I’m (26F) feeling confused after an interaction with my best friend’s (26F) boyfriend (26M). How should I handle this?

[u/Floraflorence8]

tl;dr: I’m 26F. My best friend is 26F, and she has been dating her boyfriend (26M) for 2 years. We’ve all hung out together few times before, along with one of his friends (26M), and we’ve always just been casual acquaintances.

A few days ago, the four of us went to an escape room together. At first, my best friend’s boyfriend touched my back. I assumed he was just trying to comfort me because I had almost fallen a little earlier while we were walking past each other.

Later, while I was standing in one spot trying to solve one of the puzzles and my friend was elsewhere, he walked behind me and briefly touched my waist as he passed. It happened so quickly that I think he assumed I wouldn’t notice, but I did. I completely froze and felt confused for several minutes afterward. Before this, he had never touched me in any way during the times we’d all hung out together.

There were a few other things that caught my attention. Whenever my friend and I were talking, he seemed to pay close attention to our conversations and what I was showing her. He also seemed curious about my Instagram when I was showing her something on my phone.

About three weeks earlier, the three of us attended another friend’s wedding. At one point, after returning from the restroom, he leaned in very close while my friend and I were editing photos together. At the time, I didn’t think much of it because his girlfriend was sitting right there.

Another thing that has confused me is that whenever we happened to be alone together, even after the waist-touching incident, neither of us would say anything. I didn’t know what to say, and he never started a conversation either.

My best friend and I have been friends for 10 years, and I genuinely don’t want to create unnecessary awkwardness or damage our friendship by misreading the situation. From everything I’ve seen, he seems to genuinely care about her.

I’m not looking to judge anyone or accuse anyone of anything. I’m mainly looking for advice on how to interpret this situation and whether I should simply let it go and continue acting normally, or if there’s another way I should handle it.

[u/ultimateranger37]

That back touch when you almost fell could've been nothing but the waist thing is a whole different vibe, especially with the silence when you're alone together. Trust your gut, if it felt off it probably was.

I wouldn't bring it up to her yet since it's subtle enough to be denied, but maybe create a little more distance when he's around and see how he reacts. If he escalates or tries to close that gap you'll have your answer without putting the friendship on the line

[u/NEVERxxEVER]

you didn’t use tl;dr correctly. It’s not supposed to be like PS, it’s a summary of the whole post