Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons
There is a stereotype that guys and girls can’t be just friends. It’s impossible to be best friends without one being in love with the other – or gay. But I disagree with this. There is indeed a happy medium: Best Friends with Awkward Sexual Tension.
We all have one, whether or not you realize it. Someone you’re tight with -sometimes so close that you get questions of whether or not you’re actually dating. Your friends tease you about your so-called ‘unintentional’ flirting. You do dinner, laundry, food shopping together. You may even take naps together. But you laugh it off, claiming you two are just ‘close.’
If you haven’t realized the sexual tension yet, then you’re either oblivious or in denial. And even when you do know it’s there, what’s there to do?
Actually, you do nothing. And it sucks. But think about it: Is it worth risking the great relationship you already have just to be happy for a fleeting moment, only to then face your feelings head-on and find…what? It’s not really tension anymore once something’s been done about it.
The scary part about not doing something is the breaking point. How long can you last without just wanting to jump their bones? This creates somewhat of a double-edged sword. In one hand, you can break the tension and ruin everything, or you can just not do anything until someone can’t handle it anymore…and ruins everything.
My BFWAST is the greatest. I rely on him for anything and everything, and he’s the biggest sweetheart. I don’t remember what college was like without going over to his apartment almost every day. We talk about each other’s relationships, even though we hold hands when we’re drunk. I can’t deny that sometimes the green-eyed jealousy monster wants to come out screaming when he talks about taking other girls out on dates, but I cover it up with jokes that they better reach my high standards of approval for the kind of girl he deserves.
His roommates catch us snoozing together on the couch sometimes, with laughs and comments of “Classic.” I’m even the only girl he’s ever brought home to meet good ol’ Mom and Dad. But if there’s one thing our friendship has taught me, it’s that there are some people you just love too much to sleep with.
Maybe it’s more of a shoulda-woulda-coulda situation where we’re both too afraid to make a move. But my BFWAST really is still my best friend. And for now, I plan to keep it that way. It doesn’t seem to me like either of us are reaching the breaking point yet, and I pray to G-d that’s not coming anytime soon.