“Okay…”

“I’m not good with relationships,” I blurted out.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just not. I’m stubborn and needy and possessive and I suck at expressing my feelings.”

“You’re expressing your feelings now,” Brady said.

I let out a deep breath. He was right – I was expressing myself and I had yet to spontaneously combust so maybe it was fine. I kept going.

“I may have some mild trust issues from my previous relationships and you can see how this doesn’t help.”

“That’s completely understandable. I’ve done nothing to give you any reason to trust me.”

Brady owning up to what he did seemed to make everything okay. Whenever my ex did something he wasn’t supposed to, he would reverse it and make it seem like it was somehow my fault.

“My ex-boyfriend kind of ruined me. Not that I was perfect from the beginning. But he did some really awful things,” I went on.

“I’m sorry,” Brady said, although I’m not sure what he was apologizing for. He looked at me kind of cautiously before asking, “What did he do?”

I didn’t expect Brady to ask for details so I had to take a moment to gather my thoughts. Normally, I would have blown his question off, but we were being honest and open. Plus I appreciated that he had the balls to ask.

“What didn’t he do?” I answered. “He had sex with other girls, made out with them in front of me at parties, told everyone on campus that I was a psycho.”

Just talking about it was making me grind my teeth. Why did I ever even put up with that shit? I was such a pathetic, needy little girl. 

“Yikes,” Brady said. “Worse than I thought.”

I nodded. We were silent for a moment then Brady said, “I guess I’m not really the best with relationships either.”

“How come?” I wanted to know.

“I realized that my parents aren’t like normal parents. They’re very…cold and disconnected. I mean, you met them. They aren’t affectionate at all so I never got that growing up.”

I nodded. “I can see that…” So I’m the only one who thinks his mother is a cold, unwelcoming little woman.

“Yeah. They don’t talk to us about anything personal. We never got a sex talk or anything like that. They only wanted to know what colleges we got into and our GPAs and things of that nature. Even now, they rarely say ‘I love you.’ So I think that has affected the way I am in relationships.”

Wow. His parents rarely tell him they love him? I can’t imagine. My parents send me random text messages throughout the day telling me how much they love me. I felt for him.

After our food came, things went back to normal for the most part. He told me about his weekend and he confirmed that he and John went on some sort of golf date on Saturday. He said that his phone was a complete goner so he ended up having to pay to get a new one. It almost made me feel bad, but not really because it taught him a valuable life lesson.

After Brady paid for dinner, we walked outside. Since the place was so close to my apartment, I’d walked, but Brady asked me to walk to his car with him. It didn’t seem weird at the time, but now that I’m thinking about it, it was kind of an odd request.

We got to his car and he opened the passenger door like he wanted me to get in, but the seat was filled with dozens of red, pink, white and yellow roses. There had to be a hundred there.

“I didn’t want to bring them in the restaurant, but I got you these,” Brady explained.

“Aww,” I cooed looking at him. “That’s so sweet.” It wasn’t the designer bag I was hoping for, but I was grateful for the gesture.

He shrugged sheepishly and I couldn’t help reaching over and hugging his adorable ass. Brady offered to carry the huge bouquet to my apartment and my doorman, Frank, said, “Someone must have been in the doghouse.”

I giggled at him calling Brady out. When we got up to my apartment, Brady put the flowers down and we stood there looking at each other. I invited him to sit down.

“So are we okay?” Brady asked me.

“I think so,” I said, nodding then I narrowed my eyes at him. “But don’t fucking hang out with her anymore.”

“I won’t. I didn’t plan on it.”

“Don’t even talk to her. Don’t go to lunch with her. Delete her number.”

“Of course,” Brady said.

I realized that I hadn’t apologized or fully owned up to my part of the fight yet and I needed to to make things right.

“I’m sorry I broke your phone,” I said and surprisingly saying the word “sorry” didn’t kill me.

“Don’t worry about it,” Brady said.

I swallowed, preparing myself to drop the Derrick bomb. “By the way, you remember my friend, Derrick, right? From my birthday?”

Brady nodded.

“Well, in college we like, kind of hooked up, but it wasn’t really a big deal. It only happened once, but he confessed that he still likes me on my birthday,” I babbled. 

Brady’s eyebrows shot up like he was surprised then he nodded slowly as if he was putting some puzzle pieces together and it was all making sense now.

“I guess I could have told you that a while ago,” I said.

“That would’ve been good to know.”

“Just like it would’ve been good to know about Jessie,” I said sweetly.

“Point taken.”

We sat in silence for a minute then Brady said, “So no more Derricks.”

And I said, “And no more Jessicas.”

We stayed up until almost 2:00 AM just talking and not having sex which I think we needed. 

So everything is settled, I think. 

Give me your thoughts.

Standard

drunk bar bathroom lecture.

I didn’t hear from Brady all weekend. I don’t know if it was because I destroyed his phone or because we were really done. I was an emotional rollercoaster – one minute I was mad as fuck, then sad, then irritated, then horny, then mad again. I hate to admit that I actually wanted him to reach out to me and grovel and beg for my forgiveness. I am obviously upset about what happened with Jessica, but that doesn’t mean I want to be completely done with him. I like him, you know? Plus I left some valuable things at his house like a pair of sold out Louboutins and my Shiseido night cream. I kinda need those things back. 

On Saturday Preston wanted to go to brunch. I couldn’t wait to tell him what I found in Brady’s phone. I picked him up and we went to a place in Logan and got french toast and Bloody’s. I told him everything that happened, making sure to pause at the dramatic parts and letting it all sink in. Once I was finished with my story, Preston broke into laughter.

“Seriously, Reese? You flipped out on him over that?”

“Is that not reason enough?” I exclaimed.

“Baby love. All that happened before he even met you. Why do you think you have any right to get mad at him?”

“Because!” I paused. “He is still hanging out with her. He introduced me to her as ‘one of the nurses from the hospital’ not ‘the girl who sucked my dick while someone was in the next room dying.'”

Preston gave me a narrowed eyed look. “Didn’t you tell me that you hooked up with Derrick back in college? Did you tell Brady that when you introduced them?

“We didn’t really hook up. We dry humped and he ate me out for like five minutes.” 

“BITCH,” Preston said loudly and the people next to us looked over. “You didn’t tell me that he ate your kitty cat.”

“We were drunk. That doesn’t even count.”

“Oh yes it does. You have no right to get mad at Brady when you basically did the same thing, you little whore.”

It’s totally different though, right? 

That evening, we got dressed up and went bar hopping with Kendra. Preston ordered us Bud Lights while I filled her in on the latest.

“So now I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Brady since,” I concluded. Preston came back to our hightop table and I immediately sucked down half my beer.

“Here we go again,” Kendra rolled her eyes.

“But he probably just can’t call me because his phone is in pieces,” I pointed out.

“He and John actually went to the golf course today. So I’m guessing his phone must be working for them to be able to meet up.”

“Who went to the golf course?” I asked, confused.

“John and Brady,” Kendra said, like that was the most normal thing in the world.

Preston started cackling and clapping his hands together. “This is even juicier than I thought.”

I polished off my beer while letting it sink in. So Brady is deliberately not talking to me. Cool. Maybe we really are done. 

I sent Carly a quick text to get some insider information.

“Are you at Chris’s? Is Brady there?”

She replied, “Hiya babe! Yes I’m at Chris’s and yes Brady is here! You should come over!”

