His go-to whenever the two of you have a problem is to talk to other women = He lacks self-confidence and seeks validation from others. This is a character flaw.
Without self-confidence, there is no self-love. Someone who doesn’t love themselves cannot truly love another.
They also cannot be trusted. Maybe with minor things, but not with the stuff you keep locked away in your heart. Those are the things that really matter, and in a relationship there needs to be absolute trust that the other person will both cherish and guard those things with as much conviction as much as you do.
But when push comes to shove, he abandons you. Sure he comes back some time later, after getting outside attention from people who should not even matter.
Right now it’s just trivial things. But what happens when it’s something important? What about if kids come into the picture? Is he who you would want your kids to look at as an example or someone to emulate?
These character flaws are things that only he can overcome, and only if he has the courage to look within and see his own flaws, which he refuses to do. Most people never do. They’ll stab someone in the back then turn around and with the knife still in their hand point to their victim and say they are the cause of their problems.
My advice: Drop him. The sooner the better.
Please forgive my harsh wording here, but he’s a coward and a parasite. The longer he is around, the more ingrained he will become in your life, and the more he will erode the character traits in you that he lacks himself.
After you’ve cleansed and cut cords, this thread seems more in line with what you’re really after.
And this one.
This one too.
I sincerely wish you luck (and strength) in this, and hope that you’ll eventually come back with a post on the choice you made, the path it took you on, and the results.