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How to Deal with a Date Who 'Summer Shades'

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26.06.2026

The Science of Mating

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Summer shading: When the person you are dating deliberately pulls away from you during the Summer months.

This allows your significant other to enjoy being "single" while at the same time keeping you as a back-up.

The summer shader may become less available, communicate less, and be more vague in communicating with you.

Recognize the signs of summer shading as soon as possible so that you don't end up wasting Summer.

A rather shady practice may be getting hot around this time of the year. "Summer shading" means the person you are dating deliberately pulls away from you. They reduce communication or contact to enjoy being "single" during the Summer; at the same time, they keep you as an insurance back-up plan. It's a Summer and relationship version of having your cake and eating it too.

Now, assuming that you're not so hot about being someone's backup plan or second, third, or even fourth choice, you probably want to recognize summer-shading as soon as it happens. Otherwise, you may spend the Summer days drifting away with someone who's not so hot about you. Here are the signs that you are being summer-shaded and what to do about it.

The Signs of Summer Shading

The main sign is that there is a significant........

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