In a story of radical humility, Austin resident Shane Abadie is still embarrassed to admit to her boyfriend of three months that she kind of likes him.
“Things are going great,” Shane says of her partnership with Anwar Jaradat. “We’re official, we’re exclusive, he’s even in a group chat with my sister. But I’m only telling close friends that I like-like him for now. I don’t want to make it weird or anything.”
Though Shane has gone camping with Anwar, posted a photo of him to main with the heart-eyes emoji, and spends three to five nights a week with him, she’s hesitant to let on how she feels.
“It’s just so vulnerable,” Shane says. “What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”
Sources close to the story have been quick to suggest that Anwar and Shane dating is solid proof of him liking her, but she remains unconvinced.
“I could see that argument,” she says. “And all his actions make it seem that way too, but then sometimes I look at him and I’m overcome with warmth and fondness for this beautiful and special person I’ve found, and in those moments it’s like, holy shit, this is mortifying.”
In terms of when Shane might be comfortable expressing that she likes the person who is her boyfriend, the future remains uncertain.
“I don’t want to rush anything,” Shane says. “If we get married, I might say it in my vows, but that feels like a little cliché. Maybe once we have kids, but I don’t want to assume that we’re romantic just because we’re co-parenting. It’s complicated.”
As for Anwar, he remains largely in the dark on Shane’s thought processes.
“I think things are good, but I’m not really sure how she feels about me,” Anwar says. “I think the most direct verbal affirmation I’ve gotten is that once after sex she said, ‘It’s cool hanging out’.”
“Maybe it’s just hard for her to express these things,” Anwar adds. “But I’m not sure, because every time she meets a dog she fully says ‘I love you’ by the end of the interaction. Anyway, I’m definitely not going to ask about it.”
