My former friend with benefits invited me (27M) and my girlfriend (25F) to her Shabbat dinner, and I'm feeling uneasy about it. What should I do?
In 2021, while living at home, I met a girl named Clare (26F) on Hinge. We spent some time together and started hooking up, but we both agreed early on that we weren’t looking for a relationship. For a year, we kept hanging out and being intimate, mainly due to the boredom of the COVID times. Eventually, Clare decided to end things for good, as our casual arrangement was leading to complicated feelings for her. After that, we didn’t speak for six months and moved on with our lives. Eventually, we reconnected through text and confirmed that we were okay with each other. Since then, our conversations have been infrequent, usually just random chats or occasional life updates. I’ve always enjoyed our talks and view her as a good person, but I’ve never felt any romantic attraction toward her. Shortly after reconnecting, I moved into my own place and started dating a girl named Alison, who has now been my girlfriend for almost two years. Clare also entered a serious relationship for a while, but that has since ended. About a month ago, Clare reached out with a random question, and after I responded, she began texting me more often, which felt a bit unusual. She then mentioned that she had recently converted to Judaism and invited me to a Shabbat dinner she’s hosting in January, asking me to bring my girlfriend (she knows I’ve been in a relationship for some time). I panicked and replied, “I’ll let you know,” but haven’t followed up since. Clare texted again about the dinner and even called me, but I didn’t pick up. I genuinely believe Clare is only looking for a friendly connection. It seems she doesn’t have many friends and wants to expand her social circle, seeing me as someone she’d like to keep in touch with. However, I feel uneasy about this for two reasons: (1) We have a sexual history, and I’m in a relationship now, and (2) I already have a lot of friends, and Clare isn’t connected to my social circle. My girlfriend knows about Clare, but I rarely mention her since she isn’t significant to me. I can imagine that she wouldn’t be comfortable attending Shabbat dinner with my former friends-with-benefits. Plus, going to that dinner would imply that I’m interested in developing a closer friendship with Clare, which isn’t the case. At the same time, blocking or cutting off Clare feels excessive, as keeping in touch occasionally doesn’t seem harmful. I’m unsure of how to address this without coming across as unkind. - - - - - - - - *TL;DR* I’ve kept in sporadic contact with an old FWB, and now I have a long-term girlfriend. Recently, Clare reached out more, mentioning her conversion to Judaism and inviting us to a Shabbat dinner. I think she wants a closer friendship because she lacks friends, but I’m uncomfortable and unsure how to decline without being hurtful.
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