Romantic relationships always involve taking a leap of faith. At a certain point, you have to trust that the other person shares the same feelings and is genuine in wanting to build something real. There are few things worse than finding out that your partner was only pretending to be interested. The key is to be aware of signs without becoming cynical and assuming the worst will happen. Obviously, it’s a tight line to walk, but if you notice any of these signs, the guy in your life might be faking it.
- He refuses to cuddle. Obviously, most guys aren’t super eager to cuddle most of the time, but if your partner genuinely cares about you, he’ll get on board with the occasional snuggle. He’ll know it’s important to you and do it to make you happy. Thus, it’s the guys who refuse to cuddle that you have to worry about. How can he genuinely love you if he’s not willing to make this little sacrifice every now and then?
- You don’t get invited to family functions. When the guy in your life has family events, it’s a great way to see where you stand. When the invitation becomes a given, you know that things are serious and the guy is likely in it for the long haul. On the other side of things, you have to question his feelings if you’re not asked to come along when he does things with his family, especially when he knows you want to join.
- His friends don’t like you. Most of the time, his friends won’t work that hard to hide the fact that they don’t like you. If they know the guy really loves you and wants to make it work, they’ll make more of an effort to get along with you because they know you might be around for a long time. However, if he doesn’t have the approval of his friends and they don’t seem to like you, there’s only so far his feelings for you will go.
- He says what he thinks you want to hear. Obviously, you don’t want to be fighting all the time, but you should also be suspicious when a guy is too agreeable. There’s a chance he’s saying what you want to hear to keep you in a good mood. That way, he can get what he wants out of the relationship without a lot of conflict. Meanwhile, a guy who cares about you will have no problem being open about his true thoughts and opinions.
- He stays away from emotional intimacy. You might want to think of this as the “all sex, no talking” principle. Most of the time, relationships should progress physically and emotionally at a similar pace. If he’s getting what he wants physically but is still declining to open up emotionally, you must question whether his feelings for you are genuine or not.
- He’s not there when you need him. To a certain extent, loving relationships are all about just being there for someone. If he can’t show up when you need him, he doesn’t actually love you. To be fair, some guys are dumb and can’t read between the lines when you hint that you need him, but if you spell it out that you need him for something and he doesn’t show up, it’s a safe bet that he’s faking his feelings for you.
- He’s full of excuses. Guys who are only pretending to love you always have an excuse. They never accept blame and always try to talk themselves out of things. He’ll talk as much as he needs to in order to convince you that he cares about you.
- He’s inconsistent. One day, he’s all about you and the next day, he pulls back. In fairness, there are plenty of reasons why guys pull away at bad times. But it’s another thing when he plays you hot and cold. When his attitude toward you is so inconsistent that you can’t get a read on his feelings, it’s usually a sign that he’s only pretending to love you.
- You chase him. Okay, so this one comes with some caveats. For instance, if you’re dating a shy guy or an introvert, you’ll have to do some of the chasing in the relationship. You’ll text him first and you’ll make the plans, but at a certain point, he needs to take the lead, at least some of the time. If that doesn’t happen, it means he’s only pretending to have feelings for you and is just stringing you along. That’s why you should stay vigilant for relationships that seem a little too one-sided.
- There’s no talk of the future. When a guy actually loves you, he’ll have no problem talking about the future. That doesn’t mean he’ll bring it up and be eager to talk about it, but if broach the topic, he should have some thoughts on the topic. If he tries to duck the issue altogether, he may be pretending to have feelings for you and isn’t ready for something serious.
