Timi Dakolo has now suggested a way to respond in such a situation.
“These days, if a person tells you I love you before you are compelled to echo it back, stop and ask them in a nice way; what do you really mean by ‘I love you‘”, Timi writes on Instagram
“Because love means different things to different people,” he concludes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwELZAJnPHA/
