1. He keeps reaching out. Even if he hasn’t made his intentions known, there’s something that keeps pulling him back to ask how you are, or if you will be seeing each other this weekend.

2. He holds eye contact with you for longer than 3 seconds. You can tell where someone’s heart is by where their eyes dart off to when you speak with them. The more he stares, the more deeply he’s trying to get to know you.

3. His behavior is incongruent to his words. He says he’s not interested in a relationship, but treats you like a girlfriend anyway. He says he’s trying to embrace being young, wild and free, but holds you in the early hours of the morning like there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

4. Or, on the other hand, he does exactly as he says. He promises he’ll show up somewhere on Friday, and he’s always there. He says he’ll text you tomorrow, and your phone is lighting up by noon.

5. He tells you things he doesn’t say to anybody else. He’s not only trying to develop a level of trust with you, he’s testing to see whether or not you can really hold his baggage, whether or not you’ll be interested even after you see the darker sides.

6. He’s territorial of you. His arm is around you when you go out, he’s always sitting next to you or offering you a drink. He speaks with his body more than anything.

7. He talks about the future – specifically, what a future together could be like (though he never actually says it directly). He doesn’t mention his dream of owning a farmhouse or a golden lab for no reason, he’s telling you to see whether or not you’d be interested in the same things as well.

8. He tells you that there’s something different about you. That even though he can’t quite explain what it is, he’s more intrigued or attracted to you than he’s ever been to anyone.

9. He says that he “doesn’t usually do this.” He implies that you’d be the one to break him out of his old pattern, that there’s something about you that compels him in a way that nobody else has before.

10. He always seems to be circling your orbit. Even when you think that nothing real is going to happen between you, he pops up in your inbox, at the bar you happen to be at, in a conversation with friends.

11. He introduces you to his friends, even if he says that you’re just his friend, at first.

12. He takes care of you in sweet but silent ways. He tucks your tag in, or walks you home at night. He makes sure you’re cared for in that specifically boyfriend-like way.

13. He asks why you’re still single, or implies that he’s sure so many people are interested in you already. He expresses how highly he thinks of you as a person overall.

14. He makes an offhand comment when he’s drunk, and then blames it on the drinking. Drunken words, sober thoughts.

15. He tells you that he’s scared. He’s scared because he feels something. Something that he’s toying with whether or not he should continue to deny.