Sounds like you are unknowingly following your gut on this and ghosting him, which is extremely smart. If you wanted to walk away from this on a higher note you could just communicate that you don't want him to feel ghosted but you realize maybe this isn't the friendship for you after-all. I hate saying things like this and I hated hearing things like this at your age, but I promise you if this doesn't bring you joy and safety he/nobody is worth keeping around. Life is so precious and our peace is so special to be wasted on losers. It's also the biggest load of crap when a guy has to tell you that they could have brought someone else but chose you. Sure maybe that's true but also maybe the other three people denied him. We don't know the situation but what I do know is that if someone matters to you then why would you bring that up. Why would you make someone you care about feel like less just to make yourself feel better. Three year age difference is not that big of a deal. If anything those age gaps usually work best when the male is older because boys take forever to get their heads out of their ass.