Texts

I was in the bedroom waiting for Emily to get changed in the bathroom so we could eat dinner; her phone dinged and she called out. "Will you grab that for me?"

"Sure," I said, went to her nightstand, picked up her phone, saw the lock screen.

"Who is it?" she called back out.

"E...Evan," I said.

"What?" she said, sticking her head out into the bedroom. 

"You...you're boyfriend," I said.

"Oh," she smiled, took the phone, saw the lock screen smiled wider. She unlocked her phone, responded, then looked at me. "Sorry," she said.

"It...it's okay," I said.

"We were...texting," she said. "I guess we're..."

"Looking forward to seeing one another," I said.

"Yea," she said. "Sorry, I...I guess we are."

"I...I know," I said.

"Does...does this bother you?" she asked.

"That you're seeing him?"

She shook her head. "No," she kind of shrugged, "the...I don't know...the intimacy."

I looked down. "He...he's your boyfriend," I said.

"Sweetie..."

I bit my lip. "I...no," I said, considering her question. "I mean...yes...but no."

"Yes but no," she chuckled.

"I...if you saw him more, maybe...as it is...no, I...it..."

She nodded. "Yea," she said, "same as it ever was."

I nodded back. "He always...I always...I felt..."

"Conflicted?"

I nodded again. "I always worried...you know..."

"I wanted my girl," she said, "I always did." She kissed me. "He's my boyfriend. You and B are my family."

"I just...I always..."

"I know," she said, "I know. I always come back. I always will."

"I know," I said, "I know."