Dating : I’m a little inexperienced…

Dating : I’m a little inexperienced…

So, I (20M) only ever had sex once back in high school (roughly 3 years ago). And honestly it’s my biggest fear when it comes to dating. Even though I’m fairly conservative in my dating habits (I don’t follow like the 3 date rule or anything. Sex is legitimately one of the last things on my mind in the beginning of any relationship) I’m not so conservative as to agree with the idea of waiting until marriage. I just like waiting until I know that the girl I’m seeing is actually someone I want to have a long term connection with. I know I shouldn’t put too much emphasis on that aspect of the relationship (it obviously still does have importance) but I always am fearful of getting to that point when dating someone. The fact that I’m inexperienced leaves me feeling like if we get there, I’ll be awkward and mess up and end up being embarassed (i.e. saying the wrong thing, going for something at the wrong time, not lasting, etc.) I know at 20 most people my age obviously don’t have a lot of experience anyways, but on average my friends (both guys and girls) have done it way more times than I have so I feel like most girls I end up meeting will be closer to them than me. And it’s always concerned me that when they find out that I’m as inexperienced as I am it’ll just end up creating issues either before or after.

I have a feeling a lot of people’s responses will be about talking to the other person and explaining all of this to them in hopes that they’ll understand and work with me if they’re truly the right person (with almost every girl I date it never ends up lasting long enough to get to that point so I’ve never had to talk to anyone yet lol). But I was just more curious if anyone had similar stories or if any females in this subreddit have an opinion on inexperienced guys or anything I’ve just said?