There’s some wisdom in resolving those situations by proxy, like people did in the old time. It may appear a little uncourageous on the surface, but even pragmatic business negotiators who otherwise know everything there is to know about playing hardball still realize frank and direct confrontation isn’t the best option if you want to preserve a mutually beneficial partnership and continue to profit in the long term as opposed to winning the dispute but losing the business partner. This is why people avoid going to court — even if both parties can potentially agree the judge was fair and the decision was correct, it’s still hard to work together after such radical dispute resolution (relationship damage has bee done). Here, you might want to consider to very tactfully examine the situation by talking to both you and your friend and gently dissuade the friend from pursuing you romantically
if he has that sort of intentions and
if you don’t like the idea. Gentle dissuasion but an intermediary will always be gentler on both you and your friend than a direct rebuke between the two concerned parties. Hence it may be possible to save the friendship if you decide against sharing a romantic relationship — and friendship is much more difficult to preserve after a romantic rebuke than most people care to admit.
Word of advice, though: if you’re not immediately 99% certain you like or don’t like the idea, give it some time, some thought, sleep on it, listen to your feelings but avoid knee-jerk reactions, fears, anxieties etc., whichever way they would sway you. The reason is, you know,
decide in haste, repent at leisure.
