Help me [28 M] decipher this situation with her [23 F] .

Long time lurker of reddit here! I’m hoping some of you can help me decipher the situation I am in with this woman.

Prior to us talking, I had seen her multiple times. I was attracted to her when I first saw her, though I never approached her as I felt she was “out of my league”. Eventually she asked me if I was seeing anybody and I told her that I wasn’t. I also let her know that I wasn’t in the situation to be dating as I was focusing on my goals. She then gave me her number and told me to text her sometime if I wanted to chat.

I texted her a few days later. It seemed we really hit it off. We’d text and talk on the phone throughout the day for several days afterward. Then she told me she was going to a bbq and asked if I’d come along to keep her company as she did not know many people there. I agreed and we had a great time chatting and getting to know each other more. Afterwards, we went back to her place and watched a movie. No hanky-panky business, but we did cuddle together on the couch.

This has continued since. We’d make plans for me to come over, she’d cook me dinner and we’d watch a movie or two. This was convenient for both of us as she has a two-year-old daughter and I wasn’t ready to do the usual date night kind of things.

Soon we spoke about where we stood in our relationship. We both determined that we were not ready to date, but would not see other people as we both had feelings for each other. She determined that our relationship would be labeled as “complicated exclusive”. Then, about a month after we first started seeing each other, we had our first sexual experience. It seemed as if we both enjoyed it.

We’ve continued with our normal date night multiple times a week. I’ve even met and had dinner with her family. Everything seemed as if it was going well, though she did seem to be getting more distant. She began to be less talkative during our text conversations, and occasionally when I’d call she wouldn’t answer, then text back saying she’s trying to get some sleep of something similar. She’d say she would call me back later, but she not always would.

I feel that my trust for her is dwindling. As stated earlier, we agreed that we would not see or talk to other people, though it will often seem as if she is trying to hide her phone from me when texting other people.

Eventually her stepfather approached me and told me that I should be careful with her. I asked him to elaborate, though he was not able to give me a good reason why. He said that he knows I’ve been doing nice things for her and he felt as if I was being taken advantage of. You should know that she is currently living with her mother and stepfather. She is currently unemployed and focusing on studying (though no currently enrolled in college) and taking care of her daughter.

I haven’t gone out of my way to do much of anything for her except purchase her medicine and a few essentials while she was sick and ordered delivery a few times. I have been taken advantage of in the past and it has left me to be untrusting to many people. I try to keep what I do for people to a minimum.

We are still continuing with our normal routines of hanging out, eat dinner, watching movies, chatting and cuddling together on the couch. I feel as if I am becoming to have many feelings for her, but I am worried that I may be hurt in the end as has happened in past relationships.

What are your thoughts on this situation? Should I run like hell? Should I sit back and see where things go?

tl;dr: I have trust issues, she seems to be hiding something. Is it just my conscience playing games with me or is it her?

EDIT 1: Sorry for the wall of text. This is my first reddit post and I'm still working on learning the proper formatting.