I have gone on a few dates with this guy and he has made it clear to me that he is quite romantically interested. I have, however, had several conversations with him about the fact that I don’t think I am ready to emotionally open up and date seriously, as I’ve not fully recovered from the very rough ending of a long term relationship. I’ve made my feelings and my position very clear and told him I am not interested in labeling things and I want him to continue to date/explore other people. But I think he may still be getting very invested and I don’t want to hurt him. We are both adults (23 years old). Should I end things for him if I think he’s building high hopes I won’t meet, or should I let him decide for himself? I know a lot of times you hear what your partner says, but you don’t really take it to heart in the hopes that things will pan out. At what point does it stop being my responsibility to safeguard someone else from their own feelings?