He's not an intentional asshole, that's just his sense of humor

I called Christopher Thursday evening. He didn't pick up the phone. I got upset and cursed myself for even calling in the first place. He called me back later that night. He said he was at the gym when I called. We talked for about 40 minutes. He was interested in what I had to say; I was a little surprised.

I asked him if he wanted to do a happy hour Friday after work. He said he would and said he'd also invite Maddy and Rebecca. I laughed and told him Rebecca STILL hasn't called me back so good luck with that. (I left her another message and still haven't heard anything, but I also hear she's really busy.) Friday I call him when I get off work and his phone is off. Fucking hey. I begin the long commute home and he calls me back when I'm almost home. He said he just got my message and he was at the gym. I sense a pattern here. He does, however, have a really nice body.

He doesn't want to do happy hour anymore because he doesn't want to spend any money. I offer to go to his house and bring some beer and he likes the plan. I ask about food and he says he has a frozen pizza. I go ahead and finish my commute home and change into something very casual- just jeans and a sweater. I'm doing all the work here and I don't know what to expect when I get there, so I don't exactly work at my appearance.

When Christopher opens the door to his apartment, he's all dressed up. He's also cooking us dinner. Crap- THIS IS A DATE! I'm wearing tennis shoes! Dinner was really good and he and I actually get along really well. We make each other laugh. We just click- no awkward silences, no awkwardness at all. We work our way through the suitcase of beer and get rather drunk. He keeps giving me pieces of gum and telling me to chew them- I had like 4 pieces in my mouth at one point until I refused more gum. I moved over on the couch and lay on him. I had to physically move his arm around me, but he leaves it there.

When it gets late, we go to bed. In bed I kiss him. This is the first time we kissed. The rest is pretty hazy, but I think I said something about wanting to date him. Date to me means, you go out but not exclusively. He took date as an exclusive activity and said he's been hurt and isn't ready for a girlfriend. I think I got frustrated and passed out. The whole conversation was pretty redundant on my part because that's exactly what we just had: a date. Don't know why I couldn't be happy with it.

The next morning the same games began. He'd initiate and back off all morning. I have no idea why he does this. The cynic in me thinks he just wants to see if he could get some if he wanted- that he's just testing me. But we still laughed and had a good time.

When I left, I paused so he could walk me to the door. He followed me, then turned into the kitchen. "I'll talk to you later," he called from the kitchen. I must have reacted badly because he quickly added, "Hey, drive home safely, ok?"

Here's the thing- probably the part where you tell me I'm crazy- I think he does like me. I don't know if he's just socially inept. He's a northerner so it may just be a difference in manners. I'm not using that to explain his actions here, but in general southern guys behave completely differently. Even if they don't like you, they are still going to treat you nicely. There might be stuff that he's not doing that I'm used to and it would throw me off. He may have been hurt like he said and have intimacy issues, explaining why he starts and stops all the time. He has a very different personality from what I've ever encountered before. He acts differently from what I've encountered before. So maybe this is all a part of it.

He did dress up. He cooked dinner when he didn't have to. He took care of me the next morning when I was hungover. Our conversations click. He asked me a lot of questions about myself, truly interested. He would repeat some of the answers back like he was trying to remember them. There are plenty of good things that happened. If it wasn't for the sexual equation, I would think things are fine. So why do I think that things aren't ok?