Friends with benefits now. He wants to be friends?

Anonymous

I started a casual relationship with a younger guy that's meant for just sex. We only made out once and were planning to have sex the next time. I told him to reach out to me. I decided to go no contact until he messaged me first since I had been the one messaging him first. It worked and he messaged me a week later after I posted a story where I looked really good. To my confusion, he said that he doesn't think he can give me what I want but would like to still be friends. What does this mean? Does it mean what he is saying or is he trying to have the upper hand by saying this before I do since I had no contact. I did not watch his stories or like any of his posts for a week and did not reach out in any way which was unusual for me. I just went about my life and had a great time with friends. Please help me solve this. Thank you!

Updates
9 mo
This is what he wrote if it helps.

"Hey I’ve been thinking and I just don’t know if I’ll be able to be for you what you want. We can be friends which would be cool but I don’t know about anything more. Just wanted to be honest and let you know"
Friends with benefits now. He wants to be friends?
3 Opinion