The Power Lies With Who Cares Less...

I hate how true this statement is. When it comes to dating, this is pretty much the dater's motto.
It is so annoying that you can not be interested in someone, not care if you don't hang out with them or do, but then as soon as you find out that THEY don't care, all of the sudden you're annoyed. You didn't care, but now that they don't care, you care that they don't care. It's such a ridiculous cycle.
It's happened to me many times.
I remember years ago, there was a guy who was interested in me, I thought he was great, but I just wasn't romantically interested. We went on a couple of dates and I think he just got the vibe that I wasn't feeling it. So he stopped trying. Then one night I saw him with another girl, in our ward. He had his arm around her, and jealousy filled me to my very soul. I wanted his arm to be around me. Though I knew full well if it was, I wouldn't want it to be.
It wasn't that I wanted him, but I wanted him to keep wanting me. It's that attention that we all love.
Knowing that I have been in that situation, I shouldn't be so upset when guys do that to me, but I can't help it.
Another time, I was going to hang out with a guy who I was interested in but wasn't really giving me the interest I was hoping for. He had invited me to this party, and honestly I didn't want to go, but knew that if I didn't go I would have wondered what would have happened. So I made my roommate come with me. My whole plan was to be indifferent. I wasn't going for him, I was going to meet other people. I was going to make new friends, I wasn't going to talk to him, unless he talked to me first. And that is exactly what I did, and it worked like a charm. That night. He was flirty and touchy, and cuddly, but only that night. Once he had my attention again he stopped all his advances.
That part of dating is very misleading, and it makes it really hard to read people, and how they really feel.
Guys always say that trying to understand girls is impossible, girls say the same thing about guys. People, we are all playing the same game, and from what I can see, we are using the same playbook.
So it all comes down to this. If the guy was interested he would do something about it. If he's not doing anything about it, he's not interested. Girls can flirt and let the guys know (subtly) that they are interested, but it is the guy's job to take the step, and if they're not taking it, they don't want to.
I wish that was easy to remember, because it is REALLY easy to make excuses for them, truth is, it's rare that there is actually an excuse, other than, "He's just not that into you."