Dating someone that you like can be so much fun and spark some fantastic feelings. However, it can be a very confusing time, especially if you are unsure whether your feelings are reciprocated. You may be uncertain as to whether the guy you are seeing wants to be in a relationship with you that is committed.
Here, in this article, we list signs he wants a relationship with you and no one else. There are quite a few, but it does not mean that every single one that we mention needs to be present between the two of you. Just one or two can be enough to show that he doesn’t want to be with anyone else.
How Do You Know If He Wants To Be Exclusive?
1. He introduces you to his family
Of all the signs that a guy wants you to be his girlfriend, this sign is perhaps the most daunting. Being introduced to a guy’s family is a sure signal that he thinks of you as girlfriend material, and he doesn’t want you going anywhere fast. This is not something that a guy does with anyone he is dating, so you can be confident that he likes you a lot if he asks you to meet his relatives.
2. He holds your hand in public
More often than not, guys hate public displays of affection – mainly if they are commitment-phobes. They hate how it looks to others and how it marks them out as being off the market. However, if he likes you and he wants to be with you only, he won’t mind holding your hand in public or even kissing you, or perhaps putting his arm around you also.
3. He talks to you about the future
You can take confidence in the fact that the guy you are dating wants to be with you if he talks about the future. This is an incredibly good sign as it means that he can see you being together for the long term. If you do make plans with him, make sure that you feel like your needs will be met by your joint future goals. It can be tempting to go with the flow when we’re with someone that we’re into and forget about our own needs.
4. He plans holidays with you
While talking about the future on a broader, bigger scale is a good sign of a guy’s intentions towards you, it’s still a great sign if he simply talks about going away on holiday with you. Even if that is for a couple of nights over a weekend or even a bigger international trip, if he thinks you are one of the people that he is happy to spend some of his annual leave with, you can take confidence in the fact that he’s into you.
5. He asks you what you are doing for Thanksgiving or Christmas
With respect to particular holidays, if he asks you to join you for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other festival that is essential to you both, this is one of the signs he wants to be in a long term relationship with you. These holidays are always an essential part of a person’s life, which is why a guy is asking you to join him with you is such a good signal.
6. He posts pictures of you together on social media
If a guy is posting pictures of both of you on his social media accounts, you can be assured that he wants to be with you for the long term. If he is happy for others to see that the two of you are together, it means he is also happy to make a commitment to you and date you exclusively.
7. He leaves stuff at your house
If a guy leaves his stuff at your house, it can be taken as one of the signs he wants to date only you. While it can be that guys leave stuff at a date’s house simply because they are forgetful, if he does it repeatedly, it means he assumes that you will see each other again. It is that assumption that means he’s only interested in a relationship with you.
8. He calls you his partner
It may sound evident, but sometimes we forget that men can be quite simple beings at times who don’t overthink things. Therefore, if he calls you his girlfriend or boyfriend, you can take a massive confidence boost in this as to the status of your relationship. Some of us may think that he could well be calling other people his girlfriend or boyfriend as well, but the majority of people won’t be that two-faced.
9. He tells his friends about you
If you know that he has told his friends about you, you can take this as an excellent assurance of his feelings for you being powerful. Guys tend not to talk about their love life also much, so when they speak about a girl at length to their close friends, it means they like that girl a lot.
10. He talks about his feelings openly with you
Of all the signs that he wants to be your only boyfriend, talking to you about his feelings is perhaps one of the key indicators that he wants you in his life for a long time. When it comes to relationships, we can all be prone to insecurities that sometimes blind us to what the other person is telling us. If he says he likes you, take it that he is not lying or being deceitful, and he’s going to be committed to you. Trust is such an essential part of a healthy relationship.
11. He no longer uses dating apps
Many people in the past have thought they were in a committed partnership, only to be told by a friend that their partner is still on a dating app or website. If you know the guy you are dating is no longer using such apps or sites, he’s happy to think of you as his committed partner.
12. He gives you his key
Men tend to be fairly practical in sex, so if he gives you his key, you can take it as one of the signals that he wants you in his life for the long term. He will only give his key to someone that he has strong feelings about and won’t give it out to anyone he has lukewarm emotions for. If he hasn’t asked you to be exclusively together yet, you can be sure he’s going to soon if has already given you his key.
13. He asks you along to nights out with his friends
Guys can be a bit protective over their nights out with their friends. If he happily asks you along to one with his mates, then you can tell that he wants your relationship to go the distance. It means that he views you as one of his friends also and that he wants to spend as much time with you as possible.
14. He doesn’t look at other people when you’re out
While some men will continue to eye up other people, even when they are happily married, the majority will stop – or at least stop doing it quite so much. If you have noticed that the guy in your life no longer looks at others when you are out together, you can be assured that he wants to be with you and you only.
15. He instigates plans with you
Sometimes, when there is an imbalance in a relationship between two individuals, there is always one person that is forever making the plans to meet up. If the guy you are dating wants to be with you exclusively, you’ll notice that he is happy to instigate plans with you as opposed to you always suggesting a meetup.
16. He remembers what you say
When guys are into the person they are dating, they are much better at listening to their date. They will also remember what their date says, and so if you have noticed how the guy in your life knows how you take your coffee, or what exactly you do for your career, you can take confidence in the fact that he’s into this for the long haul.
17. He is happy to do things you like
When a guy wants to be with someone exclusively, they will happily do what their partner likes to do. If they’re not into a person with serious intentions, they will not do things to make that person happy. Instead, they’ll just find an excuse to get out of whatever it is they had planned to do together.
18. He asks for your opinion
If a guy wants a relationship with a person, he will often defer to that individual. With a person that they’re just not that interested in, they won’t care one way or the other about what their stance is on anything. If you notice that the guy you are dating asks you for advice a lot, take confidence in this and the fact that he wants a committed partnership with you.
19. He touches you a lot
One of the best things about being in a relationship with someone that is fully committed to you is how they naturally will touch you a lot. The nature of attraction means that the guy you are dating will subconsciously take every opportunity he has to touch you in any way.
FAQs
How do you know if he wants to be exclusive?
There are so many ways that a guy signals that he wants to be in an exclusive relationship. Those signs may be slightly different from person to person. If he’s with you for a serious relationship though, the main sign will be that you don’t worry about what he’s thinking – you’ll know already.
How long should you date before asking to be exclusive?
There is no time limit on how long you should wait before you commit to someone. If you are into them, and he feels the same way about you, it can take no time at all. Others will take that little bit longer to be sure of each other’s feelings.
What does it mean when a man wants to be exclusive?
What being exclusive means to a man will vary from individual to individual, however, in the main, it will mean that you are no longer dating anyone else. Make sure that you are both agreeing to the same type of relationship when you become exclusive also so as not to get hurt feelings in the future.
What does exclusive mean to a guy?
If you are unsure of what exclusive means to the guy you are dating, make sure you ask if you broach the topic with one another. It’s essential as it can mean different things to different people. It may be awkward having this conversation, but you may save yourself some hurt in the long run.
How long do guys wait to make it official?
Depending on how the relationship is going will make a big difference to how long it takes a guy to make things official with a person he wants to date exclusively. Also, it hugely depends on the personalities involved. Some guys are commitment-phobes, while others love to be in a committed relationship.
The Bottom Line
The above list of signs that signal he wants to change your relationship status to an exclusive one can help figure out how a guy you are dating feels about you.
However, don’t forget that a relationship is all about balance, so if you are unsure and feeling out of control in the situation, ask him. If he’s into you and wants the same things as you do, he won’t be scared off by broaching the subject. Instead, he will welcome the fact that you brought up what is going on between you.
