Bound

Chapter 40: Forgetting Me

Blake

It's not something easily forgotten," I say to Emily who has started a sort of twenty questions game based off the theme of every new episode of Friends that plays.

"Then I'll ask again, how many times have you been married?" She laps up the strawberry juice from her now second heaping bowl of the fruit.

"Why do you insist I must've been married more times than Ross from Friends?"

She finishes slurping the liquid from her red-stained fingertips then smacks her lips. "I dunno, you just seem...experienced."

I wonder what gave her that impression. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

"Good, I think," she says with a twinkle in her eye.

"I've never had a serious relationship." I shake my head. "Well, never one that I imagined going anywhere, really. So yeah, never been married."

"I don't believe you." She cackles. "You're so put together. Surely someone would have wanted to marry you by now." If by 'put together' she means handed down a business I don't deserve to have and good at sex, she'd be right.

"I've never wanted to."

"You don't want to get married some day?" Her playful tone drops, and she brings her eyes to meet mine. I shift.

"I didn't say that. I meant I haven't wanted to. Not that I won't want to someday," I clarify.

I've always wanted to marry her though.

"Oh, that's good." She gives me a reassured grin and rubs her hands on her pink, fluffy pajama pants like some sort of cute version of a slob.

"I'm assuming you share the same value. You want to be married some day?" I squint my eyes in her direction, begging the question.

She pulls her knees to her chest at the end of the couch and sighs. "I'm still trying to finalize my divorce."

"Excuse me?" I gape, then she snorts out laughter at my bewildered expression. If I had taken a sip of my soda at that moment, I would have almost assuredly choked.

"I'm just fucking with you!" She shrugs. "You'd think you'd know me better than that by now, sheesh." She shakes her head, disappointed.

"I know that." I lie. "It's just, I never know when to take you seriously. You joke so much; unlike any other woman I've been with."

"Are you trying to say I'm immature compared to your past relationships?" She crosses her arms.

"Not at all. I just got done saying I've never had a serious relationship, maybe it's a good thing that you're unlike any woman I've ever met."

She smiles at my compliment.

It's hard to distinguish when she's being serious and when she's joking because I try not to have any expectations when it comes to getting to know her again. However, her carefree, joking and teasing personality is something that hasn't changed since we knew each other as kids. I don't think it makes her immature, it's a breath of fresh air. It's hard not to be myself and let my guard all the way down when I'm with her.

"I like that I can be myself with you and we can joke." I add.

"I like it, too." She agrees with a content grin. "I've never felt like that either. Like I can just be myself without judgement. It feels like I'm just talking to a friend. But not in a bad Joey and Rachel friend-zone type of way." She motions to the television. "No, in a much sexier way." she concludes.

"Glad you clarified that," I huff. "Much, much sexier." I reiterate her statement and smooth a strand of hair behind her ear.

She looks up at me with big green eyes and blushes. "You must have had a lot of practice." She dances around the question 'how many women have you fucked?'