If a man has not asked you on a date, with the word date, and has not asked you to be his girlfriend, you are not dating. Nothing else he does matters. NOTHING. Always assume you are both single until HE brings up being exclusive. Keep dating others until one of them asks to be more.

Guys will take anything you offer them. That doesn’t mean they want the same thing as you, or see the offer as a date. The only way to know if a guy is truly interested in you is to let him lead the way. Once I finally realized and accepted that, I landed a boyfriend. Only took me 11 years.

The last guy I “dated” informed me after 5 months of spending 4–5 nights/days together a week, going out to eat, movies, sleep overs, sex, walks, talks, calls, texts, gifts, that we were only “hanging out”. I assumed we were dating. I ignored the fact he never said “dating” or even “date”. And what’s worse, I stopped dating others. They have to EARN exclusivity, and I always just handed it to them. Not one of them ever wanted it, though they sure took what I was giving.

We don’t need to try so damn hard, or put all of our eggs in one basket so quick. If a guy isn’t bringing up dating while you think you’re dating, you’re not dating. And it still hurts like a bitch.