Page 52 of Without a Doubt

“WOAH! SORRY, SORRY, sorry,” I rush as I back out of my dorm and into the hallway upon seeing Parker and Catherine having sex. Crap. I should have known he might be here since I wasn't supposed to be. A moment later, Catherine pokes her head out the door.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Emerson.”

“I was going to, but I changed my mind. Sorry. Go back to it, I'll leave.” She starts to object, but I shake my head. “Really, pretend I was never here. I'm sure you won't have trouble restarting things. I'll see you tomorrow.”

I leave before she can say another word. Where am I going to go now? I want some space from Emerson, even though I was thrilled to hear he's happy with me. So, I don't want to high-tail it back to his apartment. I pull out my cell and call Glen.

“Hey, what's up?” he answers.

“Please tell me you're not busy and aren't engaged in sexual acts.”

Glen laughs. “No, I'm not. Why? Do you want to come over?”

“Can I?”

“Come on,” he says.

We hang up and I walk over to the neighboring dorm house. It doesn't take me long to reach his room. His door is open, so I walk on in, but close it behind me. He's lying on his twin bed with his back propped up against the wall by a pillow. I lay down next to him and he slings an arm around my shoulders while I rest my head on his shoulder.

“What's wrong? You never visit me.”

“Where's your roomie?” I ask instead.

“On a date. How come you aren't at Emerson's?”

“Why do you have to ask so many questions?”

“Says the nosey chick,” he points out. “Does this have anything to do with Kelly?”

I sigh because Glen isn't going to let this go. I can't say I blame him all things considered. He lets me shift through my thoughts without any more pressure. “I like him, I really do.”

“But?” Glen says.

“I don't know if I'm strong enough or patient enough to stand by while he talks to her. I can't tell him not to talk to her when he's trying to find closure.”

“But?” he repeats.

“I wish he could give himself closure instead of waiting for her to hand it to him. I've only known him a few months and he's known her practically his entire life. He says he's happy with me and wants to be with me. Having her in the picture is bothering me too much though. I couldn't even enjoy Mom's birthday party because she was all I could think about.”

“And that's why you didn't stay with Emerson tonight and ended up with me instead.”

“Don't you feel lucky?” I joke.

“Considering, I'm your second choice, third if you count Emerson, no, I don't.”

I laugh. “Sorry. Can we watch a movie?”

>

“Are you staying here tonight?”

“Can I?”

“You do realize this is a twin bed, right?” I stare at him until he sighs and gives in. “Fine, you can stay.”

“Thanks. You're my favorite cousin.”

He rolls his eyes before making me grab his laptop, so we can watch a movie on that. He picks his favorite military movie on Netflix. While we wait for it to load, he speaks one last time for the night.

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