How to respond when he only asks about you

A guy who only asks questions about you is showing one of two patterns. He might be anxious about saying the wrong thing, so he's staying safe by keeping the spotlight on you. That's fixable if he's willing to learn. Or he might be passively gathering information without investing himself, which means he's happy to have you around but isn't moving toward anything real.

Here's the thing: you can't tell which one he is by the questions alone. But you can tell by how he responds when you stop making it easy. When you answer and then share something first instead of handing him another question, that's when you find out if he's nervous-and-trying or just-collecting-data. The nervous guy usually relaxes a bit and opens up. The other guy keeps lobbing questions or goes quiet.

Don't just answer what he asked. Give him an answer, then volunteer something about your day, your thoughts, or what's going on with you. Make it something that requires him to actually respond, not just ask follow-ups. You're modeling what a real conversation looks like.

Then watch. If he engages with what you shared and asks about it specifically, he's listening. If he ignores it and asks something else about you, he's not really there. That one moment tells you what you're working with.

Send your reply when you'd normally reply. Don't rush it or delay it as a tactic. He might take a day or two to respond. People are busy. That's fine.

But after two or three more exchanges where you've offered openings about yourself and he still only asks questions, stop. You've given him the pattern. He either doesn't see it or doesn't care. That's the signal to either accept that this is what texting with him looks like, or step back. Don't wait for a magic moment where he suddenly gets it. The pattern is already telling you something.