The Replacement Boyfriend

I've found myself a replacement boyfriend.

I've waited for him to come home from work so we can go out to dinner. We eat actual, home cooked meals together while discussing our day. I don't even knock upon entering his apartment. I know what he looks like in his underwear.

No, he's not imaginary. As it clearly states in the WWBD? dating dictionary, an imaginary boyfriend (n.) is a Boy who hangs out with you a lot, enjoys your company and making out with you, but will not commit to the title of Boyfriend. Takes on many 'boyfriend-like' responsibilities, calls you frequently, yet disappoints you often. Not to be confused with "Friends with Benefits."

There is a difference between a replacement boyfriend and an imaginary boyfriend. A replacement boyfriend is a boy you hang out with very often, almost to excess, on a strictly platonic basis, and takes the place of actually having to find someone with which to have an actual relationship.

This is what has happened to the cute neighbor and me. I've come to realize I've been spending more time with him than I would an actual boyfriend. Yes, he does fit some of the definition of an IB: He hangs out with me a lot, enjoys my company, and calls frequently. (In fact, he called me today to ask if I would pick him up after he was hit by a car while riding his bike. He's fine. His bike is not.) But I have never once made out with him, and he won't commit to the title of Boyfriend because we're not even remotely dating. (Although when I caught a ride with him and his parents to his birthday dinner- which other friends were attending- it felt an awful lot like being 14 years old and going on a date, with his parents in the front and us in the back. Not that I ever went out on a date at the age of 14.) In fact, I had never even considered the possibility of dating him. Until this weekend.

A BFF of mine just moved back to the country after several years of living in The Most God-forsaken Place on Earth. (Despite being in The Most God-forsaken Place on Earth, she still managed to come home with a fiance. Seriously.) I decided to take a weekend road trip to visit her and the new fiance over the weekend, and asked the cute neighbor if he wanted to join me. It's always good to have someone along for a road trip to navigate and pay for gas. It was a fun drive. We played Mad Libs. Sang along out of tune to 80s music. He picked the cashews out of the nut mix so I wouldn't have to eat them.

While we've always had a flirty friendship, we've never really given off a couple-y vibe. At some point in the span of Friday and Saturday, that seemed to change. My theory was confirmed when my friend, also named Violet, cornered me while the cute neighbor was at the bar buying the next round to ask me why on earth we weren't a couple. My initial reason for not wanting to date him is that I knew too much about him. He's been around the block a few times. And then a few times more. But when The Other Violet was pointing out that we act like a couple, argue like a couple, and have undeniable chemistry, I was having a hard time defending my initial reason.

Now I'm just confused. Is it just because spring is upon us and I need a man? But then again, he was more than willing to don tight pants and a billowy white shirt to show up at a party as an ice dancer, and how many men are willing to do that? I love cheesy shit like that! While we did share a futon over the weekend, nothing happened, but I don't know how much of that was my previous attitude- in that I actually told him nothing would ever happen between us- or his not being interested. I'm so confused.

Help.