I recently finished listening to Niel Strauss' The Game. I loved it. It reminded me a lot of Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test only in a way it was better. It was better because what I learned from The Game I'm interested in applying to my own life, where as what I read about in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test was something I'm only interested in reading about.
Finished with The Game I've just begun reading The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene. Greene's The 48 Laws of Power has long been a favourite of mine, and I'm interested to see how his strategic mind approaches seduction.

I'm not an unnatractive guy and I wouldn't say that I am bad with women either. I'm not interested in making a lifestyle out of being a pick up artist. I'm not even that interested in having one night stands. I do want to have meaningful relationships with women I just don't want them to involve phrases like "[...] like a brother" and "you're so reliable". I'm guessing there are a few guys here who have had to overcome those obstacles before too.
I have no problem approaching women. Ok, I get a bit anxious around the occasional perfect 10, but generally I can strike up a conversation with a stranger. I don't use the kind of lines that Style and Mystery used in The Game. I'd feel pretty lame asking a girl if she believed in spells... but I'm happy enough going into a store and asking a girl what she thinks of a shirt.
Approaching women isn't my issue. My issue is getting them to see me in a sexual light. I don't know how to effectively steer a conversation toward sex or how to make myself of sexual interest to the girl.
I don't even know how to get a girls number, although having recently heard the line "is there some way we could continue this conversation?" used by Mystery in The Game I intend to give it a try.

I don't want to exaggerate my situation, I have already come a long way since my teen years where being like someone's brother was a perpetual state of existence for me. These days I am less like a brother and more like that friend that a girl might be interested in if the situation was just different. That's still not enough for me.
While I don't want to stick my dick in every girl who catches my eye I want the feeling of knowing that I could if I wanted to. The first two things that stood out to me in The Game were firstly the advice Mystery gave about smiling when you walk into a room, and secondly the explanation of cat-string theory especially the words "You are the prize".

I want to be the prize.