Guys, what are your thoughts on this?

I'll do my best to keep this brief. I’m a newly turned 25-year-old woman who went on what I believed to be a date with a 21-year-old male coworker. While I usually prefer dating someone older, I thought it was harmless to hang out since we’ve chatted a bit at work and I found him attractive. After both leaving our jobs, he invited me to dinner on a weekend. While he never labeled it as a date, I had hoped it could be since he sought me out to spend time together. To provide some context: he arrived 20 minutes late, which didn’t leave a great impression. He admitted to checking my address only right before leaving, realizing belatedly how far away I lived. Given he had my address for over a week, I was surprised he didn’t check sooner, especially since he knew I worked far from the city. He also changed our dinner location at the last minute, which was a bit frustrating as the new spot is triggering for me, but I still went. During our outing, he frequently mentioned wanting to take me to various places, which I found exciting. Although it seemed unintentional initially, he did cover my meal and insisted on doing so. He also talked about a female coworker he’s mentioned before, praising her maturity and personality, making me question his interest in me. We had the option to split the bill through an electronic kiosk, but he chose not to. I want to clarify that even if something were to develop between us, it would likely be short-lived since he’s planning to move soon. I’ve also initiated most of our text conversations. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I decided to ask him if our hangout was a date, especially since he’d suggested we create a list of restaurants but hadn’t followed up since our outing. I reassured him that I was fine with just being friends to eliminate any confusion. He replied that he appreciated my maturity and stated he wanted to get to know me better, but as of now, he would prefer friendship, promising to let me know if that changes. While I appreciated his response, it felt like he was putting me on the back burner with the “if that changes” comment. I understand friends can pay for each other, but given that this was a one-on-one outing between a guy and a girl, and he had paid for me, I felt it implied a romantic interest—something I have only experienced when on actual dates. Can anyone help me understand what this might mean? Could he have had cold feet after all? We’ve been texting normally since then, but still.