After my awkward phone call with the Ex, I went out of town for the weekend to clear my head. 

When I returned, the Enginerd asked me out to dinner for our third date. 

I was having a really stressful week at work, to the point where my stomach was in knots all day (not to mention I was on my period).

Noticing my duress, he asked if I wanted to cuddle at his apartment instead of grabbing a second drink after dinner.

Do I want to cuddle? Unlike every other girl in the universe (ok, maybe just my girlfriends), I feel horribly awkward cuddling with someone I'm not super close to. But, I agreed anyway.

It turned out to be the best idea ever. We had a really long talk about our past relationships, likes and dislikes, turn ons and offs. My stomach pains faded away as I curled up next to him. I was actually starting to really like him.

Then I didn't hear from him the following week… which also happened to be my birthday.

Big, fat Strike #1. And he was on such a roll.