One of my best friends is like this (I’m also 23F). Sweet af and he’s got a younger gf. Sometimes in conversation hell say things that undercut what I had just said and it can get super annoying and in my head I’m thinking “hes being such an asshole rn. Why does he need to one up me on so many things?” He doesn’t realize how much I don’t like that, especially when it comes to things like music. Thankfully, my friend doesn’t really do that too much.

I just accept it to be honest bc some of the times he’s said things that actually make sense. I mentioned a few months back I was going to the mountains to backpack and him, being an avid backpacker, told me that he wasn’t going bc there was way too much snow, as if it was something I should’ve known already; made me feel like an amateur/stupid. But then when I went up, the whole road was blocked by 10 ft snow where the rangers stopped plowing lol. So what I had gotten frustrated with him before was just bc of my own pride, bc sometimes people do know more than me and my friend just chooses a snarky way of saying it but he doesn’t mean any harm by it.

I dunno if you and I have the same situation bc people get built different, just that I’ve discovered sometimes people come off as assholes but that’s not their intent.

Never hide what you’re frustrated about in a relationship, even if you think it’s stupid. Conflict and love are scary together but you don’t have to be afraid of losing them if you trust yourself to talk about these things from a place of love. Always come from love. When you’re hurt, coming from a place of love is probably the hardest thing to do.