“What’s he doing?” I wanted to know.

“Umm, I don’t know. He’s upstairs. Is everything okay with you two?”

So Brady hadn’t told Carly or Chris what happened. I decided I was going to save that conversation for another time and I put my phone away. 

Since apparently I’m single, I decided I was going to have some fun. I dragged Preston and Kendra to the bar and ordered us shots. 

I started talking to this guy named Drew and his friend. Drew was a cute law student who seemed to be the perfect rebound. The five of us hung out by the bar for a while and I was actually really enjoying hanging out with Drew. He reminded me a lot of Derrick with his teasing sense of humor and desire to be touching me at all times.

He followed me around the bar and made sure that I always had a drink in my hand. It was fun for a few hours until I realized that I really just missed Brady. I wasn’t drunk enough to drunk dial him, but I was drunk enough to be upset and need to go to the bathroom to cry. I brought Kendra with me.

“God, Reese. Get your shit together,” she rolled her eyes.

“Kendra, you have no idea what it’s like,” I cried. “Not everyone can have a successful six year relationship like you.”

“You’re right, they can’t. And you will never have a relationship at all if you bottle up your emotions and then blow up like that.”

I sniffled. 

“You can’t just expect Brady to know what you’re thinking. You have to open up about your feelings.”

“Do you think this is my fault?” I asked.

“Nothing is ever your fault, Reese,” she said sarcastically. “Both of you need to communicate better. And I think you have trust issues. Why did you feel the need to go through his phone anyway?”

I shrugged. I didn’t go through his phone expecting to find out answers about Jessica. I just went through it because it was there.

“Do you think that maybe [ex-boyfriend whose name I refuse to say] kind of scarred you? Maybe he made it hard for you to trust men…”

I considered this. Kendra might be right. I was head over heels in love with my ex (for no reason really) and he did some awful things to me. Maybe I’m just expecting Brady to hurt me because that’s what’s happened in the past. I don’t know. 

I never thought a drunk bar bathroom lecture could be so insightful. She told me that if I wanted to make it work with Brady then we needed to have a serious talk, but I couldn’t expect him to do all the work. She said that I should call him (not at midnight while drunk though) and I told her I would think about it. 

We went home soon after that and I woke up really early on Sunday and went for a run. I know. Like who am I? I’m not sure how far I ran, but I ran for like forty five minutes straight. And it felt really good actually.

I spent most of the day cleaning, doing squats, thinking about donuts, and watching the Wolf of Wall Street (Leo is literally so perfect). I debated calling Brady a few times, but decided that if he wanted to talk he would’ve called me. And besides me breaking his phone, the whole fight is his fault. So it’s his job to contact me.

Standard

shady brady.

Since Kendra cancelled happy hour on Wednesday I made her get drinks with me on Thursday night. I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about my birthday or meeting Brady’s parents. She showed up late to the bar and I immediately demanded she take a shot. Then I rambled on and on about my birthday dinner and the rooftop afterwards. How I had fought with Derrick once again, how Jessica had showed up and rubbed Brady’s thigh, how Brady said he was falling for me.

“Why are you always fighting with Derrick? He’s like the most harmless person on the planet,” she said as if that was highlight of the story.

“Because he’s annoying,” I said, dismissively. “Anyways, what about Jessica? I went to see Brady at work yesterday and they were going to lunch together.”

“So? It’s lunch, not some scandalous rendezvous.”

“How do we know that?”

“Did you ask Brady about it?”

I looked at her like she suggested a threesome between the three of us. “I’m not asking him anything. I would sound like some jealous, mega-attached psycho.”

“He said he’s falling for you, Reese. He isn’t hooking up with Jessica. I’m sure she just has a huge crush on him and he probably likes the attention.”

What she said made sense, but then I realized that I give Brady enough attention so he shouldn’t have to seek any from Jessica. I took a sip of my martini then told Kendra about Brady’s parents. Her only conclusion was that I should’ve never mentioned Obama and that it was obvious (even just from hearing my story) that they were Republicans. She’s right. I definitely should’ve seen the clues.

Finally, I asked her to tell me about her vacation with John.

“It was a ton of fun. We love any chance we can get away from the city,” she said.

“Let me see your ring.”

Kendra rolled her eyes. “He didn’t propose, Reese.” 

Thankfully. As much as I like to tease Kendra about getting engaged, the day it happens I’m going to be devastated. Because once she becomes a married woman, she won’t want to go out for drinks and happy hour and get belligerent on weekends. She will become this serious housewife and only want to spend time with her husband. And then she will start having children and we will no longer have anything in common. I would basically be losing my best friend.

After drinks, I texted Brady to see if he was off work yet and he said that he was exhausted and working late. This struck me as weird and all of my insecurities about Jessica came rushing back to the surface. First of all, he was always exhausted – we both were – so why was that an excuse not to hang out? We hang out every single night no matter what time he got off. I didn’t text him back and instead took a relaxing two hour shower and got ready for bed. 

I checked my phone and Brady had texted me again saying that he was off work and could come over if I was still up. Oh sure, now that he was done fucking Jessica he wanted to hang out with me.

I put my phone down with no intention of responding and got in bed. I started thinking about how hurt Brady looked when I admitted I didn’t open his gift. How he had bought me a plane ticket to Houston because he sensed that I missed my family. I never expressed to him how much I really did, but he picked up on those clues. Finally, I thought about how he said he was falling for me. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I’m falling for him too. 

I quickly picked up my phone and told him that I was sorry, but already in bed. I couldn’t possibly pretend to be mad at him even if I have some suspicions about Jessica.

On Friday, we had our weekly staff meeting and I was going to present some mockups for the watercolor artist collaboration to see if anyone thought it would be worth it. 

After I presented, Whitney insisted she share some ideas she’s working on. It really annoyed me because she is supposed to be assisting me with my ideas, not coming up with her own. We are a team, not in competition. She started with the “discount furniture bazaar” idea and talked about how we could be exposed to a ton of clients who had never heard of us. Duh. Because people who can afford our stuff don’t shop at flea markets.

I raised my hands and expressed my concerns about the message it would send if we were being associated “discount.”

Before Whitney could respond, Dave said, “You know, it might actually be good for us. We don’t want to come off as a snobby company. If we make our products available to people who are price conscious, it will show humility.”

I didn’t say anything. Did I mention that I’m a control freak? I am in charge of all marketing and promotion and I know what’s best for the company. I can’t let this flea market shit go down.

Brady called around 7:30 and invited me over. I stuffed some clothes and toiletries in my bag and headed over there.

“Welcome,” Brady said, letting me in. He was still in his clothes from work and I realized that I missed him on the one day we didn’t get to hang out.

“Hello,” I chirped, hugging him. He nuzzled his face in my neck and I felt a tingle rush down between my legs. I pulled away and kissed him. “How was your day?”

“It’s Friday so I can’t complain. Do you want a beer?”

I followed him into the kitchen and he grabbed two beers while I poured a glass of wine. We took our libations to his room and sat there talking about our days. I steered clear of complaining about Whitney because clearly he would take her side. Eventually he said he was going to take a quick shower and I changed into sleeping clothes and got in bed.

I noticed his phone sitting on the night table next to me and I casually picked it up. His background picture was of a German Shepherd dog which I couldn’t decide if I thought was cute or weird. It honestly should have been a picture of me. I was surprised that when I slid to unlock his phone that he didn’t have a passcode so I had full access to everything. I honestly didn’t expect to find anything though. 

