It shouldn’t be so hard to tell whether a guy you like is interested, but it can be difficult to pick up on cues, especially since so many of them are pretty subtle. If you want to know if he’s into you, here are a few telltale signs:
- He laughs at all of your jokes. Even the really foolish ones — the ones that fit into “dad joke” territory. He doesn’t make fun of you, or call you boring or make you feel bad over saying whatever you said. In fact, he might even mirror your bad jokes with some of his own to show he’s on your level.
- He answers all of your texts in a decent time frame. If he answers back immediately, he’s super into you. Even if it takes a little while to get to his phone, he never lets a message to unanswered (even if what you said didn’t really warrant a response). Any chance you give him to talk to you, he’ll take the bait.
- He doesn’t totally warm up to the other guys you date. If you’re loosely attached to someone else or possibly going on a few Tinder dates, this guy (especially if you’ve known him for some time) doesn’t really seem super excited for you. He might blame it on the fact that “date news isn’t really his thing,” but in reality, he’s trying to play it cool since he doesn’t want to see you off the market.
- He’s interested in the details. He wants to know more about your family, what’s happening with your best friends, and even what shows you’ve been watching recently. It goes beyond small talk. He seems to remember what you tell him and always wants to know more. If it’s about you, he’s interested.
- He invites you out with his friends. You might think this is a friendzone act, but he’s probably testing the waters to see how well you’d interact with his friend group. That, and he’s looking for a less intimidating way to spend more time with you. He might face rejection if he straight-up asked you out on a date, but he knows that a group hang is vague enough to test the waters. Plus, he’ll see it as a way to get to know you better.
- He trusts you. Guys often aren’t open books, and trust is a huge thing. It’s huge for everyone, really. If he’s not afraid to get a little personal with you, he’s feeling pretty secure, and already knows you well enough to know that you won’t blab his secrets out to your girlfriends.
- He texts with a lot of flirty emojis. We all love emojis, but if his texts end with smiles and winky faces, he’s making sure that his texts come across as soft and playful. It’s like he wants to make sure nothing he says gets misinterpreted negatively. The wink, especially, is a strong emoji that says “I like you.” If you get one with a kissy face, ask this dude out already.
- He always has time for you. Or at least, he doesn’t seem overbooked. He always has time to pencil you in, and would even be willing to cancel plans for a chance to hang out. Scheduling time to hang out with this guy is a breeze. Even if he has a conflict, he’ll likely try and invite you along with him to event.
- Your mutual friends are suddenly interested in your love life. If you guys hang in the same group, there’s likely a bit of a push from your mutuals. They’re seeing your relationship with fresh eyes, and can often pick up on cues that both of you don’t even know you’re giving out. Unless your friends are jerks who enjoy embarrassing people (and if that’s the case, ditch them now) they’ll possibly ask you whether or not you’ve ever considered dating this guy. His closest guy friends will probably do the same. Maybe he’s revealed his crush to them, but is too scared to make the first move himself. Listen to the people around you, as they can be quite wise.
