Is he trying to court me?

The question sounds lame, I know, but I didn’t know any other word to use besides “court” since I have a sudden gut feeling that’s what’s going on here but I can’t be too sure.

I have a guy that I’ve recently started something with. There was no taking stage at all and we pretty much got together the second I got back to town. We both implied that we wanted to hookup, except ever since the first time he came to pick me up, we’ve barely even done that which leaves me confused. I guess I assumed certain things about him which is why I expected little from him, but the way he’s been acting keeps surprising me.

Although we’ve kissed and things have gotten heated before, that only happened maybe once or twice and clothes never came off. Last week when we last saw each other, he teased me about being a little tipsy which I was since we were coming back from a friend’s birthday. Then he got all quiet and pulled my head onto his shoulder and said something like “you should just stay right here then, when you drink it makes me wanna protect you”. I just froze and said nothing while he basically kept his arm around me and his hand on my head and kept driving. We haven’t gotten to see each other recently because of his jobs and my school schedule but now he’s started to offer me money, like wanting to Venmo me cash. When I asked why he just said he wants to spoil me because he knows I like getting my nails done and wants me to treat myself to Dunkin.

So yeah, I’m just a bit confused at this point. I thought he wanted a one time hookup but if you asked me what on earth we’ve been doing for the last four weeks, I couldn’t even tell you. I don’t even know whether I should accept the money or how to respond to his recent comments about wanting to protect me. Thoughts?