I looked through the apps he had downloaded, all normal things like his bank, Google Maps, GroupMe, etc. I opened his messages: Me, Mom, Chris… Then I saw the thread with Jessica. I couldn’t even stop myself from opening it.

All the messages were very innocent – at first. Things like “Have a good weekend.” and “The fourth floor is crazy right now.” Mostly Jessica sending messages and Brady responding. Very one sided. I scrolled up more and saw conversations about sports that I didn’t even bother reading because they were so long and I don’t even care about sports. I kept scrolling up until I saw a picture. Jessica sent it – it was of her in a tight black dress taken in a full length mirror.

“Going out tonight. Do you like my outfit?” she’d captioned.

Brady responded, “Looks great.”

I kept scrolling up and then I came upon another picture from Jessica. In this one she was in the same mirror, but she was completely naked. I could see everything – her huge tits (I thought my boobs were pretty big, but hers take the cake), faint bikini tan line, landing strip, and tiny hip tattoo. There was no caption and Brady responded, “Very nice.” I checked the date – May 24. Before Brady and I even met.

I continued refreshing older messages and finding more nude pictures. All from Jessica. She would change her pose up – one where she was touching her vagina, another showed a close up of her boobs and face with her finger in her mouth. Brady always responded with something like “Nice” or “Looks good.” I felt like I was suffocating. I know it all happened before we had even met, but obviously he and Jessica have sexual history and he didn’t bother telling me.

I heard the shower turn off and I quickly sent two of the naked pictures to myself then hopped out of bed. I was embarrassed and hurt, but mostly really fucking pissed off.

I was waiting outside the door when Brady emerged from the shower. He was just wearing a towel around his waist and had water dripping down his chest. I held up his phone with a shaky hand.

“What the fuck?” I said slowly because I couldn’t even think of anything else to say.

Brady looked confused. “What?”

I opened one of the naked pictures and showed it to him. He looked at it blankly.

“I can’t fucking believe this.”

He walked passed me and sat on the bed.

“How could you introduce me to Jessica and fail to mention that you guys have had some sort of sexual relationship in the past?”

Brady didn’t say anything.

“No wonder she’s been giving me condescending looks. Y’all are probably still hooking up,” I said.

“No,” Brady said calmly.

“Did you fucking have sex with her?” I demanded.

“No!” he exclaimed as if that was the most ridiculous conclusion I could’ve come to after seeing the pictures.

“Then what happened?”

When he didn’t answer, I said, “And don’t say ‘nothing’ because that’s a fucking lie.”

“Once,” he said, quietly. “We went in an empty patient room. And she…” He trailed off.

“She what?”

He started making gestures with his hands that told me he didn’t know what to say.

“She sucked your dick?” 

Brady sighed. “Yeah.”

“You’re fucking gross,” I glared at him.

I suddenly remembered back to the night of the charity event when I tried to have sex with him in the bathroom and he told me no. He couldn’t hook up with me at a work event, but he could hook up with Jessica at work? I don’t know if I overestimated him or underestimated him. I thought he was too mature and conservative to do such a thing in a public place, but clearly he was very capable of it.

“I owe you a huge apology. I withheld that information because I am not proud of it. I understand why you’re upset and you deserved to know.”

I crossed my arms across my chest.

“I’m terribly sorry. I’m really embarrassed,” Brady said.

“You’re embarrassed?” I seethed. “Imagine how I feel. You’re flaunting Jessica in my face knowing what happened between y’all. Do you understand how stupid it makes me look? Now the b-day comment and the thigh touching all makes perfect sense.”

Brady’s brow furrowed.

“Is there anything I can do to remedy this situation?” he asked very calmly.

“No!” I screeched. And then I became aware of the delicate iPhone in my hand. No protector case or passcode? Silly Brady. “Have a nice life!”

I threw the phone with all of my strength on the tile bathroom floor and heard a painful sounding crack. I grabbed my bag and stormed out of there while Brady watched me, but didn’t try to stop me.  

I got in my car and took a few deep breaths. It wasn’t until I started driving that I realized that yes, I was mad as fuck, but I was actually way more hurt. I like Brady. Way more than I ever planned to.

Even though my eyes felt hot with tears and I had a dry lump in my throat, I wasn’t going to let myself cry. Fuck that. 

I already know what y’all are going to say. Bring it on.

Standard

the most thoughtful gift.

When I got to work on Tuesday, Diana called me into her office.

“How was your weekend? You had a ton of fun, I imagine,” she said when I sat down.

“I did,” I said, smiling. “It was also my birthday so I celebrated.”

“Well, you’re here in one piece so that’s a great sign.”

I’m glad that even after everything, Diana and I still have a great relationship.

“So, I know you have a lot on your plate right now. You’re taking on so much extra work lately and Dave and I really appreciate you.”

“Yeah. My plate is very full,” I admitted.

“To help take some weight off your shoulders, we have promoted Whitney into a brand new position that was created just for her.”

I was silent so Diana continued explaining.

“Brand strategy manager. She will continue overseeing social media, but in addition, she will work alongside you with branding.”

I blinked.

“I just wanted to run this by you since I know you and Whitney have not always seen eye to eye.”

How did Whitney weasel her way into a promotion? And yes, I was swamped with work, but that’s the way I liked it. I didn’t want help, especially from Whitney.

“Okay,” I said, sweetly.

“You’re okay with this?” Diana looked kind of surprised. 

What was the alternative? Refusing to work with Whitney and looking like an uncooperative brat?

“Don’t worry, Diana. We will make it work,” I enthused.

Immediately after the meeting, Whitney stopped by my office.

“I already have a ton of ideas for marketing pitches. We’ve been lacking in a few areas so I created a file outlining everything. I just emailed it to you,” she said.

I gave her the fakest, syrupiest smile I could muster. “Thanks. I’ll look at it.”

Keyword: look. Right before I moved it to the trash.

Later that evening, Brady and I met for dinner and drinks. I told him about Whitney’s promotion and how annoyed about it I was.

“Don’t be annoyed. At least you’ll be getting some relief from all the work you have to do,” he said.

“I don’t want relief,” I glared.

“It will allow you more time to invest elsewhere. Perhaps spend more time on each project instead of juggling multiple things at once…”

“I don’t want that,” I said sharply. “Everything is perfect as is. I don’t need help.”

Brady saw how irritated I was getting and took a bite of his food. I considered what he said and started thinking of all the upsides. I could treat Whitney like my own little personal assistant. I mean, I have been wanting one. I could keep her so busy with running my errands that she wouldn’t have any time to work on branding. Perfect.

Brady interrupted my thoughts.

“So did you free your schedule for the 19th through 21st?” he asked. 

I wrinkled my nose in confusion. “No. Why?”

He looked at me blankly. “Did you not open the gift I got you?”

I had spent so much time at work and Brady’s that I completely forgot about the little white box he gave me the night of my birthday. It was still tangled up in my sheets.

“No. I completely forgot about that,” I admitted.

A look of disappointment flashed over his face briefly. 

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you look at it when you get home?” he suggested, taking a drink from his beer.

I feel awful about completely disregarding his gift. I should’ve opened it that night.

