The guy (32M) lied to me (24F) about dating app, but says that he doesn’t have a desire to date other people

So I met this man on hinge, and have been dating him since the middle of November, which would put us at about two and a half months now. I have been on the app since March of 2022, but this was the first and only date I’ve been on from the app. It is also the first time I’ve ever dated someone I’ve met online or even a stranger at that. I’ve only dated someone that I previously knew or had some kind of other interaction with being work, school, etc.

It’s been going really well. We talk regularly, and go on dates often, about once a week. He is a lawyer and and I am still a student. About our fourth date (A month of dating) in, I spent the night at his house. Nothing happened. The next date, I spent the night again and we had sex. Almost every date since then we have had a sleepover. He is really good about reaching out to me after I get home or at the beginning of the week to set a day later that week to spend time with me. He will plan the date, arrange everything. I think its really nice. He leads very well. His call to action in regards to anything that I say is amazing! I mentioned once that I use a certain hand soap at home, next time im there I notice there’s that same soap in the bathroom. I mentioned I like to drink tea with honey before bed at home, next time I’m there he has the tea that I like with honey. He has also kept a toothbrush and stuff for me at his apartment, and keeps it in the drawer next to his. Ive never had a reason not to feel safe and secure in this budding relationship until now.

Fast forward to this past week. I went back onto the app just to browse through, because I was bored and hadn’t looked at it in a while and I noticed that I could see our messages anymore. I texted him and asked him if he had unmatched me. His response, “Hinge is no more for me :)” Okay, cool. I took this as him saying that I could no longer see his profile, because he either deleted it or deactivated his account. I sent him a follow up text the clarify the next day asking is was implying that he wanted to see me exclusively or is he still searching? He replied saying that his wasn’t implying anything, but that he just didn’t have any desire to pursue other people. That he loves spending time with me, and has had a great time. I said okay yes, I can reciprocate that thought. I would be more than happy to get on the same page and delete my account as well.

The next day Im in class with my friend who is on hinge and his profile pops up! I get a screenshot and send it to him asking is he lied to me. He had update one of his pictures too from when I had seen it last. When confronted about it he said that it could still appear up for a short while after deleting the app, but that he has not been on it. Now I know this can’t be true. Back to my first question when I asked if he unmatched me, there’s no way his profile could disappear for me and show up for someone else if he had completely deleted his account the way he implied. We had been on a date in between these two encounters as well, no sex.

I told him that was interesting, but that for now I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and take his word for it. This was partly, because I wanted to leave this conversation where it was so that I could meet with him in person and talk about all of it them face to face and not over text. At the end of the conversation he ends up saying that he really is not using the app anymore and is honored that I’m getting territorial. What the fuck does that even mean? Is that a bad thing? I’m really a pretty Mello person. I don’t beg or cling, you are free to be excused at anytime. Maybe that may come across to him as hesitant sometimes. Was that his way of saying he wants more emotional affirmation from me. Is this kind of lie a dealbreaker? We have not had a talk about exclusivity so being on the app is totally within his prerogative, but what I don’t like it the lie. He is older than me and has had more relational experience than me so when the topic of exclusivity comes up, I expect him to take the lead on the subject. I really like this guy, and other than that he’s so good to me.

TLDR: The guy I’m dating lied to me about deleting his dating app, but has since deleted it since being confronted. He says he doesn’t have any desire to pursue other people, and continues to regularly make time for me. Is this something to work through or is he playing me?