does mixed signals = no signals? was i reading too much into it?

i got really close to one of my guy friends over time and ended up catching feelings. the confusing part is that he constantly gave mixed signals. he’d call me things like “pretty girl,” referred to me as his “number one,” told me he missed me after we had some distance (it was a rare occasion that he admitted that), and generally treated me in ways that felt more emotionally intimate than a typical friendship. every time i thought maybe he liked me too, he’d never actually take it any further or clarify what he wanted.

eventually i started realizing he might just be emotionally unavailable. looking back, it feels like he enjoyed the closeness but wasn’t capable of offering anything more. what hurt the most was eventually feeling like I wasn’t actually special to him and that i was just another girl friend he was close with, despite how differently he’d make me feel at times. one more thing that i threw me off was the fact that i said “i like you” during a CASUAL conversation because of the way he would explain his perspective on things (assuming he would pick up on the fact that i meant it in a friendly manner because it was the ‘label’ we had on our friendship) and he responded with “like me how?/in what way?” so, i asked him “what do you mean?” and he quickly dismissed my question and continued casual conversation.

has anyone else dealt with someone who seemed to genuinely care about you, gave a lot of signals that could be interpreted as romantic, but never actually wanted a relationship? how did you tell the difference between someone who liked you but was afraid and someone who simply liked the attention and emotional intimacy?