I can’t tell if my guy friend likes me back or is just nice. I feel like I get mixed signals. What do you think?

Anonymous
I am 23F and he is 21M. We met on campus a few months ago through a mutual friend.
We always hang out in the library to study and talk. Sometimes he asks me if I’m on campus and where I am. But I can always count on seeing him. And I mean EVERY day. He just shows up. Since I met him, he’s been EXTREMELY talkative. Even if I tell him I need silence to focus on my work, he struggles to not talk. Sometimes he will sit in a different area to not distract me, but he inevitably comes over to talk to me.
He tells me all the time about how much he likes talking to me and how I bring out the goofy side of him, and how no one else does that. He’s always trying to make me laugh. He always walks with me whenever I leave campus. If I get up to take a walk around the library or campus, he always follows. Even it there are other friends of our’s there. I never had to ask. If he leaves before I do, he takes forever because he’s just lollygagging and talking to me. I don’t feel like he treats me differently than our other friends, but sometimes I think I get at least a little bit more attention.
Last week, he randomly and awkwardly asked if I liked him as a friend, then said he was joking. His question had nothing to do with the conversation we were having at the time. However, he’s never complimented me on anything, other than my clothes and on how smart he thinks I am. He’s told me about girls he’s liked in the past multiple times. I don’t think he would do that if he liked me. He believes guys should pursue girls, and he has not pursued me.
I’m always blushing around him. I compliment him frequently. I’ve never outright called him handsome or anything, yet. I think it’s obviously that I like him. We don’t really text. But when we talk in person, it’s nonstop. My friends think he likes me because of “how he acts” around me. Im confused
I can’t tell if my guy friend likes me back or is just nice. I feel like I get mixed signals. What do you think?
6 Opinion