Am I missing something or is he in denial?

I had been working at this warehouse for a long time, about a year and a half before I met him. He was a bit goofy, uncoordinated and seemed a bit weak for the job. So I despised him for it for awhile. It was due to the fact that he was placed in a position to where I felt he was a hindrance to me and my work (which is/has always under appreciated and overlooked by management). It took months but I learned to work with him and actually started to get to know him better. We both actually have quite a bit of the same interests. We both enjoy gaming, anime, and watching some of the same tv shows and would talk about them all every time we see each other. One day at work we were talking and I happened to notice that he had an erection. He of course tried to hide it but the way our job works we have to stay near a conveyor for majority of out time there. At this point I was thinking "maybe it's one of those involuntary boners that guys get from time to time" (and it might be). So I didn't think much of it. Then I noticed that it happened almost every day, almost every time we talk. It still happens til this day. I'm convinced he likes me at this point but he has talked about his interest in the opposite sex and also have made a few homophobic statements. He obviously likes my company and even asked to hang out outside of work multiple times and we have about three times now. He acts differently towards me than he do other guys and I let time pass and basically watched over time (basically taking notes). He's all down to earth, calm and gentle with me and more idk how to really explain it with other guys. For example my brother works there two and those two are cool too but there has been two times where he's hugged my brother from behind 😂😂 (and my brother didn't like it either time). However he'll never do that to me. My guess is he doesn't want me to know he's interested (if that is the case). Anyways (geesh I ramble way to much), my brother actually found an apartment literally next door to his, and I was invited to move in. I will be moving in in about six months. I helped my brother move in and stayed for about a month and went back to my moms place. During that month I had gotten closer to him and learned more about him as he learned more about me. I had kinda been annoying (at least I felt I was but every time I apologized for it he told me that it wasn't annoying at all) and would text him every other day asking him if he wanted to hang out. Most times he would find an excuse as to why he couldn't but we successfully hung out three times (not including walking our dogs together which also brings me to the fact that we plan to breed our dogs together eventually, Husky/Collie mix) Anyways during our conversations at work he asked "So when's the next time you're coming back to Rivington?" I had told him that I would give it a month or two before I made another long visit to my brothers place (Even told him that before I left during my first stay). He told me that he wanted to watch a movie together. I ended up visiting again this weekend and again he's being dodgy. I like our friendship but I would love a relationship too but not if it'll ruin our friendship. I like him, I think he likes me, but I think he's in denial about it. I don't know what to do or think now because one second the signs are obvious then other times they aren't. I'm at the point now where I'm going to start letting him take the initiative because I feel like I'm making a fool of myself. I plan on confessing my feelings in a way that I think will protect our friendship and will probably give him a chance to come to terms with his feelings if they exist that is, and that is by telling him that I am starting to like him and if it is a problem for him that I'll distance my self a great deal in order to rid myself of those feelings. Is this a good idea? Am I missing something? Is he in denial? 🤔🤔