Search Results: say i love you marriage

I’ve been with my boyfriend for 10.5 months.
I’d honestly have to say that I fell in love with him about 3 or 4 months into our relationship.
I didn’t tell him as I kind of hoped he’d say it first.
He treated me so well, was so thoughtful, and made me feel precious.
At about the 6 month mark, he actually told me that he “wasn’t sure” if he loved me yet.
He’s a pragmatic person, operates at a head level, more than on an emotional level.
Coming from him, it didn’t surprise me that he said this.
However it was disapointing, so I put my feelings on hold, and went into a bit of a self protective mode.
We’ve both also had some very stressful things occur, such as him currently being out of work, and my own job being incredibly stressful.
This has placed stress on the relationship, and we’ve taken it out on each other in different ways.
I've also felt frustrated with him, wondering where the relationship is going. I’m 32, turning 33 this year. I want marriage and kids.
He wants these things too.
He recently said that he’s at a 7-8 out of 10 with me at the moment (10 being proposal). But the big question is - will we ever get to a 10.
He then pointed out that neither of us have used the “love” word yet, and pointed out that it could be an issue.
I then admitted that I’d been in this “self protective mode”.
He then suggested that my self protective mode had possibly sabotaged the relationship.
We both agreed that we need to make a decision soon. Either move forward and get engaged, or break up. As we’re not getting any younger.
So we really need to figure things out.

I still love him.
I've realised that I need to tell him, regardless of whether he loves me or not.

Im nervous to tell him, so I’ve written my thoughts out on paper. I’m wanting to read it out to him. It seems to be the only way I can clearly express myself without chickening out.
I’m also a very good writer, and express myself well this way.
Or is that a bad idea?
should I just spontaneously tell him instead?