Love and confusion

Hello pretty ladies,

I just need some advice, my friends keep telling me one thing, in my head I am saying another thing and it’s just lots of confusion.

Okay so I met a guy in high school, he was younger than me… we only made out in high school. I graduated and went to off to college but still lived in our hometown. We would see each other here and there. My ex’s were always jealous of him (I honestly never understood why). We grew apart and would talk here and there (this went on till after he graduated high school). flash forward a couple years, I graduated college he is still in college, he reaches out to me we talk and than he ghost me. I would see him around town and just smile and keep walking. A year later (this February) I got a message from him apologizing for not talking to me, that his girlfriend didn’t care for me. I never even met the girl. He explained he ghosted me because he knew if he saw me he wouldn’t be able to handle himself. We talked every day, well he’s home for the summer so I went over and saw him well one thing lead to another and I end up naked on his bed. We do the dirty and it was so good. I felt like it validated how I actually felt about him. Well I am 24 so I don’t hide how I feel. I told him… well he told me this

Him: Look Maybe one day i could have feelings but I’m not allowing myself to have feelings because i can’t go through that again rn. I want to go into my senior year with no strings tied anywhere and be able to live my life and when i graduate move to wherever i need and do what i need to without having to worry about a relationship or feelings holding any of it back

Me: I responded with this

Feelings should never hold you back from your dreams or career. That’s not what relationships are for, you are supporting one another on achieving your dreams. You have to do what’s best for you, to make you the best person you can be. If the other person sticks around through that, then that’s the relationship that’s meant for you…

I feel like I need to talk to him still. I didn’t talk to him for a coupes days but I ended up reaching out to him and feel better talking to him. I have feelings

Would you guys do?