My sauna crush finally spoke to me, but his friend gave me his number instead
I (26) need an honest read on something magical that happened today because I feel like I’m overthinking it.
There are two saunas at my gym, a dry sauna and a wet sauna. I usually use the dry sauna. The guy I’ve had a crush on (50) seems to only use the wet sauna, so we’ve sort of existed near each other for a while without properly interacting. In a weird way, our different sauna preferences meant I could avoid him, even though I did want to talk to him.
Today, his friend (52) came into the dry sauna and said hello to me. We started chatting. He introduced himself, asked me basic details about myself, and invited me to join him and my crush in the wet sauna if I wanted. I didn’t go in because I thought it might be too forward. I didn’t want to force the situation.
Not long after, the friend caught me cooling off outside and asked if I wanted to chat. We all ended up having a really interesting conversation, the friend left and I was alone with my crush. I was curious about his work and the conversation flowed quite naturally with good eye contact. He then excused himself to go and cool down, and I was over the moon. I decided that would be my exit. I was satisfied.
As I was getting changed, they both entered, showered, and then involved me in more conversation. It turned into the friend asking me, “What’s your dream?” which is when I started to feel like I was probably being pursued. I knew he was chatty, so at first I didn’t think too much of it, but then my crush left.
The friend then asked me if I was doing anything that evening and if I liked coffee. I said I was working. He gave me his number and said I could come over when I’m not working.
Oops.
The problem is, I’m pretty sure now he was the one pursuing me, not just acting as a bridge to his friend. But I’m actually more interested in his friend, who was my original crush.
Now I’m not sure what the best move is. I don’t want to lead him on, and I don’t want to use him as a route to his friend. But I also feel like the situation I wanted did kind of happen. I wanted an opening to talk to my crush, and suddenly I’m connected to his circle, just not in the way I expected.
Would it be inappropriate to ask about the friend/crush? Should I leave it and wait until I see the crush again naturally? Or should I go for coffee but make it clear it’s friendly?