Homecoming confusion

So, shortly, I’m crushing on this super nice guy, and we used to text 24/7. We went out for coffee twice, and I was getting up the nerve to ask him to homecoming (which was this Friday) when he said that he was taking this girl because their date flaked.

This girl always used to like him- but everyone knows he doesn’t feel the same.

He’s known for letting girls down super nicely. So, a day or two after he said he was taking someone else (I hadn’t directly asked him if he would go with me, only if he was taking someone) I texted him ‘If I had asked you to homecoming first (not as friends) what would you’ve said?’

And he replied ‘I honestly don’t know’ and then proceeded to say how terrible that sounds.

Is that him trying to let me down easy? We still text everyday but it’s not as often. I’m not sure if he’s more busy or something, but it’s been eating away at me.