is my guy friend just really touchy or is this obvious interest? (17m and 15m)
hey y'all, just wanted to ask about a guy friend i recently met because i genuinely can't tell if he's just an extremely touchy feely person or if there's actual interest here.
so basically, i'm 17m and he's 15m. i like this guy, like like him, and i honestly feel a little conflicted because i don't know if the age gap is too much or weird. but i can't really help how i feel, especially with the kind of stuff he's been doing.
for some context, he's my friend's younger brother, and we get along really well. today we all hung out at my college. he doesn't attend, but he sometimes comes along with his sister and studies in the library or hangs out with us.
also, something i wanted to mention before getting into what happened today is that he apparently called me pretty before??? his sister told me that he thought i was pretty and that he didn't even notice my acne, which is something i'm personally insecure about. the thing is, he specifically told his sister not to tell me, so he has no idea that i know he said any of this lmao. this was before everything that happened today, which makes me wonder even more if there's something there. she even called him on speaker phone to prove it, and he basically doubled down on it without knowing i was there lmfao.
anyway, today he was initiating a lot of physical contact. like, he'd randomly grab me and hold me back to stop me from doing something stupid lmao. i was totally into it, and we were both laughing and grabbing at each other pretty frequently.
at one point, i was sitting down and messing around, and he literally grabbed my leg, put it on top of his, and started massaging it??? 😭 i jokingly asked him to massage my arm too, and he actually did.
then there was this whole situation where we were wrestling over some free t-shirts we got from a college event. i refused to let go of mine, so he started pulling on it, and when that didn't work, he got really close and started tickling me lmao. apparently he knew exactly where to tickle me because those spots worked on his brothers.
and it doesn't even stop there.
later, we were in the car, and he had some takis. i jokingly went "gimme takis" and opened my mouth, and he literally started hand feeding me takis??? like hello???
he also pulled out his phone and had me put my number in, and another thing i've noticed is that he always opens the car door for me.
the funniest part is that his older sister, who's my friend, was literally with us the entire time witnessing all of this, and she just found the whole thing funny lmao.
i genuinely don't know what to think. on one hand, maybe he's just naturally a really affectionate, playful, touchy person. but on the other hand, some of this feels a little more personal than regular friendly behavior, especially since he seems to initiate so much of it. and knowing that he privately called me pretty before any of this happened just makes me question things even more.
i think part of why i'm so conflicted is because he's genuinely hitting so many of the things i've been craving in a guy to guy bond. not even necessarily just romantically, but that kind of comfortable, playful, physically affectionate connection with another guy. it's something i've really wanted for a while, and obviously since i like him, part of me hopes there's something more there.
but i also don't want to misinterpret his behavior or make things weird, especially considering our ages and the fact that he's my friend's brother. i don't even know if he's into guys, which makes it harder to figure out what any of this means.
so what do y'all think? is this just a really affectionate guy being friendly, or does some of this sound like he might actually be interested? am i reading too much into everything?
tldr: i'm 17m and recently met my friend's younger brother (15m), who i've developed a crush on. before any of this happened, he privately told his sister that he thought i was pretty and didn't even notice my acne, but specifically asked her not to tell me. today he initiated a ton of physical affection, including grabbing me, playfully wrestling with me, tickling me, putting my leg on his lap and massaging it, and even hand feeding me takis. he also asked for my number and always opens the car door for me. his sister was with us the entire time and found our interactions funny. i'm conflicted because i really like him, but i'm unsure about the age gap and whether he's genuinely interested or just naturally affectionate. does this sound like possible romantic interest, or am i overthinking it???? what should i even do ???
