Is letting her go the only way to ever be with her?

I've been "dating" this girl for several months now. We have never actually been exclusive which is part of the problem here. She was my best friend for several years beforehand and always had a boyfriend. I knew that coming out of that relationship she wouldn't be ready for quite some time and even told her that.

We began spending almost every night together and it was really good. Then she clearly became scared, she could tell I was ready for it to be more and she wasn't. She backed off and I gave her the space she wanted. We have been kind of limbo now for about a month, I can tell she holds back.

Lately she's had a short fuse with me and things definitely aren't the same. I also know that she still talks to other guys and I do understand that's totally acceptable.

I love this girl and would do anything to be with her in the future. I feel as though I've been too available though, always around, doing things, never really saying no because we are best friends and I do want to be around her all the time. I want her to appreciate all I do for her but not lose her completely.

I feel like letting her go and backing off a ton is the only way to do this. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

Sabresfan, I'm not so sure that she's backing off because she's scared. The fact that she's also got a short fuse with you makes me think that she's backing off because you're doing stuff which annoys her.

When she gets cranky with you, what type of stuff sets her off?