I needed an outfit that said conservative pharmacist’s wife, but also fun-loving twenty four year old so I decided on a pair of white J. Crew shorts, an Alice + Olivia tank and a statement necklace. Carly came to pick me up at 4:30 on Friday and Preston was already in the car. She told me that I looked adorable and that today was the perfect day to redeem myself with Brady. I informed her that I didn’t care about Brady and I was just going for the food and booze. 

She smirked at me through the rearview mirror. “Oh please. If that was the case you would’ve just worn jeans and a topknot. I know you, Reesie.” 

She was totally right and I couldn’t even deny it. 

When we got to their place, Chris greeted us with hugs and cans of beer. He was obviously already completely drunk. 

“So glad you guys made it! Everyone’s out back,” he told us. We followed him into the dining room and out to the attached back patio. I immediately noticed Brady standing at the grill with his back to us. He was wearing shorts and I could see that he has amazing calves. How can one person be so perfect? 

Chris took us around and introduced us as his “friend” Carly and “her friends” Reese and Preston. I met a girl who works for a company that designs high end knobs, hinges, and drawer pulls so we talked for a while. I didn’t know in what way, but I thought she might come in handy one day so we exchanged business cards.

Afterwards, I found Carly, Chris and Preston huddled in a corner. We stood there talking for a while until Carly and I finished our beers. I offered to go get us more, but really I just wanted to “accidentally” run into Brady who I hadn’t seen since we first got there. I grabbed two beers and headed back and was happy to see that Brady had joined our group while I was gone.

“Hey,” I said, appearing next to him. I handed Carly her beer.

“Hey. I didn’t even know you were here,” he said.

I smiled. “Yep. I’m here.” 

“Enjoying yourself?”

“I am. You guys are great hosts,” I said. 

“Well, thank you. You’re welcome here anytime.” 

I didn’t know if that was an actual invitation or if he was just being nice, but either way my tummy did a flip. His tattoo was peeking out of his shirt again and I pointed at it, deliberately touching him when it wasn’t necessary.

“What’s this?”

He pushed his sleeve back revealing a huge intricate eagle with it’s wings spread and what looked like a date under it. But it wasn’t a regular eagle – it was kind of cartoonish and colorful. It was quirky. To me it showed that he doesn’t take himself too seriously and I liked that. I could only see half it and the rest snaked onto his shoulder. “In honor of my grandfather. He served twenty three years in the United States Navy. He passed away recently.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said genuinely. 

“No need to be sorry. He lived a fulfilling life. He left a legacy. He wouldn’t want anyone to be sorry.”

I nodded. 

“What about you? Are your grandparents around?” he asked.

I am fortunate because all four of my grandparents are still alive. I’ve definitely taken this for granted and I feel awful that I haven’t seen them in almost a year especially after hearing about Brady’s grandfather.

“They are actually all still around.” 

“Do they live in the city?”

I shook my head. “All of my family lives in Texas. That’s where I grew up.” 

“What brought you to Chicago?”

“I love this city. This is where I want to be.” 

“I love it here as well. I’m toying with the idea of moving back east though. That’s where home is for me.”

My heart sank. How are we going to get married if he moves hundreds of miles away? 

A girl across the patio shouted to Chris that all the beer was gone. This was a problem considering it was not even 6:00 PM.

“I’ll go get more booze,” Chris announced, pulled his keys out of his pocket and dropped them on the ground.

“You’re not in any position to drive anywhere. I will go,” Brady said.

Chris shrugged and shoved his keys back in his pocket. 

Brady turned to me. “Do you want to come with me?” 

“Yeah, go with him, Reese. Get some stuff we will like!” Carly enthused.

“Okay,” I said.

Carly winked at me before we walked off. Brady led us around the complex and into a garage. He unlocked a dark Audi sedan for us to get into. It looked nice and new, but not too flashy. It was sexy and kind of edgy, but conservative and understated like him. 

He drove us to a small liquor store on a corner and grabbed a shopping cart. 

“I’m going to grab the beer if you want to go pick out what you guys want,” he said.

I didn’t know what Carly wanted and I knew tequila was probably not a good idea so I finally just grabbed a bottle of moscato and met him at the cash register. I pulled out my credit card to pay for our wine, but Brady insisted on paying.

