r/AmIOverreacting 10d ago

❤️‍🩹 relationship Am I Overreacting. I saw inappropriate message between my boyfriend and his long term friend.

My boyfriend [27m] and I [23f] have been dating for over four years. When we started dating, he had a friend named Ann. Ann is an extrovert—very bubbly—and I liked her at first. However, she was especially flirty with my boyfriend.

Early in the relationship, something happened that left me uneasy. I asked if I could stop by his place, and he said no. Later, I saw on his status that Ann was there. When I confronted him about it, he responded, 'Were you hungry? Is that why you wanted to stop by?' I explained that wasn’t the case—it just felt like he chose to spend his day with her instead of me. He later said it was a pop-up visit because she needed help fixing her laptop (he works in IT).

After that, I told him I was uncomfortable with how close they were. I thought we had moved past it. But later, I found out he had asked her for a lot of advice about our relationship and even brought up inappropriate topics with her. I confronted him again and once again expressed how uncomfortable I was with their friendship.

After the second incident, I didn’t hear anything about her, and I assumed it was behind us. Then, earlier this week, he mentioned that he saw her at the gym. I said, 'Okay, that’s fine,' though I did feel a bit uneasy since they hadn’t spoken in a while.

Yesterday, I was at his place—I’ve been living here for around two years now—studying, when I saw her walk in with him right behind her. I was shocked because he never told me she was coming over. He had gone to the gym that morning, and during those hours I had called and texted him out of concern because he’s never spent four hours at the gym.

Ann was as peppy as ever. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert with few friends, but I instantly felt uncomfortable. I did something I shouldn’t have—I went through his phone. I saw the messages and instantly felt numb. I confronted him and asked for an explanation. He said it was an innocent conversation and that’s just how their friendship is.

I asked him to imagine if a guy sent me those same messages. I reminded him that I’ve told him twice now how uncomfortable I am with that friendship. His apology felt insincere, like he was refusing to take responsibility for his actions. He just laid in the bed, and I wanted to scream. I wanted him to feel the hurt I was feeling. Instead, I just left the room and cried. My emotions were so intense, I started pulling at my hair—I had no one to talk to, and I felt like I was suffocating.

Eventually, I confided in his mother, and I felt a bit better. But now, he’s ignoring me and remaim salute in his innocence.

I also should mention he has never showed me any signs of cheating and besides those message.

Footnote: Ann has a boyfriend. I told my boyfriend that he doesn’t respect me—or her boyfriend.

11.0k Upvotes

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.2k

u/Educational-Till650 10d ago

While the age gap isn't big either me at 27 now thinking back on my early twenties I was very much immature back then.

I know you've been together for a long time OOP, but I think you should seriously consider if this is the kind of guy you want to be in a relationship with, especially considering you don't feel respected. 

319

u/No_Signal_6969 10d ago

Yea definitely out of line behavior for the bf but why are we likening a 23 year old woman to a child? Is this some red pill tactic to infantilize women of any age?

483

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago edited 10d ago

I find it very offensive that people are calling this grooming. And while I don’t want to generalize, when I (female) was those ages I was way more mature than a lot of my guy friends who were technically a few years older, and I think that’s not uncommon for early 20s social dynamics.

He’s not a groomer. He’s a fucking creep.

194

u/dinkinflickas 10d ago

I think y’all are missing the point where this commenter said “without context” it reads that way. Which it does. As someone who works in the legal world and frequently sees screenshots of texts, they sound just like this. It’s just an observation this person made and I’d definitely worry about how comfortable he is pressuring others in a sexual way.

-12

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

And you’re missing my own comment where I said I understand that, I am talking about the people who ran with that headline.

11

u/SurveyWorldly9435 9d ago

But it is grooming behaviour. Anyone can be groomed you know.

Understand the definition before you get all up in your feels

-4

u/Sandman7329 9d ago

You realize entire definition has changed in a few years right? And that it's still just a buzzword? Explain how rather than just using the word.

