I'm 21, and want to date an 18-year-old, but he's still in high school

I'm a 20-year old, almost 21-year-old soon to be college sophomore (I turn 21 in August). If it's relevant, I'm gay. I met this guy, a soon to be high school senior, at a nearby high school soon after starting college, and I've grown to absolutely love him to bits. I've liked people before, but I've never felt quite like this around someone. I love spending time with him, I love talking to him, and recently we both expressed interest in each other.

I'm worried about the age-gap, though. He's currently 17, and will turn 18 early next year. We've never done anything sexual (although it is legal, where I'm at), and I'd happily wait forever if it meant being with him. I'm considering waiting a few months until he's 18, and then entering into a relationship.

Is this age gap too large (~3 1/2 years), though?

He comes off as fairly socially and emotionally mature, at least so much so that I've never felt like I was talking to someone any younger than myself. On the other hand, I suffered a lot of abuse and isolation as a teenager, and am perhaps less emotionally mature than other people my age.

I don't know what to do. I know what I want to do, but I'm not sure if it's right. Whether it's believable or not, it isn't a sexual thing. I'm attracted to him, of course. But I'm attracted to a lot of people, and I don't want to date them. I like him as a person, a lot.

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