So this happend and im genuinely wondering if I'm overreacting or if this is something I should walk away from. I (25M) been seeing this girl (24F) for about two months and things were going really well like more than well and the thing is that I'm pretty guarded emotionally because of how I grew up, but with her, I felt comfortable opening up. A couple of weeks ago we had a really deep conversation after dinner. I told her about my relationship with my dad and how growing up, he constantly made me feel weak for showing emotions. It's something I've struggled with for years. She held my hand and told me I could always be vulnerable around her. And that MEANT A LOT.

Fast forward to Friday. While getting ready to go out with her we got into our first argument because she canceled our plans last minute to go out with friends. I told her I wasn't upset about her going just that I wished she respected my time. That's when she snapped and said: Maybe your dad was right about you being too sensitive. Not everything is a personal attack. I genuinely didn't know what to say. She immediately tried to apologize but I just didnt say anything because I needed space. so later while i was overthinking this whole situation and trying to distract myself, she texted me saying she was frustrated, didn't mean it and that I shouldn't throw away something good over one comment. But that's what's bothering me. She took something I trusted her with and used it against me during our very first disagreement. I really liked this girl and now I don't even know if I can trust her with anything personal again but the worst part is that i dont know if im making this too big of a deal out of one awful comment. And now im questioning if i can really move further with her after this like can i trust her that it really was a smth out of frustration but how can i trust that she wont do this in every argument that we might have in the future.

Basically the title. We agreed to meet for drinks at 6-7pm. He tells me he’s out at 2pm.

at 5 he texts asking where I am, I said I’ll be leaving at 6. He texts at 5:30 saying “can you meet me? I have nowhere to wait, everything’s shut.” I tell him “I’m still getting ready, we’re meeting at a bar tho? They’re all open you can just go to (bar name)”

Am I wrong for thinking this is just weird? Not looking forward to meeting him anymore but I was so looking forward to going out for the Halloween events !!!

I (31M) have been seeing a woman (29F) for about six weeks. Five dates, pretty consistent communication, and honestly the first person I've felt genuinely excited about in a while.

Something happened on our last date that I haven't quite figured out how to address.

We were having dinner and joking about how awkward we both were when we first met. She laughed and said, "You should've seen the debate about whether you were actually nervous or just trying to seem cute."

I asked what debate.

Apparently she has a group chat with four friends where she regularly sends screenshots of our conversations. She pulled it up to show me, seemingly thinking I'd find it funny.

There were screenshots of me asking her out, suggesting restaurants, and trying to flirt. Whatever, a little embarrassing but not the end of the world.

Then I saw a message I'd sent her after our third date. I'd mentioned that I hadn't dated much since a difficult breakup and sometimes overthink things because of it. I wasn't asking her to fix anything. It was just something personal I felt comfortable telling her.

That message had been screenshotted too.

One friend thought it was sweet that I was being honest. Another suggested I might not be over my ex. They'd apparently had a whole discussion about it.

I got quieter after that. She noticed, and I told her I wasn't thrilled about personal messages being passed around. She said her friends are her support system and that everyone discusses the people they're dating with their friends.

I actually agree with that. I talk to my best friend about dating sometimes. But I'll say something like "I'm not sure how she feels about me," not send him someone's exact words to pick apart.

She apologized for making me uncomfortable, but she also seemed genuinely surprised that I cared.

I don't want to dictate what she can tell her friends. I also don't love the idea that every slightly awkward or vulnerable thing I say might end up being reviewed by five people.

Would you consider this a normal part of dating that I need to get used to, or is asking someone not to share screenshots of private conversations a reasonable boundary? And if it is, how would you bring it up without making it sound like you're trying to isolate them from their friends?

The title says it all. I’m disappointed that the guy I’m talking to isn’t voting in the midterms. Am I making too much of this?

So I joined a dating app and within minutes this woman liked me. She is cute so I liked her back (she’s not someone I would have chosen offline, but she is cute and I did it for the plot). Shes like 5 inches taller than me lol. I’d prefer someone more “my size” (5’ 10”). But I said fuck it, let’s go for it. Nothing in my profile screams “top tier man”; at least I think.

She asked to come over to smoke and chill. I was like sure. I’m annoyingly sexually disciplined so I knew I wouldn’t be pursuing just sex.

