Help!! Advice?!

So I'm 21 years old, and just got out of an abusive relationship with my girlfriend of 4 1/2 years. Over this span of time she physically and mentally abused me, DAILY. Last month, she totaled my car and cheated on me in my own house the same day, so I finally, with the help of my "friend" I had the courage to end it.Now fast forward a month, and I have been hanging out with my friend (we will call him "Chris" lol, fake name) a lot. As far as I know, he's straight. He seems straight on the surface too. And he hasn't done anything overtly homosexual either.This whole situation is so hard to explain, but I will try. "Chris" and I have always been acquaintances but we started hanging out a lot more over the last couple months bc we are both in recovery from addiction and have been a support system for each other. I would complain to him about my gf, and he is the one who encouraged me to break up w her, & that I didn't deserve the BS she put me through.So now that Alexa and I have broken up, He and I have been hanging out almost every day almost, and there are little things that happen. He will walk very close to me, brush up against me, or tell me to feel how soft his skin is, showing me tattoos he has on his chest, stomach, and right above his crotch. & today I showed him something on my phone & he put his hand over mine where I was holding the phone, and If we don't hang out he will call me and we will talk for hours. Honestly, I can talk to this guy for hours on end w/o getting bored. But outside these casual touches and stuff that he gives me, he doesn't do anything crazy like hug me or anything like that. I've had one hug from him in my entire life, and it was at the viewing for my brother who passed away May 2015. This whole thing is just crazy to me, because I have never had romantic feelings for a guy before, but I am finding myself going crazy for this guy, falling for "Chris". We have so much in common it is ridiculous (both have had older siblings pass away, problems with addiction, we both believe we were abducted by aliens LMAO, same tv shows, he is a huge Stephen King fan like I am, and we both play drums). I'm out of an abusive relationship, and he makes me so freaking happy, it's crazy. He remembers small details about things I say that I don't even remember telling him, he's just a great person to me. But, I have no idea how to approach the subject, bc like I said there are no explicit signs that he feels the same way, only implications which I could easily be misreading. I can't stand not knowing if the feeling is mutual, but if I were to tell him and it isn't mutual I don't want to make things awkward (he's not a homophobe, but tbh it's always awkward and uncomfortable to have someone tell you they like you when you don't feel the same). After reading this, it really seems like he is just friendly, but in person it is a lot different. He seems flirty w me, and always tells me how much he appreciates me and that I am his ride or die, and that he's so glad that he has "found someone like me bc he's so sick of frauds". I've never had these feelings for another man before, but IMO, you can't help who you fall in love with bc not only do I think he is amazing, but I think he is CRAAAZY good looking. And never have I ever thought "man, I would fuck that guy" about anyone except him. Does anyone have any advice for me? Or a similar experience? Tbh I'm not that worried or concerned that I have these feelings for a man, & if they were reciprocated I would 100% be up for a relationship with him and I'd tell my whole Catholic family and not give a single fuck bc he makes me So Mother Freaking Happy. I