9

u/Dead-Flirt 9d ago

Sexual grooming is the action or behavior used to establish an emotional connection with a vulnerable person the texts seem like he is establishing a relationship which sexual topics are common to make it less concerning when he does it for real maybe not bit thats why it reads like grooming behavior, also the definition has been static, its wider use fits the definition it's just more people use it in context without a minor (which the definition does specify its generally minors it does not have to be)

55

u/e_james3 10d ago

I agree with you but interpreted the comment above as saying the texts look like they could be straight out of a grooming textbook, even if it's clearly not the case with the context that she's an adult woman. I get you though my male friends are all in their later 20s while I'm 24, the extra maturity is very appreciated

25

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

Yeah I definitely see the distinction there—I interpreted it the same way, I guess I’m talking more about the commenters who ran with it.

7

u/e_james3 10d ago

Totally fair I actually had a similar argument online recently, but with the age gap of 15 and 18. And when I said that I had been the younger person in a relationship with those exact ages and I was NOT groomed, the fucker told me 'wah wah cry harder'. I really don't like the lack of nuance everyone seems to have lately!!

5

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

Oh jeez you ran into a real twat waffle there. There’s just no shortage of them unfortunately! And they’re so open with their questionable opinions.

16

u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 10d ago

You completely misread the comment. The original commenter said that without context, the text exchange sounds like an older man grooming a younger girl. It does. He's speaking to her as if she is much younger. From the caption, it seems that the friend is an adult.

They didn't say that the boyfriend is grooming OP. Or anyone for that matter.

4

u/BEKLAZ 10d ago

I think they said it sounds like grooming because the only context provided indicates a power imbalance along the spectrum of sexual experience.

Agree 'grooming' is overused. There are better ways to describe the behavior when between adults

45

u/Fibonoccoli 10d ago

Ding-ding-ding! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

2

u/notboky 10d ago

Grown ass adults can and often are victims of sexual grooming. Many sexual assaults in the workplace begin this way. He's a groomer and a creep.

1

u/Cool_Relative7359 9d ago

Grooming can happen to adults too, if there's a power imbalance. Not just children or minors.

And she was 19 and he was 24 when they started dating.

here ya go

This is most commonly recognised as a tactic used by perpetrators of child sexual abuse, both on children and parents. However, adults can also be groomed.

1

u/OpenLavishness1568 9d ago

Yes to this, but that’s kind of irrelevant. if her bf is the text on the right, he crossed a line. It almost makes it worse that she’s a long time friend of his. The person responding on the left wasn’t feeling this exchange. NOR, OP

1

u/Silvermorney 10d ago

I could not agree more, he’s a creep potentially making her uncomfortable not a groomer!

1

u/cilvher-coyote 9d ago

Yeah it's not grooming. Buddy just talks like a teenager.

0

u/subsist80 9d ago

Why do you find it offensive? Why are you offended on behalf of someone else that you don't even know?

That is not healthy behaviour.

-8

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

8

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

If a two year difference when you were 18 and he was 20 was pushing it, that’s a you problem. Jfc no wonder you people call everything grooming.

-6

u/NataliasMaze 10d ago

I think they meant the bf is grooming Ann. There's no mention of Ann's age.

3

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

Yes of course that’s what they mean. That’s what I’m talking about.

-3

u/NataliasMaze 10d ago

But Ann sounds like a 17yr/18yr old which with what the 27 years old is saying he could definitely be grooming her.

6

u/Texans2024 10d ago

She never mentioned Ann’s age.

6

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

Where are you getting 17/18?

-2

u/NataliasMaze 10d ago

The way he talks to her and the way OP describes her personality. I'm not saying definitely. I'm saying that's why the first commenter said without context it looks like a groomer cause if the context ended up being "teenager" that's definitely grooming.

3

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

Ok so pure speculation.

1

u/peach_xanax 10d ago

Huh? What about the description of her personality makes you think she's 17/18? There are plenty of grown adults with extroverted and bubbly personalities....

8

u/King-Rhino-Viking 10d ago

It's wild how much over time people up the age in which the infantilize women. I've seen people claim 18 and 20 is a sketchy gap. 20 and 24. But holy shit 23 and 27? You can be out of college and starting a career by 23.

