Me:Nothing. I’m just tired and have a headache.
Slate:Wow. You’re already giving me the headache excuse. We’ve progressed far in our fake relationship.
I laughed, feeling the tension leave my body as I typed back.
Me:Just trying to give you a crash course in relationships.
Slate:When do we get to make up? ;)
Me:You wish.
Slate:After that kiss tonight? You’d better believe I do.
Me:Really? Even compared to all the women you’ve kissed?
I’d been self-conscious kissing Slate, knowing he’d done it a heck of a lot more times than I had. With my lack of experience, I’d been worried he’d thought it wasn’t very good.
Slate:Is my fake girlfriend getting real jealous? :)
Reading my text again, I could see it might sound jealous, but my words actually had to do with my insecurities.
Me:No, not jealous. Just surprised.
Slate:Why are you surprised?
Me:I haven’t kissed very many guys before. Wasn’t sure if I was doing it right.
Slate:You were definitely doing it right.
My cheeks heated at the emoji he added at the end of his text.
Me:I guess you would know, right?
Was it a compliment when a guy who couldn’t even count how many women he’d kissed told you he’d liked kissing you? I was both flattered and repulsed.
Slate:Again with the slight. Are you sure you’re not jealous?
He was teasing me, but I decided to turn things serious.
Me:I’m positive. I just want more for you.
Me:Not with me, of course, but with someone else.
Gosh. I was royally messing things up here. I just wanted him to realize there was something better out there than emotionless hookups. Not that I’d truly experienced some great relationship, but I believed they could exist. My parents had a loving relationship, like the one I hoped to have some day.
Slate:So you’re jumping on the ‘Slate needs to settle down bandwagon’ with the rest of our friends?
It made me smile that he said ‘our friends’ instead of his friends.
Me:Yes. We care about you. You deserve more in life than just football and sex.
Slate:But those are two of my favorite things.
Me:*eye roll emoji
Slate:Like I’ve told you before, I’m happy with how things are. I have no desire to get close to someone in that way.
Me:But why not? Wanting to have a deep connection with someone is human nature.
