If he had to answer how he really felt a

The answer he'd give, if he had to be honest about how he's actually been paying attention rather than how he'd phrase it out loud, would land less like a declaration and more like a craftsperson naming the piece he's been quietly working on.

Eight of Pentacles, upright, current-guidance seat is a Pentacles card — the suit of work, body, and the steady things — not Cups, the suit that names the heart aloud. His feeling here has the texture of *practice*: small repeated attentions, refinements, the kind of focus you only give something you're trying to get right.

If his last stretch of days shows steady, deliberate presence — a message he keeps returning to, a detail about you he keeps in mind, a rhythm in how he shows up — that fits what the card shapes his stance around. If instead he's been erratic, only present when there's something to win, or warm only in bursts, the card names what his attention would have to look like for his feelings to be real craftsmanship, and not just an excited spell.

Action: pick one week and watch one small thing he keeps doing without being asked — not what he says, what he keeps showing up for. The pattern is the answer the cards can't read for you.