First time meeting someone not on OLD, can't tell if I should pursue him and need advice!

Basically, I (33f) met someone(33m) at a new years party and immediately felt sparks with him. He is very attractive, kind, intelligent and creative. We kept making intense eye contact and talking separate from everyone else. I am very shy and can't pick up on signals very well so I took it as he is a nice dude but I have been crushing on him a LOT! So last night a big group of friends went out, they invited him. He and I didn't talk much at first but he eventually sat next to me, we chatted a lot and decided to go to another bar with a couple other friends. Eventually everyone starts leaving and he offers to give me a ride back to my car. So we hang out at the bar for a while, talking. Eventually he drives me to my car but we ended up sitting in his car talking until 3am. I definitely was flirting with him, which he seemed receptive to. We both talked about how cool each other are, happy to hang out and spend time with each other. I dropped that I liked him a lot and he responded with becoming friends, which threw me off guard. Once I got home I texted him that I appreciated the ride and the company, that I enjoyed hanging out with him... Which he also reciprocated really enjoying our time and that he thought I was cool. I feel like a teenager! He isn't a big texter which I was warned about beforehand. I personally worry about coming across too strong or creepy whenever I have a crush on someone who might not actually feel the same way. So my question is, how do I show interest without coming across as too strong? This is my first time ever showing interest in someone outside of OLD so it's very weird to me. All of my friends seem to agree that he seems interested in me too, but I am worried he is just a nice guy that enjoys good company.

Submitted January 06, 2023 at 01:08AM

Basically, I (33f) met someone(33m) at a new years party and immediately felt sparks with him. He is very attractive, kind, intelligent and creative. We kept making intense eye contact and talking separate from everyone else. I am very shy and can't pick up on signals very well so I took it as he is a nice dude but I have been crushing on him a LOT! So last night a big group of friends went out, they invited him. He and I didn't talk much at first but he eventually sat next to me, we chatted a lot and decided to go to another bar with a couple other friends. Eventually everyone starts leaving and he offers to give me a ride back to my car. So we hang out at the bar for a while, talking. Eventually he drives me to my car but we ended up sitting in his car talking until 3am. I definitely was flirting with him, which he seemed receptive to. We both talked about how cool each other are, happy to hang out and spend time with each other. I dropped that I liked him a lot and he responded with becoming friends, which threw me off guard. Once I got home I texted him that I appreciated the ride and the company, that I enjoyed hanging out with him... Which he also reciprocated really enjoying our time and that he thought I was cool. I feel like a teenager! He isn't a big texter which I was warned about beforehand. I personally worry about coming across too strong or creepy whenever I have a crush on someone who might not actually feel the same way. So my question is, how do I show interest without coming across as too strong? This is my first time ever showing interest in someone outside of OLD so it's very weird to me. All of my friends seem to agree that he seems interested in me too, but I am worried he is just a nice guy that enjoys good company.