Brady came home with me and I hurried to find my gift. It was exactly where I left it, tossed carelessly on the bed. I tore open the box and single piece of paper fell to the bed. When I picked it up, I saw that it was the flight information for a trip to Houston, TX. For me. I didn’t say anything for a moment and Brady spoke up.

“I know you don’t get to see your family often so I’m forcing you to go.”

My heart felt too big for my chest and I actually thought I was going to cry. It is probably the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever gotten from a guy. He didn’t book a romantic trip for the two of us, he booked a trip for me.

“That’s…very thoughtful,” I said, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

Brady sat next to me. “I know your family misses you. Go surprise your parents. They will be ecstatic.”

“They will be.” I threw my arms around him and hugged him, hoping he took it as a thank you. 

I know his gift isn’t extravagant or anything I’ve been asking for, but I would never go home if he hadn’t bought me that plane ticket. And I’m actually really excited. 

We hooked up and fell asleep after that. I was woken up in the morning by Brady who quickly got out of bed. I pulled the comforter over my head while I heard him getting ready. He shouted goodbye and I mumbled something back before he shut my door. 

I fell back asleep for little while longer, but my ringing phone woke me up. It was from an unknown Chicago number and even though I usually don’t pick up unknown numbers, I answered it.

“Hey, it’s me,” I recognized Brady’s voice on the other end.

“Hi,” I said sleepily.

“I was in such a hurry that I left my phone on your nightstand,” he said.

I glanced to my right and saw his black iPhone sitting there.

“Do you think if you have time today, you could bring it to me at work? It’s kind of important.”

“Sure,” I said, smiling. I loved the fact that he was asking me for a favor. And if his phone was with me, how did he get my number to call me? He must have it memorized. We’re practically engaged. 

I told him that I would most likely take a break at around 12:30 and he told me to use the south entrance and let the receptionist know to page him.

His phone was dead so his alarm didn’t go off which explained why he woke up late. I put it in my bag to take to him later. 

When I got to work, Whitney was already working away at her desk.

“Reese!” she exclaimed. “I have a meeting set up for us today.”

“Okay. Who with?”

“I found this discount furniture bazaar that I think would be really good for us. It would be something a little different.”

“Discount furniture bazaar,” I repeated. While our stuff isn’t luxury by any means, I wouldn’t put it in the discount category. What kind of message would it send to our customers if we had stuff at some sort of flea market?

“Yes. I want to get some more information before presenting it to Dave and Diana. We’re meeting them at 2:00.”

“I’m busy at that time,” I lied. I actually wanted nothing to do with this foolishness she was trying.

“Oh darn,” Whitney said, not looking at all disappointed. “Well, I’ll let you know how it goes.”

Later that morning she came in my office.

“I was thinking since the last warehouse sale went so well we could do it twice a year. The next one could be around the holidays and we could turn it into sort of an event with other vendors and stuff,” Whitney said.

“I think the way we do the warehouse sale now is fine,” I replied.

“It is, but I thought it would be cool to spice it up a bit. I’m going to start planning it and send you what I come up with.” 

An hour later, she CC’d Diana and me in an email with a sample flyer for the holiday warehouse sale. Diana immediately emailed her back: “Interesting idea Whitney. Please send more info.”

I was so fucking irritated that Diana was even entertaining this. I grabbed my bag and headed off to meet Brady.

I got to the hospital and asked the receptionist to call him then I stood there talking to her because her eyebrows were awesome and I had to know who did them. She tried to tell me that they were natural which was an obvious lie. When I told her I didn’t believe her she pulled up a #TBT picture on Instagram. Same brows at thirteen. Whatever.

I sat down and waited for a few minutes until I spotted Brady walking down the hall toward me. And he was with Jessica. I can’t believe that after Saturday night he had the nerve to show up with her. I watched as they slowly walked down the wide white hallway, chatting and laughing. Brady was in dress clothes, a white coat and glasses, while Jessica wore bubblegum pink scrubs and a high ponytail. Bitch. 

“Hey. Thanks so much for coming,” Brady greeted me with a one armed hug.

“No problem,” I said sweetly and handed him his phone.

“You caught us just as we were heading to lunch,” Jessica said with that condescending ass smile on her face.

“Oh?” I looked at Brady.

“Yeah, we will probably just grab something quick from the cafeteria,” he said.

“Are you on lunch break too then?” Jessica asked.

“I don’t really have a set lunch break. I just come and go as I please,” I said.

“Nice,” Jessica smiled.

“Do you want to go down to the cafeteria with us?” Brady asked.

“No,” I said immediately and gave him a chilly look. “I actually have a lot to do and I put it all on hold to come here.”

“I do appreciate it,” Brady said.

“It’s not a problem. You can just repay me later.”

“How about I treat you to lunch?”

I glanced at Jessica who was watching the encounter with the smile still on her face. Ugh, she’s so weird.

“Okay. I could probably spare half an hour,” I said nonchalantly.

Brady smiled. “Great. You choose the place.”

He started toward the door without acknowledging Jessica so I waved at her before we walked out. We went across the street to a little Mexican place and got tacos because they were quick and we both really did need to get back to work. I asked him if he and Jessica frequently got lunch together. 

“No, it was a coincidence that we were both going to the cafeteria at the same time today,” he said. 

“Coincidence?” I repeated, hoping he would elaborate some more.

“Usually I work through lunch.”

“So do I,” I said.

Sometimes Brady is so oblivious that I think there is no way he could have anything going on with Jessica. It makes me feel like I’m crazy for even thinking it when Brady is so calm and cool about it. He is so casually unconcerned about her so I feel like their relationship is one sided. Not only that, but it took him forever to even have sex with me and we were dating. Even though Jessica seems like a thirsty skank, I just can’t see how anything could happen. Now I sound so naive. I don’t know what to think.

Standard

what an impression.

I spent the night with Brady on Sunday night and brought over my things I needed to get ready to meet his parents. I decided to go for a Blair Waldorf inspired look so I wore a structured black baby doll dress, Michael Kors Mary Jane pumps and a delicate gold watch.

We were supposed to meet his parents at 2:30 north of the city and I started getting really nervous while I waited for Brady to get ready. I went to the kitchen and broke into the wine cellar to help ease my nerves. I really hoped they didn’t want to talk too much.

I was three glasses in when Brady was finally ready to go. I grabbed a bottle of water and we were off.

“So what are your parents like?” I finally asked on the car ride there.

“Well, they are both very much invested in what they do. They are really into politics and current global events. It’s funny, they make time to watch the news together everyday, usually as soon as it comes on at 5:00 AM.”

Okay, I obviously know nothing about any global events so I hoped that wouldn’t come up.

We pulled up to a small restaurant right off the lake and I hoped that the bottle of water and almost hour drive had made most of the wine wear off. I wanted to take the edge off, but not be a hot mess. I felt fine when we got out of the car and gave myself a pep talk as we crossed the parking lot. This wasn’t a job interview. This was Brady’s parents who were probably just as cool and chill as he is.

We were almost to the door when a couple walked out of the restaurant. I recognized them from Google as Brady’s lovely parents.

His dad looked like he was straight out of a St. John’s Bay ad with an olive green polo, plaid shorts and boat shoes. He had a head full of salt and pepper hair, the same baby blue eyes as Brady and a pair of sunglasses hanging from a string around his neck. Brady’s mom was significantly shorter and had a powerful looking strawberry blonde bob. She wore a pair of knee length khaki shorts, a wrappy blouse and leather flip flops. Overall they looked pretty modest, but I know they have to have money. 

