Flatlining

A few days after Mr. Nice Guy? and I had our blissful first date, I invited him to a baseball game with a friend and her fiance. While some may think a double date was too soon, I disagree. We'd already hung out with his friends, so what's the harm in running him by a panel of mine?

It's always good to see how a guy handles 1.Competition, 2.Meeting new people, and 3.Children (and I don't mean staring at them in the park).

So we met them for drinks, went to the game for a few innings, and then had some mini burgers and beers afterward. He was congenial, held my umbrella in the rain, and made me laugh. But it was nowhere near as fun as our first date.

He got along well with my friends, and really hit it off with my friend's fiance. Which is always great. But when we sat down at the game, I was on his left, and he kept turning toward my friends on the right, totally ignoring me. I'm not attention-needy, but when you're sitting for a few minutes with someone's back to you, date or not, it's rude. And this time I just wasn't feeling a vibe with him. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I remember looking up at him and just thinking, "I don't see us dating for a long time." I liked him as a person, I just didn't feel...it. You can have a recipe for this awesome cake, but if you're missing that teaspoon of vanilla, it's just not going to taste right. He had some great qualities and I wanted to like him more than I did, but you can't force the spark.

Plus, homeboy's cheap. As in, everything-we've-done-up-to-this-point-we've-split-the-tab cheap. As in, even-when-we-ordered-pizza-we-split-it cheap. We split every single drink, cab ride and meal we ever had together.

At first I ignored it because he's mentioned his med school debt, and he did just graduate, but then I found out he has two cars. A BMW Roadster convertible and an SUV, "for the winter months."

So no, I don't feel bad disliking that he's cheap. And I'm not shallow for saying that even in 2010, if a guy asks a girl out, he should treat. For the first few dates at least. Chivalry is not dead, people! The only thing I haven't chipped in for was one terrible goodnight kiss that pretty much solidified what I already knew.

I told my father about this man's monetary indescretions, to which he replied, "Nope, he's done."

Couldn't have said it any better myself. The doctor is out.