She came over, we smoked and then went out to eat. She had never been to this place before so it was fun to let her indulge in whatever she wanted to get. She was so happy and it made me happy that she liked it. We had good convo. Laughing a lot.

We went back to my place (I have a kinda impressive sky-rise apartment) and we watched movies. She was hesitant to cuddle at first, and I didn’t pressure her for it, but she ended up wanting to cuddling so I gladly indulged it.

She fell asleep (drinking and smoking will do that) but she eventually woke up. She told me I should feel good that she felt comfortable enough to fall asleep around me and I did feel good about that.

Eventually it was time for her to go so I called her an uber and walked her downstairs. She told me she had a really good time and she wants to hang out again and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

She’s been texting me today and I feel like she genuinely likes me.

The only thing throwing me off is our height difference. Other than that she’s absolutely adorable and I’m kinda feeling her now.

But I have to admit that I am hesitant on truly courting her mostly because of our height difference and I can’t get over it. But I’m ngl, a Gomez and Morticia thing might be kinda fun. She’s very loveable and I feel kinda bad because I’m a loverboy and I feel like I could pour into her but I’m slightly holding back.

I don’t even know what I’m asking for here. Maybe relative stories?

Maybe I’m too picky now, but I’ve found some pretty petty reasons to either stop dating someone or never really give them a chance. Number 1 on my petty reason list: I didnt like the way she breathed. Like I noticed in the first 20 minuets a sniffle or something (not sick just the way she breathed) but it continued. I was immediately put off and it was non-romantic from the start.

I have never encountred this issue before so I need an advice how to deal with it and how to tell, let’s call her Anna, that she has a noticeable odour…

But first a bit of a backstory.

Anna was brought to my friend group by another friend. She is attractive, fun and easygoing. She studied singing, but her ambition is to become an actress and lately she has even won an audition for a low budget movie.

Initially, I didn’t think about dating her, as I am caustious when it comes to dating. But I noticed that after a while she started to like me and told me that I am the fist man she has met after a long time who didn’t want to just sleep with her and use her. That I am a gentleman and that she finds it attractive and asked me if I wanted to go on a date with her.

I found her attractive too and I liked her personality, so I told myself why not? But then there came the issue with the smell…

I had first noticed it maybe two times before the date. It’s not always present, but when it is, It just kills any attraction I may have towards her. It’s a stale, lingering, sour and musty sweat like odour. It seems as if it comes from her cloths - she often wears a fluffy, fleecy jacket and I suspect that it comes mainly from that particular wear. She wore the jacket the last time we met, and as soon she took it off, the smell slapped me hard.

I might be a bit sensitive to body odour, because I have an issue with excessive sweating and I am quite obssessive with hygiene, but one of my friends noticed that Anna has a “distinct smell” too.

She wants to meet again and spend time together and I don’t know what to do. How should I approach it? How should I bring it up to her a don’t hurt her feelings? Any ideas?

Im 32M. This may be a hot take but if you hear some variation of this phrase (including don’t feel the spark, etc). If the date was pleasantly fine and you didn’t screw up then more often than not I don’t think you necessarily did anything wrong.

I’ve gone out on more than a handful of online dates in the last 6 months. Some good and most mid. I realized a few things such as ladies being single for extremely long times (longest was a 32 year old who hadn’t been in a relationship since 21 and another 30 year old who hadn’t been in a relationship since 21). While I’m all for finding your man “on your level” chances are they are looking for something so rare that even if they did find it then that person likely wouldn’t be available to them. Like you haven’t even had a real relationship as an adult outside of college…

Another few examples were when they’d complain about how dating sucks, there’s no good guys in x town or how they’re repeatedly being ghosted…while on a date with me. Then of course the shocking “I don’t feel a romantic connection” comes out (who saw that coming?!) cool, no problem. Honestly talk about a turnoff on my end too. I think more often than not they’re not in the right headspace to date, hung up on someone who clearly was just wasting their time/using them or didn’t take dating seriously with me for whatever reason. Not my battle to fix for them.

There’s a few other examples but I’m sure I have things to fix but it was clear I wasnt right for them. Sure that was disappointing but I’m sure we’ve all turned down decent people as well. That’s dating. The person that does want to be there shows up. It was a process and it takes time weeding people out but I think you’ll eventually figure it out as long as you’re not blatantly screwing up.

