Eric Charles here, author of the dating tips and relationship advice column, Ask a Guy, for A New Mode.

When I started writing Ask a Guy, I had no idea that it would take off like it has. I am grateful to have such loyal readers who contribute great questions to me.

But I have a confession to make: I don’t answer every question that comes into my inbox. I would love to be able to – I just don’t have the time.

I feel bad when I don’t respond. But on a positive note, I can offer the next best thing: A consolidated post all about answers to the most frequently asked dating tips and relationship problem advice questions that I see. We also just released a book based on the most frequently asked questions we receive: “He’s Not That Complicated: How to Crack a Man’s Romantic Code to Get the Relationship You Want.”

You would be amazed (or maybe you wouldn’t be) at how often I am asked if a guy likes them or not. Or what it means when he didn’t text back right away. Or why a guy was interested one minute, then lost interest seemingly for no reason.

So to help out everyone who I am not able to answer directly or immediately, I’ve written up a list of the most frequently asked questions and quick and simple answers (as well as links to full posts I’ve written on the subject.)

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I’ve been separated over a year from my soon-to-be-ex-husband (only paperwork remains to make it official). I have been dating a man for 4 and 1/2 months, but he is slow to commit, saying that it is due to my impending divorce.

I do eventually want to get re-married and have children and I want to date people who are interested in those same things. How do I ask him if those are things he will someday want without scaring him into thinking I want those things with him now?

I want to know if marriage and children are on his radar (not necessarily with me) and he isn’t a perpetual bachelor or commitment-phobe.

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I met a guy 4 months ago when I was on holiday.  We connected instantly and ended the night with a kiss.  He mentioned that he was seeing someone but she was in another country for 6 months for work.

Soon enough, we were texting each other every day and it was only a matter of time before emotions grew, we met up and spent some amazing (and intimate) time together.  I think we both knew it was heading somewhere special.  On the last night, he received a phone call from his gf saying she was pregnant and coming home.  Disaster and heartbreak….

He said that he cares for her and therefore must give it a go and do the right thing.  I agreed and walked away, admittedly very sad.

I thought it was over but he won’t stop contacting me! Sometimes 5 texts a day, mostly about what he is doing, eating, thinking etc. – so nothing emotional.  I don’t understand.  I gave him an easy  out and the option to leave and have a life with his girlfriend and baby.

Why is he staying in contact?  Is it his man way of saying he misses me?  What should I do as I really care about this man…. Horrible timing I know.

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I have been talking to this guy for about a month (I’m almost 21 and he’s almost 29). I can usually tell when a guy really likes me because he’ll basically suffocate me, but this guy is the extreme opposite. He “says” he wants a relationship with me, but thinks he is wasting his time because “it’s not mutual.” I just cant tell if he is sincere.

I admit I have been playing mind games (waiting a long time between texting him back, waiting for him to contact me first, not talking much about my feelings because I don’t want to come off too easy, etc.)

I want to be a challenge, but I also want to show him I’m interested. How can I tell if what this guy tells me is legit or if he is just wasting my time?

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I met a guy online.  After a few e-mails, we texted with each other.  His first text message was sexual and, being a flirty person, I responded back with some flirtatious banter.  By the time we met up there was no conversation, it was virtually straight to sex.

We continued meeting up and for the first 5 times I took it as just sex.  Not just sex, but really aggressive, dirty sex and sexual role-playing.  A turning point came where he started showing another side of himself.  A sweet, caring side.  He even cooked me dinner.

I can tell he lusts for me, but given the way this started out I don’t know that there’s a chance any relationship could come out of this.  I’m not a clingy/needy type of girl and I give him space, but if there were any possibility of this becoming something more I’d like to pursue it.

What are your thoughts on a relationship happening after sex on the first date?  Is sex on the first date a relationship killer?

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I fell in love with a male co-worker.  We’ve known each other for over a year, we have deep conversations from time to time and we even kissed once last year.

He’s held back from seeing me in private. He says it’s because we’d end up having sex and he doesn’t want us getting into a “superficial sexual relationship” since he knows we’ll be working together for the next three years. and he doesn’t want to “invest” into a relationship with me.

