I really don’t know if this kind of post is frowned upon here so please excuse me if that is the case, I just really wanted some feedback from the FDS ladies specifically.

So I’ve been hanging out with a coworker (21M) that I was initially vetting but considering we work together and a few things that I’ve seen, I think it’s best if I no longer vet him. I viewed him as a HVM but after today I’m a little apprehensive and unsure. We’ve been hanging out and getting to know each other for about two months. About a week ago, I started a text conversation with him just to see if he was willing to put in effort to establish a connection (I literally texted him to see what we had in common cause when we hang out we don’t seem to have a natural flow of conversation, as if we don’t have a lot in common) and he was pretty dry and stated that work was the “thing” that connected us. I, being a recovering pickmeisha, was devastated that he didn’t show more interest in the conversation but I just ended the convo and when I saw him at work the next day I gray-rocked him. He took notice but being that we were at work and I didn’t want to make things awkward, I let up pretty quickly and all was normal again, or so I thought. Earlier this week he invited me out next weekend again. So today he let me know that he purposely acted as if he didn’t know that our text conversation bothered me and that he knew exactly why I was being distant, and that he just wanted to “see what I would do”. Honestly, thinking of him as a potentially manipulative person is a wake up call, because of all of the HV traits I saw I was being pretty open to getting to know him. I’m not sure how to continue or what I should do, or if I should even honor the plans next weekend. I don’t really even know what I want from him now, but I just need some validation. Am I being weird by feeling a little spooked by his revelation? Can he still be a friend or should I just completely abort?