I (30F), Been seeing a man (35M) for 2 months with really great chemistry and have been going on roughly one date per week.

I have stayed at his place after maybe 4 of the dates and we're always laughing and talking for hours and holding hands. He even got me a gift. I thought we were progressing to an exclusive relationship.

I did notice some activity on his dating profile which made me feel confused.

Eventually I was honest and told him I really liked him and asked if he still wanted to see/talk to other people.

He just said he wanted to take relationships and exclusivity slowly and that he understood if I didn't want to continue. He said he still really wanted us to keep getting to know each other but he didn't say for how long or where he saw things going, and he didn't say that I was the only person he was seeing.

This didn't leave me much room for discussion so I accepted it wasn't right for me and wished him well. I felt like the dates we have are quite emotionally involved and take up an entire evening and the morning after.

I began to feel like I was becoming emotionally invested and making time for someone once a week in my busy life and caring about them and wondering about them when they aren't even sure enough to see me exclusively after 2 months .

Was I premature to end things? Was it a matter of giving him more time? He didn't even say how long he would need or what he was looking for, just "taking things slow".

But to me, "slow" and "open" are not the same thing. You can take it slow and not achieve major milestones like labels or public displays, introducing to friends/family, saying I love you, but I'm asking for the respect and safety of being the person you're seeing right now?

My partner and I have been together for a couple months. I’m really comfortable with him and he makes me feel really safe. Last night we were intimate and he hit a spot no one usually hits. My initial reaction was to giggle. This caught him off guard because it’s never happened for him, nor I. It ruined his confidence. Now he’s deciding if he still wants to be with me and I have no idea how to fix it. Any advice would be appreciate.

I'm 28F and I've been on three dates with this guy (31M). Things have been going pretty well and I was actually excited to see where this goes.

He told me early on that he and his ex share a dog and alternate weeks taking care of it. Didn't bother me at all.

Yesterday he invited me to a dog park on Sunday and casually mentioned his ex would be there too. Apparently they sometimes walk the dog together with a few mutual friends, and he figured introducing us now would make things less awkward later.

I told him that felt a bit early and he immediately offered to plan something else, so he wasn't pushing it.

But I can't get over the fact that he thought meeting his ex on our fourth date was a normal suggestion lol.

Would you take this as a sign that he's mature about his past relationship or that his boundaries with his ex might be a problem?

It’s been 5-6 dates now. He’s decent looking, employed, and respectful. The issue is he doesn’t have the best hygiene, and it seems one-sided

The first time I brought him over, his feet smelled bad. He admitted he didn’t shower before the date. The second time I noticed he had dirty fingernails that weren’t trimmed.

He also does not initiate any physical contact or conversation. He just waits for me to do something and lead the topics. He will look at my hands and hope I reach over. He will look at me and hope I kiss him. I’d like it if he could just ask if he feels so unsure and nervous. I am the one making the first move every time and leading everything.

I’m thinking of ending it because of these 2 issues. It’s only been a month. Is it okay to just move on or am I throwing in the towel too fast?

I get that part of dating is communicating what I dislike or what I want. But needing to tell a man to wash himself, clean himself, be more direct with simply asking if he can kiss me/do xyz, initiate conversation on dates, etc seems a bit much. I view it as an incompatibility that it doesn’t naturally occur to him to do these things. It feels a bit entitled to expect someone to change all this for me, but at the same time the advice I’ve been getting is that I need to put in work if I want a good relationship (i.e. talk it out, list out all the things I don’t like, try to make it work.)

I am looking for my effort to be matched. I go out of my way to dress nice, smell good, be clean, help plan the date, be easy to chat with, show up on time, flirt, explain what I like, ask to kiss, etc. I just want the same in return. It feels so one-sided.

For reference, he’s 22M I’m 25F.

Update: I am going to end it once he’s back from his trip. I put up with it because of some feedback from 2 friends. For the people wondering, yes he has issues from the past- neglectful addict parents, being cheated on, anxiety, lack of experience, and poor self esteem.

I (24F) had a really good first date with someone last week and we talked a lot, it didn’t seem awkward. We exchanged contact information and texted after getting home, but everyday since then, it’s been one or two messages (or zero…) a day. We did discuss how often we would want to meet if we did date, and we agreed every week would work. I did mention texting everyday as well. I am aware we are both not dating yet especially since it was only the first date and perhaps he wants to save some topics to discuss in person, but I’m not sure if it’s normal to talk so little.

