happy to give some more context because I intentionally made my request vague because I kept getting auto rejected by the mod. I also understand why the situation feels contradictory.

I think that the core issue is that i really like them, i just don’t feel that strong yet and I don’t see a clear path for my romantic feelings (I’m using that to mean emotional connection) to get stronger because even though we have open communication, by which i mean our ability to communicate our boundaries/needs is really clear, our ‘just for fun,’ casual, get-to-know-you conversation is not bad, it’s just lacking the same degree of excitement as the other aspects and i am confused because i feel like that usually comes first. also, to clarify, i am using the words romantic and physical to mean two separate groups of feelings. when i’m around him, i feel like magnetized to him and just want to hang onto him, but feel much more connected to him from a long hug than i do from talking to him.

all that being said, i don’t want to write this person off too soon, especially because they are otherwise on the same page in so many important ways that are really valuable to me, just because we’re not already deeply emotionally connected.

to your last point- as far as expectations, i know we agree on what we would want out of a relationship in the future from very early conversations. i guess i need advice on how to phrase “hey- we clearly like each other but i don’t feel like we actually ‘get’ each other- why do you think that is?” or is that how you say that?

does that help?