Dear ‘Why-Is-He-Sneaking-Out-The-Door-At-3am?’ Asking the question “How can I tell if a guy actually likes me?” is like asking “How long is a piece of string?”  To which the answer is: which particular piece of string are you talking about?

But let’s break the question down logically.  Let’s assume, as your question does, that he’s interested in you to some extent.  There are three forms of interest that said bloke could be holding for you:

1)      He likes you.  He properly likes you.  He cares about what your cat’s name is, and he loves the way you scrunch your nose up when you sneeze.  He’s standing off, slightly outside the borders of your vision, hoping for an opportune moment to tell you this.  Being a bloke, he probably won’t, but maybe he’ll instead show you how he feels by burning off a CD he remembers you said you wanted.

2)      He wants you, in that way.  Rowr.  You’re the finest piece of meat that’s strolled into his neck of the woods in quite some time, and he’s hungry.  Licking his lips, he’s growling his way towards you.  Watch out though, ‘cos once he’s fed, that wild animal is already onto stalking the next prey.

3)      Or, like most guys, it might be a mixture of the two.  Let’s be honest, when we like someone, there’s usually a sexual element to it.  The trick is to tell whether or not behind those lusty urges there’s something deeper and more profound going on, and whether your man is the type that will forgo his immediate hormones to invest in something more lasting.

So how to tell the difference?  The first answer is somewhat simple, but it’s subtle.  All you need to do is figure out where his attention is focussed when he’s around you.  Luckily, it’s only likely to one of two places: you, or him.