I'll start from the beginning.....
Around Christmas time last year, my good buddy Dominic and his girlfriend, Mallory, broke up. Though I was great friends with Dominic first, Mallory and I became close, too. Though she is a very attractive woman, through and through, we were strictly platonic. When they broke up, I did what any good friend does and consoled them both. I heard from both sides and gave them the sympathy they deserved.
The new Star Wars movie came out around that time. My brother and I were supposed to see it together, but I accidentally bought tickets for a day he was working, so I had an extra ticket. I needed to find someone to see it with. I looked on Facebook Messenger and saw that Mallory was the most recent person I spoke with. Knowing that she was still hurt from the breakup, I knew she needed to get out. I asked her if she was interested and she happily obliged. We went out, had dinner and saw the movie. There was no romance, no sexual tension between us, just pure genuine friendliness.
During dinner, Mallory took a pic of us for Instagram and Facebook. We didn't think anything of it. After the movie, when I turned my phone back on, Dominic sent me a message, furious with me. "Seriously, dude. My ex! We just broke up" I remember it saying. Dominic was very protective over Mallory and even though they broke up, still had feelings for her. Mallory and I both spoke to him and explained why we were hanging out. I told Dominic that I have "No romantic nor sexual attraction to her." He understood, but this took a small hit on our friendship. How could he think I would do that to a woman he cared for so passionately?
Mallory and I became good friends. Though our communication was primarily through text and Facebook, we hung out a few times, rather watching GoT, OITNB, or smoking a bowl, we became close. She has anxiety, suffers from depression and PTSD, grew up in a Christian environment to later become secular minded, loves to read, introverted, and is interested in a swinger/poly relationship. Basically, we had more in common than I thought.
Yesterday, Mallory and I were texting and she mentioned how she opened up a Fetlife account. I browsed through and I knew that I was developing an attraction towards her. I decided I needed to come clean to her and told her that when I told Dominic -- she was there to hear it -- I wasn't attracted to her, that was a lie. I told her that I am, in fact, attracted to her in every way possible. I knew saying this was either going to make us very awkward or very awesome. Luckily, it was awesome! She admitted to me that she was, too, attracted to me, but seriously thought that I wouldn't be attracted to a woman like her. We both decided to do a date next weekend and see how it goes. We felt giddy discussing this.
However......
I told her about Dominic. How would he react? Would he hate us? We both don't know. But, we both said we need to go on a few dates to see if there will be an us. Dominic is now an associate professor at the university I'm attending in the fall, so I'm not sure how comfortable it'll be for me to tell him this. He's been a dear friend to me for many years. He's a good man who would literally take the shirt off his back for you/me. What do I do? I haven't been in a committed relationship in several years and I feel like Mallory is perfect for me.
Love sucks, sometimes. :\
