My marriage ended a couple of years ago and I've always had a bit of a thing for this guy in my friendship group. I knew him before I got married and we went on some casual dates but never quite managed to get it together, although he's admitted he fancies me. He's very shy, and has never had a girlfriend at 33. But very flirty, quite attention seeking, but kind of sweet and good to talk to too. We all went on holiday together as part of a group last year and got on amazingly well. Things felt "special".
So the flirting was happening again, but no suggestion of a date. Mutual male friends were telling me he was keen but he's "shy", so I decided to ask him out. I'm not brave enough to do it in person, so I sent him a text, not too pushy but clear that we should give it a go.
No reply. This was 4 months ago. Since then, he has avoided me like the plague. I would say he is actually going out of his way to avoid me - theres been a couple of parties where he's turned up early for half an hour, seen me in the distance and left without saying anything. I've noticed I'm no longer being invited out to drinks by several of the mutual friends, just at a time (separated from DH and getting divorced) that I could have done with friends.
I'm sure he is doing this to avoid saying "no" and because he probably wants to flirt with me in the future without having to date me, but in actual fact I'm mortified, embarrassed and really hurt by it all.
So has anyone ever encountered one of these "flirty but nice" men who don't want anything else, and how did you deal with them? Because I'm pretty sure that once he's made his point, he will try to go back to the flirty stuff.