I can't tell.

So I have this coworker that I'm extremely attracted to. I didn't develop these feelings until he started poking me. After that, we've been poking each other a lot. It's like a constant game of tag. He doesn't do it to other people unless they joke around about it with him, but it's usually only the one time. When people point out how close we are he gets silent and ignores the comment. Recently I came in to out work on my off day and when I was trying to go towards electronics, my mom made a coughing sound, he turned around and saw me walking towards electronics, he got a very big smile on his face until I was out of sight and then went back to work. Does any of this mean that he likes me? Or am I just overthinking it?

Recently, he's been stealing my things at work and hiding them from me, making it another game. Sometimes he gets me in the position of having to wrestle the items from him. I'm extremely confused about all of this.

Work isn't the place to find a date.

It's unprofessional and secondly, if you did date and it didn't work out, it would make it extremely awkward to work together after that.

Work is meant to be for work. A paycheck at the end of the day. Socializing/friendships and dating should be kept separate and should be found elsewhere.

While normally I would agree with SherrySher, you sound young (at least I hope so!) and this sounds like a part-time retail job which is a dime a dozen.

If this is the case, then I think you should go for it! In short - yes - if he’s behaving this way towards you and no one else, he is showing interest (intentionally or not intentionally).

Is there a coffee place or an ice cream place nearby? Just say something along the lines of “hey! What time are you off? I was thinking of grabbing an ice cream after work - do you want to join me?” The idea is that you want to form a relationship outside of work (and you guys can take it from there).

But yes... just recognize that if things go sideways, one of you will likely need to quit and find another job. Consider how important this particular job is (ie: whether it’s a “forever” job, etc and the employment opportunities in your area) - because that will happen.

My answer would be different if this was your career or you relied on your job to pay food, rent, etc. (I assume you live with your mom).

As long as you consider 21 young! 😂 And it's certainly not a career, just a temporary job (for both of us, in fact) in a retail store in different departments until we finish college. I've actually also been in the process of finding a different job for unrelated reasons. I appreciate both of your responses! I've been on the fence of trying to get to know him outside of work, just been too nervous to do so.