Promo Girl No. 2 and I walked hand-in-hand on the beachfront. It was nearing midnight but neither of us wanted to go home, and surprisingly enough, I wasn’t thinking about taking her back to my place. I felt like I was in high school again. It was that kind of first date.

Before we went out, I had promised her the best date of her life. I had to let her know I wasn’t some schmuck like most guys.

“My expectations of my first date with Mike were high because he told me it would be the best date ever,” she wrote in a date review for a dating column I used to write in a local magazine.

“I thought, ‘what would this guy do differently than any other guy?’ Did Mike’s date live up to my expectations? In short, yes.

In fact, she has said “yes” several times since then. So, impromptu date No. 1 with Promo Girl No. 2 was a success. I showed her I was different from other guys. And, unexpectedly, she showed me she was different from other girls.

It’s been four months since Promo Girl No.2 and I started dating. She knows I’ve gone out with other girls, but she doesn’t know I don’t want to.

In answering one of the “Ask the Guys” questions I had mentioned Hairdresser, a girl I dated a few months ago. We dated for about the same amount of time as Promo Girl No. 2 and I have. I had hung out with Hairdresser’s parents, I had gone over to her house and cuddled with her on the couch as we watched movies, and she would cut my hair for free. But, she was way more emotionally unavailable than me, if you can believe that. I spent three months investing in Hairdresser only to be let down by love, again.

Jake Johannsen says in his comedy show, “We’re never going to understand women because they’re mysterious, and women are never going to understand us because they can’t handle the truth. Women have a hard time accepting that we could possibly be that friggin’ simple.”

Some people think I play games, which would infer that I’m complicated. But it really is simple. If I go out with a girl that I’m physically attracted to, but have little or nothing in common with, I will most likely not date her again. Here’s where most of you will probably judge me: I will, however, most likely still try to see how far that date will go.

Some may recall my blog about Roller Derby Girl, “ There was no chance for an emotional connection, but I had some hope for a physical one.” Because here’s the thing, people don’t date if they’re not physically attracted to each other. Why not follow that attraction as far as it will take you?

But then ladies like Promo Girl No. 2 and Hairdresser come along and make things complicated for simple guys like me. I told Hairdresser how I felt and she backed away slowly. Every sign, every word and every kiss she gave me said she felt the same way, but she was obviously afraid of going out on the limb I was sitting on by myself.

And now I’m right back where I started, watching that limb sway in the wind. Do I invite Promo Girl No. 2 out on it? It’s just so much safer here.