He might have thought you were romantically interested in him, wasn't interested, and didn't know how to communicate that without being worried he might offend you.

There's this concept of a relationship escalator and everybody rightly shits on how much it fucks things up on the back end of erotic relationships.

But in pretty much every kind of new relationship, whether it's business, friendship, family, or romance, people expect to increase their commitments gradually, in coordination with the other person.

Yes, this means that most people looking to make new friends and lovers expect you to act a little less excited about getting to know them than you actually are. 🤷🏻‍♀️