This may be a bit of a long post, so if you're not up to reading feel free to skip this thread.
At the beginning of the month I went to a video game convention in Dallas (where I live) that I've gone to for 5 years now and have met lots of people like myself and had a great time. Normally I'd meet someone I had met previously online in certain gaming communities and we'd just talk more online each year, nothing too personal. Well, this year I got caught in a video dancing to a song with a group of people, and one of the cameramen (who I will label as J) showed me the video afterward, then we started talking and hanging out a bit at the convention.
Skipping some useless details, at the end of the convention I needed a ride home but wanted to stay until the last moment of the convention (as I had done in previous years, except this year I'm without a car,) and J said his girlfriend was coming in the morning to pick him up and that they could give me a ride since my place was on the way to his apartment. So we pulled an all-nighter, hung out the entire time, watched some videos and played some games together, and in the morning they drove me home.
That was 2 1/2 weeks ago. Since then, J and I have gone to his place at least -every other day- to play games, drink, or watch videos. Though sometimes that leaves me by myself because his girlfriend will want to talk to him on the phone, and they spend at least an hour arguing or fighting on the phone while he's in another room. J then comes back and apologizes, then has an awkward moment of silence, talks briefly about how complicated she is, changes the subject, and moves on. Sometimes he'll randomly start to talk about problems about her then suddenly stop and changes the subject before I can even say anything.
He's never come over to my place (aside from picking me up; he lives 10 miles from me), possibly because he knows I have a cat and he has allergy issues. However, he did bring up being roommates one night while he was on the phone with a friend, saying "IT'S ME OR THE CAT MICHAEL, YOU CAN'T HAVE US BOTH!" then giving me a huge smile. Reason why he brought that up is that his complex is raising the price of rent and his lease expires in a month, and he can't afford the new amount so he's likely going to have to move back in with his parents. (side note, I'm almost 24 and he's 26).
Anyhow, that was last week. Over the weekend he asked if I wanted to go to The Beauty Bar (which I had never heard of before), and I went along with it. It's a very very small place, as if someone took a small 1-story house and knocked out the walls, but with really good music and a lot of women. We had a great time and danced for a few hours, though even though the place was so small you could see everyone at any place or time, he didn't want me to be more than a few feet away from him. After that we went to a house party and I met quite a few of his coworkers, and we didn't go to sleep until 5am Sunday morning before we both had work.
J seems to avoid talking about his girlfriend except at random, and since the convention I haven't seen her once. He also tends to tell her on the phone that he's going to sleep when I'm actually over and we're staying up late hanging out at his apartment. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm probably looking too much into it (and a lot of things about him, really).
Well, a few days ago I was in a really foul mood after work, and talking to him on facebook (which he made my account add him as a friend during the convention a few weeks ago without even asking me, and then telling me he did.. that was kinda forward of him) I started talking about some of my personal life struggles and what it was like growing up at my parents' (quite bad, actually), and threw in the fact that I'm gay. He didn't acknowledge that he read that I'm gay, but wanted to cheer me up and asked if I wanted company when I said I was going to just play a game the rest of the night to keep my mind off things, and I took his offer for company. I thought he wanted to come hang out at my apartment, but instead we went to his again and I spent the night yet again; I typically spend the night and sleep on his couch.
When he dropped me off back at my place yesterday morning, he asked me what I was doing in the evening, and when I told him I didn't have anything planned (as I rarely do), he suggested we go to his place again after we get off work. (side note: we both work at a restaurant, though different chains, so we work similar shifts.) Inbetween our double shifts yesterday he texts me asking if I've been to S4, which is probably the most popular gay club in Dallas. I told him I have before and had a lot of fun, then he told me he went there with a girl once and that we should go some time. Interesting that he suggested that since I slipped in the fact that I'm gay the day prior, but maybe he means that since I'd feel more comfortable there (as opposed to Beauty Bar, which was much smaller and was a straight crowd.)
