Why cant people be more honest with what they want??

Why cant people be honest with what they want from a relationship / hookup / etc?

Maybe its an age thing, maybe its maturity / immiturity, maybe something else. Who knows... but its sooo frustrating.

I meet up with this guy who I chatted with quite a bit for a number of days beforehand online. He made it clear right before we meet up (on the day actually) that he wasnt after anything serious. I was all good with this and still went along as I wasnt really after anything serious at that point either. Anyway, we had great chemistry, chatted nearly every day for a couple weeks. When I questioned why he was still chatting, he indicated he wanted more but was reluctant for various reasons to commit (multiple jobs, very busy, my complex relationship status - long story, etc). So instead of sticking to the fact that he still only wanted something casual / fun and likely wanted to see other people, he was feeding me the opposite information. But he also didnt seem to want to catch up again anytime soon despite me asking a few times and him always making excuses... he said if he was free he would catch up again, but wouldnt schedule anything in. Why do that??

If all you want is fun and something casual then why not stick with that story the whole time? Why play mind games with someone. Doesnt make sense.