People tend to spend a lot of energy trying to hook up more often, preparing for the possibility of a hookup, and performing like a boss during the hookup itself.
In fact, they spend so much energy on those things that they completely forget to consider the morning after hookups, which is incredibly important.
So, you hooked up with that hottie from the bar or the cutie who works in the office down the hall from yours, and you rocked her world. Now what? What’s the best way to keep potential awkwardness to a minimum? Here are some tips to keep in mind.
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Plan ahead
Although some hookups may be planned in advance, most just happen on the spur of the moment, which doesn’t leave much room for preparedness.
That’s why it pays to always be prepared for the possibility, especially if you often wind up going to their place instead of yours.
Keep travel-sized versions of hygiene essentials like toothpaste, mouthwash, wet wipes, and deodorant in your bag, briefcase, or glove compartment so you always have them in a pinch.
And make sure you have Uber or Lyft installed on your phone if you don’t always have your own transportation.
Keep your phone charged up, and carry a charger with you when you go out, as well.
Wake up early the morning after hooking up
There are lots of reasons why you might want to get up early the morning after a hookup. If you stayed at their place and are really dreading the idea of making morning small talk, getting up early enough to collect your things and leave quietly is one way to avoid it.
An early wake-up time also allows you to make sure you’re presentable, don’t have hellacious morning breath, and have time to collect your thoughts before any potential small talk happens.
Little things like that can help immensely in making things less awkward.
Plan on a quick breakfast
Sometimes small talk and some brief interaction the morning after a hookup is inevitable, especially if your date spent the night at your place. And when that’s the case, it’s best to plan on at least briefly being a good host.
Breakfast is always a nice gesture. If you’re comfortable cooking, you can make something simple and quick while brewing a pot of coffee. But you can always leave the person a note before ducking out for a few minutes to pick something up instead. That gives you both a chance to collect your thoughts before interacting.
Keep conversation light
Don’t feel like you need to talk about what happened between you the night before (unless the other person brings it up for some reason).
It’s often a lot better and more comfortable to pick up the conversation where it left off the night before.
Chances are you were just making small talk about your lives, your jobs, or a bunch of random topics. It’s easy enough to do more of that over eggs and coffee before going your separate ways.
Make a polite exit the morning after a hookup
Figuring out how to gracefully part ways the morning after a hookup can be a challenge. By all means, if they want to hang out more and you actually do, too, then feel free to do that. But there’s no shame in wanting to get back to your life now that it’s a new day.
If you’re at their place, excuse yourself by saying you wish you could hang with them longer, but you’ve got someplace to be or something to do. Then make your exit.
If they’re at your place and you’d like them to leave, politely offer to drive them home or order them an Uber. Either of those scenarios generally leaves the person with a positive impression.
Forget about apologies
Unless you actually did something that warrants it – like breaking their coffee table or throwing up in their car – don’t offer random apologies the morning after a hookup. Hooking up and having a good time with someone is nothing to be sorry for, and acting like it is can make things more awkward than they have to be.
It’s much better to behave as you would after any other social encounter, whether you know the other person well or not.
Let them know you had fun and thank them for having you (or coming over) instead. A quick kiss goodbye is a nice way to leave things on a positive note.
Be honest before and after hookups
Don’t sign up for anything you’re not actually into just to avoid awkwardness. Hopefully, it was clear the night before whether you were open to anything more than just a hookup. But if it wasn’t, just be as honest as you can as politely as possible.
Most people do get that hookups don’t typically segue into committed relationships and can handle it if you say you had a blast but aren’t looking for anything serious.
So just shoot them straight. You’ll be glad you did.
