Is he just in his "cave" by withdrawing OR is he no longer interested in me??

[youngatheart]

I have been dating this guy for 3 1/2 yrs. Every so often he withdraws to think through his probs ('cuz he just doesn't handle stress well AT ALL-lol). I'm ok with that (thanks to the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus") 'cuz that's how guys handle their probs. Just in the past month or so, his work has become a little more stressful & he's buying a 2nd house & trying to rent out his other house. When we see each other (which isn't very often anymore), things are still good - plenty of chemistry, "can't keep hands off of each other", etc... He seems "elsewhere" @ times & has trouble falling asleep, so when I ask him if things are good, he'll say "Yeah, it's just work" or "Yeah, having trouble getting my mind to stop racing so I can sleep." And then I drop it.

 

Was @ his place Sun. & Mon. almost 2 wks ago & things were good. I left Tues. morning after he had me stay for coffee with him, we hugged & kissed & he mentioned once he got back (last wk he left on Wed. to go out of town & didn't get back until this Mon. nite) we should go see a certain movie he wanted to see. I said that would be cool. Didn't talk to him while he was gone, which is fine, but also didn't hear from him after he got back. Text him this Wed. (after he'd been back for a couple of days) asking him playfully if he got back in 1 piece. He responded "Hey there. Yea, still in 1 piece". Haven't heard from him since...

 

I know being gone for that many work days can swamp a person (to a certain point), plus it's back to the real world for him & all the other "shtuff" he has been thinking about. I am leaving him alone 'cuz it is coming across to me like he needs space & has "retreated into his cave" even though he hasn't told me he needs space (which he has done before) or said "get lost sucka" -lol.

 

Can any of you guys tell me if I'm headed in the right direction by doing this? Is he just needing space & will eventually come back to me? And if he is just needing space, what's the range for length of time a guy usually needs space for? Wks or sometimes months?? OR is he no longer interested & was being "nice" by having me over before he left town & with his last text & is hoping I "get the hint" & leave him alone for good??? Have any of you gals out there had this happen 2 you??