I really like this guy and I’m contemplating if a sex-only relationship would be doable with someone I see everyday at work. Its confusing, since the way we talk definitely goes further than superficial contact and I’ve grown to really care for him.

What should I do?

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A little while ago I met a guy and we instantly hit it off.  Total chemistry… and I’m not the type to get excited about a potential relationship often, so this was big for me.

We went out for a while and there were ups and downs, but overall I felt like things were going well  when all of a sudden I received the dreaded “text message break-up“.

Now I’m killing myself reviewing every last detail of the time we spent together and what I did wrong. I saw him this weekend and he averted eye contact and acted like he didn’t even know me!

As I write about all this he seems like an impatient, selfish, vain, immature, stubborn person.  But I miss him and I just can’t stand how easy it seems for him to just have broken things off with me.

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There is a man I work with who’s behavior I can’t figure out. I didn’t realize it at first, but on several occasions he’s been staring at me when I’m out around the workplace.  When I’m in his vicinity in the cafeteria, I notice he dominates the conversation at his table. And  there have been a few occasions where he teased me a little bit.

What is the meaning of his behavior? Is he into me?

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Two months ago, I was dating a guy for like a month and he was after me like crazy. At the time, I thought he and I wouldn’t work out, so I rejected him.

We had some turmoil in between and I thought I wouldn’t hear from him again.  Then he initiated contact saying that he’s happy we are still friends and we kind of talked on and off for another week or so.

He invited me to an event he was throwing and after that we started talking almost everyday.  Here’s the tricky part:  Now he doesn’t call me as much and when we text he sometimes leaves me hanging mid-conversation.

I have started to really like him and I feel like I screwed things up by rejecting him at the start.  How can I get him to start chasing me again?

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My boyfriend and I have been together for 2 years now. We’ve been through our ups and downs, but neither of us has cheated on the other. We love each other a lot, but due to previous events that have occurred in our relationship (such as lies, breaks,  etc), we are both questioning our “loyalty” to each other.

I am currently in a situation (family emergency) that requires me to travel far away for 2 months. I am worried he will cheat on me (it’s summer right now and girls are constantly in bikinis!), though he says he won’t.  And he’s worried I’ll cheat on him, but I know I wont!

From a guy’s perspective, what do you think?

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I’ve been with my boyfriend for the past two and half years and we’ve been living together for the past year and a half. His mom passed away pretty unexpectedly 5 months ago. At first it brought us much closer together. But in the past month or so, he has become extremely depressed and very distant.

I mentioned that he should talk to someone and he reacted extremely negatively and accused me of thinking he is a crazy person. He then told me that he is a mess and even though I am the best thing that has ever happened to him, he needs time to deal with this on his own. He told me he doesn’t want me to move out and he is thankful that I am being understanding about all this.

However,  he is still so distant, moody and irritable and even though he is unhappy with life in general, I can’t help but feel like he is unhappy with me. I’ve heard  depression can do that but I can’t help but feel sad and take this personally.

MY QUESTION IS THIS: Will I doom our relationship by moving out? Or should I stick it out and just hope that time will heal everything? He is definitely “the one” so I don’t want to walk away I just feel like the issues he is dealing with are so huge that he may need his own personal space to work them out. [continue reading…]

I’ve been dating this guy for the last six months.  We’ve said “I love you” and things were great during the first 3 months of the relationship. After that, things started to go downhill.  He started becoming paranoid and thinking that I was flirting with other guys, that I didn’t like him as much as he liked me, etc.

I have been faithful the whole time and have not been “shopping around”, but after that three month mark he became clingy and desperate.  I don’t want to sound heartless, but I started to lose my attraction to him.

He’s a good guy, I care for him, but I’ve made up my mind that we should no longer be dating.  Can you give me some advice on the best way to break up with my boyfriend?

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I am completely confused. I met this guy at an event at my school. We talked for a while and it was a really great, fun conversation. I instantly started to crush on him. I couldn’t help myself.  His buddies were leaving and we exchanged numbers.

He mentioned that he was having a party next weekend and that I should definitely come.  He said he would call and give me the details, but he never did!  I thought he liked me, he definitely seemed like he did.

What happened?  Why did he say he would call then not call me?

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Someone I recently met decided to ask me if we could make things official.

