AITA for complaining about a guy’s body odor during our date?

So, I met this guy on a dating app, and we had been chatting for a while before finally deciding to meet up in person. We agreed on dinner at a nice restaurant in the city, and I was actually excited..he seemed really sweet online, and I thought we’d have a good time. I was looking forward to the night,,

We sat down, and everything seemed perfect until I noticed something... off. At first, I thought maybe it was just me, but as we sat there talking, the smell hit me again. I tried to play it cool, thinking maybe it was just a fluke or something, but no,,there was definitely a strong body odor. It was overpowering and made it really difficult for me to concentrate on anything else. He kept leaning in to talk, and each time, I was trying not to recoil. So, I kept sipping my drink, hoping it would somehow mask the odor or that my senses would adjust.

By the end of the dinner, I was feeling uncomfortable and trapped. I couldn’t stop thinking about how to get out of it without being rude. I know I shouldn’t have waited until the end, but I ended up telling him I wasn’t really feeling a connection. I told him I appreciated the dinner, but I didn’t think I’d be interested in seeing him again. He looked surprised at first, then genuinely hurt, and he said something that stuck with me: You should’ve just kept quiet. I would’ve never known, and we could’ve enjoyed the night. I’m embarrassed now.

I didn’t know what to say back. I didn’t want to lie to him, and I also didn’t want to ghost him because that just felt worse. I explained that I thought it was better to be honest, but he seemed disappointed and left in a hurry. After he left, I couldn’t shake the guilt. I kept thinking, should I have said something earlier in the night? Should I have just let it go? Now, I feel like I crushed his self-esteem, and maybe I was too blunt about it. I just didn’t want to keep pretending everything was okay...