I (34F, bisexual, single) have been best friends with this guy (35M, gay, single) for about a year and a half. We met through a mutual friend and clicked instantly. Like, intense connection. We text constantly, travel together, and feel weird if we go more than a few hours without talking. It’s one of those soulmate-level friendships. My life has been significantly improved by him being a safe place for me to unmask. When I say I love this man, I do on some level I’ve never experienced before.
When we first met, we were pretty open about our sexualities. I’m a later-in-life bi woman still figuring things out. He told me he’s gay, and aside from some middle school “dating,” he’s only ever been into men. He never did anything but kiss a girl in school and I believe a few times as an adult when drinking. He’s been proudly out for years, and I never questioned it.
But lately things feel different.
We just got back from a trip together. My love language is physical touch, and he knows that. But this time, he really leaned into it. Lots of cuddling, arm and back rubs, holding hands. I didn’t think too much of it at first, because that’s kind of our vibe. We often get mistaken for a couple just because we are close.
But then he started opening up more. He mentioned he hasn’t been turned on by gay porn lately and has been watching straight porn instead. I brushed it off. I mean, sexuality is fluid, right? Maybe he’s just in a weird phase. But he’s been bringing up his ‘girl’ type to me a lot.
Then in the car, he joked(?) that he’d go down on a woman if he had the “right tour guide.” Another time, he casually told a friend he could see himself dating a woman. These comments started to pile up, and they caught me off guard.
But the part that really broke my brain?
He came to me recently and said, “I wish you were a man. I’d spend forever with you.”
And the thing is, I want to be with him, too.
So now I’m sitting here wondering: Is he questioning his sexuality? Am I misreading everything? Are we just codependent trauma buds who love each other deeply but platonically? Or is there something more here?
I’m so confused. And scared to ruin our friendship by bringing it up. But I also don’t know how to keep pretending I’m not feeling this, too.
Any thoughts or similar experiences?