One problem: he admitted to having an alcohol problem. Although he says he is getting counseling for this from alcohol rehabs, I’m afraid what impact this could mean for a relationship.

It’s one thing to be a friend to help someone out, but as a girlfriend I wouldn’t even know how to handle this if he were to relapse and am not sure I want to stick around to find out.

Any advice?

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I’ve been with my boyfriend for six months. We spend a lot of time together (we see each other every night, at least) and regularly have deep talks about our lives.

However, he still he hasn’t said that he loves me and I’m starting to wonder.  He’s never introduced me to his family (who live out-of-state), but he’s introduced me to all of his close friends as his girlfriend.

He does show affection for me in different ways, but I can’t tell if it’s love or he’s just a nice guy and knows how to treat a lady.  How can I tell if a guy loves me? How do men show their love?

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I read your “Does He Like Me” post (very helpful!), but my question is:  Can you help me decode signs a guy doesn’t like me?

There’s this guy I really like from work. We’ve talked a few times – he’s really cute. To be honest, I have a total crush on him!

Problem is, he’s been more stand-offish lately and I’m afraid I blew it, but maybe I’m just being paranoid. Can you let me know common ways to tell if a guy isn’t interested?

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I live in a college dorm and have added all sorts of people from my dorm and classes.

This afternoon, this really cute guy from one of my classes poked me on Facebook. We’ve never talked before, although I do recognize him from class.

What does it mean when a guy pokes you on Facebook? Does he like me? How should I respond?

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I’ve been with my boyfriend for 5 months.  He’s 23 and I’m 26. When we started going out, I was applying for grad school and he was going to be traveling for a couple of months. He said if I missed him a lot he would send for me and I was welcome to join him at any time.

About three months into the relationship, I told him I really liked him and he said, “Who says I’m coming back?”  (Big change from just a couple of months…)

Now he wants to see if he can live in NZ permanently. I told him I’d miss him and he said he’d miss me too, but wanted to try it as it was something different. When I said I wanted to come with him, he said that he thinks he’s too immature for me and doesn’t know what he wants in life.

What’s the deal?

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I started dating a guy that I met online.  The date was actually really great – I was definitely into him and he showed every indication of being into me (the way he looked at me, the things he said, etc.) At one point, he mentioned that he’s really stressed right now because he just broke up with his girlfriend of 10 months a couple weeks ago. I was really confused because I thought he really liked me!

From the beginning of this he’s texted me almost immediately and held conversations.  Now it’s been two days and I’ve heard nothing from him.  I really like this guy and feel there’s a connection, but I’m afraid that if I pursue this I’m going to end up being the rebound no matter what I do.

Is there a way I can have a relationship with this guy without me becoming the “rebound”?

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I’ve been dating a guy for a month, we slept together recently and said we’d be exclusive. However, he still goes on match.com (this is how we met). I don’t know that he is necessarily doing anything bad, maybe just chatting with women to stroke his ego… but it bothers me that he’s doing it .

I know I am being sneaky/snoopy by checking up on him to see how often her goes on the site (and he goes on often!), but I am looking out for myself. It’s not like I’d call this guy my boyfriend already, I know it’s still early… but what’s your opinion?

Is this guy bad news or should I just relax and be fine with the fact that he still logs on to match.com at this point?

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This guy and I have  had a huge history over the last 5 years. Although we’ve never dated, we’ve been friends with benefits.  We’ve both admitted to liking each other, but it hasn’t lead to an actual relationship.

When we’re together, it’s like we’re “dating” (he acts all boyfriendy), but other than that, we’re just friends.  We don’t live in the same city and can go months without seeing or even talking each other.

He’s generally terrible at returning phone calls and texts (even to his closest friends and family), but lately he’s been answering my texts every time, he carries on a conversation and he seems to be a more open than he used to.  Do I even make an effort to care about this guy anymore? What’s his deal?

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I’ve been talking to this guy for a couple months now. When we first started talking, he was always the one to text me first and ask me to hangout.

Lately though, I always have to text him first, and it takes him FOREVER to reply and sometimes he doesn’t even reply at all unless I text him more than once.  I also have been having to make all the effort to hangout and sometimes when we make plans to hangout, he’ll just bag out last minute.

