just another coworker?

[tnb20]

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you:
I work for a small family owned business. They have a son that’s about the same age as me. The last two summers he has helped me out at work. I feel that we have a connection. We tease each other and joke around a lot. When things are stressful at work, he always lightens the mood and calms me down. We comfortably talk to each other about pretty much anything. He has made a few statements here and there that make me think that maybe he is interested. He is good looking and several other girls would agree with me. But when I talk to him, it’s his personality that I like. I feel that we balance each other out well. During the work day, if one of us needs to go run an errand, we will go together. We text off of work hours. I feel like he’s more mature and respectful around me than he is with other people. Maybe he’s just being nice or maybe he just sees me as a friend or maybe it’s all in my head. But there have been a few moments where I truly felt like he had feelings for me in return. Is he just being nice, or just being a flirt, or does he really like me? I’ve always been told that if a guy likes you, you’ll know it. But with us its like we can’t cross that line because I work for their family business. So we are more subtle about things because of this fact. I feel like maybe his family has told him not to get involved because they don’t want things to end badly and then they will lose me as an employee. I love his family and we get along great, they rely on me a lot at work, and they don’t want to risk losing me. My problem is that I just sit around waiting for him to come forward and say something, because I feel that if I say something first and he doesn’t feel the same, my whole work situation would be awkward. Because this family shares everything with each other. If I told him “hey I like you”, there is no doubt in my mind that within an hour everyone in the office would hear about it. That’s what happens when you work in a family business. No secrets are kept. I think his family knows that something must be going on. They’ve given me a look or two before when we were leaving together to go run errands. & his grandpa has called him into his office to give him a talk with the door shut before, after we had been joking around in the room next to him. Its hard for me to tell if he’s interested in me or not. & if he is interested in me, I may never know because of my work situation. ...? Extremely confused here.

[devonbrown]

First things first - it is probably best not to get involved with people you work with.

But with that said, don't wait around for him to say something. If you like him, ask him out. It is ridiculous to think that you have to wait until he asks you out like it is 1950 or something.

Only you can make the determination if it is worth the risk asking him out. If you decide it is, then go for it. Stop thinking about it and analyzing it and just do it. But if you decide it isn't worth the risk, then start looking elsewhere for romantic interests.

Good luck.