My closest and dearest friendship is with a man who is straight. He and I have been friends for years. He and I have been through a lot over the years. Our theory is that life is extremely short and that if you love someone you should take every opportunity to express it. Hugs are not extrememly frequent, but not uncommon either, between us. He is very secure in his masculinity and is not afraid of showing his affection or responding to mine. So when we do hug, it's not "the quickie with a backslap". We are also close enough that the whole "you're invading my space" thing has fallen by the wayside as well. We sit close a lot of the time when talking, and occasionally touch each other gently when making a point. Conversations on the phone almost always end with "love ya" or something similar (which generally causes eyebrows to raise a bit). We occasionally even plant a big sloppy greeting/parting kiss on each other's cheek/forehead. I feel very fortunate that he and I have made it to this point in our friendship. We both know that this is probably one of those once in a lifetime friendships and we treasure it.