why is he hot and cold

She caught my eye, gave me this huge smile, eyes bright, and said hello.

A couple weeks before that, we’d met at a party. Twenty-one, just out of her only relationship—four years, she’d told me. I’m twenty-three and not exactly experienced. At that party, things felt easy. She gave me those looks, touched my hand, all these signals that made me think she was into me.

Fast forward to Saturday. Me, my best friend, his brother, and his sister decided to eat at the Italian place Heather works at. She’s the hostess, so she seats us. I noticed her glancing at me from across the room twice. She said something to our waitress.

Heather came by our table a couple of times. She’s outgoing—at the party, she talked to me a lot. But in the restaurant, with everyone there, she only talked and made eye contact with the others. Not me. The only time she really looked at me or said anything was when we were alone.

I started wondering if I’d made her nervous, or if I creeped her out, or embarrassed her somehow. Maybe I shocked her? I couldn’t figure it out. My best friend’s sister was there—she said Heather was probably just intimidated talking to me in front of everyone, that’s why she focused on the others. My best friend thought it was just weird for Heather that we all showed up at her work and told me not to read too much into it.

I’m supposed to see Heather again at an art gallery my friend is hosting on Saturday. I don’t know whether I should try to move things forward or just back off. I’m worried about coming across as creepy.