I found out my boyfriend still talks to his ex every day.

He told me early on that he and his ex were "still friends, but not close" — they'd dated for two years, it ended amicably, and they occasionally checked in. That felt normal enough. I have exes I still talk to too.

Then his phone lit up on the counter while he was in the shower. Not snooping, just there — and I saw a name I recognized, and a message thread that clearly wasn't occasional. Good morning texts. Inside jokes. A conversation from that same day about something that had happened at her work.

I didn't go through the whole thing. I didn't need to. I brought it up that night, as calmly as I could manage, which wasn't very calm. He said it wasn't what it looked like — that they talk most days, sure, but it's platonic, it's just how their friendship is.

Maybe it is platonic. I actually believe that part. What I can't get past is that "still friends, but not close" and "texts every single day" are not the same sentence, and he knew that when he chose the first one. It wasn't a lie exactly. It just wasn't the whole truth, and I'm not sure yet if that's something I can build trust back from.