Shy, confused and stupid

Right, so going anon here.

This is going to be a mess when I write it down. I'm gonna clear it up as best as I can but let me know if you need some clarification:

I'm shy and outgoing. That makes no sense at all but let me continue: I get on great with everyone, I have plenty of friends and I find it easy enough to talk to people I don't know (mutual friends, etc..) but if I see a girl I like, I get really quiet and even if I do talk to them, its the most placid conversation ever. Like there's no touching or major flirting - I suppose I'm terrified of rejection, really I am.

I've been in plenty of positions where it's just me and her and I'm clearly 'in there' but I can't 'move in for the kill'. Basically, common sense goes out the window and nerves take over. I've blown many a situation like this and its driving me mad (lately more so for some reason).

This isn't to say I'm completely innocent - I've kissed girls in clubs and I even had a one night stand a couple of months ago (an awful experience, I was off my face and basically dragged into it. Sounds hard to believe but it's true). The difference here and above is that all of these (bar one) have involved the girl making the 1st move, or making it so obvious that she wants me to kiss her. I'm not trying to sound like a conceited jerk (and if you knew me, you'd know this definitely isn't the case). I've been told I'm a good looking guy (I find this hard to believe sometimes, but supposedly I am) and its not like these things happen alot but they're not uncommon is what I'm trying to say. The 'bar one' I mentioned was this girl I found really attractive and I said to myself "screw it, I'm gonna at least talk to her' but still, she was the one who made the 1st move.

At the same time, the kind of girls I attract are not the type who I'm attracted to. I read something similar to this in another thread oddly enough. I've had several girls who I know were really into me and I was friendly with them, but I had no romantic interest in any of them unfortunately. The ones I do 'take a shine' to are the ones I can't seem to talk to like anyone else. I seem to able to flirt with girls I'm not interested in but once I think of them as potential 'partners' for want of a better word, I can't seem to flirt with them anymore. I suppose I put them on a pedestal and I want to know how to take them down.

In summary, I suppose I'm afraid of talking to good-looking girls as, like nearly all of you here, I know that Irish girls have a way with words when they're pestered - I don't want to be told to 'f-off and play with myself' or something equally colourful.

It sounds silly, and I guess in a few years I'll be laughing at myself for being so stupid, but it's really bothering me now and I feel I had to get it off my chest.