I met him in midst of a break up, could it work at a different time?

I met a wonderful guy through my group of friends in the midst of a really bad break up. He pursued me, hard. At first I wasn't attracted to him but then became wildly attracted to his personality. He has a fantastic sense of humor, is centered and grounded, and isn't a bullsh*tter.

My past relationship was extremely psychologically/emotionally and, at the very end, physically abusive. He was cheating on me repeatedly and extensively. I was very angry and some issues were unresolved, where he would periodically try to come back into my life and get me to speak to him. This was all while just beginning with the new guy.

I was open about all of it, told the new guy everything. Maybe too open. I also wanted to establish exclusivity early on, largely due to my raging insecurities from my previous relationship. The new guy was open to it and we had a great time until all of a sudden he began to feel that he wasn't looking for anything "serious" and broke up with me. He is older, in his mid-thirties and has never had a long lasting relationship himself, thinks that he is "bad at relationship stuff" and wanted to break up before anyone was hurt.

I was hurt because I really liked him for who he is but also because I felt like we were on our way to developing a healthy, sane relationship. One that was in stark contrast to my previous relationship, which was such a nightmare.

He is in my friend group, so I will see him regularly. I wonder if it could work in a little while. If he would maybe consider trying things again when things have settled down. Is it normal to feel this way?