Chivalry is not dead

This weekend I went on a sort of date with a friend. I call him a friend because neither of us has stated any specific romantic interest in the other, but we enjoy each other's company so we've taken to spending time together occasionally.

Now, I have an admitted attraction to "thugs". I can't really explain it, but then again neither can most girls with the bad boy fetish. This guy has to be the polar opposite of the bad boy image. He's in school, no criminal record, no baby mammas, he doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke and he's a bonafide taxpayer with a legal 9 to 5 job. Now, whether it's fair or not, my first reaction to guys like this is usually, "he's nice, but too much like me for me to be interested"; thus perpetuating the "nice guys finish last" stereotype.

This guy could change my mind.

The first time we hung out we went to eat. I assumed that we'd go dutch since it wasn't an offical date. I even thought I would pick up the bill since we're cool like that. Instead, the bill comes he grabs it and asks "You mind if I get this?". Do I mind??? Of course not!

The second time we hung out I went to his house. It was late, like after 10pm. My first thought was, "these are booty call hours, maybe I shouldn't go". I didn't want to give him the impression that I was down for a late night romp. Nevertheless, they situation seemed innocent enough so I went to his house, he met me outside and led me down into his apartment...hmm, that sounded more ominous than I intended.

It was a typical bachelor pad. No real food in the fridge, hip-hop posters on the wall and a nice collection of dust bunnies. We talked for a while about everything- relationships, my brother, his sister, our parents. His music collection is massive and we bonded over how many CDs we had in common. He's also a vinyl collector and had a lot of unreleased stuff I've never heard before. We watched a movie called 'The Aristocrats' about a running joke among stand-up comedians. The objective of the joke is too be as vile and offensive as possible before getting to the punchline. This movie is not for the easily offended so keep that in mind if you choose to check it out. Anyway, he worried that I wouldn't like the movie and was hesitant to show it to me. Little did he know, my sense of humor leans toward the dark side and I enjoyed it thoroughly. He said I was the first of his friends who didn't ask him to turn it off after the first 20 minutes.

The movie ended and I realized it was almost 3 am. Then I realized that I had sat in this man's apartment for over 4 hours and not once did he try to touch me, kiss me, or make a suggestive comment. He walked me to my car, told me he had a good time, gave me a hug and I was on my way.

He sent me a text message the next day: "Just wanted to say again... it was good to see you last night...I hope you had as good a time as I did...Take care and have a safe trip home."
What a sweetheart!

My feelings for this guy have only gone from lukewarm to warm, and for now we are still just friends. We e-mail each other almost everyday, playing the "get to know me better" game. Each message peaks my interest in him a little more, and the more I get to know him, the more the "thugs" I was so crazy about seem to be losing their appeal.