One of the most useful things I learned in college is that, as a woman, I am a bad joke. I have fallen in love any number of times. I always keep it to myself. I have my pride thank you. Loving someone from a distance is painful, but not half as godawful as being told by the man you love, that he only wants to be friends, or, true hell, being told by the man you love that you are a bow wow.
From my few actual relationships, I have learned that men take off like the proverbial bat out of the bad place when you say, "I Love You". Those three little words are more frightening to the American male than Internal Revenue Service, No More Football, or Bush's Third Term.