Every woman knows that feeling – the nagging feeling that tells her that a guy she’s been seeing is seeing someone else besides her. That possibility can be especially frustrating (and confusing) if you’ve just started dating and haven’t definitively set anything in stone yet.
On the one hand, you know you can’t really say anything if you’re not exclusive yet (especially if you’re still seeing other people, too). But on the other, you want to know for sure so you can get a read on how serious he is or isn’t about you. Here are some signs that your instincts are right on, even if he hasn’t said anything about it.
1. Your dates feel too much like booty calls.
A guy who’s only got eyes for you and is serious about moving things forward with you will put effort into your dates. He’ll take you out. He’ll buy you dinner. He’ll make actual plans with you that give him a chance to show you off a little.
Things may have even started out that way, but all you know now is that he only seems to want to get together late at night to “hang out.” And more often than not, that hanging out leads to sex. Even if you’re having a good time, this is a likely sign that he’s not interested in pursuing much more with you.
2. He avoids taking you to certain places.
Or maybe he does take you out, but he’s overly particular about where you go together. For instance, maybe there’s a specific restaurant or hot spot you’ve wanted to go to. But every time you bring the idea up, he has a different reason for not taking you.
Sure, it could just be that he genuinely doesn’t like the place. But if it always sounds like he’s just making some excuse, it could be that he’s actually concerned about running into someone else he’s seeing or another acquaintance he doesn’t want seeing him with you.
3. He doesn’t want you to meet his friends.
Although plenty of guys prefer to take their time when it comes to introducing someone new to other people in their lives, that’s still a possibility that comes up for discussion eventually. If a man is serious about a sugar baby he’s dating, he typically at least wants to get the seal of approval from his friends.
But if you’ve been dating a while and he’s never even suggested the possibility or has blown it off every time you’ve suggested it, something’s wrong. It could be that he’s just gun-shy about introducing women he dates to the important people in his life too soon, but he also might want to avoid seeming too serious about you.
4. He’s cagey about acknowledging you on social media.
As with introducing a new significant other to friends and family, it can take some guys a while to want to be “Facebook official” on social media. But you really shouldn’t have the impression that he’s full-on trying not to acknowledge that there’s a deeper connection between the two of you.
Maybe it’s that he never accepts your tags when you post pictures of the two of you together. Or he might just be one of those guys that seems to deliberately avoid posting anything definitive that might give anyone the impression he’s attached to someone. It could be a sign that he doesn’t want other women to know he’s seeing you because he wants to leave his options open.
5. He refuses to define your relationship.
If you’ve only been on a couple of dates, it’s pretty standard for a man not to have said anything much about where he sees things going. But maybe it’s been a while, and he not only hasn’t said anything himself but acts evasive when you try to bring up the topic for discussion.
Guys who are seeing other people but don’t want to explicitly say so will dodge the question. Or they might keep blowing you off by saying they’d like to “see where it goes.” It’s their way of keeping their options open while dating as many women as they see fit.
The thing is, there’s nothing wrong with casually dating someone or keeping your options open. But the person on the other end of the equation deserves to know what’s going on so they can keep their options open, too.
So if you’re dating a sugar daddy who isn’t being straight with you, even when you explicitly ask him to, you’re not crazy to be thinking about cutting your losses and moving on. Everyone has the right to pursue the type of relationship they know is best for them, but emotionally mature people shoot other people straight and are honest about their intentions. Don’t settle for anything less.