“Hi son!” his mom exclaimed and I watched their affectionate reunion awkwardly.

When they were finished they all turned to me.

“This is Reese,” Brady said.

His mom smiled and stuck her hand out for me to shake. Suddenly I got really intimidated and I rarely get intimidated. Could she tell that I was sitting on her son’s face just hours before? “Nice to meet you, Reese!”

“Nice to meet you as well,” I said, shaking her hand back. 

“How are ya?” his father asked shaking my hand. We made eye contact and he winked at me and suddenly I really liked him. He wasn’t intimidating at all.

“Our table should be ready now. Shall we go sit?” Brady’s mom asked.

We got inside and sat down and Brady’s dad ordered a bottle of expensive white wine. His parents ordered lobster tail (clearly not modest) and Brady and I got grilled tiger prawns and vegetables.

“So Reese, where are you from?” Brady’s dad asked while we waited for our food to arrive.

I had already taken a big gulp of my wine so I hurried to swallow. “I’m originally from suburban Texas.”

“Where did you go to college?” his mom asked.

“I graduated from ASU.”

“Is that…Arizona State?” she clarified, looking confused.

I nodded. So what if it isn’t Yale or Harvard? She didn’t have to judge.

“Brady tells us you work in marketing,” dad said.

“Yes. I’m the director of branding for a home decor company here in the city. I oversee all of the advertising efforts and any brand collaborations,” I explained.

“Is it a company we would know?” mom asked.

“We are found in a lot of retailers around the nation, but we only have our one showroom. We’re in select Nordstrom stores, if you shop there.”

“So are you a startup?” she asked, looking confused.

I shook my head. “No. We’ve been around for several years.”

“Hmmm,” she murmured as if she still wasn’t quite sure what I meant.

“So, being from Texas and living in Arizona for a number of years, how do you feel about what’s going on at the border?” dad asked me.

So it was starting. What border? The US/Mexico border? I took a drink of wine so I could stall and come up with a politically correct answer.

“I just really hope the conflict at the border ends soon and everyone is happy,” I said.

“Well, who did you vote for in the last presidential election?” he asked.

Maybe we weren’t friends after all. I didn’t even fucking vote because I thought both candidates sucked. I wished I would’ve paid attention when Googling his parents to whether his dad was a Democrat or Republican. I thought because they’re obviously rich and seemed conservative that they might be Republicans, but I remembered learning in my political science class in college that most or all of New England are Democratic states. But I failed that class and had to retake it so I don’t know. I looked at Brady for a clue, but he was looking back at me expectantly like he was wondering too.

“I voted for Obama,” I said finally.

Brady’s mom scrunched her face up, bewildered. “Why?”

Wrong answer.

“I really appreciated the passion he had for this country and wanted to give him the opportunity to tie up any loose ends during his second term,” I said, impressing even myself with the bullshit.

“Do you think he did a good job his first term?” Brady’s dad asked.

“I don’t think he did any worse than either of the Bushes,” I said and downed the rest of my wine.

Brady’s parents looked at each other.

“What do your parents do?” Brady’s mom asked.

“My father works in finance for an energy company and my mother owns a business,” I answered proudly.

“Your mother owns a business and you voted for Obama?” the mom gasped. The look on her face was almost comical.

I looked at Brady and gave him an SOS signal with my eyes. It took him a moment to figure out what it meant, but when he did figure it out, he acted quickly.

“Mom, would you like another glass of wine?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, sounding relieved. 

Our food came so luckily that conversation ended. They asked how we met and Brady and told them the story. Brady spent the rest of the meal talking about his job and the hospital and I was glad the attention was off me.

After Brady’s dad paid for everything, we walked outside to go to the party. His parents were walking a few feet ahead of us and Brady and I fell into step together.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked.

“Besides being grilled by your parents, I’m fine,” I said.

“Yeah, they’re pretty big Republicans. I probably should’ve metioned that.”

“That would have helped.”

“It’s okay though. Even if you don’t share the same view as them, they like that you have your own opinion and that you actually voted.”

I laughed and realized I was tipsy. “I actually didn’t really vote.”

Brady laughed too. “Dammit Reese.”

We boarded the yacht and immediately got complementary glasses of champagne. Since I was already feeling tipsy, I decided that I would have one glass and no more. I don’t know who was hosting the party, but there were a lot of older people on the yacht, dancing and talking and mingling. We grabbed a spot to sit on a striped couch.

“So, I hear you just had a birthday. What did you guys end up doing to celebrate?” Brady’s mom asked.

I suddenly remembered all the nasty hickeys I left on Brady’s neck and body and noticed that he’d worn a shirt buttoned all the way up to the collar to hide it. I smirked. 

“We had dinner with Reese’s friends,” he answered.

They continued asking random questions as the yacht took off into the lake. I was enjoying being on the water and even took a few pictures for Instagram (no drunk selfies though). About thirty minutes into the ride I started to feel weird. I figured it was from all the wine and champagne so I pushed my glass away and took a few deep breaths.

That didn’t help. I could feel every move the boat made and it was making me nauseas and dizzy. I tugged at Brady’s sleeve.

“I don’t feel well,” I whispered.

He was busy talking to his dad and ignored me. My entire body felt hot and my mouth was salivating like I was going to vomit. I swallowed a few times but the feeling didn’t go away.

“Brady,” I said, whacking his arm. He quickly spun around toward me. “I need to go to the bathroom, I’m sick.”

I stood up as Brady asked if I was okay. I held my hand up to signal that I was fine then scurried down to the cabin of the boat. Luckily, I found a bathroom just in time and slammed the door just before puking in the toilet. I started sweating as I kneeled in front of the porcelain throne. I started dry heaving and I heard a knock on the door.

“Reese?” Brady’s mom called. “Are you okay?”

Jeez, couldn’t I barf my brains out in private? I began throwing up again so I couldn’t answer.

“Reese?” she called again.

“I’m fine!” I gasped finally, hoping she would go away.

I vomited twice more and hugged the toilet for a few more minutes. I started to feel better so I heaved myself up and checked the mirror. I still felt a little bit icky, but it seemed like I was done throwing up. I quickly fixed my hair and dabbed my makeup in the mirror. Even though Brady’s mom had intruded on my barf sesh, I didn’t need everyone to know that I was seasick.

I opened the door to the bathroom and Brady’s mom was standing there waiting with a concerned look on her face. I was caught off guard that she was still waiting.

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said quickly.

“Reese, you aren’t…pregnant, are you?” she asked, sounding disgusted at the word.

I smiled. Pregnant? Yeah right. Brady and I have only been having sex for two weeks. “Of course not. I think I just have motion sickness.”

She looked at me skeptically. “Are you positive?”

“Yes. I probably had too much wine. There is no way I could be pregnant.”

“Okay.”

Suddenly, I was really irritated with her. Like it was my fault that the yacht was doing whatever the fuck it wanted to and made me sick.

“How long until this thing turns around and goes back to dry land?” I asked, walking past her.

“Probably another hour or so. I’m sure we can find someone with Dramamine, although if you’re hungover then that won’t help matters.”

Shade. 

“I’m not hungover.”

I walked back up the stairs in front of her and found Brady and his dad on the couch where we left them. Brady stood up.

