I agree this happens. In a positive way as well as negative. I've been friends with guys - literally friends - nothing more. Work buddies. Got a long great, made each other laugh. Genuinely looked forward to seeing each other but neither of us looking for a hook up - never mind a relationship. After about a year of knowing each other as work buddies, we were at an after hours company event. And in that environment, we had our usual friendly and fun banter, playing darts, hanging out with other work friends, and we both just felt a chemistry that went beyond our friendship. Sometimes friends become something more. We dated for years. Ultimately we went our separate ways but to this day, he is the only man I've dated where the end of the romance didn't end the civility. It's been many years at this point and we've fallen completely out of touch and that's okay. But we never hated each other and I think that's because we were friends first. So call it what you will, but we both kept each other in a friend zone until we evolve into something more. And later we were still friends after the romance was over. I'll admit that it's probably rare because it's the only time that's ever happened in my life but it's not out of the question.