Guy's Behavior

Why is everything so awkward for my crush and me?

So I’ve liked this guy for over a year now, and we’re definitely friends. But it’s awkward for some reason, and when I’m with my friends or he’s with his friends we never talk to each other or say hi, even though a couple of his his friends will say hi or talk to me. I accidentally ignored him the other day when he did actually say hi to me, and so I texted him to apologize for ignoring him, but he lied and said he was saying excuse me. Unless I’m crazy and he did say excuse me, I don’t understand why he would lie about that. We also text quite a bit, but then in group situations we don’t talk. He wanted me to ask him to sadies last year, but that’s the extent of what I know about how he feels. Does he think I like him and not want to talk to me or be friends? There have been a couple instances where my friends have been a little obvious. He’s overall a really nice and conversational dude, but it just feels awkward and like we can’t talk unless one of mine or his friends includes him or me in the conversation.
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To clarify, when it’s just us and none of our friends are around, it’s way easier and we’ve actually had some really great and deep conversations. It’s only awkward when there are people around.
Why is everything so awkward for my crush and me?
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