Don't believe him. Here is my story.

I recently reconnected with an old acquaintance from 20 years ago. He lives close to me and we have FB friends in common. He wanted to take me to dinner and made it clear that this was just as friends, which is what I preferred.

I already knew I couldn't date this guy due to him having some obvious deal breakers that I learned early on (lives with his parents, dead end job, bad financial decisions, no goals, and more).

After a month or so "being friends" it was clear to me that he wanted more, which was as so odd to me because he put in no effort. For instance, when we went to dinner he wore sandals, t-shirt and shorts, and unshaved (it's winter time). I figured the way he presented himself made it clear this was just a friendship because what guy would think it was OK to put literally no effort in his appearance for a date?

Skip ahead a month or so, I finally told him the amount of texting and time he wanted to spend with me is out of my comfort zone for people I am just friends with. I'm an introvert and live alone and enjoy my solitude. I'm also not interested in dating at the moment and certainly not interested in dating a grown man that doesn't have his life together.

If more than a few hours passed, he would text me a sad emoji. He communicated a lot with emojis.

Needless to say that after I set clear boundaries for him as a friend, he no longer communicates with me.