The ‘problem’ here is that “dating” is often two different things for women and men.

Women want to spend time with someone they like and men want to have sex.

So, the problem is that in like 99% of the United States, you’re not legal for an 18-year-old to hook up with.

So, while “She’s so young” might refer to how you carry yourself as a person (which I doubt), it could also mean “I’m not trying to get in trouble.”

Things will be different for you in three years, when you become “legal”.

Until that time, you might have to stick to guys approximately your age, which is actually a pretty good deal when you’re 15! :D

I’m not being funny about this. Look it up in your state’s laws on the internet. At that age, it’s not about two people liking each other and enjoying each other’s company. It’s about the legal definition of what your state considers to be an adult.

My advice would be to keep him as a friend if you still like him as a person, and who knows?.. Maybe down the line, he’ll start liking you as a potential girlfriend.. OR (more likely), maybe you’ll start liking someone else that likes you just as much. :)

Good Luck! :D

Generally, guys that are 44 and date 23-year-old women aren’t interested in dating 42-year-old women, unless they’re physically comparable/competitive.

So he may be avoiding telling you he doesn’t want to have sex with you.

On the other hand, he might be telling the truth that you’re very important to him, as a woman to care about and share good times with, as opposed to someone to hook up with.

Guys are better at compartmentalizing that sort of thing.. Women you hook up with are in one group. Women you like as people are in another group. Sometimes, women are in both groups or neither, but one usually wins out over the other. If the sex side wins, that’s what happens. If the hang out side wins, that’s what happens.

You have an interesting situation, though, because you’re right that YOUR desires aren’t being validated, so you have to choose between stayin’ in the pocket and trying to convince him to hook up with you, or bouncing from the relationship, like you said.

If you bounce, he doesn’t have you as “close friends that he loves so much” anymore, so he may as well have sex with you, to get you back down with the program.

If he’s just physically not attracted to you, he’s not gonna hit it, regardless.

Sounds like a responsibility issue.

Dude seems like he wants to press up, but he’s scurrred. :D

Since he’s already made a few physical moves, I think you should wait until the next time y’all are hugged up or whatever and then ask him what he wants to do.

He should either back up off of you or move forward with his physical gameplan.

You’re doing yourself a disservice by leaving everything up to him.

It’s your life too. :) Go for your enjoyment! :D

Statements like that basically mean “I’m down to hit it, but when a better chick comes along, I’m bouncing.”

Sorry I’m replying to this way late.

Portraying a relationship differently to different people is just jockeying for position.

You don’t want to look like a sucker for being involved in a long-distance relationship, but you also don’t want to look like you have nothing going on in your “love life”, either. :)

lol @ “visit his sweetie”.. *YOU* were his sweetie at that point, and the long-distance chick was effectively the side-piece.

Interesting about the “care too much” thing. In fact, I just finished replying (late) to Amy’s comment above, talking about the same thing. Guys know that if we put it on y’all, you’re going to start caring more about the situation than we want you to. It’s natural. That’s why I was saying that sometimes you have to NOT press up on a chick in order to maintain your relationship to her.

It’s better for her to keep sweating you than for her to know how it is to be with you and want more than you’re willing to give her…

The “eyes wide open” comment is interesting also. Your eyes can only be as open as your experience dictates.

As far as his texting you after he visited her, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to screw her for another few months, so it was back to his normal life.

“Being that much closer to him” isn’t confusing at all. It’s definitely a threshold you can only cross in one direction when you hook up with someone. There’s Before and there’s After, and there’s no undoing it.

The effect on the relationship can be positive, neutral, or negative, but there’s no going back to “We never messed around”. It’s a permanent connection. It puts people in a different category in your life, so I totally understand your point. :)

I think dude wants to be FWB with you still, but he’s in some kind of jacked-up mental state. :D

People play it like women are the only ones that “Catch Feelin’s”, but that’s not true at all.

There’s no telling what the deal is without authentic communication between the two of you. You should get together with him for a heartfelt chat and ask him what he’s thinking, except pay more attention to his demeanor than his words.

Good Luck! :D