A New Friend?

When I got home from work on Monday, Lauren was in the kitchen, swearing.  She looked up and smiled brightly at me as I shut the door and slid my boots off.  "I'm making tacos," she proclaimed proudly.

I laughed.  "Are they edible tacos?" I asked cautiously.

"Not even I can screw up tacos," she said, making a face at me.  "Go ahead and change or whatever you do after work.  It'll be done in 5 minutes or so."

I headed upstairs, calling down, "I could get used to this.  Coming home to dinner cooking...like you're my 1950s housewife!"

"Watch it, or no tacos for you!"  Lauren yelled back.

The tacos were indeed edible, and it was kind of nice to hang out with Lauren while we ate and cleaned up together.  "I was super productive today," she said, taking a freshly washed pan from me and drying it.  "I got the rest of my stuff unpacked and my room all organized, did some grocery shopping, cleaned the fridge and organized it so we know whose stuff is whose, and made us this delicious dinner."

"That's awesome, thank you for dinner and for taking care of the fridge," I replied, impressed.  Maybe this whole roommate thing wouldn't be so bad, after all.  Brody called while we were cleaning up, and when we were done, I went up to my room to call him back.

"How's Chicago?" I asked him, after we greeted each other.

"Cold," he replied.  I laughed.  "Neil and Pete have everything under control.  We're probably going to be here until Thursday, though.  I want to try to get back by Wednesday but I don't think it's going to happen."

"That's a bummer," I said, scrunching up my nose in disappointment.  "I guess I'll survive one more day without you."

He laughed.  "That's good.  You did just fine for 26 years of your life without me, what's another day?" 

"I think we need to have a conversation about what 'just fine' means in your world, because I'm not sure I agree with that statement," I replied. 

We talked for about 5 more minutes and then hung up, and I joined Lauren in the living room, where we watched TV together for about an hour before I went upstairs to get ready for bed and read for awhile.


On Wednesday, I hadn't heard anything from Brody indicating they were going to be back, so I assumed that he had been right and it would be Thursday.  A coworker invited me out for drinks after work, and I gladly accepted.  As many good things as I had to say about this job, this was the first time I'd gone out with coworkers.  People didn't seem as close and friendly here as at my old job.  I sent Lauren a text telling her that Brody wouldn't be back and I was going out, so it was her call if she wanted to stay at Alex's like she'd been planning to give Brody and I some space, or if she just wanted to stay at our house.

She texted back asking where we were going and saying she'd probably still go, but she'd talk to Alex and let me know.  I told her the name of the bar that my coworker told me and she said she'd never been there.  We texted back and forth a couple more times, then I got back to work.

I'd ridden the bus to work so I got a ride with a coworker when we left that evening.  His name was Josh and he had the office across the hall from mine.  We hadn't done much more than exchange pleasantries and have brief conversation about clients or the weather, but he seemed nice enough.

When we got to the bar, he offered to buy my drink but I politely declined.  He didn't seem at all bothered by that, and we joined the rest of the group that was trickling in at a table in the back.  I ended up sitting between Josh and a girl named Haley who was a little newer than me.  She turned out to be not terribly interested in talking to me, so Josh and I did a lot of chatting.  He was from Illinois, so we talked about the Midwest and relocating.  At one point, I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I got back, there was a new drink on the table at my spot.  Josh grinned at me and said, "Yours was gone.  Thought you might need another."  I thanked him, a little irritated that he'd bought me a drink when I had refused his first offer.

After we had been there for a little more than an hour my attention started to wander, and my eyes drifted around the bar while Josh talked.  He was saying something about an Illini/Badgers game he'd been to when someone touched my shoulder.  My head snapped around and I was shocked to see Brody standing there.  I stood quickly, completely unaware of Josh's irritation at the interruption, and hugged him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him excitedly.  "You didn't tell me you'd be back today!"

He kissed me lightly.  "I wanted to surprise you," he said.  "I went to your house, but Lauren told me you were here.  So I came here."  I smiled, happy he was back already.

"Sooo...." Josh said, looking up at us.

"Oh," I said, remembering where I was.  "Josh, this is my boyfriend, Brody.  Brody, Josh."  I realized Haley was watching us too and repeated the introduction for her.

"I heard," she sniffed, turning back to the person next to her.  Brody squeezed my waist gently.

"Nice you meet you," he said, holding a hand out to Josh.  Josh let Brody stand with his hand extended for just a beat too long before shaking it briefly.  He then sat and stared awkwardly at us as we talked. 

"What are your plans?" I asked Brody.  "I'm sure you want to go home."

"Yeah, I was hoping we could grab some takeout and head back to my place, but I can stay for a drink if you want," he replied.  I could tell that he would do it without complaint, but that he really would prefer to just pick up food and head home.

"Let's go," I said.  I pulled my coat on and grabbed my purse.  "Bye Josh, thanks for the ride here!" I said before we left, flashing him a smile.  He nodded curtly and turned back to the table.  I thought I saw him roll his eyes as he turned. 