I’ve had a few dates already where talking over text always fizzles out; it’s always one message a day or just “how’s your day” everyday with many hours between replies. I understand people are busy - so am I. This is also my first second date and I don’t know if it’s fizzling out again.

Hi everyone, I’m coming on here for some advice / insights on how I can approach this topic. I recently finished almost 10 years of schooling and finally have a stable career. During those 10 years it was really difficult for me to get in a relationship, given how rigorous my schooling was and just my mental health throughout it all. I am in no way an anti-relationship person and am actually a hopeless romantic. I have dated but they were mainly just flings or situationships. I have never called anyone my boyfriend and I have never been anyone’s girlfriend. There were times where I did try to date with the intent of a serious relationship (mainly in my early 20s) but I ended up with some guys who ultimately wanted nothing serious. As I got to my mid-20s and now late, I became the person who forced herself not to want anything serious only because I couldn’t handle the pressure of committing to a person. My school years were extremely difficult for me, I went through really awful periods of bad depression and I just was never in the right mindset for a serious relationship. I always told myself I’ll look right when I’m done with school and have my career.

Well now I am finally done with school and I have my career and I’m freaking out. I’m worried that I’ve potentially wasted my prime years and now I’m too old to be having a first boyfriend. I have plenty of dating experience but absolutely no relationship experience and I’m scared. I’m nervous that when I go on dates again and a guy asks me my history, that they would find it a red flag that I haven’t been in a relationship yet and jump to the conclusion that there has to be something wrong with me (I.e that I’m crazy or undesirable). I know those things about me aren’t true. I was going through a rough time and the years just sort of went by. And also, I have just never found anyone I’ve liked enough like that. I don’t want to just date to date, I’d rather experience true love than to settle for less.

TLDR: only been in casual relationships and nothing serious due to being in school my entire 20s, now possibly ready for something serious and worried that men will be turned off by my lack of a relationship history

I (27F) had an amazing date Saturday night with a guy I met on bumble. It was the first genuine spark I have felt since I started dating again. We were in a bar and chatted all night, it felt like time flew so fast. We had so much in common and he was extremely attractive. I honestly felt my heart beating the entire date.

At the end of the date, he walked me to my train station and waited for my train with me. He was very complimentary and we kissed. It felt amazing. My train arrived and we agreed on a 2nd date, going to bowling or some activity.

I texted him when I got home and gave him my instagram which he immediately followed. Once he followed me, I sent an Instagram message also which he did reply to, and then I replied to him.

Since its now Tuesday it's been almost 48 hours of silence. I'm not sure if I'm just being too invested, but I was hoping that he would message me or get a solid plan for the 2nd date locked down.

I understand people don't normally text a lot just after a 2nd date, but 48 hours with no word has left me a bit deflated. I want to reach out again, and try planning the date, but since I was the one who reached out twice after the date I don't want to seem too desperate.

If it goes another 24 hours with no word from him, would you assume that a 2nd date isn't going to happen? Should I message him and ask if he wants to go out again?

Really not sure what to do.

So a barista basically is super talkative and asks me questions when I go in and if another person is taking my order& she’s making coffee she would wave at me and come talk w me and if I come in she would smile at me. Anyways whenever we talk she asks me questions and tries to make the convo not die down and keeps lingering until I end the convo. Today I got my order and there were literally customers behind me but she asked me questions and teased me about smthing etc. I asked for hwe number and she gave it. I texted her like 20 min later& she said “hellooooo, just a heads up I have a bf. I said oops sry or smthing cuz I was thinking mb she gave me her number as friends or smthing but now I think about it the way she talks/ looks at me there is def more to it. And she approaches me all of the time since I would never make a move on someone working somewhere since they might be ksjdt nice / doing there job. She told me today she likes horror movies a lot. What should I take from this?

Do men always checkout girls irrespective of their marital or relationship status? How do women feel when they see their partner doing this?

Someone said to me recently that I'm going on a lot of first dates. I genuinely didn't think I was, but maybe I'm spreading myself too thin.

I'm a single Dad and work full time, so I just try and fit it around that. Been dating just over a year and nothing has really taken off, but that's as much on me as them.

