How to do the Impossible and Date you Roommate

So you broke the cardinal rule and slept with your sexy roommate–again, and again, and well, again. Watching her traipse down the hall in her slinky pyjamas was just too much to handle. You couldn’t resist and it was so much easier than finding someone to bed up with via online dating. To make matters worse, you haven’t been going back to your own room in the morning, and you sometimes find yourself holding her hand as you walk home from the neighborhood Starbucks. Don’t want this thing with her to end? Here’s how to do the impossible and make the leap from roommates to soulmates:

1. Step 1 – Choose a nice spot outside your shared love nest to have an honest conversation about the situation. You both need to discuss where you want to go with the relationship. The last thing you want is to fall for the hot girl down the hall, only to realize it’s really only steamy late-night sex she’s after. Save yourself the embarrassment and clarify ASAP. Doing this in a neutral environment will be easier.

2. Step 2 -. Ok, you’ve already seen her without her make-up and she’s heard you praying to the porcelain god after an all-night tequila bender. Things aren’t exactly, um, mysterious. You two went from strangers to way-to-close in two seconds flat. You’ve got to balance things out, and quick. So, agree on a date night or two each week where you both get out of your slippers, off the couch, and into the night. Dancing, dinner, it doesn’t matter – seeing her in that tight black dress for a couple of hours each week will keep things hot once you get back to the bedroom. Also, you won’t just become the dude who doesn’t do the dishes – it’ll remind her why she fell for you in the first place.

3. Step 3 – Set boundaries. This relates back to step 2. Do you really want her in your bedroom every night? Even on a Tuesday after a brutal day at work? After all, you haven’t actually reached that point in your relationship, and acting as if you have might kill things fast. Agree on a number of nights you’ll both spend alone in your bed. This will help you slow things down, and maintain some sense of normalcy in your relationship. No one says you can’t meet in the kitchen for a quickie the next morning – as long as none of your other roommates are chilling with their cereal at the breakfast table.