I caught feelings for my coworker, Wyatt, the summer of 2024. We work at a seasonal ranch May-September. He didn’t know I liked him our first year knowing each other. The feelings faded when I went home for the winter and we didn’t keep contact as we never became good friends.
End of July 2025, there was a small group of us that went out to a bar to meet the some locals doing work on the ranch. Wyatt and I were dancing, just as friends, and he asked if I was gonna go back home with any of the locals, I told him I didn’t like any of them, but I did decide to tell him I had the biggest crush on him last year. He seemed surprised and asked why I never said anything and that I should have. Anyway, one thing led to another and soon a cheeky kiss initiated by him, and led to us making out in the back.
And when we got back to the ranch, we were alone in the staff room, and he told me he can’t do anything more than kiss me right now as to take things slow.
I told him that’s fine, but when I got up to leave we started making out again. That time got even more hot and heavy than the bar, though he stopped me when I reached his belt and said “I’m not that type of guy”, then he left. Okayyyy.
Fast forward to August 2025. Me, Wyatt, our friend went to a concert. As the concert progressed, me and Wyatt would dance closer and closer and were about grinding on each other, but only so much because our was there and she’s quite religious and doesn’t approve of our little fling.
Back at the ranch, it was 1am and we both had to work the next day so I figured it was bed time, but I went to the staff room and so did Wyatt. And he asked if I wanted to do something. I wanted to ask what “something” meant, but figured he just wanted to make out again.
To shorten that up, we did sleep together twice. He even covered me with his jacket when I was cold. We talked, he was content, talked about random things. Around 2am, it was about time to disperse and go to our own beds.
After we slept together, I joked, “you’re not gonna ditch me after this, right?”
I’ll be damned he actually said something along the lines of “actually I don’t think we should do this again. I don’t see a future with you. Well that came out mean. But we’re friends and I don’t like using you just for sex. Like if I see it ending in the future, I’d rather end it now if that makes sense? I’m trying to do the right thing here and be a good guy…”
By 230am, we were both tired but he’s the one with his hand in his hands acting like he wants to cry and not giving a clear answer. I told him we can talk about things if he wants to work through whatever he’s going through, but if I’m talking to a wall I’ll walk out the door right now, but he wouldn’t give me a clear answer. It’s frustrating because I told him he shouldn’t have slept with me if that’s what it took for him to realize he didn’t like me despite all the flirting and assurances he’s been doing the past week. He agreed and said he didn’t regret sleeping with me and really liked me, but did regret leading me on, and he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him or what he’s thinking.
We had one more talk a few days after we slept together and he pretty much said the same thing, how he did a shitty thing. So I ignored him the rest of the two months we had left. Which was terrible. I hated it. All I wanted to do was talk to him. I missed him. Then our seasonal job ended. He went home. I went home. We aren’t on texting terms so we never talked.
Until now, November, I got another seasonal job in town my ranch was at for the winter. I moved away from home hack out here. Even though my ranch was closed, I was offered living quarters there which I took. And do you want to know who else was offered the same arrangement? Wyatt.
So I just moved back here, and me and Wyatt now share an apartment because the entire ranch is closed up for the winter except one area that’s heated. And so far, we’ve been living together for a week. I was terrified to see him. I figured he would be mad it was me of all people moving in with him and ruining his bachelor pad here. I was able to avoid him for the first few days.
I finally decided to ask him for help moving something heavy into my room Monday, and I was sweating bullets. We talked for a half hour. Then he invited me out with his friends that night. I actually drove out, but then chickened out of going in because I got scared.
Yesterday, he made dinner and invited me to watch a game with him in the living room next to his bedroom. Before it was over, he announced he was going to shower and didn’t turn off the tv. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to stay or leave, but I decided to go back to my room to be respectful? After his shower, he played his guitar in the living room for another hour, and I was too scared to go over there in case he wanted alone time so I just listened from my doorway.
We both had today off, and he invited me skiing with him. I don’t know how to ski but he was willing to help me fit my boots and find skis since he knows about that stuff. I had plans with my old boss though so I didn’t go skiing but Wyatt has been so friendly, I would’ve taken him up on skiing.
This evening, he hung out with me in the kitchen for an hour before he left to go stay at his friend’s place.
Even though we’ve lived together a week, he’s often not here because his work place is pretty far so he stays with friend’s a lot, and has talked about finding a place out there permanently which already makes me sad.
If you can’t tell, I still have feelings for him. I want to make a move again so badly, but since he’s the one that ended it, I feel like it would ruin the friendship we’re slowly rebuilding if he turned me down.
I know this sort of thing probably needs more time, longer than a week, but I can’t stop thinking about him. How can I move on from someone when he’s my roommate? Why did he admit to having feelings for me in August, then backpedaling?
My heart keeps thinking how the scenario could be a hallmark movie of some sort of rekindled flame, but with the way my luck has been with guys, I think my heart is bound to be broken yet again.
TLDR: had feelings for my coworker at a seasonal job during year 1. Year 2, I made a move and we had a thing that he ended awkwardly. End of year 2, we both got winter jobs and are the only two people living on our ranch sharing an apartment and I still have feelings for him.