I know him through parkrun. He's nice enough for a brief friendly chat but I wouldn't say we have any great connection, in fact I sometimes get the feeling he's a bit nervous/scared of me.
I have a group of friends who I go to see local bands with, this man occasionally comes along, but isn't one of the core. He's quite particular about which bands he wants to see!
Anyway one of my favourites is playing in a local pub this weekend, the rest of the group are all busy. I happen to know that they are also one of this man's favourites.
So this is more about wanting to see the band than wanting to spend the evening with him, although I'm sure it would be a perfectly good evening.
I have asked him to things twice before and he's said no, with (what sounded like) pretty genuine reasons. He did say yes when I asked him in for a cuppa on the way home after a Christmas do (he lives near me, we were walking home). I was shocked that he did, I'd expected him to say no. I asked because he wouldn't stop talking at the end of my drive and I was getting cold 😆 Anyway he came in, we chatted over a cuppa for about an hour and a half, he shared lots of stuff about his childhood and peronal life, maybe a bit too much, he left, I haven't seen him much since.
So, it's definitely not a date. If he was a female friend/acquaintance I'd definitely ask, but he isn't and however much we'd like to believe it makes no difference, it does.
We're both single, in our 50s, if that's relevant.
So do I ask and if so how do I say it's just us, but I'm definitely not suggesting a date?