pal. companion. homie. More on reddit.com

Look up the book "His Needs, Her Needs" by William Harley. Older versions of this book have a subtitle about "building an affair-proof marraige," but don't let that fool you, the book is about many things outside of this framework. One of the arguments in the book is that, for many men, sex fills an emotional need. What many wives/mothers don't understand about men is that this level of intimacy is just as important to us as quality time and intimite conversation are to them. I don't think he'll necessarily get back to his old school patterns and habits, but for a wife to say "We don't have time for sex" is akin to "We don't have time for you." The wife sounds like she could use the book too because it doesn't actually sound like she's getting her emotional needs met either. It sounds like she feels pulled fifteen different ways, and that her "emotional tank" is empty, just like his is. The book gave my wife and I language to talk about how we mutually didn't like the direction our marriage was heading, how we didn't feel connected to each other, and helped us create necessary changes to help us get back on course as partners. https://www.marriagebuilders.com/product_his-needs-her-needs-making-romantic-love-last-11.htm More on reddit.com

“Buddy” and “pal” first come to mind in American English. “Pal” seems a little old fashioned to me, however. There is also the slang term “homie” which you may encounter. More on reddit.com

Besties. Obviously it's derived from "best friends" (or "best mates" to be more British) but you'll hear it often, though maybe more commonly in the younger generations. Not sure if a 60yo would call his friends that haha. More on reddit.com