@bejad007
I see your point, but there isn't anything wrong on stating early on that you are looking for a romantic relationship. Specially if you have met through a dating app (even if it is a "fan meeting" section of the app). As Gonda said, he isn't getting any younger. He wants to settle down and have a proper relationship. Every day "wasted" with a person that won't go beyond friendship is a day that he gets older.
Nowdays it may be overused by salty dudes to complain about girls not wanting to sleep with them just because they were a bit nice to each other, but the "friendzone" is an actual thing. If you deepen too much the closeness without making clear your romantic interest, the girl will accustom to treating you as a friend and simply won't be able to change that perspective. The "friend turned lover" is much less frecuent that people tend to think of, specially when you are an adult. It's more of a highschool/college thing.
And about "waiting for a sign from her"... First, someone doesn't need permission to try to romance another person. If they are rejected, then that is it; just move on. But you don't need to complete trials or tests until the other person allows you to go for it. And second, those "signals" are nothing but ambiguous. One could perfectly argue that her proposal to calling her the very same nigth of their "date", and then talking for several nights straight, is a clear enough sign.
But, with all said, my money it's still on her having a boyfriend/girlfriend and/or only searching for a friend to geek together with. Poor Gonda