Odds are, his ex is still tugging some strings, or some old girlfriend has shown up, or he’s actually a Love Avoidant. Whatever it is, a gentle but firm, “call me when you’re ready to date” should be enough.
Then, I would suggest dating or at least GALing.
The red flag I see here is that this guy was pulling back for a bit before, then took you on this date with massage (which is kinda intimate for an early casual date). King of mixed signals, that alone puts me off.
Truth is, he didn’t pull back at all until our last date which was a few days ago. I think it was a lot of reality for him.
And he isn’t love avoidant. That’s his problem. He’s all about it and it’s gotten him in trouble in the past. I give him props for recognizing his normal patterns and trying to break them .
I truly believe it’s an unfortunate incidence of bad timing .
I am going to say when you are truly ready to date, call me. But I can’t be his place of comfort during a difficult time. That’s always been my role. I’m done with that
