Exclusive (or not)

At an early stage in our relationship  (yes, we are using the "R" word, as in "building of...." , my regular guy and I would discuss our hookups with other guys (or potential hookups) each day, either by texting, phone or on a chat site. He often offered suggestions which would lead to good experiences for me: "Why don't you try hooking up with _________ or __________?"

Very shortly thereafter, we were discussing my sweet hookup with the 22 year old gay virgin and the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head. He was feeling insecure and became a bit upset . We very quickly agreed that we would no longer discuss our other hookups with the other. However, I never said I would be exclusive to him.

My regular guy says (and I believe him) that he is presently not seeking out any other hookups on pof.com or squirt.org and is only having sex with me.    He is less than a year more experienced than me and says that he finds our time together completely fulfilling, emotionally, physically and sexually. 

Since then, the topic of exclusivity has come up numerous times in a indirect way.  He teases me, "I'm sure all those 22 year olds are keeping you busy on our days off!" or says "I feel badly for you sometimes that we met so early in your gay experience.... I've taken you way from having hookups with all sort of hot guys."    To these comments, I don't respond.... I haven't had the courage to tell him that, no, I didn't say I would be exclusive and yes, I am still hooking up with other guys.

On the other hand, he suggested it would be okay if I hooked up during my Toronto trip. I said, "It's okay to hook up in Toronto, but not in our own town?   He said, "Well, I just don't want to hear about the ones in town."  Still later, he floated the idea of going on a trip together, such as a gay cruise.  I said I wondered how much fun it would be as a couple rather than as a single gay guy.  He said, "we
We could always meet someone for a threesome.."   Mixed signals, for sure.
As usual, Will provided some excellent advice on this topic in his comment to my post two days ago on Acquiring skills between the sheets.

"My guess is that your regular boyfriend's compliments on your new skills, along with being cool enough not to ask "Hey, where did you learn THAT?", indicates that he's aware on some level that you may have other outlets and that he can handle it. .... there are a lot of experiences still to have that will add to your skills and ability to deal with disappointments as well as successes. And when a man comes out late, he generally needs a little "catch up" time. "

So, my plan is this: I will continue to seek outside sexual experiences with other guys as time permits... and my time is extremely limited. When I've had enough of random hookups, I  will be the first to know.

I find that I am getting more and more selective as I proceed and as my skills increase.  I continue to get more offers from guys that I can possibly accommodate. There are a lot of fantastic guys out there and I've yet to have an hookup experience which was not positive in some way.

I am afraid that if I cut short my "gay slut phase" too soon, I think I would come to regret it later.  This is my time!