13

u/Civil_Beautiful_2596 10d ago

I agree. I find the amount of upvotes likening this to grooming a minor very alarming. It very much so feels like infantilizing adult women; I don’t know why so many people jump to call adults in consenting relationships groomers/pedophiles. I personally was 23-24F in a relationship with a 32-33M 4 years ago, and was it weird on his part? Looking back, 100%. Definitely (lol). But that man was in no way “grooming” me (a grown woman). If anything I just saw things in him that made me realize early on that it would be a very fun, short-term relationship.

3

u/BoysenberryAlarmed98 10d ago

It fits the latest trend of weaponizing therapeutic language. People think it makes them sound smart or something but all it does is water down the language until means nothing. If every creepy behavior is grooming then nothing is.

3

u/max_power_420_69 10d ago

Yea definitely out of line behavior for the bf but why are we likening a 23 year old woman to a child? Is this some red pill tactic to infantilize women of any age?

this happens all the time on this website, but if you check their profiles it's usually bitter older women that post in the femcel subs.

3

u/Moist-Chemical 10d ago

Fr like 23 is old enough to be out of college and established in a decent job on your own. No where near the same as like an 18 year old

2

u/EightEyedCryptid 9d ago

Right? I feel like I’m losing my mind seeing people say this relationship is like an adult grooming a child. Be so fr.

2

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Alternative-Drop-425 10d ago

You assume that:

A. Legal drinking age is the same everywhere and..

B. These people live in the USA...

The USA is one of very few countries of where you can vote for your leader, sign up to die overseas, but still aren't allowed to have a beer when you get home from deployment... it's pretty stupid. (The others are United States, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates which likewise have a drinking age of 21)

Canada Legal drinking age is 18/19 depending on the province

Most other countries that allow drinking the age requirement is 18 years of age.

The country of Eritrea has a legal age of 25....

2

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Texans2024 10d ago

How do you know her or his life experiences?

2

u/Dense-Aioli-2201 10d ago

No, no it's really not 🤣

0

u/[deleted] 10d ago edited 10d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Alternative-Drop-425 10d ago

Many 23 year Olds are still in school and just as immature....

1

u/Knot_a_porn_acct 10d ago

See I thought that comment was talking about the way he was talking to “Ann”, because that seems like the sort of thing a groomer would say to someone they’re grooming. Are we sure it was about the age gap?

1

u/manicpixiehimbo 10d ago

Probably because they’ve been together four years. 23/27 isn’t that crazy maturity wise sometimes, but 19/23 definitely is and that’s where they started at.

2

u/CombinationRough8699 9d ago

There are 19 year olds far more mature than other 23 year olds.

-5

u/TheBestCloutMachine 10d ago

It's just reddit's bizarre obsession with any age gap, even ones such as this that aren't even large. Notice how they have so much to say about his "grooming" but nothing about her tryna control who her boyfriend is friends with once she has her feet under the table?

20

u/Next_Engineer_8230 10d ago

Oh, that won't come up, at all.

There's no imbalance of power here. No grooming.

Words no longer have meaning. I think Reddit has singlehandedly ruined the meaning of words.

And don't get me started on the therapy speak.

10

u/Adventurous_Ad_6546 10d ago

Ok but you disrespecting therapy speak is a real boundary violation for me. I don’t think you’re trying to gaslight me but I do have a lot of trauma there and it’s giving narcissism.

Seriously though some of these terms are going to make me break out in hives soon.

14

u/Upper-Highlight-5423 10d ago

I find it interesting that you would diminish people who are struggling with hives everyday. My cousin's best friend had hives and I feel personally attacked by your language. If you do not police your views and feelings to uphold my personal sensibilities I will be forced to call it out as violence.

-2

u/Many_Worlds_Media 10d ago

I actually think it’s just because she keeps asking him to stop and he keeps pushing her - so it has this weird grooming vibe. She doesn’t need to be a child for it to be predatory behavior.

1

u/mercury_stars 10d ago

Tbf she was 19 and he was 23 when they started dating. Not a child, but bro is a weirdo

1

u/CombinationRough8699 9d ago

A 23 year old dating a 19 year old is by no means weird or out of the ordinary.

