‘Just Friends’

We've been friends and colleagues for several years. Everyone has commented on our friendship over the years and speculated that we like each other or have got together, but nothing has ever happened. He told me a couple of times that we're just friends but then gets jealous if I talk about or date another guy. He's always treated me differently to his other friends which made me feel special. 

At the beginning of this year we were hanging out a lot after work as friends and that spark was still there. Then Covid happened. We kept in contact throughout lockdown and would text each other every other day for months. I thought we were getting closer and I started to feel more attached to him and even entertained the possibility of something happening between us after lockdown. I was so happy that Covid was bringing us together! 

When lockdown started to ease, he stopped contacting me for several weeks. I reached out to check he was okay, worried that something had happened to him. He admitted he stopped speaking to me because he had been dating again and now has a girlfriend. I felt crushed and used. 

Since then, I have stopped initiating contact. We obviously still talk for work and he sometimes reaches out to me randomly and I respond out of politeness so it's not awkward. He's still with his new girlfriend so I feel it would be disrespectful to text like we used to.

I'm still hurt and looking back don't think he was ever really a proper friend to me and just liked the female attention. It doesn't help when his new relationship is plastered all over social media. I'm trying to distance myself, move on and focus on myself. I'm being more selfish about the people who have access to me. No more half friendships or relationships. Ladies, if he says you're just friends, believe him and treat him as one! Don't let him lead you on for years and then drop you like a hot potato for a girl he's known for weeks!