So I noticed this across all of these men's dating subreddits, and I had this belief as well for a long time.
The story usually goes like this:
"This girl flirted with me, I asked for her number, and got rejected. Why??"
"I thought this girl at work was flirting with me, and I tried to flirt back, but now she's pulling away. Why?!"
Men and women view these interactions very differently. Men will get what they think is the green light. And maybe it is a green light, for the man to approach. But men go into these scenarios not understanding a major premise that is assumed by the woman.
Women will flirt with you to steal moments and enjoy your energy. They're experiencing you in a more intimate way. THAT DOESNT MEAN THEY WANT TO GIVE YOU THEIR NUMBER OR WANT A DATE WITH YOU. Not at first, anyway. But men will see these windows of flirtation from a woman, and then think that he has to automatically make something happen. "She flirted with me, I need to get a date now, or get her number." STOP! What you as a man do here is you flirt back and simply… Enjoy her energy. Enjoy the moments of flirting back and forth. Enjoying sharing these moments with someone does not mean you have to act on it by asking for her number.
I see a lot of men struggle with this and wanted to give my advice so y'all can stop stressing over these scenarios and start enjoying them instead of being confused by them.