I was having so much fun hanging out with Brady that I forgot that during the week he works twelve to fourteen hours a day and is exhausted by the time he gets off. He has such a large workload that he can’t text a lot either. I needed a distraction and all of my usual friends were busy (Kendra with her new position at work, Preston with Mr. Murphy and Carly with Chris) so I had dinner and drinks with my college friend, Derrick, on Monday night.

This is going to sound weird, but I can’t really be friends with guys (straight guys anyway. I love my gays). Whenever I’ve had a guy friend, we started off fine as friends then end up hooking up or one of us starts getting feelings for the other. I think it’s because I don’t know how to talk to guys without being flirty. [does anyone else have this problem?]

Derrick had a big crush on me our sophomore year of college and I used to flirt with him just because I thought it was fun(ny). We ended up getting drunk and fooling around then ultimately decided we were better as friends. Obviously. He became one of my favorite drinking buddies though.

We met for sushi. He works in advertising here in the city so we talked about work a lot. We also talked about our college friends, most of whom I haven’t seen since we graduated so there was a lot to talk about. Derrick is one of those people you can not see for years but feel like no time has passed. He kind of gives off a Jake Gyllenhaal vibe, but cuter. 

“You’ve really grown up a lot since college. It’s crazy, you used to be such a party girl and now you’re a mature woman,” Derrick said once the night was winding down.

“Well, that was over two years ago,” I pointed out. “And don’t call say ‘mature woman.’ Makes me sounds like a grandma.”

“Stop that. You don’t look like a grandma. In fact, I think you’ve grown into your looks.”

I swatted him in the chest playfully. “Don’t be mean!”

“I’m not. You look great, honestly.”

He insisted on paying for everything then we headed outside.

“Let’s do this again, Reese,” Derrick said once we got outside. He put an arm around me and leaned down to kiss me, but I quickly turned my head so he caught my cheek/ear.

“Yeah, whatever,” I said.

We agreed that we would hang out again soon. I hope Derrick isn’t going to try this again because I’m not interested in him romantically whatsoever.

I left work early on Tuesday so I could meet Preston at Barney’s to look at dresses. We ended up spending two and a half hours in the dress department, trying on every single thing. The salesgirl kept trying to help us (probably to prevent the huge mess we would leave), but Preston told her that I’m an actress and he’s my personal stylist so we had it under control. She stopped bothering us luckily, but I didn’t even pick anything out. 

We went back to my apartment afterwards and started watching reruns of Chopped. I got a text from Brady around 7:30 saying that he had just gotten off and did I want to meet up. I didn’t even blink before responding, “Sure. You can come over.”

“Preston, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Brady’s coming over,” I said, getting up.

“Pardon me?” he gasped. “You’re kicking me out?”

“Yes. Doesn’t Mr. Murphy have a day trip to Jamaica or something planned?”

“No, but we’re probably going to have a ton of wild sex though. Jelly?”

I was jelly. I can’t wait for the day when Brady and I can have a ton of wild sex (is he even into wild sex? I bet he isn’t).

As soon as Preston left, I tidied up a bit. I threw out the copies of Cosmo I had on my coffee table and replaced them with an old marketing textbook from college, a leadership book I had to read for work and the Fifty Shades trilogy (the books are awful, but they’re all I had on hand and I wanted to show Brady that I actually read). 

When he got to my apartment I buzzed him in and waited for him to knock. A few minutes later there was a light, almost timid knock on the door. Of course Brady would knock shyly. I opened the door and he was standing there looking a-freaking-dorable in his dress clothes.

“Come in,” I said, opening the door wider.

Brady walked in and said, “I’ve never been up here. Pretty cool place.”

“Thanks, it’s a little small, but it works,” I said.

I showed him the kitchen, the little dining area, my bedroom, the bathroom then concluded with the living room.

“This is sufficient for one person. And I’m sure the location makes it worth it,” Brady said.

I grabbed us bottles of water and we sat on the couch talking. I asked him to tell me about work since he’s there so much. He explained having to do rounds and see all the patients, including the terminally ill ones which I think is sad. He said he has to walk a ton which is tiring and then since there are sick people the hospital is warm so he’s hot in his work clothes and lab coat all day. Poor guy. He said seeing the patients get better is worthwhile so overall he loves what he does. It made me feel like my job is pretty pointless because ultimately, who am I helping?

“You need a massage,” I told him, getting up. I gestured for him to follow me into the bedroom. “Take off your shirt and lay on the bed.”

“Wow, you mean business,” Brady said, untying his tie.

I rummaged through my closet to find some unscented lotion. Whenever I used to give my ex-boyfriend massages we would almost immediately have sex. There’s just something erotic about massages so I knew it was risky. But we were both sober and it has been long enough, so maybe tonight was the night. I wasn’t opposed to it.

Brady was laying on his back shirtless looking delectable and even though I was enjoying the view I made him flip over. I climbed on him and planted myself on his butt for optimum massage positioning. I squirted one pump of lotion in my hands, rubbed them together and lightly touched Brady’s back. He instantly relaxed.

I ran my hands along the length of his back and used my palms to apply pressure. I’ve been told that I give great massages, but honestly my little hands get tired after only a few minutes. Since it was my idea, I knew I had to last a little longer with Brady. I continued rubbing and kneading his back for a few more minutes. For a guy, Brady has unusually smooth and perfect skin. I really must find out his skin care routine.

“Better?” I asked once I felt like I had carpal tunnel.

“I feel like a new person,” Brady said. He flipped over so he was on his back and I was sitting on his crotch. My heart instantly started beating faster when I felt that he was hard.

“I’ve been told I give decent massages,” I said.

“I certainly agree with that. Where do I sign up for a once a week session?”

“Ask the receptionist when you leave.”

“Do you want to grab food or something?” Brady asked abruptly and for a moment I couldn’t tell if we were still in character.

I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I said, “Sure,” anyway.

We got up and he put his shirt back on while I changed into jeans and a top. We ended up getting froyo then we walked around my neighborhood for a little while. It was a little bit chilly so after we were done with our froyo, we held hands to warm each other up. 

It started to get late and Brady said he needed to be up early for work. He said he might be able to hang out again later this week and he would let me know.