“Reese, are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, waving him away. I sat back down and started digging through my bag to find gum.

“Brady, go find her something to calm her stomach,” mom said.

“I don’t need anything,” I insisted but Brady was already on his way. So I was alone with the crazy Republicans.

“No one else has motion sickness,” Brady’s mom said, looking around the boat. “And the lake is fairly calm. So I think it is odd that you got sick.”

“You’re feeling better now, Reese?” Brady’s dad asked and he actually sounded genuinely concerned.

Brady appeared just as I said yes.

“Hey. I found a generic dimenhydrinate. Low dosage since you seem to be feeling better,” he explained and handed me a pill. 

“What did you say this was? I don’t want to be taking random drugs.”

Brady and I made eye contact and he smirked at me, like we were sharing an inside joke. I took the pill dry and we all sat back down and everything settled down.

“Why did you move to Illinois, Reese?” Brady’s dad asked.

“I love Chicago,” I said as if that was explanation enough.

“Texas is such a great place to live. The government is great, the taxes and cost of living are well below average… Illinois is just so corrupt,” dad said.

Brady’s mom nodded in agreement. “And it isn’t getting any better. That’s why we want Brady to come on home. Massachusetts is a wonderful state.”

I looked at Brady for a reaction. I remember he mentioned that he was considering moving home, but only once and he never spoke about it again. He kind of shrugged and took a drink from his bottle of water.

By the time the yacht finally got back to the dock, I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. I hadn’t said anything for the last forty five minutes which has to be some sort of record.

“Well, it was very nice meeting you,” Brady’s mom said as we were preparing to say our goodbyes in the parking lot. And then to my surprise, she actually hugged me. It felt very strained and cold, but I at least appreciated her attempt to be more welcoming to me. I mean, since I’m going to be the mother of her grandchild apparently.

On the ride back, Brady apologized about his parents interrogating me but despite how they may have came off, he believes they like me.

I already know, I should have never mentioned Obama.

Standard

halfway to fifty.

My birthday festivities started on Friday evening with an outlandish shopping spree with Preston and Carly in the suburbs. My parents transferred a ton of money into my bank account in lieu of a gift so I thought I would reward myself with a few new pieces.

I’m not even going to talk about how much I spent, but I found the perfect birthday dress plus a cute matching bra and panty set to wear for Brady after (and a bunch of things I needed for fall).

On Saturday, Carly surprised me with a mani/pedi/facial which was much needed. The spa had complementary champagne so we guzzled down that down while we gossiped. By the time we got out of there it was time to get ready for dinner so we met Preston at my apartment. We took shots (because birthday) and got ready with the music blasting.

Brady and Chris met us at my apartment so we could all taxi to the restaurant.

“You look very nice,” Brady said, following me into my room.

I was tromping around trying to find my clutch and said, “Thanks.”

I finally found it and headed toward the door.

Brady stepped in front of me to stop me from walking out. “Hey, I got you something.”

He handed me a small, white rectangular box. It was very light so I had no idea what it could be. 

“Thank you,” I said, hugging him. We pulled apart and kissed briefly so I didn’t get my pink lipstick all over him.

“The cab is here!” Pauly D Preston called from the living room.

I tossed the box on the bed to open later and we headed downstairs. Preston reserved a table at a fancy fusion restaurant and when we got there, there was a bottle of white wine chilling on the table.

Derrick and one of his friends were already there. Ugh. I thought after the big fight we had, he would’ve been too scared to show his face. Apparently not.

“Happy birthday, Reese,” Derrick said, standing up to greet me. He tried to grab me to hug me, but I stepped to the side to avoid him.

“Thanks Derrick!” I said with mock enthusiasm.

His face kind of fell as I walked past him and took my seat at the head of the table. All of our friends were there including two girls I used to work with showed up along with one of Preston’s exes. We had a nice dinner then Preston brought out the most delicious looking chocolate cake that had “Happy Halfway To 50 Reese!” written in pink. I was most offended that he would tempt me with the cake knowing my dress wasn’t going to allow me to have any. Asshole.

After dinner, the five of us plus Derrick and his friend headed to a rooftop to drink. Brady insisted on opening a tab for all of us because it was my birthday and why not? Naturally we started with tequila. I also ordered a beer and a martini and after I finished them, Carly and I took the obligatory trip to the ladies room. I told her how annoyed I was that Derrick showed up and she said that I needed to show him that Brady and I are together because obviously he wasn’t getting the message.

“So, I need to make out with Brady in front of him?” I clarified.

“Yeah, or something. And Brady will enjoy the PDA,” she smiled sinisterly.

We got back out there and found the guys near the bar. Brady and Derrick were standing next to each other which was already uncomfortable enough. 

“Heyyy, babe,” I cooed, throwing my whole body into him and then kissing him loudly. 

“Hey, do you want another drink?” Brady asked.

I glanced at Derrick to make sure he was watching and he was. I nodded.

“Be right back,” Brady said.

As soon as he walked away, Derrick said, “Are you doing this on purpose?”

I feigned surprise. “Doing what?!”

“You know what, Reese,” he said, looking annoyed.

“I honestly don’t. I’m just trying to enjoy my birthday.”

Derrick was silent for a minute and I glanced behind me to see if Brady was on his way back. I couldn’t see him in the crowd.

“Reese,” Derrick said.

I turned back to look at him and raised my eyebrows as if to say, “Hmm?”

“Reese, I like you.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” I said, dismissively.

“And you know I like you,” he continued. “Does it make you feel good to throw your ‘boyfriend’ in my face? Because I think that’s a real bitch thing to do.”

I felt my face getting hot and my hands balling into fists at my side involuntarily.

“Excuse me?” I said to make sure he wanted to open this can of worms.

“Nothing,” Derrick sighed. “We’re going to go ahead and go. I hope you had a great birthday.”

He signaled his friend and they started to walk away.

“Bye Derrick! Thanks for coming!” I called after him sweetly. Then I remembered him not being able to get it up back in college and started laughing at the irony.

He turned back around and gave me a cold look, obviously catching my joke.

Brady came back with my signature drink – tequila and orange juice – and we met back up with Carly, Preston and Chris to take shots. After that, Brady and I ran off to dance and kiss and flirt and nurse our drinks. We were both super drunk and super horny and really couldn’t keep our hands off each other.

We were headed to the bar to get more drinks (which we didn’t need at all), when someone shrieked “Braaaaaddddyyyyy!”

It wasn’t until a blur of blonde hair flashed in front of me that I realized someone was actually shrieking at Brady. And that someone was the Jessica girl who I met at the charity event. She threw her arms around his neck and held him for three seconds longer than I was okay with. Then pulled away but kept an arm slung on his shoulders. “I didn’t know you were coming here tonight.”

“Yeah, it’s Reese’s birthday,” Brady said.

Jessica looked down at me with that shit eating grin on her face. “Hey. Happy b-day.” 

She touched my arm lightly, almost in a pitying way. And who says “b-day” out loud? It was like she was trying to downplay my birthday intentionally.

“You know Kelsey and Rach,” she said motioning toward her two friends standing nearby. They were two plain ass, vanilla white girls just like Jessica.

Brady gave them a head nod and Jessica said, “Reese, we should take a shot for your b-day!”

“We were actually headed to the bar right before you ambushed us,” I deadpanned. 

The five of us walked to the bar and Brady ordered us some fruity shot on his tab. It irritated me because he was supposed to be paying for drinks for me and my friends, not this bimbo and her ugly friends.