Last night he picked me up over an hour later than planned since he was drinking with coworkers at another place, and we drank more at his apartment afterward then just did random things until I passed out on the couch with my glasses still on. Yesterday morning and this morning he's woken me up by standing over me and saying "Good morning, sunshine!" - he didn't start doing that until yesterday, after I outed myself the other night.
And again, when he dropped me off a few hours ago, he wanted to see about hanging out again tonight after he gets off work in the afternoon. It's like we're best friends, but he seems to -really- like spending time with me. There's also the fact that I haven't seen or talked to his girlfriend since the convention 2 1/2 weeks ago.
So is there something going on here? I find him really attractive, both physically and socially, and he's a really kind guy. I'm just afraid that like many times in the past, I'm looking too much into what's likely to be another straight friend that happens to be simply a really good friend that I have a one-way attraction to. However, I haven't spent this much time around any friend in years, to the point of being near-daily. If he picks me up again tonight it'll be the third night in a row that I'm with him, and the girlfriend is still mostly out of the picture. It's confusing to me. I met him less than 3 weeks ago and we're practically magnetized to each other's presence. He drives 10 miles to pick me up, 10 miles back to his place, then 10 miles to drive me home and another 10 to drive himself back. That's 40 miles he drives almost every day just to be around me. He also has mannerisms that set off my gaydar as well.
I don't know, it's 95% likely that J is just a nice straight guy that feels he has a lot in common with me that he doesn't get from other friends (as we're both gaming nerds, myself more than he) and would rather have company that be stuck at his apartment by himself, but we seem to have a private friendship. That and other subtle things I've mentioned seem to be leading somewhere, but I really don't know.
I'm not going to try and seduce him while he's drunk or anything like that, but my mind is flooded with the possibility that he may be interested in me, and while I should probably stop worrying about it.. I can't completely ignore this situation. It just seems off.
Well if you made it this far I thank you for taking the time to read, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions (yes - I should stop thinking about it, just be friends, and move on.. sigh), feel free to comment. I'm just not used to going from strangers to practically best friends in a matter of weeks.
At the beginning of the month I went to a video game convention in Dallas (where I live) that I've gone to for 5 years now and have met lots of people like myself and had a great time. Normally I'd meet someone I had met previously online in certain gaming communities and we'd just talk more online each year, nothing too personal. Well, this year I got caught in a video dancing to a song with a group of people, and one of the cameramen (who I will label as J) showed me the video afterward, then we started talking and hanging out a bit at the convention.
Skipping some useless details, at the end of the convention I needed a ride home but wanted to stay until the last moment of the convention (as I had done in previous years, except this year I'm without a car,) and J said his girlfriend was coming in the morning to pick him up and that they could give me a ride since my place was on the way to his apartment. So we pulled an all-nighter, hung out the entire time, watched some videos and played some games together, and in the morning they drove me home.
That was 2 1/2 weeks ago. Since then, J and I have gone to his place at least -every other day- to play games, drink, or watch videos. Though sometimes that leaves me by myself because his girlfriend will want to talk to him on the phone, and they spend at least an hour arguing or fighting on the phone while he's in another room. J then comes back and apologizes, then has an awkward moment of silence, talks briefly about how complicated she is, changes the subject, and moves on. Sometimes he'll randomly start to talk about problems about her then suddenly stop and changes the subject before I can even say anything.
He's never come over to my place (aside from picking me up; he lives 10 miles from me), possibly because he knows I have a cat and he has allergy issues. However, he did bring up being roommates one night while he was on the phone with a friend, saying "IT'S ME OR THE CAT MICHAEL, YOU CAN'T HAVE US BOTH!" then giving me a huge smile. Reason why he brought that up is that his complex is raising the price of rent and his lease expires in a month, and he can't afford the new amount so he's likely going to have to move back in with his parents. (side note, I'm almost 24 and he's 26).
