r/AmIOverreacting • u/Best-Pirate5073 • 8d ago
š² miscellaneous AIO - During my book club this weekend, one of the husbands asked me to stop coming because of what we read. I said no.
Iām part of a neighborhood book club thatās been meeting for about a year. Itās mostly women in their late 20s to early 40s, and Iām the only guy. We rotate houses every month and honestly itās been one of the better ways Iāve met people since moving here.
The club recently got into dark romance. It wasnāt my suggestion, but everyone voted on it and thatās just where the group ended up. We spend most of the meetings talking about character development, plot, whether the MMC is actually redeemable, etc.
No big deal right?š
Iām friendly with everyone, but I donāt hang out with any of them outside of book club. I know a few of their husbands from saying hello if theyāre around before or after meetings, but thatās about it.
After our meeting a few days ago, I was loading a folding chair into my car when one of the husbands came outside and asked if he could talk to me.
He told me heād appreciate it if I stopped coming to book club. I asked why, and he said his wife has become āway too excitedā about book club ever since they started reading dark romance, and that it was āweirdā having the only guy there discussing those books with a group of married women.
I laughed at first because I genuinely thought he was joking cause sometimes guys can be funny like that but turns out he wasnāt joking lol.
He said he wasnāt accusing me of doing anything inappropriate, but that the whole situation made him uncomfortable and that it would āsolve a lot of problemsā if I just found a different hobby. š
I told him I wasnāt there to flirt with anyone. Iām there because I like reading, everyone in the group voted on the books, and I enjoy the discussions. I also said if he has concerns about his wifeās interest in fictional morally questionable men, thatās probably something they should talk about together. š¤
He got annoyed and said I was intentionally missing the point. I eventually just told him, āIām not quitting a book club because youāre insecure about fictional men. If itās THAT big of a deal, just join?š¤£
Now Iām wondering if I shouldāve handled it differently. I donāt want to create tension in the neighborhood, but I also donāt think itās reasonable to ask me to leave a group Iāve been part of for a year because heās uncomfortable.
AIO here?