Hot for Teacher?

Three or four years ago I met this guy in a bar. A guy I like to call the "hot teacher," because he is extremely hot and also an English teacher, which helps make him double sexy, right? Riiiiight.

When we met in a bar one night, we really hit it off. We were attracted to each other, there was chemistry and the conversation flowed like wine. We stayed out until three in the morning and when the night came to an end, he asked me for my number. I was really excited about going out with him.

The hot teacher lived about 45 minutes to an hour away, so it wasn't the most convenient to go out. Add that on top of his busy schedule, it wasn't easy to find time to hang. On our first date, he drove to my place and then we went out to dinner. After dinner, back at my house, he got his guitar out of his car and serenaded me a Coldplay song. I know! Double swoon right there. I think we made out a little and I went to bed a happy woman.

We went out a few more times, always having a really great time. Eventually we had sex and while I'd say it was generally good, there seemed to be just a tad of a lack of intimacy between us. Maybe it was too soon? I'll never know. Summer was coming up and because of the Hot Teacher's profession, he had the next two and a half months free. He was planning to spend the whole summer in L.A. staying with a friend and he didn't really seem to factor me into that equation at all. But I really liked him. And I just so happen to go to L.A. once or twice a year to visit family and happened to be going for a weekend in July. Hot Teacher seemed cool about the whole thing, but when it came time to hang in another state, he really seemed like he was just not that into me. I felt so uncomfortable. I felt like a major douche. But everything had gone pretty well up until that point and how was I supposed to know that his feelings changed if he didn't tell me?

I went home (back to the NW) feeling like an idiot, with my tail between my legs and thought oh well, just move on. But when Hot Teacher got back at the end of the summer, he called me up and wanted to hang. I was really surprised, but I had really liked him so I agreed. Well, that hangout never came to fruition. He rescheduled with me twice before he just canceled on me. Maybe he figured I wasn't worth that 45 minute drive. And that was the end of him.

Fast forward a few years to this past fall...I had just moved back to the NW after living in Northern California attempting another failed relationship. All of a sudden one day I get a Facebook friend request from the Hot Teacher!! Since years had gone by and I had no hard feelings toward him, I accepted his request. The next thing I know, he is sending me messages saying that I look really good in my photos and seeming really interested in my life. What was going on? Did I get hotter these past few years? What did he want?

Eventually he said that he'd like to get together, that he'd be in my neck of the woods with another dude friend one Saturday and wanted me to come out. I was skeptical, but I agreed. I always wondered what went wrong with him, and now, what? Was I in the "friend zone" or was I the "one that got away?"

When I went to meet him and his buddy for dinner and drinks, his buddy was mysteriously going to be an hour late, giving me and Hot Teacher ample time to catch up. It wasn't awkward. In fact, it was like the start to a great date. We got along and had chemistry just like I remembered. Two of his friends ended up showing up and we all just had some drinks and shot the shit. The Hot Teacher paid for my dinner and drinks, which surprised the hell out of me and made me think, IS THIS A DATE? I was confused. At the end of the night he walked me to my car, hugged me, and said goodnight. I drove him thinking that maybe this was something. Gosh, I was/am so attracted to him and it all seems there and maybe he wanted to rekindle things, which I was open to.

Over the next couple of weeks he called me a lot. We'd chit chat and he'd ask me for advice dealing with parents of students. But he'd rarely ask me out. He'd only ask me to hang if he was going to be up in my neck of the woods. I started to think that I was definitely in the friend zone, and I was OK with that.

Just last weekend, I met up with him and some of his friends for some drinks. I asked him if he wanted to see the Star Trek movie and said that I really wanted to go this weekend. And yesterday he called me and invited me to get dinner tonight and see it with him...And here's the clincher: it'll be JUST US, and instead of him coming to my neck of the woods, I'm going to his.

So what is this? Is this a date? Am I the one that got away, or am I in friend zone central time?