From princess_brap
Wes sent me this link today and I felt obligated to jump in - as I think I am somewhat of a female and young adult perspective. (I'm 23.)
First, and I truly believe, there are two types of "smart girls." There are book smart girls, and there are street smart girls. Sometimes you get both, not often. Book smart girls tend to be naive to real world dangers and red flags - always seeing the best in people and sunshine and rainbows and perfect, redemptive, epic love.
I've been blessed with being both. But even I can't say I haven't been guilty of the "bad boy/old man" charm getting me. Probably a year after graduating high school, I would've been 19, an older guy in the car scene took notice of me after I made an intentional point of putting myself in the spot light. (I was a lot more outwardly dramatic back then, but I'd probably do the same thing again. I ran my F650 pickup down the track at IFO to prove a point to my most recent ex at the time that I belonged to our local car community just as much as he did.)
Anyway, he was 28, lived about a hour away, and was known as a flirt and was kinda friends with benefits with another woman in the car community (one with 3 kids already, though none his). We saw each other a few months, I stayed over a few times. I could tell my mom and dad were so not pleased - but they never truly said much. There were some half truths told but not many lies. I think they expected me to handle it, and I did.
The two biggest things that still stick out to me as to why I walked away were these... I recognized that we were at different places in our lives and didn't have the same goals. (A late night conversation about his intention to just never pay off his student loan debt had me reeling because even then I was thinking about home buying.) And most importantly, to me at least, was that he wasn't very invested in my happiness. I know that may sound shallow and self centered, but he didn't make me a priority in his life. I didn't feel very loved, wanted, or important.
If she's a smart girl, and hopefully not too naive, these reasons will surface on their own and she can find someone her own age, with better intentions and a better criminal record, to live out her E36 M3 dreams of 80s and 90s Chrysler cars, cuddles, and a home of her own with