“A good host wouldn’t let you pay for your own wine,” he smiled.

I melted. 

Everyone cheered when we arrived back with the booze. I immediately poured Carly, Preston and me wine into red party cups and joined them at the patio table.

“The pharmacist is gorgeous, Reese,” Preston said. “And I think he likes you.” 

“Do you really think so?” I squealed.

“Well, he didn’t invite any of us on his beer run, did he?” Preston asked, matter-of-factly. 
 
We spent the next two hours sipping wine and people watching. Finally it got dark and a fireworks show began off in the distance. People began trickling out including Preston, whose billionaire boyfriend came to pick him up. Eventually it dwindled down to just Carly, Chris, Brady and me and two of their friends who helped Brady clean up. 

Carly and Chris started making out at the table and then got up. 

“Reesie Cup, we will be right back,” Carly said.

“Um okay. I’ll guess I’ll just stay out here by myself,” I said. 

“We won’t be long. Hang out with Brady!” she exclaimed. 

“Yeah, I’m sure he won’t mind,” Chris said. 

I rolled my eyes. I was getting tired and the alcohol was wearing off so I was just ready to go home. I sat out there for a moment then decided to go inside to find a phone charger. Brady was coming out as I was going in and we nearly collided into each other.

“Hi,” I said. “Do you have an iPhone 5 charger?” 

“I do.” He gestured for me to follow him and he led me down the hall to his plain, but very clean bedroom. My apartment may be a disaster most of the time but it’s important for my guy to be clean (gotta balance us out) so he won points with me here. 

“It’s right here.” Brady showed me the white cord dangling out of an outlet under the window.

“Thank you!” I said and walked past him to the window. I plugged my phone in while Brady stood in front of his dresser. It occurred to me that he brought me all the way to his bedroom when could have just grabbed the charger and brought it out to me.

We started talking about Carly and Chris and how she had been hanging out at their place the past few days. I told him that I was very excited that they were hitting it off since I was the one who kind of introduced them. He said that Chris recently got out of a serious relationship so he’s glad Chris is dating again.

“I’m guessing you’re single,” I said. I knew this not only from Facebook, but a guy in a relationship wasn’t going to accept a lapdance from a drunk girl like he did last weekend. 

“I am. You are as well?”

I nodded. 

“You’re beautiful and smart. I’m sure any guy would be lucky to have you,” Brady said.

I was so excited/flattered/turned on that I thought I would vomit. The fact that he called me beautiful and not hot or sexy cemented my adoration for him. I wanted to shout that he could be that lucky guy, but I just smiled instead. 

“What do you have planned for the rest of the weekend?” he asked me. 

I knew this was his chance to ask me out so I had to be available, but not too available. “I have a few things I may do, but nothing set in stone. What about you?”

“I’m actually running a 5k Sunday morning. I try to complete one every month or so.”

“That sounds fun. I want to run a 5k one day,” I lied. 

“There’s still time to enroll. Do you want to come?” 

Anyone who knows me that I’m not an athletic person. Working out for me includes doing 100-500 squats, as many crunches as I can (usually 25) and girl-on-top sex. I hate sweating in general. But the fact that Brady thought I could complete a 5k was pretty flattering.

“Okay, sure,” I said before I could stop myself. It couldn’t be that hard right? How far is a 5k anyway?

Brady told me where the race was then suggested we exchange numbers so we could stay in contact beforehand. We talked for a while longer until Carly came and found me and told me she was ready to go.

I turned to say goodbye to Brady and he patted my shoulder platonically. “See you Sunday.” 

Carly wanted to know what that was all about on the way to my apartment.

“We’re running a 5k together on Sunday,” I explained. 

Carly burst into laughter. “Reese, you’re running a 5k?” 

“What’s funny about that?” I asked, offended.

“Well, you don’t run is all. Do you even know how far a 5k is?” 

I shook my head. “No.”

“Like three miles! When’s the last time you even ran a mile? Or even half a mile?”

I considered this. It probably isn’t a good sign that I couldn’t even remember. Probably in college sometime? I don’t think I’ve ever run three miles straight. But I’m sure with the adrenaline of being with Brady will help a lot. 

Now I must prepare.