I made Kendra and Preston go to dinner with me on Monday so we could discuss birthday plans. It’s my twenty fifth birthday and between work and trying to make Brady fall in love with me, I haven’t had a chance to plan the extravagant ball I’ve always envisioned. Oh well. As long as I get to drink and wear a pretty dress I don’t care what we do.

“Let’s just have dinner and get drunk,” Preston said.

“John and I are going out of town. It’s Labor Day weekend,” Kendra said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “But it’s my birthday. That’s more important.”

“Quit being dramatic. We can get drunk anytime. And I’ll give you your gift beforehand.”

I couldn’t help smiling at her mentioning a gift.

“You know what size shoe I wear, right?”

Kendra rolled her eyes. “Yes, Reese.”

“So I’ll find a restaurant and make reservations. And I have the perfect place we can go afterwards,” Preston said. “You just show up looking like a vixen!”

I told them that I think I have a boyfriend and explained what happened on Saturday night. 

“Wow, you haven’t had a boyfriend since-” Kendra started.

“Don’t say his name,” I warned.

She said his name.

“Ugh. I don’t want to even think about him,” I sighed.

“It’s okay. We all have that one person where we’re like ‘what the fuck was I thinking?!'”

“That’s the thing. I know exactly what I was thinking. You guys didn’t get to see the real him. He was hot and funny and flirty and sweet. I like, loved him.”

“Yeah, too bad every girl in school felt the same way.”

Kendra was trying to be funny, but I didn’t laugh. He and I had the most ridiculous “relationship.” It was like my thing with Eric, but for months and months on end. And I was less mature and drank more back then so you can imagine the kinds of scenes I caused on campus. How fucking embarrassing.

“Well, you’ve learned your lesson, right? Don’t make the same mistakes with Brady,” Kendra said.

Of course. Because I was the one making mistakes, not my unfaithful “boyfriend.”

Kendra took me home after dinner and then Brady called. He had just gotten off work and I invited him over. I wondered if tonight was the night. I showered and put on a matching La Perla set just in case.

“Hi, how are you?” I said, letting him in.

“I’m exhausted. You look very nice,” Brady said and hugged me.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing a tank top and jorts, but maybe he could tell I had cute lingerie on underneath. I grabbed us waters and joined him on my couch.

“What happened today?” I asked.

He explained that he had spent the day running around trying to fix a patient complaint that was brought on by one of his colleagues. While he didn’t specifically call anyone out or place the blame, it was the first time I’d seen Brady kind of complain. And the little stress wrinkle in his forehead was so cute.

“But you worked everything out, right?” I asked, tugging at his tie. 

“Yeah, of course. It was just a long process,” he said.

I started untying his tie, hoping he would get the hint. “You poor thing.”

“How was your day?” he asked.

“It was okay. Let’s go to my room.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him to my room. I got on the bed and Brady followed, pushing me back with his body so we were laying side by side. 

We started kissing and he made his way down to my neck. His hand was positioned on my waist just below my boob and it felt like he was afraid to even touch me. Like, just grab my tit. You’ve already made out with my vagina so why not?

I got his shirt off and then reached down for his pants.

“Hey,” Brady said, pulling away slightly. “I’m kind of tired.”

I stopped and looked at him. He did look tired, but seriously? He was so tired that he didn’t want to hook up with me?

“Okay,” I said shortly and got out of bed.

I was so irritated that I went to the kitchen and dug the pack of birthday cake Oreos out of the back of my cabinet and wolfed two down. Then two more for good measure. I was completely at a loss as to why this keeps happening. But then I started thinking about how Brady told me he was exhausted and the story of his day. But still. Wouldn’t sex make it so much better? Whatever. I decided to offer him some Oreos before he went home.

Except he was already sleeping by the time I got back to my room. So maybe he really was tired.

I’m so fucking frustrated.