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A few months ago, I met a man online who lives in another city. We emailed back and forth for a few months. We seemed to have a lot in common, including some personal issues we’ve both dealt with. We recently started communicating via phone several times a week. He is a really nice guy and I like having him as a friend, but he’s a little boring, and I don’t feel a romantic connection. Unfortunately, some of the things he’s said have indicated that he may be developing feelings for me. For example, he said that he looks at my picture every day and it gives him pleasant thoughts throughout his…

Five months ago, I was introduced to this guy at a bar through a mutual friend. Two weeks later we ran into each other again. One thing led to another and we ended up at my place. I had assumed this was just a one-night-stand, but he contacted me a few days later and we began to communicate. Eventually, it grew into a regular thing. At the beginning, we discussed that it was simply a friends with benefits type arrangement. I was on the rebound from a breakup and he said there wasn’t that ‘spark’ between us. At some point in time, we stopped seeing other people, but still confirmed that we…

It’s time again for Shortcuts. For every question, I’ll give my advice in three sentences or less, because sometimes the answer to a person’s question is so obvious and the need to hear it so great, being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to go. Today we discuss contacting old loves on Facebook, asking a significant other not to be friends with someone, and whether 22 is too young to know it’s real love.

I’m 24, work a steady full-time job in a major city, am applying to the master’s program where I work, have paid off my student loans, and just bought a new car. It seems like I have my life in order and this has got me thinking about my future, specifically where my long-time girlfriend fits into it. We met in college and have been dating for over three years now. Our relationship has had its ups and down but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. The thing is, we live 70 miles apart now and issues of long-term compatibility have been coming up, making me wonder if we can…

I met Cate a few years ago when I began dating my music-manager boyfriend. Cate was dating Parker, a musician in one the bands my boyfriend managed, so we saw each other at every show and became friendly enough to hang out outside of music venues. It was really nice meeting someone I had so much in common with, as it doesn’t happen very often. However, there were a lot of secrets I knew about Parker that I was unable to tell Cate due to my boyfriend’s management relationship with him. Parker cheated on her many, many times while they were dating and even routinely slept with his roommate/band member/ex-girlfriend, Jessica. Parker…