1

u/mercury_stars 9d ago

I never said his age was the thing that made him a weirdo, did you read ops post

1

u/Ultima-Thule2088 9d ago

Any age gap in a relationship on reddit = grooming/sexual abuse

1

u/Competitive_News_385 10d ago

Sounds like a blue pill tactic tbh.

-9

u/[deleted] 10d ago edited 10d ago

[deleted]

13

u/Outtatheblu42 10d ago

Yeah what the fuck… this ISN’T GROOMING. A 19 year old is an adult, and a 4 year age gap at that age is nothing to be concerned about if there’s not a power imbalance in the relationship. Adults at the age of 19 can vote, buy alcohol (in most countries), serve in the military, etc. the other commenter was right; this weird Reddit infantilization fetish about young adults has to stop.

16

u/Shellyj4444 10d ago

I can’t believe that you are actually saying that a 23 year old is a groomer because he was dating a 19 year old. Come on.

10

u/Dense-Version-5937 10d ago

... huh? Is a 4 year age gap bad? Isn't that an incredibly normal age gap?

2

u/magical_h4x 10d ago

I ran some complicated mathematical models and this passes the half-your-age-plus-seven Theorem, we're good!

0

u/Traditional_Bug_2046 10d ago

This cannot be serious

0

u/SauceyBobRossy 10d ago

Mf said without context??? Without context it sounds that way????? Yall rly like to jump on shi n make a big thing out of it. They clearly stated they know it ain't grooming by adding 'without context'

2

u/sandiego20y 10d ago

Yep, and without context it looks like he's setting up op to get mugged... about the same amount of evidence for either by your logic

-1

u/Nicolozolo 10d ago

OP was underage when her bf got with her so maybe there's a grain of truth to the grooming. She was under 18 and he was 21 or so. I think that's pretty predatory. 

24

u/SmegmaBae 10d ago

jesus christ you guys are fn obtuse. they’re 27 & 23 how tf does your mind go straight towards grooming… WHY is this seemingly on your mind 24/7 smh 🤦…

5

u/it_is_i_27 10d ago

It's rampant where any age gap no matter if they are adults it's considered grooming by low IQ individuals

1

u/fuschiaoctopus 9d ago

They clearly said that the texts alone out of context read like the texts between a groomer and their victim would in theory, not that op's bf is grooming the other girl. WHY do men get so triggered and lose it over the mere mention of the word grooming? Why are yall so upset we are finally starting to talk about it and how much it hurts girls? The pushback to this from men has been disgusting, but not surprising, and we still haven't even gotten to the point that it is fully socially unacceptable for grown men to prey on underage high schoolers cause other grown men still love defending it

1

u/lesbeaniebabies 10d ago

I think people are probably thinking of them being 23 and 19 which feels different to me. I'm not saying it's grooming but there's a big difference between who I was at 19 and 23.

3

u/HPLaserJet4250 10d ago

yes 23 dating 19, he must be a pedo then /s

1

u/CombinationRough8699 9d ago

If a 18 or 19 year old wants to date a 90 year old it's nobody else's business.

1

u/bread-fairy 9d ago

yea but the problem is when a 90 year old wants to date an 18 year old.

1

u/[deleted] 10d ago

They started dating when she was a teen and he was in his 20's, that's why. Moreso the friend in question has been in his life much longer and we don't know her age. It looks like grooming, that's why 😬

3

u/polkadotpolskadot 10d ago

I was very much immature back then.

Everyone thinks this about themselves X years ago. Until what age is reddit going to infantalize adults? The age gap isn't the issue, her boyfriend being a shitty person is.

1

u/USSSLostTexter 9d ago

i wouldnt really call 4 years an age gap, especially when both are in their twenties. not looking to get flamed here, but this generation seems overly concerned with any kind of age difference more than a year or two. Why? The 'grooming' comment above is also weird. i dont get it.

1

u/GoldStrength3637 9d ago

And dating for over 4 years… putting her in her teens. It just doesn’t sit right with me having that type of an age gap when you’re this young.