My Boyfriend’s Best Friend

I’ve never been good at love. I always choose the wrong people or get myself into bad situations. This story is about how the man of my dreams came into my life at the most unexpected time.

I grew up in a small town halfway across the country. When I moved I didn’t have anyone but my parents, my daughter, and my grandmother. I didn’t know anyone. I had just graduated high school in my hometown. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I looked for online classes for college so I could work and still take care of my daughter. I needed a way to meet people, whether it be friends, a hook up, or a relationship. So what did I do? Yes you guessed it. Tinder! I wasn’t really serious about it. Didn’t think I would meet anyone, but I did. Let’s just call him Jake. He seemed sweet. We decided to meet one night. He came to my house where I lived with my family. He was so confident. He introduced himself to my parents. Said hi to my daughter. Then he took me on a date. It was a normal, typical date. We went to a hookah bar, played pool, and just talked. At the end of the night he came back to my house and we watched some movies. He was such a gentleman. He called me beautiful. He held my hand. Everything any girl would want, right? Well, you would think. We stayed together for a few months. And as the months went on he got worse and worse. He’d ignore me. He used me for money. He lied. He cheated. But that is a story for another time. This story is about the one good thing that came out of my relationship with Jake; I met the man I’m going to marry.

I was in cosmetology school at the time that I was dating Jake. I’d say he wasn’t the best influence! I let him borrow my car while I was at school because, I mean, I’m not using it. So he went to his friend’s house. Let’s call him Anthony. Well, Jake was at Anthony’s house. I needed to go to the store to buy hair color so Jake and Anthony came to pick me up. That was the first time I met Anthony. He shook my hand. Greeted me. He made me laugh. He was sarcastic. It was funny. I didn’t think much of Anthony at that moment. I mean, I met him for a total of three minutes.

The Next Day:

That day Jake was bringing me to school. He knew I did not really want to go, so he convinced me to go with him to see a movie instead. He drove me to the mall and after the movie we were trying to think of things to do. Jake mentioned that his friend Anthony was going to school around that area. Jake called Anthony and long story short we went to pick him up from school and go back to his place. Now, what you don’t know about me is that I am very shy and awkward when you first meet me. So, we are there at Anthony’s house and I’m just awkwardly sitting in a broken computer chair (which was super uncomfortable) while Jake and Anthony played video games. Jake practically acted like I didn’t exist. I’ve never been good at video games and this Anthony guy was REALLY good, but Anthony kept asking me if I wanted to play even thought I kept telling him I suck. Every time I spoke, Jake would find some way to talk down to me. I liked hanging out with Anthony because he defended me. He protected me in a way. I appreciated that more than he would ever know.

The next few days I skipped school with Jake and I would always ask him if we could go to Anthony’s house.

This is about the third or fourth time Jake and I have gone to Anthony’s house and I was getting more comfortable. I finally started laying on Anthony’s bed while they played video games. I even took a nap once. Well, this day was the first day I realized that I might feel something for Anthony. We had been at Anthony’s house for hours and they played video games while I sat on my phone. Well, this day Anthony’s brother decided to join and they took turns. While Jake and Anthony’s brother played Anthony laid down on the bed. We weren’t really talking. Not really looking at each other but something kept pulling us closer. Anthony and I started showing each other things on our phones. One moment he showed me his phone and our hands touched. It was like a rush of butterflies just flew through my stomach and all the sudden I couldn’t do anything but think about what it would be like to cuddle him. I started noticing his eyes, his smile, his lips... we kept showing each other things on our phones and we moved closer and closer until we were almost cuddling... It was like it was just him and I, alone together.

A Few Days Later:

Anthony and I had started texting. It was innocent, mostly. I would talk to him about issues I was having with Jake and he would tell me I deserve better and that I’m being stupid. (Anthony was very blunt.) Well, Jake was leaving for California and I asked for Jake’s permission to have Anthony over the house while he was away. Now, if you’re reading this I swear it was all innocent in my head! At least, the conscious part of my head. Jake said it was fine, so Anthony came over to do a tattoo on me (he’s an amazing artist). He was going to be spending the night at my house. (Again innocent, right? LOL)

The night he came:

Jake had left for California and he wasn’t answering my calls or texts (he did this often). Anthony arrived at my house and we started getting set up for the tattoo. Come to find out, we didn’t have everything we needed. Instead of doing the tattoo, we decided to have a movie marathon. The pull out couch in the loft was all pulled out because Jake had been staying with my parents and I for a while. Anthony and I decided to watch all the Resident Evil movies. As we were watching we did more talking than watching. We talked about girls and tattoos and life. I was telling him about a tattoo I had gotten in my thigh that was all bumpy due to scarring. Him and I were getting along well and getting to know each other. As I told him about this tattoo on my thigh I told him he could touch it to see for himself. I was not thinking that it was going to have the effect that it did but oh my, did it ever! Just a light simple touch of his fingertips on my thigh. I felt butterflies, and tingles in unspeakable places. I started thinking about him in all kinds of different ways. We laid on that bed for a few hours talking and almost cuddling. As it got dark we decided to move the movie-watching outside to the projector screen. Pool and drinks, here we come!

The Pool:

Here is where things get intense! We set up the projector and get the movie playing. He bought a few beers so we decided to drink. One beer each. And continue to talk. I can’t say it was the beer, but something made us get more touchy. I started to tell him about how ticklish I was, but only in a few spots. There was one spot specifically that I had mentioned. I remember telling him about how my butt was ticklish. He said he didn’t believe me. Next thing I know he’s getting closer and closer to me and now his hand was on my back sliding down into my bathing suit bottoms...

To be continued...