Why is this guy acting this way?

Anonymous
There's a guy who's been in my life for a few years now. He's been flirty with me from the start, but we never hangout or talk unless we're in a group setting.
He always hugs me, comes over to start conversations, has held my hand, winks at me, stares at me and smiles and says it's nothing and looks away when I notice, says he's going to take me out but never does, etc. When I've tried bringing these things up he'd say he doesn't remember and get all weird. He also tells me random things like how he's slowly but surely changing for the better and how he still remembers the first time he met me and where we were. Then he just looks at me waiting for a reply.
I've even told him maybe we shouldn't be friends because he makes comments about me to our mutual friends and gets all weird. His reply was "I want to be friends, we just can't be close friends.. I don't know how else to put it. Know what I mean? I've said things about you in the past but don't overthink it. If I didn't want to be friends I'd tell you." Any ideas on what this all means or why he's like this? I just don't understand what he wants from me.
Why is this guy acting this way?
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