What does this mean..platonic or romantic?

[Myasmam]

A very close friend has recently told me , out of the blue, that he loves and respects me as much as he does his sisters. He is exceptionally close to them.There has always been some chemistry between us and we have got close to physical but never crossed the line. Plenty of daily contact.. Is there a romantic undertone to this or is it simply platonic?

Platonic. He's trying to tell you he really cares but like a sister. Not romantically. Have you been giving him signals? Sounds like he's trying to let you down gently

not at all!!! It was in the context of an emotional chat, where he poured his heart out to me, about me.. Bit unusual thats all!.... Youre one of the most important people in my life, love you as much as I do the girls etc etc, Afraid of losing me , that kind of thing. just wasnt expecting it so now im overthinking it! Thanks

Could he be testing the water, seeing if he gets a reaction from you?

Why two threads?

Sounds to me like he's trying to express how much he cares for you without it coming across like he's making a move. That doesn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't be averse to making a move if he thought you would be receptive though.

What do you want? If you want to keep it platonic then take pleasure in the fact that he cares about you so much. If you'd like it to be romantic then just tell him. If he's not interested in going down that route your friendship should be strong enough to move past it.

I think there's a difference between 'love you like a sister' and 'love you as much as my sisters' - but it may be that you have phrased it like that as that's what you want.

tbh if you want it to mean romance, go for it. Someone has to make the first move and take some risk. If he really cares for you but does not want a romantic relationship, he'll be nice.

thanks for replies. He did say he loved me as much as his sister instead of 'like a sister' which is what I found odd.I mistakenly put this into chat and then got confused as I didnt know how to how to change it. Anyway, he is going to try and make a relationship with a new girl he has been casually seeing for the last few months so I am not going to trample all over that. To be honest, he is quite selfish and his idea of a relationship and mine are worlds apart...ie I expect a decent effort whereas he enjoys his freedom so much, he is loathe to give up any friend, family, sport time only maybe a date once a week when he has nothing else on so I dont want that for myself.A great friend, but a selfish boyfriend .I think I might have chosen the better option, but I did appreciate those words and was flattered. Yes he has definitely tested the water before but I was not free to be in a relationship at that time.thank you all again

Lucky escape then.

Platonic doesn’t mean no sex. There may or may not be sex in a Platonic relationship (as conceived by Plato rather than common usual). It means any sex comes out of the personality affinity, rather than out of lust.

Doesn’t sound like you like him enough as a person for that though.

Thats interesting Happy. I must look that up, as I dont understand it. I know That we are very close but I see now that as a boyfriend/partner, he isnt what I would like at all.In fact, privately, the way he decided that he will just meet her whenever he is free after he has met his friends?family and pursued all his other interests turns me off him a bit

The way I understand it is this...you know how some people advise you to marry your best friend, not someone you have masses of chemistry with? Something like that. Or how you can one day suddenly look at someone you’ve been friends with for a long time in a new light?

I suppose the ideal though is someone you are best friends with plus a bit of a spark.

And we have that, for definite, but not so sure he is ready to put a relationship high on the list of priorites, judging on his reasoning for giving this new girl just enough crumbs to keep her interested. Plus she is absolutley crazy about him and is just out of a difficult long term relationship. She is young and I cant help but feel, he is taking advantage of all of this. Feel like a bitch for even thinking this, but I kind of lost a little respect for him over it. Its a long boring story, but the crux of it is that she is taking whatever crumbs he offers her, along with saying all the right stuff but the actions dont match up and I really need a lot more than that! I dont know many women who would put up with that but he has her where he wants her, for now. A great lesson learned for me and a lucky escape as you said !