Anyhow, that was last week. Over the weekend he asked if I wanted to go to The Beauty Bar (which I had never heard of before), and I went along with it. It's a very very small place, as if someone took a small 1-story house and knocked out the walls, but with really good music and a lot of women. We had a great time and danced for a few hours, though even though the place was so small you could see everyone at any place or time, he didn't want me to be more than a few feet away from him. After that we went to a house party and I met quite a few of his coworkers, and we didn't go to sleep until 5am Sunday morning before we both had work.
J seems to avoid talking about his girlfriend except at random, and since the convention I haven't seen her once. He also tends to tell her on the phone that he's going to sleep when I'm actually over and we're staying up late hanging out at his apartment. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm probably looking too much into it (and a lot of things about him, really).
Well, a few days ago I was in a really foul mood after work, and talking to him on facebook (which he made my account add him as a friend during the convention a few weeks ago without even asking me, and then telling me he did.. that was kinda forward of him) I started talking about some of my personal life struggles and what it was like growing up at my parents' (quite bad, actually), and threw in the fact that I'm gay. He didn't acknowledge that he read that I'm gay, but wanted to cheer me up and asked if I wanted company when I said I was going to just play a game the rest of the night to keep my mind off things, and I took his offer for company. I thought he wanted to come hang out at my apartment, but instead we went to his again and I spent the night yet again; I typically spend the night and sleep on his couch.
When he dropped me off back at my place yesterday morning, he asked me what I was doing in the evening, and when I told him I didn't have anything planned (as I rarely do), he suggested we go to his place again after we get off work. (side note: we both work at a restaurant, though different chains, so we work similar shifts.) Inbetween our double shifts yesterday he texts me asking if I've been to S4, which is probably the most popular gay club in Dallas. I told him I have before and had a lot of fun, then he told me he went there with a girl once and that we should go some time. Interesting that he suggested that since I slipped in the fact that I'm gay the day prior, but maybe he means that since I'd feel more comfortable there (as opposed to Beauty Bar, which was much smaller and was a straight crowd.)
Last night he picked me up over an hour later than planned since he was drinking with coworkers at another place, and we drank more at his apartment afterward then just did random things until I passed out on the couch with my glasses still on. Yesterday morning and this morning he's woken me up by standing over me and saying "Good morning, sunshine!" - he didn't start doing that until yesterday, after I outed myself the other night.
And again, when he dropped me off a few hours ago, he wanted to see about hanging out again tonight after he gets off work in the afternoon. It's like we're best friends, but he seems to -really- like spending time with me. There's also the fact that I haven't seen or talked to his girlfriend since the convention 2 1/2 weeks ago.
So is there something going on here? I find him really attractive, both physically and socially, and he's a really kind guy. I'm just afraid that like many times in the past, I'm looking too much into what's likely to be another straight friend that happens to be simply a really good friend that I have a one-way attraction to. However, I haven't spent this much time around any friend in years, to the point of being near-daily. If he picks me up again tonight it'll be the third night in a row that I'm with him, and the girlfriend is still mostly out of the picture. It's confusing to me. I met him less than 3 weeks ago and we're practically magnetized to each other's presence. He drives 10 miles to pick me up, 10 miles back to his place, then 10 miles to drive me home and another 10 to drive himself back. That's 40 miles he drives almost every day just to be around me. He also has mannerisms that set off my gaydar as well.
I don't know, it's 95% likely that J is just a nice straight guy that feels he has a lot in common with me that he doesn't get from other friends (as we're both gaming nerds, myself more than he) and would rather have company that be stuck at his apartment by himself, but we seem to have a private friendship. That and other subtle things I've mentioned seem to be leading somewhere, but I really don't know.
I'm not going to try and seduce him while he's drunk or anything like that, but my mind is flooded with the possibility that he may be interested in me, and while I should probably stop worrying about it.. I can't completely ignore this situation. It just seems off.
Well if you made it this far I thank you for taking the time to read, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions (yes - I should stop thinking about it, just be friends, and move on.. sigh), feel free to comment. I'm just not used to going from strangers to practically best friends in a matter of weeks.