Asking someone to dance is a thirty-second risk. Sitting out the whole night is a three-hour one.

You price the risk of asking and forget to price the alternative. Thirty seconds of a possible no is a cost you can absorb and forget by Tuesday. Standing against the wall all night is also a cost, just spread thin enough that it never feels like one. Avoiding is not free; you pay for it in slow installments.

At the next thing you go to, set a rule before you walk in. Ask inside the first twenty minutes, while your nerve is still fresh. A no leaves you exactly where you were already standing.