Does He Want to Keep Talking If He Doesn't Ask Follow-Up Questions?

Start by looking at the whole pattern, not one message. Does he answer your questions fully when you ask them? If he gives you a real answer, with a detail or an opinion, he's engaged with the topic even if he never turns it around. If every answer is one or two words, he's probably giving you the minimum.

Check whether he ever starts anything himself. A man who opens threads, sends a link, or mentions something he saw and thought of you is spending attention on you without being prompted. A man who only ever responds may be fine with the text but not keen enough to start it. Both can sit alongside real attraction, so watch what he does with the ball when it lands in his court.

A short reply is ambiguous. A reply that shows up after several days tells you more about where you sit on his list. If he answers within a few hours most of the time and only slips now and then, the thread is probably alive for him. If he goes quiet for a week and comes back with one line, you're near the bottom of his list.

Watch whether his replies get longer or shorter over time. A thread that's warming usually shows it in small ways, like a joke he adds without being asked or a detail he remembers from earlier. A thread that's cooling usually shows up as shrinking replies and longer waits before each one.

When a guy gives you little to work with, the usual fix is more questions. But that just hands him more things to answer briefly. Propose something specific instead: a time and place for coffee, a particular show, a day you're both free. A concrete ask is hard to answer with one word unless he really doesn't want to do it.

Keep the message short and make the yes or no easy. If he responds to the plan, you have your answer about the next step. If he's warm but gives no date, that tells you something. If he ignores the ask and keeps things casual, the conversation is running at his pace and not heading toward meeting up.