If you’re lucky enough to have found yourself in a friends with benefits relationship or even a meet n fuck relationship, you’re probably wondering how to hold on to it, right?
Of course you are. A friends with benefits relationship is like a long-term relationship but without the commitment, the pressure and the expectations. They’re a way of maintaining a healthy sex life without having to worry about all the added baggage that comes along with it.
However, friends with benefits relationships aren’t for everyone. It’s not easy for some people to put aside their emotions while they enjoy a vigorous sex life, which is totally understandable. Physical intimacy by its very nature produces intense emotional responses, so having to ignore these feelings can be a difficult task.
But if you keep the following things in mind during your friends with benefits relationship, you’ll both get the most enjoyable experience possible.
Keep your expectations in check
There’s a very clear line between casual sex and exclusive dating. With the former, you don’t get a say in your partner’s activities outside of your time together. With the latter, you do.
Providing you’re okay with the FWB setup, it’s important to understand that you may have to share your fuckbuddy with other people. You will only survive a friends with benefits situation if you’re content that your relationship is transient by its very nature, and gives you no jurisdiction over their extra-curricular activities.
It’s normal for a little jealousy to creep in now and again, but you need to be able to handle it.
Be open about your emotions
Just because you’re fuckbuddies doesn’t mean you can’t have a healthy line of communication between you. Be honest with your FWB about exactly why you’re only interested in a casual sex relationship and nothing more. This avoids any possibility of your partner believing that you may progress to anything more, or vice versa.
Keep it as sex-only as possible
Pillow talk will be commonplace if you spend enough time in the bedroom, but once your FWB arrangement transcends the boundaries of sex, you risk straying into relationship territory. If you speak to each other every day, you’re only going to get annoyed or upset when your FWB is busy or can’t reply. At this point, it stops being a friends with benefits relationship and becomes a regular relationship – something neither of you signed up for.
Prepare for the inevitable end
Unless your FWB blossoms into a full-blown relationship, there’s only one other route it can go. FWB relationships tend to have short lifespans, meaning you’re going to end up breaking a few off in your time.
But it’s important to remember that there’s a reason why a FWB relationship will end. If one person develops feelings for the other, then it’s a good idea to call the relationship off and find solace elsewhere. If this does happen, remember not to blame yourself or the other person for the way the end result. Don’t take it personally and respect yours and theirs emotional boundaries.
