Let's just be friends

I finally had to break down and call the Vegetarian tonight. He is such a nice guy, I just haven’t been able to face the fact that I had to tell him I was interested in more than friendship. I really wish I had gotten to know him otherwise and not because he was interested in dating me. I wanted to see him again, but didn’t want him to have the impression that I was interested in dating him, which is not really fair to him. We’ve only been on one date, but I got the impression that he may have been contemplating asking me out for quite a while. My leaving the job was just a perfect opportunity for him to take a chance and not have to face me if I said no. He took it very well, but then instead of ending the conversation when I should have, I kept blabbing away digging my hole just that much deeper. To say the least, the conversation was rather awkward at the end, and we both were ready to get off the phone. Although I’m determined not to be one of those people who just never call back, this one was by far the hardest. I know I would appreciate the honesty, but some people would probably prefer not knowing and lying to themselves. I hope he can understand and we can at least act normal if/when we ever seen each other again.