Was my approach to this girl in the gym alright?

Question

Hey guys and gals, I'd appreciate some opinions here, because I'm not too sure if my approach was good.

Here's what happened:
I noticed a cute girl working out with some two other friends at the gym I go to. I decided to approach her since she wasn't wearing the super revealing gym stuff that most girls there wear (I value modesty a lot) and in part because I thought she'd feel more safe since she was with friends.
I walked up and I guess she didn't see me because she turned around. When she noticed me waiting for her to notice me, she removed her headphones and asked what I wanted. I just said "Hi, I'm Adam. I thought you were cute and wanted to meet you."

Then I made some polite small talk with her and her friends about what their workout was like today, how they knew each other, the local university they attended, etc. The girl I approached was a freshman, one friend was a sophomore and the other was a junior. They asked if I went there and I said I was there up until 2022. The one friend said "oh so you must be super old then." And I said "I'm 26. Is that old?"

A little more small talk, and I asked the girl "Hey can I get your number so we can go bowling or something?" She said sure but she didn't have her phone, so she headed to the lockers with one of the friends.
I thought she just misunderstood that I wanted her to put her number in my phone, not mine in her phone, so I waited for her to come back and politely talked some with the second friend. Some guy who seemed to know the friend came up and protectively checked out what was going on. Talked with him for a minute.

The first friend came back and told me "she has a boyfriend" so I left and continued my workout.

Sounded like they were gossiping or shocked about it and I think I heard the dude gossiping about it later, so I'm wondering if I struck a nerve in a bad way or whether something was awry.

Was my approach ok? I don't mind being rejected, but I want to try to make everyone comfortable.

HollyK21 · Accepted Answer

Choosing to approach a woman in a space like the gym will always be a hit or a miss, but more often than not, a miss. I think the terms in which gym goers (more specifically women) want to socialize with random people can be very situational, like if you’re in a class together, training together, or something along those lines. Outside of activities like those, for the most part women would rather not be approached, they’re just trying to work out, not be hit on.

On top of that, she was with friends and you came up, interrupting their conversation, inserting yourself into it, then sort of hung around when you weren’t really welcome. This was a nice woman, probably non-confrontational and I do wish she had turned you down initially rather than use a copout, but it is what it is.

Were you wrong for approaching? I’d say no, mainly because you never know how someone will respond and not every woman takes issue with being approached in places like the gym or store so long as you’re respectful about it. I also know it can feel like there’s few opportunities out there to meet people as you get older outside of dating apps. It’s just a gamble, no matter what and if things don’t work in your favor, just shake it off.