Peter was my friend first and we're still great friends... I thought it would be good to establish the chronology of events before we get too far into the story.
Peter was a golf buddy and we met through another friend about six months back. With the weather getting colder and golf season winding down, we started hanging out for drinks more than golfing. A lot of the time recently it was just Peter and me at the nineteenth hole on Saturday afternoons watching sports and having long chats (mostly about his crazy dating life... I liked living vicariously through the stories of his adventures!).
Peter is in his late 50's, retired and divorced but still friendly with his wife. He's an excellent golfer but isn't competitive at all. He's just out there for a good time. So our rounds are always good spirited and we spend more time laughing than keeping score.
He approaches dating the same way... He just loves to have a good time. He's so engaging and charismatic that it's almost too easy for him to become friendly with people, especially women, and his disarming personality makes those new friends feel comfortable almost instantly.
More than once I've headed home for dinner with my wife Deb, and he's stayed behind to chat with a few of the female golfers who have come in after their rounds. There's always a good story for me the following week. Usually with Peter talking one of the ladies into having dinner with him and ending with her following him back to his house and staying into the wee morning hours.
This past weekend's adventure ended a little differently than the previous stories I had heard from Peter. Instead of staying the night, his new friend had to rush home after they had finished. When I asked why, he nonchalantly mentioned that she needed to get back before her husband started to worry.
This floored me. The thought of Peter bedding a married woman changed my whole understanding of his abilities to befriend people. I responded about how amazed I was that he had managed to be with a married woman... he shrugged his shoulders and said at least half, if not more, of his dates were married. This floored me even more!
"They're not so uptight or nervous, so it's easier to talk to them and really get to know them. There are plenty of times that we don't sleep together but that's not the point. I'm really out to just get to know them and have fun together. Once they realize I'm not a threat, lots of them are very open to getting physical, some never are, but the ones that do are well worth the wait.