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Dear Emily,

I've been dating this guy for about two months. He'd been picking up the bills for the first few weeks. We just had sex for the first time a couple weeks ago. Now, when we go out to dinner, he wants to split the bill. I think this is kind of weird, but some of my friends think it means he wants to be in a long-term relationship.

What do you think, Emily?

Sincerely,

Dinner Date

Dear Date,

First of all, way to go finding a guy who paid for dinner for nearly two months. That's pretty uncommon these days. But did you really expect him to pick up the tab forever? I agree with you — the timing seems a little strange, but I think your friends are right. And not just because he now wants to split the bill, but because you guys waited more than a month to sleep together. It sounds to me like he was wooing you.

Perhaps he feels like the mission has been accomplished? As long as the only behavior that changes is how he takes care of the bill, that's fine. But if other behaviors begin to change, I'd start to worry.

Since it doesn't sound like anything else is wrong, I'll assume the former and suggest you guys have a talk about the state of your relationship. It doesn't have to be a long, serious talk, and you shouldn't make money the focus. But after two months — and especially because you're having sex — it's completely reasonable to inquire as to where he sees things going. If the talk goes well, and you feel like bringing up the dinner thing, you may learn that he always wanted to split the bill but never felt comfortable asking (did you ever offer to pay?), or that his father told him to always pay for dinner before you sleep with a woman, or some other (possibly strange) explanation.

If it were me though, I'd be grateful for the free dinners I had, and for having someone in my life to share future dinners — and tabs — with. And I'd probably make him dinner, too, maybe starting with a simple chicken breast (recipe below) with a salad or my favorite side. As the relationship gets more serious, so can the home-cooked meals.

Love,

Emily

Casual Conversation Chicken

Ingredients

2 lbs or about 3 large or 4 medium chicken breasts

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

2 cloves fresh garlic, sliced

1/2 cup chopped green onions

salt and pepper

Directions

Place chicken breasts in shallow baking dish and rub with the salt and pepper. Pour vinaigrette, broth, olive oil and soy sauce over chicken breasts (no need to mix first, but you can if you want) and flip the breasts over in the marinade a few times. Sprinkle cayenne pepper, garlic, and green onions on top of chicken Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Bake uncovered at 400ºF for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. For best results baste at least once while baking.

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