So when my gf(25) and I(26) started dating we had a really great sex life. Like we were going 2-4 times a day. Shes an amazing person and I really love her. We are living together at this point. However recently whenever I become intimate with her she backs off mostly. We have sex like once or twice a week. Is there something that can be wrong from my side ? Or its just that she has lost interest ? The excuse mostly is that she is tired, has a headache, doesn't feel horny...

29M here. Been seeing this girl (27F) for a few weeks and our first two dates were pretty average. Nothing terrible, just lots of awkward pauses and polite questions. Was considering calling it quits.

Then she invited me to hang out with her friends and holy shit, completely different person. She was funny, confident, kept making jokes at my expense and we were laughing together the entire night. I went home thinking I'd completely misjudged her.

We grabbed coffee alone a couple days later and somehow went right back to struggling to keep a conversation going.

I know people are more comfortable around their friends but I've never experienced such a difference. I like her and she's clearly interested too, but I can't figure out why we lose that chemistry the second it's just us.

Anyone ever experienced this? Is it something that gets better with time or are we just not that compatible?

This is kinda the category I fall into, I can’t really grow facial/body hair and have very soft features almost like a kpop star. I’m also kinda soft spoken though I’m not anti social per se. My friends tell me I come off as gay but idk I feel like they have some weird ideas of masculinity bc they claim only the rugged bearded guys can pull lmfao. I’m 25 and never had a GF (only had a short term GF for six months before she had to move away) so part of me is wondering if this is the issue. It does feel pretty cooked cuz I feel like I’m not worthy of being loved and that at this age without any experience most women would rather not and I don’t blame them. I’m in therapy to work on this but just genuinely curious if pretty guys are a huge turnoff to the majority of women.

So, I’ve been going to the gym for about two months, and there’s this girl I’ve started noticing. We usually work out in the evenings when the gym is pretty quiet.
The first time I noticed her, she held the door open for us and actually waited around 20 seconds for us to finish talking before we went inside. She’s held the door open for us a few more times since then, and we’ve exchanged smiles on several occasions.
Something else I’ve noticed is that she seems to be coming to the gym around the same time as us more often now. She used to arrive earlier than we did, but lately, our workouts seem to overlap more, so we end up seeing each other for longer.
The other day, she walked past us and gave me a really subtle glance with a little smile. My gym bro has also told me that he’s noticed her looking at me while I’m working out, so apparently, I’m not the only one who’s noticed something.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself or overthink every little interaction, but I’m starting to wonder if there might be something there. 😂
Could I possibly be her gym crush, or is she just being friendly? Am I reading too much into this, or do these little signs actually mean something?
What do you guys think?

There’s this boy I know, Trent. I say “boy” but we are both 28. He lives in my college state. I live in California. His family knows my family.
I hadn’t interacted with him much in real life, just seen him around, but the reason I reached out to him in early 2026 was because we have been through the EXACT SAME trauma involving his family. I would go into detail, but that is a topic for another post and I want to respect Trent’s privacy).
I am in love with Trent. He is single as far as I know. I am ALSO ok with being single, so if he’s not into me that way, I’m just glad I have a friend.

Trent and I have been texting back and forth and he has helped me through some hard times in 2026. …. But I am always the one initiating. But when I do initiate, he always responds enthusiastically and asks questions.

He seems really nice, but not romantically interested in me. And that’s ok.
(The reason I believe he isn’t into me like that is because we’ve been texting for a long time but he hasn’t asked me out yet - if he wanted to he would, right? The only other reason I could think of is maybe us living in different states is preventing him from asking me out).

Anyway, the next time I’m visiting my college state, would it be weird if I ask Trent to hang out one on one?
I don’t want him to think, “wow, this b is really desperate to date me” or “she seems lonely”!
I don’t want to scare him off. And I heard that past college, it is weird for girls and guys to hang out one on one without saying?

Tl;dr: I’m lonely, would it be weird to ask a male friend (who I have feelings for) to hang out with me, and see what happens?

Ah i hate being single even tho its fun but it gets lonely yk?

I 33M, haven't been intimate with anyone for a very long time so I'm obviously very nervous. Is it appropriate to offer her oral before moving along to anything else? Personally, I think it would ease my nerves by making sure she feels taken care of/appreciated first before we get to what I'm sure will be a really awkward experience.

STDs are a concern, as well as coming off as weird. Does anyone (preferably women) have any input?!