"So, you made a new friend?" Brody asked once we were outside.  I saw him smirk when he said it.  He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me tightly against his side. 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Instead of answering, he asked another question.  "Did he buy your drink?"

"He tried to buy the first one, but I wouldn't let him," I replied, confused.  "Then I went to the bathroom and came back and he had bought one while I was gone."

Brody laughed.  "Thought so.  He wants you."

"No way," I protested.  "That was the first actual conversation we've ever had.  He was just being nice."

"He gave you a ride, tried to buy your first drink, successfully bought your second drink, sat next to you, was talking happily even though you were barely paying attention, looked pissed and acted like a child when I showed up, and suddenly went from trying to be your BFF to barely acknowledging you when you said goodbye.  He wants you."

"Oh," I said, dumbfounded.

Brody grinned and squeezed my shoulders with his arm.  "I love that you're completely oblivious to the effect that you have on men," he said. 

"Are you going to be weird about it?" I asked.

He laughed.  "Not at all, unless he does something stupid.  I actually love that other men find you so attractive, as long as they keep their hands off you."

I rolled my eyes.  "You're such an alpha male," I grumbled, but I was secretly pleased.   I had been fighting Brody's protective nature, but I was starting to realize that it came without the possessive jealousy that usually--at least in my limited experience--seemed to accompany the protectiveness in other people, and I appreciated that.

"I think I'll choose to take that as a compliment," he replied.  He pulled open his car door for me.  "Do you want to spend the night?  We could stop at your house so you can get clothes for tomorrow." he asked.  I nodded. Before he shut the door, he leaned in, planting one hand on the back of my seat and one on the dash.  "By the way, I missed you."  He kissed me softly before moving his right hand from the dash to the back of my head, wrapping his fingers in my hair, and kissing me harder.

"Mmm, I guess you did," I managed, once he had pulled away.   He grinned and carefully shut the door.  Once he was driving in the direction of my house, he reached across the center console for my hand.  "Did it go as well as you were hoping?" I asked casually.  I was dying to know if Neil and Pete were going to be able to take over on-call responsibilities so I could have dinner (or breakfast, or lunch, or sex) with my boyfriend without worrying about his phone ringing and him having to leave.

He yawned, then said, "It was great.  They did a really good job and I'm ready to let go of a little control, I think."

I smiled broadly.  "That's awesome!" I said, not even trying to hide my excitement. 

Brody chuckled and squeezed my hand.  "I had a feeling you'd be happy about that," he said.  "I think I'm going to try to work out a schedule this weekend, if I have time."

"Well if you need some help, let me know," I said.  "I will gladly do anything I can to help take some of this responsibility off your plate."

"I'm sure you would," he replied with a grin.  He yawned again.  "I am so looking forward to sleeping in my bed tonight."

We parked in front of my house and I was surprised to see Lauren's car in the driveway.  "Hi," she said, when we walked in.  "I can go to Alex's...?"

I shook my head.  "No way.  Only if you want to, otherwise the place is all yours.  I'm just getting some stuff and then we're going out to Brody's house.  Sorry, I didn't know he'd be back tonight."

Lauren looked relieved.  I made a mental note to make sure everything was alright with her the next time I saw her without Brody lurking in the doorway.  He sat down in a chair and chatted with Lauren as I ran upstairs to grab work clothes and makeup for the next day.  We quickly ate the food we had picked up, said goodbye to Lauren, and headed out.

"Can I talk you into driving?" he asked, holding out his keys. 

"Absolutely," I replied.  He grabbed my bag from me when I took the keys and threw it in the back.  On the drive to his house, he chatted with me for a few minutes, then leaned his head back against the seat and shut his eyes.  I let him sleep and concentrated on driving, and soon we were at his house.

He insisted on carrying my bag and his suitcase in, and hauled everything up to his room right away.  I changed into sweats while he showered, then I went downstairs and flipped on the TV.  Brody came down about 10 minutes later, and laid down across the couch with his head in my lap.  I raked my fingers through his still damp hair and massaged his scalp.  "That feels amazing," he mumbled sleepily.  "But I can't tell if it's turning me on or putting me to sleep."

"I'm pretty sure that if you even have to wonder, you should probably just go to sleep," I said, laughing. 

"No, I need more time to decide, so don't stop," he instructed me.

I kept massaging his scalp, and in less than 5 minutes he was asleep.  I knew that when he traveled for work, he liked to get things done as quickly as possible, which often meant that he didn't get much sleep.  He was always exhausted when he got home.

I watched TV for another 20 minutes or so, but then I was yawning too.  I squeezed his shoulder and he groaned softly and shifted.  "Hey," I said softly, gently shaking his shoulder.  "Let's go to bed."  He nodded, but didn't get up.  "Brody," I said more insistently, nudging him.  "Bed."  He sat up and stretched.  I stood and pulled him up.  He barely even managed to get under the blankets on his bed when we got upstairs.  By the time I was done washing my face and brushing my teeth, he was asleep again.