Hey Jennifer,

I can understand the bit of a pickle yyou are in. I know that I would freak out if told "I love you" only having known someone and dated them for just a few weeks. I do believe in love at first site. I did work with a guy that married his wife after only knowing one another for just 6 weeks. Amazing. The had been very happily married for over 10 years! i do believe this to be an exception rather than the rule. I have known my husband since 5th grade. He also lived in my neighborhood and we played together with othrs as friends. We sorta went our ways, though, until juniors in high school when we started to run around with each other including another friend. I have to admid that when we were seniors, I found him to be incredibly sexy and loved it when he wore tight jeans (not in style now). He also used to wear a pair of parachute pants and loved to play with his zippers.I feel that we were drawn to each other and when 18, our relationship became rather intimate but we had no commitments but had lots of fun. Ended up that when we were 22, we moved out of our parent's homes and rented a house together as friends. He had graduated from college and traveled constantly.He wanted a roommate so that someone would be around to watch his stuff as he was fearful of it getting stolen. I needed a rommate as I was working fulltime and going to school part-time. I just didn't make the money to make it on my own. That was about Sept.1 of 1989. By Novenber, I knew that I loved him and wanted to marry him.Of course, he didn't have an idea. I would have scared him to death. It wasn't until the next May that a friend coerced me to tell her that I was intersted in him. I was given the ultimatum to tell him how I felt or she would. I did have a talk with him and learned that he was feeling the same about me and we agreed to take things slowly. In Julyl, the dreaded words "I love you" slipped out of my mouth over the phone. I heard nothing but silence. I tried to recover the best I could. UGH Ended up, that we were married on Oct. 5 of 1991. We have been very happy since.

I realize that my story is much different that yours. You were very wise to tell that that you felt pressured and that he could push you away. You need some time to cultivate such strong feelings. I would tell him gently that you weren't ready for his little surprise and need time and patience.
After all, we are talking about a major life commitment. If he isn't willing to be patient and wait, then he must not truly love you. In that case, you have to move on.

I hope that you can make some peace with him and that he understands and practices some discretion in the words he utters. Hopefully should he listen, you can feel more comfortable in his presence ahd perhaps learn that you do love him or that he is not the man of your dreams. Never settle for less.

Be Blessed and Good Luck,
Peacemaker