Date 5: Another Step in the Right Direction?

During the middle of work yesterday, Casey called in response to my email. I was having a crappy, stressful day so it was nice to hear from him. We only spoke for a few minutes, but he suggested getting together and doing something low key that night, like grabbing dinner or watching a movie. I opted for the former, but told him I planned to go to the gym first and I'd call him when I got home.

He picked me up at 8:30 and I met him downstairs. He caught me off guard by going STRAIGHT in for the kiss at the greeting. It was a nice kiss, but was more than I was expecting. I made a nervous joke about how I hoped he didn't mind wearing lip gloss. In hindsight, that was SO nerdy of me - but I was nervous and it just came out.

He looked great and smelled good and I was pleased when he opened the car door for me - love that!! We decided on sushi, so we went to my favorite Thai/Japanese restaurant near my condo.

Dinner was nice, despite the fact that I was exhausted and not feeling my most social. He kept the conversation rolling with hilarious stories of the "trouble" he and his friends got into back in high school. It was nice to just be able to sit back and enjoy entertaining stories.

After we were done eating, he excused himself to the restroom and I paid the bill. At the time, I just did it. But thinking back, I think I did it because I didn't want there to be any "expectations" about what would happen next if he paid for dinner. During dinner, he had asked if I wanted to hang out a bit more at my house after dinner. I shot him down, citing my exhaustion and the fact that I had to be up early on Saturday morning.

After the check was paid, we walked out to the car, and he took my hand as we were walking. After he unlocked my car door, he leaned in and kissed me. We stood there in the parking lot for a few minutes. It was nice and MUCH less awkward than the out-of-the-blue smooch when the evening began.

He held my hand as he drove me home - which was impressive (he has a 5-speed: steering, shifting, signaling all with his left hand). When we got back to my place, he walked me to the door and asked if he could come up. Again, I shot him down - poor guy. But honestly, I'm not ready for it to go any further and I'm not going to feel pressured to move ahead just to make him happy.

We stood outside the back door of my building and kissed for a few minutes It was really nice,and he was very complimentary of me and the evening. Except for a few fleeting thoughts of wondering if any of my neighbors could see us, I found myself really enjoying it.

He finally pulled away and said something about us getting together this week (which likely won't happen because I have so much going on) and the night ended.

I find that I enjoy spending time with him, but his "eagerness" kind of freaks me out. This happened to me in my last relationship-the guy was so over-eager and it freaked me out and caused me to push him away. After a "we need to slow down" talk, things progressed, but in a way that was much less stressful for me. I feel that one of those talks may be on the horizon for me and Casey.

Tonight I'll meet up with Ryan and we'll see what the deal is with him. I'm looking forward to it!