Approached a QT at the gym today. She was giving me open vibes and was invested in the conversation. I started with a greeting and a joke, and we talked for a good few minutes about her research.

After it felt like I had been a while, I got into my head about being "that guy" who overstays his welcome and holds up a woman when she's got something to do (especially because it's a gym, and we all want to finish our workouts). Instead of having a smooth end to the conversation, I abruptly (right when it looked like she was about to say something, which I only realised after my mouth started moving) blurted out, "I don't want to hold you up too long; you've got a workout to finish." That's when I introduced myself by name, got her name, and did the COVID elbow-bump greeting. Felt too awkward to ask for her number, because I didn't want to feel like a "creep."

I think that means I bailed too early. Or at least failed to number close when I could have.

But there are times when I've occupied too much of a woman's time. Like one, when a wing and I approached a set. We have some pleasant conversation, and then hit a lull where we ran out of things to say and just awkwardly sat there for a few seconds. The girls them informed us that they would like to get back to their girls' night out. When it gets to the point where they have to tell you that, that means you overstayed your welcome. Maybe there was a chance you could have gotten numbers during a less awkward part of the conversation when you still had their interest. Maybe they were never interested. But either way, you definitely gotta leave now.

How do you avoid either of these two scenarios?