Being friendly with someone of the opposite gender tends to carry a bit of risk. You don’t know if their partner is insecure or if they’ll get angry.

When you try to clear the air it can just make things worse.

Check out how the man in this story dealt with it.

AITA for telling neighbor’s wife why I stopped hanging around their kids?

I (27M) just moved into my new house a couple months ago in a nice neighborhood. I started taking up painting outside.

Two kids would notice me outside in the afternoons and the eldest asked me once if they could borrow my paint so they can make something too.

We got along great and they enjoyed learning how to paint. Their mom hangs around when I’m outside with them to look at their work and I’d chat with her.

This has been an every day thing for the last couple of months.

Unfortunately, some people see things that aren’t there and it makes things uncomfortable.

Their Dad approached me one day. He was really mad because he didn’t appreciate me “flirting” with his wife in front of his own house.

He also doesn’t like that I’m using his kids just to talk to her.

I tried to explain and apologized, but he just said to keep my distance from his family. So I did.

Then on Friday, the neighbor’s wife came out while I was watering my lawn. She thought I had stopped having the kids over because I was tired of them or something .

I didn’t want her feeling bad since it probably seemed that way with how I abruptly ended the painting sessions.

Sometimes when you try to patch a hole, another one pops open and your raft keeps sinking.

So I told her that her husband didn’t seem happy about it and he asked me to keep my distance.

It was obvious she didn’t know from her reaction but she thanked me for telling her.

But that just seemed to make things worse because he came at me this morning even worse than before.

He was beyond ****** that I told her anything and now it’s my fault they had a fight.

Should I have told her anything? AITA?

Here’s what people are saying about this story.

Exactly. I lost a close friend because she was projecting. There was nothing I could do to change her mind.

It’s pretty sad. I’d definitely steer clear.

Not a bad idea. Some true crime stories start out this way.

It seems more like he’s territorial like a dog guarding his house.

I definitely got a vibe that he could be abusive. Scary.

Insecurity like that must be torture!

Get a life, dude!