“Brady, I was telling Kelsey what you told me on Thursday. About the changes to the state board test,” Jessica said.

“Mmm, yes,” he replied and the three of them started talking about tests and licenses and certifications. Brady was being very professional and formal, but Jessica and her drunk friends kept giggling and interrupting and being so obnoxious. Like go away.

Eventually, I got really irritated and walked in between Brady and Jessica to the bar to get a glass of water.

“Well, we’ll let you guys enjoy your night,” I heard Jessica say. “I’ll see you Tuesday.” And as she and Thing 1 and Thing 2 were walking away, I saw her hand graze the side of Brady’s thigh quickly, but deliberately. It was such a subtle action that most people wouldn’t have noticed, but it made my heart speed up and jump to my throat.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” I demanded after they were gone. 

Brady looked taken aback. “I don’t know.”

“I just think it’s really weird that she just so happened to be where we are,” I said.

“I mean, this place is quite popular. Look at how packed it is.”

I didn’t bother looking around as I felt hot tears forming in my eyes.

“I can’t believe she’s here. She ruined my birthday!” I cried.

“Baby,” Brady said gently and put an arm around me pulling me close. He had never called me that ever nor do I like being called pet names. Usually. His soothing tone and affection was actually exactly what I needed.

He kissed my forehead and held me right there for a few moments. “Reese, it’s okay.”

“I want to go home,” I sniffled.

“Okay. Let’s go tell our friends we’re leaving.”

Brady and I walked around until we found Carly, Chris and Preston huddled by the bar.

“Hey, we’re going to go,” Brady said to them.

“What’s wrong, doll face? You look upset,” Preston said, pulling me away from Brady.

“Well, that fugly girl Brady works with is here and she fucking touched his thigh and said ‘happy b-day’ to me,” I hissed.

“She touched his thigh?” Preston exclaimed. 

“Shh!” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Brady hadn’t heard. I wanted to confront him about it, but not right there.

Brady and I were walking away when Preston shouted, “Love you, Reesie Cup! Have a ton of birthday sex tonight!”

Brady turned and waved before we went outside and got a cab. Brady gave the cabbie his address and paid the man when we got out. When we got inside I immediately started getting undressed in the living room.

“Do you want water?” Brady asked, heading toward the kitchen. I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. He returned a moment later with two water bottles and sat one in front of me. He fell onto the couch beside me.

I took a long gulp of water then turned to Brady. “Take off your clothes.”

He didn’t even hesitate before pulling his shirt over his head and unbuckling his jeans. I reached over and pumped him a few times before climbing on.

I began bouncing up and down really hard while simultaneously sucking his neck and chest. He threw his head back and I continued sucking hard, purposefully trying to leave marks. I was crashing down on his dick too with force, like I was trying to prove to him and Jessica that he’s mine.

Brady squeezed my butt tight and tried to pull me off as his body tensed up. But I kept going until he grunted and relaxed. I could already see a swollen hickey forming on the side of his neck. Perfect.

“Wow,” he sighed, completely out of breath even though he really didn’t do anything.

I smiled at my accomplishment. We gathered our clothes and went to his room to get in bed.

“I’m sorry you didn’t have a good birthday,” he said once we were settled and laying side by side.

“It was okay,” I replied. Besides the whole Jessica ordeal and the fact that my best friend couldn’t make it, I’d had fun.

“Reese,” Brady put a hand on my naked waist. “I really like you.”

I beamed. Even though Derrick had uttered those exact words just hours before, it felt so much better coming from Brady.

“You’re amazing. I think I’m falling for you.”

I’ve never had a guy tell me they were falling for me and honestly, what does that even mean? I looked at Brady and his eyes were barely open, just small slits. He was obviously seconds away from passing out.

We woke up just before noon and I had a massive headache and a dry mouth. It could’ve been way worse though. Two points for Drunk Reese.

“Morning,” Brady said, turning toward me.

We kissed and then decided to shower to wash the club/bar filth off us. Obviously this turned into slippery shower sex and then he scrubbed me clean.

We got out and wrapped up in towels and I complained that I still felt like shit. My tummy was doing some crazy acrobatics. 

“Give me a second. I’ll make you something that’ll fix everything,” Brady said. He threw on a pair of sweats and disappeared into the hallway. 

I put on a t-shirt and some shorts and waited several minutes for Brady to come back. When he finally did, he had two glasses filled with an orangey liquid.

“This stuff works. I used to make it for the guys at the house all the time,” he said.

I grabbed a glass from him and asked, “What house?”

I took a sip of the drink. It tasted like orange juice, but I could also taste a hint of cilantro and carrot so it was really yummy and fresh. It burned a little bit going down so I could tell it was spiked with tequila.

“The fraternity house,” Brady said.

“You were in a fraternity?” I asked, surprised. Brady never, ever mentioned being in a fraternity to me. But that explained why he is so good at partying.

“Uh, yeah. Didn’t we talk about that?” 

I shook my head. “Never. I had no idea.”

We finished our drinks and Brady stood up to collect our glasses.

“Hey, my parents are going to be in the city tomorrow. Do you want to meet them?” he asked.

Brady must have saw how wide my eyes got because he quickly said, “It’s not a big deal. They’re going to a yacht party and wanted us to come. They’re cool.”

I waited a full thirty seconds before saying, “Okay.”

I don’t know what to expect from Brady’s parents. I know that they are pretty important people, but other than that nothing. I’m usually really good with parents (Kendra’s folks adore me), but what if they think I’m stupid and hate me?

Standard

ice.

Kendra showed up to happy hour late with John in tow on Wednesday and I was really annoyed. Happy hour is our chance to talk about guys, not hang out with them. The three of us got tapas and beer and started talking. Well, the two of them did. They started talking about people I don’t know so I pretended to be listening for a little while then I pulled out my phone and started texting. I decided that since apparently we were inviting our men to happy hour I was going to invite Brady too. He said that he was wrapping up a few last minute things but he would be there in thirty to forty five minutes. I love how accessible he is sometimes.

Just when I was considering gouging my eyes out with a fork, Brady showed up. I squealed and threw my arms around him when he showed up next to our table. We had just seen each other the day before, but whatever.

“Hi Brady,” Kendra said as he sat down.

It occurred to me that Kendra and Brady actually haven’t had much interaction except drunken bar nights.

Brady ordered a beer and we all started talking. Brady and John started talking about their jobs since they both work in hospitals. They were off in their own little world and I couldn’t break Brady away. I wanted to tell him how well a meeting went at work, but whenever I tried to pull him away from his new boyfriend, he would turn and smile and pat my knee like I’m some sort of impatient child.

Finally I excused myself to go to the restroom and dragged Kendra with me.

“Why is your boyfriend moving in on my boyfriend?” I demanded.

“I don’t know. I think they’re getting along nicely,” she said, reapplying her red lipstick.

“Well, it’s super inconsiderate that John is talking his ear off and I haven’t even had a chance to tell him about my day,” I said.

“Honestly, you should be happy they are getting along and you can bring Brady around your friends. We can do triple dates with Carly and Chris!” she enthused.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “I don’t want to do triple dates with y’all. I’m an adult.”

“You’re such a fucking brat, Reese,” she said and walked out of the bathroom.