I know this makes it sound like he doesn’t like me, but he keeps telling me that he does.  Also, when I do text him or when he texts me (very rare), he still calls me “babe” and stuff.

Am I being needy by texting him all the time?  Should I lay off and wait for him to make more effort?

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I was at a bar last weekend and ran into a guy I graduated with a few years ago.  We talked for a while and had a really great conversation, but my friends had to leave rather abruptly so the conversation was cut short.  We got each others numbers and around 4 AM he texted me saying that he wished the night didn’t have to end so soon.

Fair enough, but then he sent a few more texts, really adamantly wanting us to hang out… obviously a booty call.  We didn’t end up hanging out, but I did really have a great conversation with him and I feel like something good could come out of it.

Do you think there is any salvaging this?

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After the longest work-week ever, I was ready for a glorious weekend of debauchery. I hit up the bar-scene and the cutie from the house next door couldn’t stop eyeing me. I waited the obligatory five minutes to see if he would approach me. Chalking it up to intimidation on his part, I made the first move and he loved it, obviously.

We went back to his place and it was clear that we were definitely into each other. However, I was really the one calling the shots, and after having kept things PG for the night, (to his drunken dismay), I decided it was time for bed. A quick pout, a kiss on the cheek, and minutes later he was out like a light. I experienced no such luck and tossed and turned for hours, finally deciding to ditch by 5 am.

Since we both assumed I’d be spending the night, there was no number swap. And just leaving without so much as a last name exchange made it next to impossible for either of us to contact the other. To be honest, I wasn’t really looking for things to end here….

NOW WHAT? How do us ladies go from here?

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I was dating my boyfriend for 7 months. We were happy and going along with the relationship at a normal speed.  We were exclusive, called each other girlfriend / boyfriend. Then he lost his job and pushed me away. He wanted a break, so we took 2 weeks alone.

He came back and decided he wants to start over and just “see each other”, but not use labels and big obligations for our relationships future. He missed me, but was confused where to start over. Where do I go from here?

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Not sure if a guy likes you? Forget the words and pay attention to his body language, because that never lies.

It’s hard to tell how a guy feels based on his words. Men just aren’t as naturally verbal and expressive as most women are. When a guy likes you, he won’t necessarily come right out and say it. Maybe he’s shy, maybe he’s insecure, maybe he’s afraid of rejection, and so on. While he can hold back from saying the words, he won’t be able to control his body language, because a lot of the body language signs that mean he likes you are unconscious behaviors. Some are even reflexes and reactions that we can’t control even if we try.

MORE: 5 Telltale Signs He Likes You

Body language doesn’t lie and is the number one way to tell how someone feels about you.

Read on for body language signs that mean he is definitely into you.

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I have read and heard countless times that guys prefer women with curves and more meat on their bones but I’m starting to wonder about that. I have some super skinny friends who are considered really hot and always get hit on and then there are celebs who are super skinny, like Olivia Wilde and Megan Fox (she supposedly has a 23 inch waist!), that are considered these huge sex symbols and are number 1 on every ‘hot list.’

Anyway, I would love to hear a guy’s take to find out what guys REALLY think about super skinny girls.

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I’ve been seeing this guy for a few months now and I really like him. The thing is, he has some major relationship issues. All of his former girlfriends have cheated on him which has caused him to be very closed off and wary of relationships. I really think we have something real here but I don’t wanna waste my time with a guy who will always be too afraid to commit. Is there any way for me to help him with his issues and help him trust women again?

Read our guy’s response after the jump!

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I have known this man for 25 years. I dated him before I got married to another man and he also married someone else. We both recently divorced our spouses, him in 2006 and me 2009. A friend told him I was divorced and he emailed me. We talked and emailed for about 6 months and then got together. It was a little awkward, but we had a great time after I relaxed. We got together again about a month later and it was great.

While I was still married,  we talked several times a day. Now we talk about once a week and e-mail. My question is: How do I know if he has any serious thoughts about me? He gets very uncomfortable if I try to even ask how he feels. He said he is not sleeping with anyone but me and is happy by himself.  One time when I asked, he said he considers me his companion and lover. What does that mean?

Another problem is that we live several states away, but there are no kids or reasons not to see each other. He said he will share real estate with someone, but no marriage and told me he is not ready to move where I am. Is it worth continuing this?

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