I think I'm falling for my friend? Help!

I met him last year, and we used to hate each other. After talking, we realised that we weren’t so bad. After he complimented me on something, I started to have a crush on him. Of course, I was in denial the whole time. Gradually, we started to talk more. I confessed my feelings to a friend, who then tried to make us friends. We are best friends now. I was not sure if he liked/s me back, but he did/does show a few signs. One time, while in the presence of two other people, we talked only to each other so much and we would not stop making each other laugh. We were not completing the task set for us, so we were separated. When I turned around and looked at him, he looked furious. Another time, as a joke, he threw leafs at me, so I did the same and we started to chase each other playfully while he had a grin on his face. Like he always does when stuff like that happens. Also, he was telling jokes to a group of people one time and after each joke he would stare at me while I laughed. Of course, that year, I found out that he was dating another woman, so I didn’t get my hopes up. He was heartbroken when she broke up with him. Anyway, since before we were friends, people would always annoy us by teasing us. We were always “shipped” together. My friend says that we never stop talking, that apparently he always looks at me a certain way, with “trust”. She believes that there is “something there”, or that there will be in the future. But, she has shown signs of jealousy whenever I’m around him and he and I have both noticed it. (Jealousy as in us not paying attention to her.) When she’s mad, she teases us together. We became closer after his second break-up with a dramatic relationship. I was there for him, so we talked more frequently. But, he recently stopped talking to my friend and I. We asked him about it, and he told each of us different things. He told me that he was tired of being teased with me, that he didn’t want my friendship to be sabotaged because she was jealous of us talking and that his close friend told him not to talk to me. He told my friend that he was being teased with her now (nobody has said it to her face because of her confident and petty reputation) and that his close friend was teasing BOTH of us with him. After that we were interrupted and he started to act all playful again. I have noticed that he only talkes to us when his friend isn’t around, but when he’s around his friend he either ignores me or stares at me. A lot. It could be that he wants to be friends with me or that he likes me. I don’t know what to do anymore. Because even though he shows signs that he might like me, he also shows that he doesn’t. Insisting to people that we are just friends, (although I do that too) not always paying full attention to me like I believe that I do and, of course, dating. But, we are both single now. Even if he liked me, I felt like he wouldn’t open up to me even though he’s told me to tell him if I ever feel anything towards him. I have also insisted that I don’t like him and I’ve been able to pull off a straight face for so long now that…ugh. I feel trapped. What should I do?