Your close friend has had feelings for you for a while, but never let you know about them.

He is dating somebody else at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that the person he is dating is who he wants to be with.

In close friendships, it isn’t unusual for one party to like their counterpart romantically, without informing said counterpart of their feelings.

This is due to a fear of how this close friend would react to the news.

In your case, he liked you for a while, but was too worried or afraid to let you know about his feelings for you.

He started dating someone else, believing that you didn’t like him romantically, or that he didn’t have much of a chance with you.

In the process of dating this person, he has now come to realize how much he wants to be with you.

This acknowledgement is so intense, he is ready to sabotage his relationship with this girl to be with you.

He got into a relationship with this girl to make you see that he is a catch.

After all, he knows that a guy who has a girlfriend is showcasing his appeal to the world, being that he has already been selected by his girlfriend.

The idea is to get your attention and make you jealous.

This new partner is nothing but a pawn.

A pawn he uses to further promulgate the impression that he is desirable.

The intended outcome is that you start yearning for him romantically, incapable of handling the fact that he is seeing someone else.

He is a close friend, so he has gotten to know you over the course of time.

Over that time, he has discovered similarities that he has with you in terms of hobbies and tastes.

He has seen so much of your personality, and has shared affectionate moments with you while hanging out together as close friends.

He has seen you at your lowest moments where you were relying on him for his emotional support.

In tandem, he has shares his lowest moments with you too, and experiencing support from you that established you as someone he cherishes and holds dear as a close friend.

All of these past occurrences make either party susceptible to developing deeper feelings for each other.

Close friends of the opposite sex that develop romantic feelings for each other is nothing new.

The fear of ruining such a close friendship is what leads to either party not voicing their feelings.

They stay silent.

The romantic feelings persisted though.

He kept waiting to see whether you would show him any signs that you were feeling likewise for him.

He never got those signs and consequently decided to date someone else.

In the back of his mind, he has continued to hope that you would eventually come around to liking him romantically.

Now that he is dating someone else, he is flirting with you now.

His relationship with this girl is his cover.

This way, you don’t suspect that the flirtation has anything to do with him having romantic feelings for you.

In a scenario where you ask him about why he is flirting with you, he is in a position to say that he is strictly having fun, and it doesn’t mean anything.

Any further doubt from your end about what he has said leads to him pointing out that he already has a girlfriend.

It is all a smokescreen though.

He is hiding his romantic feelings for you.