When you're hungry you eat, when you're tired you sleep and when you're horny you...well you get the idea. I was never one for hook ups, but considering that I'm not looking for a relationship right now and I have biology working against me, I figure I'll give them a try. My issue with them though, is that I'm a little freaked out by them. Whenever I feel like trying them out, I back out quickly and do nothing. Is there a way to overcome that or should I take that as a sign? Also, on a side note, how do I ensure absolute safe sex? I know to use condoms and dental dams, but is there anything else to be aware of? Like kissing?
You can get sick from kissing, most famously you can get mono, which is Very Not Fun. You can also get oral herpes. Any genital-to-genital contact (including frot and naked humping) can give you genital lice (crabs). Condoms can break (you can lower the chances by lubing the inside as well as the outside). Basically, there's no such thing as absolute safe sex apart from masturbation. That's why sex educators prefer the term safer sex.
Take it as a sign. You're not really up to it - because you know the risks are there and the rewards are questionable - i.e. it might not even turn out to be very good. Sex with someone you know is, in my opinion, (almost) always better than sex with a stranger. It's on very rare occassions that a hook up is ever as good as you hope or expect it to be. If not a relationship, then maybe a 'friends with benefits' thing would be more appropriate.
