I met a guy through an online dating app. We talked for about a month and a half on a daily basis (long texts before bed/morning, not throughout the day) before we met up in person. The delay in meeting up was just due to my work schedule having me work at remote sites.

The conversation online was great, and our first date was great too. And we've had our second date since too. He was very considerate during the dates, he picked me up from the station and we went to a show and then we had dinner at some fancy restaurant. He paid for everything on the first date. The second date he took me to another restaurant that I mentioned I wanted to try. He paid for that too and I bought him a drink afterwards because I was feeling a bit bad. On both dates we went no further than holding hands.

We had a silly misunderstanding through text a couple of nights ago and we called each other just to talk. Everything was resolved and I can't remember how it came up but he mentioned he was only talking to me, and I said that I was kind of the same. There are people on the app I haven't met that I talk to once in a while but I've been thinking about stopping anyway. Not because of the guy, just because online dating can be tiring and I've reached that point of wanting a break. Anyway, after the call concludes, he messages me to clarify that I'm welcome to continue to talking to other guys because we're not exclusive. Which is a totally fair statement but it kind of just left a bad taste for me to be honest. I haven't ever hinted at wanting to be exclusive with him so the statement comes at a total surprise. Throughout the dates, he kept telling me that he really liked me, but after this, honestly, not so sure. We still message each other frequently and it's as though nothing's changed.

If it makes any difference, we're both in our late 20s/early 30s. What do I make of the situation?