A friend and I have had a flirty relationship for a few years now, but he moved out of state before anything ever came of it. We still keep in touch, mainly through instant messenger and texting, and the flirtiness has remained. Last weekend, we took it a step farther and started sexting back and forth one night. I’d always been wary of sexting, but it was actually fun and I enjoyed it! My problem is now I can’t seem to have any kind of conversation with him without it turning overtly sexual. I don’t mind that on occasion, but I really miss our flirty, normal, day to day conversations. I’ve been trying to gently steer things back in that direction, and not responding in kind to the sexual comments every time, but now I feel like our conversations are becoming really awkward. Have I lost my flirty friend forever by taking it to another level?
LemonVibe 
[I think you lost your flirty friend when he moved out of state. I think that the relationship had to move into some kind of new territory when he moved, so instead of letting it die, he moved it the way he wanted it to go.
You’re going to have a REALLY hard time getting him back to status quo. And frankly, now that he’s had a taste of the good life, he may not want to go back. I think you’re doing the right thing, ignoring the sexting, trying to gently steer him, etc. If he’s not willing to be steered, there’s nothing you can do about it. I’d keep trying for a little while, but don’t beat yourself up over it if it doesn’t work. And don’t be surprised when it doesn’t.
[I think of this kind of like having a friend, who then turns in to a friend with benefits. And then you want to bring it back to just the friend zone. It’s not impossible, but it’s also not too realistic. You are doing the right thing by trying to steer the convo to something more friendly, but I would be lying if I said it was looking like you would get your friend back. In my experience, once that line is crossed it is really hard to go backwards.
[I agree with all the comments so far – well said, ladies! If he’s a good friend, then you shouldn’t have a problem eventually steering things back into normal conversation territory.
[It is so hard to find something to say when the first couple of comments basically sum up everything!
[I would only respond to the texts that you want to, and ignore all the rest. He’ll get the picture. If he’s interested in maintaining a friendship, he’ll respect your boundaries.
[What Shelly said!