and then hes not sure why he does this , though hes surely not alone in this regard , the need to get home , the head clearing that distance provides , above all the shudder inducing thought of getting roped into any more intimacy than hes prepared for , what with its threat of compromising his precious free time there are the excuses that hes been operating under all night , beginning right around the time that it began to look that the evening might move in this direction .