Should I say I love you?

My boyfriend and I have been dating almost 6 months, and we haven’t had the I love you come yet, and I really want him to say the L word to me first but he said he needs time, as he just got out of a 10+ year marriage/ relationship due to his ex wife having an affair. He told me before that he just doesn’t want to risk being in love again and have it torn down again after being together for so long, which I can totally understand. I was in a 5 year abusive relationship myself and got out of it, and I feel the same way. But I truly do love this man, and I can see myself growing old with him, and raising our kids together. We live together, and we both work, met our families, and pretty much just have our lives fully involved with each other. I help with his kids, he some what helps with mine. (He has 2 kids, I have 1). My question is, should I just go with it and look him in the eyes and tell him I love him? Or should I wait? What if he doesn’t say it back? Or doesn’t feel the same? I mean, he knows I love him because there were times where I said I loved him in messages and all but never in person, to his face. I’m just afraid that he won’t love me back. And also, when is it too long to wait if I decide to have him say it to me first?