NO 39 year old has enough in common with an 18 year old to be in love with them. and vice versa. this man is a predator. he’s grooming you, and has been since you were even younger. this is very dangerous. it might suck to hear, but he doesn’t love you. he’s in it because you’re a young, manipulatable girl that he can use. it should be creepy to you that a grown man is after you.
I recently read a book about domestic violence called Why Does He Do That. The author, Lundy Bancroft, is a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men. One of the things he talks about is that abusers often accuse their exes of abusing them. They often have a story where every ex has victimized them –– she cheated on me, she abused me, she took my children from me, she turned her family against me, etc.
Once you’re together and he’s trying to control you, if you fight back against his manipulation he’ll tell you, “you’re just like my exes, you’re trying to hurt me like they did, how could you do this to me when you know how much I’ve been through?” If you talk to his exes though, you’ll get a far different story. And if you eventually leave him, you’ll be the third abusive ex who he’s telling another high school girl about when he’s 50.
Of course, not every man with terrible exes is a liar. But a 39 year old teacher making claims like that while trying to get inappropriately close with his high school student? That sets off every alarm bell. He has been grooming you –– it is not okay and there is no possibility of a healthy or equal relationship between the two of you.
As someone who had a very similar experience, cut ties ASAP and do not look back. It’s cliche, but in a few years you’re going to realize what a creep this dude is.