The evening went on and Brady and John became instant BFFs. I was irritated, but I did enjoy seeing Brady talk to someone who is on his same wavelength and can talk with him about glucosamine and the metabolization of alcohol. It was pretty cute hearing him talk like that.

After happy hour, Brady came over. I dug out my pack of birthday cake Oreos and we sat on the couch eating them and watching Teen Mom 2. I finally got a chance to tell Brady about the exciting meeting and what I’ve been doing at work.

“I really like how passionate you are about your work,” he said. 

When he said that I realized that work is the only thing I am really passionate about. Well that and drinking. Brady is passionate about his work too, but he also likes to run (he told me he’s running a marathon in a few months. Didn’t invite me though, surprise!), and travel to other countries to help people, and other things that make him an all around good person. I really need to get some hobbies.

On Thursday, I had a meeting with a watercolor artist who I found on Pinterest/Etsy. I thought her paintings would be super cute in thick white frames and also printed on pillows. The girl was kind of greasy and smelled odd and was only interested in how much money she could make. I mean, I get it, but it just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

After work, I went to Brady’s. Can you believe I’m not tired of him yet? We’ve hung out everyday for the past few weeks. I’m pretty sure this is some kind of record. Chris was at work so Brady and I made drinks (ice, tequila, splash of Sprite, lime) and watched a movie in the basement. Brady made us each another cup after we finished and at that point I was pretty tipsy. We decided to play a drinking card game with our new drinks and as you can probably expect, I lost badly.

“Fuck this game,” I said, swiping the table so all the cards went flying.

Brady smirked at me with low eyes. “Poor sport.”

I flicked him off and went to the wet bar to make another drink.

“Get better at card games then you won’t have to worry about losing,” he called from the couch.

I tossed a piece of ice at him and hit him right in the back of the head. Before I could celebrate my victory, Brady was up and barreling toward me. I screamed and ran, but he caught me by my shirt and yanked me back. He pushed me against the granite counter so my back was to him.

“You want to play with ice, huh?” he taunted. 

I felt a cold ice cube on the middle of my back and I shrieked. Brady ran it up my spine and stopped at the back of my neck. I was shivering and squealing involuntarily and trying to slip away, but Brady had me pinned with his body.

“Let me go,” I whined just as he rolled the ice cube down my lower back.

“What? You are the one who wanted to do this,” he said innocently.

I reached behind me to try to claw him away, but Brady grabbed my wrist hard and slammed it back on the counter. He leaned down and kissed my neck really softly despite him trying to break my wrist just seconds before.

I let out some sort of moan/grunt and realized I was really, really turned on. I love aggressive Drunk Brady.

“Are you going to apologize?” he asked. 

I didn’t know if apologizing would make it stop and I didn’t know if I even wanted it to so I didn’t say anything.

Brady put another cold cube on the back of my neck and kept it in the same spot until it started to drip down and make me numb. He leaned down and licked the dripping water up and started sucking my neck. He pushed his hips into me so I could feel his boner. Literally almost orgasmed right there.

“Just say you’re sorry, Reese,” he said in my ear as he ran another ice cube down my back. 

Between his weight pushing me against the counter, the sensation of the cold ice cube and the fact that I was so turned on, I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.

When I didn’t say anything, Brady pulled my shorts down and put an ice cube on my butt cheek. I couldn’t help giggling.

“I’m…sorry,” I finally gasped.

“Are you?”

I heard his belt and then he rammed into me and started thrusting hard, a lot harder than usual, but I liked it. He grabbed a fistful of my hair with one hand and used the other to steady my hip while he plowed into me. Brady was going so much harder than usual like he was genuinely mad at me for throwing ice at him.

After that, we got dressed and fell asleep on the couch and didn’t wake up until the morning.

Standard

sexcapades.

I decided to tell my mother about my new car first then maybe she could break the news gently to my dad and soften the blow. She demanded I send her pictures immediately and then proceeded to obsess over how cute and perfect for her it was. She’s so crazy.

Right after we hung up, my dad called.

“You decided against the Altima, doll?” he asked.

“Yeah, they didn’t have what I wanted in stock. I just really feel like this car is perfect for my lifestyle. It’ll be good in the winter and the black will easy to be able to keep clean,” I over-explained myself.

“That’s great. I’m not even going to ask how much your insurance premium is, but you work very hard. You deserve it,” he said.

I couldn’t help smiling. My dad is so cute.

On Monday we had a meeting with some potential new investors at work. They wanted to know what direction the company is going in so I gave a really good thirty minute presentation about all the projects I’m working on. Afterwards, they asked a ton of questions so I think they really liked it. They met with Dave and Diana privately after that and I haven’t heard anything since. I hope it went good.

Brady called when he got off work to invite me over and I told him that I would meet him there. I have a car now I don’t need to rely on other people for rides.

When I got there Brady had his little work station set up in the dining room which was kind of annoying because he’s the one who invited me over.

“So how was your day?” I asked, sitting on the dining room table.

“Good. I just have a few things to finish up quickly,” Brady said as he sat back down in front of his laptop. I know he said he’s not a workaholic, but I’m beginning to think otherwise.

I sat there playing on my phone for a few minutes then I decided to go wait for Brady in his room naked. I wasn’t even halfway down the hallway when I heard Brady’s footsteps behind me. He grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’ll wait for you in your room,” I said.

Instead of saying anything back, he pushed me against the wall and started kissing me. His aggressiveness was so hot and I smiled even though we were making out.

“I guess you’re finished with work?” I said, pulling away.

He mumbled something, grabbed my shoulders and steered me into his bedroom. I turned around laughing and pulled him on top of me on the bed. Brady reached down and pulled my shirt over my head then hastily pulled my yoga pants and underwear down at once. He dipped down and ran his tongue down my tummy just below my belly button. He began kissing me everywhere except where I needed him to and it was agonizing. Apparently I’m not the only tease.

Finally he plunged his tongue into me and started working his magic. He persisted on, with much more dominance than normal, until I came hard. He stood up and reached into his night table and held up a foil condom packet proudly. After he slipped it on, he fucked me senseless. But instead of just thrusting in and out, Brady reached down between us and used his thumb to gently rub me. What a sensation.

Afterwards we climbed into bed, exhausted.

“You’re really different than any girl I’ve ever dated,” Brady said out of the blue.

“Mmhm. How so?” I asked, still a bit dazed.

“Just everything about you. Your attitude. The way you carry yourself. The way you talk. It is a quite refreshing change though. I enjoy your company,” he said.

I smiled at how politically correct it all sounded. Only he could make compliments sound like he was reviewing my qualifications for a job.

“Thanks. I think. So what kind of girls do you normally go after?”

Brady bit his lip like he was thinking. “Prissy New England girls.”

I raised my eyebrows but didn’t say anything so he continued.

“High maintenance, spoiled, gossipy… The exact opposite of you. You’re so chill and laidback.”

I have never been called laidback in my life and I don’t know if it’s a compliment or not. Maybe Brady doesn’t really know me after all.

We fell asleep sometime after that and I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I got back in bed and checked my email, Facebook and Pinterest for a few minutes. Then I felt Brady wrap his arms around me and press me against his body. He was hard. 

Without a word, he started kissing my neck and rubbing my pussy simultaneously. And then he slowly entered me from behind while still kissing my neck. Spooning sex. 

I never thought Brady and I would have such good sexcapades, but I am loving every second of it. 

Standard