So I ( 28 F), said I love you to the (28M) guy I’ve been seeing, it’s been 3 months and we’ve been friends for 2-3 years.

He responds with “Good to know”.

5-6 days later, I ask him if he heard what I’d told him that weekend, referring to the I love you. He said yeah, you didn’t think I heard? Then he says he needs to go shower and I told him we’d talk about it later.

For context, the way he treats me/talks to me hasn’t changed since the I love you, and he is still as affectionate as usual, but he has this annoying habit of almost disassociating when an important topic is being discussed… not a flag, but a concern at the moment.

So I am ok with him not saying it back because he may not be ready, but if that it is the case, I’d rather hear from him directly. I’d been going back and forth in my head about telling him that I love him, so it was a big deal to me , and I just wanted that to be acknowledged. I feel like he just swept it under the rug. I think it deserves an acknowledgment, even if he is not there. And he might never be or maybe he knows he isn’t, and if that’s the case I’d wanna know sooner rather than later.

Is that a normal response? AITA for being upset? The more time passes, the more upset I get about this.

How should I handle it? My best friend recommended I pull back a bit from this “relationship”, as he hasn’t officially asked me to be his gf yet. We have gone out as a couple with friends so people know we’re together, but he hasn’t asked.

It definitely isn’t a situationship because I made it clear from the beginning that if those were his intentions, I am not available for that nor a “friends with benefits” situation.

What do we think?

Edit: I have anxiety and the more I think of this, the bigger it grows in my head. I was quite calm & composed when it first happened, but now I feel worse about.