Need honest opinions: emotionally avoidant or just not interested enough?

I (28F) met a guy (27M) on Hinge. We were seeing each other for roughly 2 months and went on around 7 dates total. From the start, the connection felt really natural and emotionally genuine. He was warm, funny, remembered little things I’d tell him, made consistent effort in person etc. Most of our dates were pretty last minute/spontaneous though, which in hindsight maybe was a sign too.

There WERE signs of inconsistency early on:
After our 3rd date (when we slept together), he was still attentive/checking in for the next couple days, but then communication suddenly slowed down and I ended up texting him first after not hearing from him for a few days asking when I’m going to see him again. We saw each other that same day.

After around the 5th date, he disappeared for about 10 days while traveling for work. It started with communication dropping off mid convo. (Before fully disappearing, I learned he unmatched me on Hinge and changed his location lol). I followed up twice during that period before he eventually came back apologizing for the communication, saying he was overwhelmed but knew that wasn’t an excuse.

He admitted he was a bad texter (which honestly I had already seen firsthand at that point), said he wanted to do better, wanted to call more etc. I remember telling him I wasn’t just going to randomly call him out of the blue, but he asked if he could. I think part of me didn’t want to do it since it was his initiative and given the fact that he…basically ghosted me lol. He also mentioned wanting me to initiate more sometimes too. We had a long conversation and reconnected.

After that things honestly got closer:
- calls from his end
- I initiated text convos more
- future-ish talk
- he intentionally invited me to meet ALL his friends
- his friends were super welcoming/inclusive and based on things that were said, clearly expected to see me again

So naturally I thought okay… maybe this is becoming more real.

But it didn’t last long 😅

The confusing part is what happened after: we were texting normally all week after that. It wasn’t everyday or constant back and forth, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. There was ongoing conversation, banter, jokes, questions, etc. Nothing felt off or like an ending. Eventually I asked “how are you feeling” because he was sick. He never responded. 2 days later I sent just the word “ok” because like, are we seriously doing this again? Now it’s been almost 2 weeks later and still nothing…

I genuinely cannot tell if:
- he liked me but is emotionally avoidant/inconsistent (both times he disappeared, it was after a more “significant” time )
- he wanted me to initiate/chase more
- he lost interest suddenly
- or if this is just someone who likes connection in bursts but disappears when things get more real

Would appreciate honest thoughts because I feel like I’m going insane trying to make sense of the contradiction between his words/actions vs disappearing mid convo. What’s making it worse is that I genuinely cannot stop thinking about him because the random drop offs just feel so confusing and abrupt.