'Should I forget about pursuing sexy work colleague?'

Dear Coleen

I’m a woman in my early 20s and I’ve liked this guy at work for ages. I made the mistake of telling him I thought he was sexy and now he brings it up as a joke all the time in front of other people, which is embarrassing.

Other times when it’s just the two of us, he’s actually really flirty, which makes me think he likes me, but I’m getting a lot of mixed messages.

I don’t want to embarrass myself further by asking him where we stand – if we’re just mates or if he wants to date. 

I’m not very experienced in terms of relationships. Am I wasting my time?

From looking at his social media, I am sure he's seeing someone else (Getty)

Coleen says

He sounds pretty childish to me and a bit mean if he’s making jokes at your expense. Maybe he does like you, but is too immature to handle it properly, or maybe he just enjoys the fact that you fancy him. 

Don’t waste any more time overthinking this or worrying about it. There are plenty of guys out there who would have taken your comment as a huge compliment and been very keen to go on a date and get to know you better. 

And if this joker tries to get any more laughs at your expense, just say, “Well I used to think you were sexy, but now I’ve got to know you, I’ve changed my mind”. I don’t think he’d risk any more one liners after that.