Men love the chase. They love to be on the hunt. But, when a woman has walked away, she needs space, not a chase.

As hard as it is for men to recognize this, it is sometimes the only way to win love back.

That means that when a woman leaves you, be very careful about the next actions you take because they could determine whether you’ll ever get her back or not.

For instance, don’t call, email, or text the woman. Let her contact you first.

Women always need to talk. She won’t be satisfied until she’s had a chance to bring closure to the relationship. But, let her initiate this call. By waiting for her to make the call, you have let her know that you are not desperate for her. This gives you the upper hand.

Now, you may be worried that this will tell her that you don’t care, but the opposite is true. Winning love back begins with a recognition that sometimes women really do need space to figure out what is going on in the relationship.

Sometimes women need to make a “grand gesture” to illustrate their independence. This can take the form of walking out or saying “I never want to see you again.”

But, if she is in love with you, she doesn’t really mean this. What she’s really saying is “let me have some time to process what just went on.”

If you have done something to hurt her, you need to be contrite when she calls you. You need to show that you are ready to make a change and that you value both her and the relationship. But you need to give her the space she needs to process the hurt.

However, sometimes women make these “grand gestures” simply to get attention. If you’ve got a game player on your hands, you need to take control right now and let her know that you are not going to put up with her antics. One way you do this is to not play the game. And that means not to chase her every time she goes away.

There are many reasons that women walk away from you and tell you that they never want to see you again. Sometimes they are hurt and sometimes they are just trying to be manipulative. In either case, you don’t want to be the first one to call.

Learn how to win love back and you may not only solve this present issue, but you may help put yourself into a position where you don’t have to worry about these problems in the future.

Rhonda stormed out of Tim’s apartment one day saying she never wanted to see him again. Tim was stunned. All he could think about was how to win her love back.

He called his buddy Joe and asked what he should do. Should he send flowers or candy?

“No, don’t send her anything,” Joe said. “And don’t call, email, or text her either.”

Tim was stunned by this advice. He wanted to win love back right away before Rhonda had a chance to look around and find someone better.

But Joe told him that giving Rhonda the space to look around was just what she needed. There was a small chance that she would go forever, it was more likely that she would settle down and come back to him. She must come to the conclusion that their relationship was special on her own.

Further, Joe advised, it would be bad if Tim looked too desperate. This would give Rhonda the upper hand in many ways. It would lead to further grand gestures in the future. If he wanted to get the relationship back on track, Tim needed to give Rhonda space.

Tim and Rhonda both had a lot invested in the relationship. They had been together 18 months and had even talked about marriage. Surely you can understand why it was such a blow to Tim when Rhonda walked out.

But Tim took Joe’s advice, as difficult as it was, and waited for Rhonda to call. It took her four days, but she finally contacted him.

The first thing she wanted to know was “why didn’t you call me?” He told her matter-of-factly, “I was waiting for you to call. I knew you needed space.”

He was right, and she knew it. Rather than getting upset, she actually appreciated the fact that he hadn’t called.

As they talked about where their relationship had been and how to get it back on track, they discovered that one of the problems was that they had been crowding one another. The thought of getting married had been suffocating.

So, they decided to back off. They would still see each other exclusively, but they would make more time for friends and solo activities. They wouldn’t talk about marriage again for six months.

Tim restrained himself from pursuing Rhonda when she needed space. This allowed her to reevaluate her relationship with him on her own terms.

She initially thought that he would call her all the time. She was actually surprised that he didn’t. But, because he refrained from contacting her, she was able to see what her life was like without him in it. And she realized just how much she missed him.

So, if you’re determined to win love back, keep in mind that sometimes it is best to give your partner a little space to figure things out.