Why would he ask me the reason i'm single?

[Anonymous]

I (F, early 20s) was having a conversation the other day with a guy (M, early 30s) and the topic of romantic relationships came up when I mentioned something about my best friend's boyfriend. After I mentioned him he asked me if I have a boyfriend and I said no. So he went on and asked "Why? Is there no interest?" Couldn't tell if he meant interest from guys or from me. The way he worded it seemed a bit odd, almost like he was assuming men don't hit on me and I almost took offense lol. So what's the reason a man would ask a woman this sort of question?

[Telekinetic-Potato]

It's a common tactic guys use to see how open the girl is to his advances. It escalates the sexual tension in the conversation immediately in a way that doesn't leave him open to an unrecoverable rejection and makes it easy to form an intimate connection because of the psychology behind the question.

[Asker]

Couldn't he just be curious? Meaning he wanted to continue with the conversation? Is it always a form of flirting?

[Telekinetic-Potato]

Not always. Sure he might have just been curious. When you're not sure you need to ask probing questions. Meaning you need to steer the conversation in a way that makes it clear what his goals are. As a woman it's very easy to hold the power in this situation

[Serkee]

He was asking if you weren't interested in having a boyfriend, not if men weren't interested in you. If someone asks why you don't have a boyfriend, it's safe to assume they think it's by choice. If he thought men weren't interested in you, there wouldn't have been any reason to ask why you're single.

[OlderAndWiser]

That is a guy's way of saying - indirectly - that he sees you as "girlfriend material" and he most likely has some interest in having a date with you.

[In_Trance]

Because he wanted to know