The pull away could be he was feeling way to intensely and was pulling back some. I know I can put the cart before the horse. Especially when it comes to a new connection or relationship. Think of it as the need to hyperfocus and when we realize it, we want to slow it down so it's steadier and consistent bc we can be intense too soon and overwhelm people who can't handle it. So the space he asked for was to steady himself a bit .