This is my first post—and a long one, so, go easy on me!😊

I’m not new to Reddit but this is a new account I created to safely participate here.

Backstory: I’m 2x divorced (most recent divorce was 5 yrs ago) and not really focused on dating, but had a 💡moment about this younger guy and the way he’s acted around me the past couple of years.

I didn’t think anything of it until he popped into my head one night a couple of weeks ago and all of the things he does around me started adding up. I literally made a list that night and while there are a ton of things, these were the most prominent/relevant:

💡Always finds a reason to take his shirt off when I’m around. The first time this happened, his behavior wasn’t really on my radar because he had never done anything like this, that I was aware of. I just thought it was amusing based on what his mother said to him immediately afterwards. At that time, we hadn’t seen each other since my divorce and upon walking in the house, I gave him a hug. A few minutes later he disappeared and reentered the living room with his shirt off. His mom politely pulled him aside and I overheard her tell him to “please put your shirt back on.”😂 This happened long before I was aware of his behavior but it sticks out because of how often since then he finds a reason to remove his shirt in my presence. This was 2 years ago.

The most recent disrobing incident happened on our way back from a Thanksgiving event last year. We were sitting in the back of a vehicle and he took his top shirt off and was sitting there in a tank top, in chilly, late November. 😂 I lightened the mood in the car by making a joke about the impromptu Chippendale’s activity happening in the backseat.

💡When we have a fam/friend gathering and form carpools, he always rides in the car I’m in and sits beside me— even if the other people his age are riding in another vehicle.

💡Over Thanksgiving we were all sitting around listening to music and I mentioned how much I love acoustic guitar. Over Christmas I learned that he asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas (and received one) and started teaching himself to play acoustic guitar.

💡 Whenever we take group photos, he always stands or sits beside me.

💡 We went to a Christmas Eve service, and he maneuvered to sit beside me, but a higher-ranking adult arrived and asked if he would switch seats so she could sit beside me. As soon as the service was over, he was near me again, and ended up standing beside me in the group photos we took afterwards.

💡 We had a group game night that included some of his friends, also in college, and once again, he maneuvered to sit beside me and kept inching closer as the evening wore on.

💡Always makes it a point to mention he’s single at some point during our “catch up” conversations when we meet up.

💡 When he’s at college, he drinks the way most frat guys do, but when he’s around me, he mimics my drinks which are typically wine or bourbon. I noticed this a lot over the holidays.

There are many other things that have happened, but these are the things that happen most often. It’s almost like he’s waiting for a sign from me? Or do you think that’s just me projecting? Maybe there’s curiosity on his part because I’m of another race?

He has the typical frat guy hook-ups, but it’s almost like he goes into overdrive trying to appear more mature when I’m around.

My second marriage was to someone 10 years younger and after that divorce, I dated someone 12 years younger. I’m relatively introverted, but not at all socially awkward.

I’ve been told that I have a magnetic personality that’s inviting, but also mysterious. Almost everyone who has asked me on a date is 10 to 12 years younger but I stopped stopped accepting dates 2 or 3 years ago because I’m really just enjoying life independent of a relationship for the time being.

In closing, the 21M and I see each other a handful of times a year at family gatherings. I’m not family, but am considered like family.