Why would a guy who's supposed to be attracted to me won't give his number?

Hello guys, I really hope you're all doing great. Let me start by saying I'm a gay guy and I was working at a department store from late October 2021 until January 27th 2022, when I was fired after my probation period ended. Well, it was a temporary contract for three months and after that my boss was going to decide if I stayed or left. At the end of the day he decided not to renew the contract, which practically was the same as being fired (in other words, I failed probation period). So while I was working there I met a guy from another area who I got attracted to the moment I saw him and I think he was very attracted to me, too. I say this because this guy definitely showed signs of being attracted to me and despite the fact that he seemed to be socially awkward/anxious and reserved, he made an effort to pursue me on the sly during my time working there.

Here is a bit of backstory of how it all happened

https://forum.emptyclosets.com/inde...-this-guy-out-of-my-head-once-for-all.490003/

To make this long story short, I never dared to start a conversation with him, as I felt very anxious and awkward when I saw him. There were times when he seemed to think I was rude to him, when I wasn't (it was just social anxiety), which is being treated by my therapist (I'm currently in therapy). However, after all this time of no contact, I finally decided to give him a chance and I was decided to reach out to him to get to know him better. Whereas, since I don't work at that store anymore, it occurred to me that I ask for his number through a good friend of mine (a woman who was a former co-worker). So I asked her for his number and she said she didn't have it, but that she was going to get it for me when she could, as she was sick at the time. So she gave me the number of this girl, who was another former co-worker when I was working there, the only difference is that this girl wasn't my friend, she was just an acquaintance but never became friends with her. So this girl was the only one who had the phone number of the guy I'm attracted to, as she’s very close friends with him according to what my friend said. On the one hand, one night (On May 12th to be more specific) I asked this girl for this guy’s number on WhatsApp and she replied saying she didn’t have it (She was lying, as my friend told me she has it, she’s the only one who has it). Then, I asked her if she had this guy added on Facebook as a friend and she said she didn’t. On the other hand, to my surprise the next morning this girl told this guy I wanted his number. Actually, a guy who was a friend of mine and a former co-worker as well heard the full conversation. Then, he proceeded to tell everything to my friend once she returned to work after being sick and after that, she sent me a voice message on WhatsApp telling me everything this girl told him. I’m going to write the full conversation here. In fact, let’s put it this way I’m going to call this girl (the one who told him I wanted his number) Emma, I’m going to call myself Robert and the guy I’m attracted to, let’s call him Bob. And lastly let’s call my friend Tracy and this guy who was my friend as well, let’s call him Liam. Ok, here’s the full conversation below.

Once my friend Tracy recovered from the flu, she returned to work and my friend Liam told her as follows:

Hey Tracy guess what, Emma told me early this morning that Robert (myself) sent her a message on WhatsApp asking for Bob’s number last night and Emma told him about it. That morning Bob (The guy I’m attracted to) went to their area, because he was looking for a pair of shoes that were going to be shipped to another store by him. So Emma told Liam she was going to tell Bob that a person who used to work there (myself) had sent her a WhatsApp message that night. Once Bob was there, Emma asked Liam to come with her and she proceeded to tell Bob about the message I sent in front of my friend Liam and she told him as follows:

Hello Bob, there’s something I want to tell you and Bob said…What was it that you wanted to tell me?......Robert sent me a message on WhatsApp last night asking me for your number and Bob said…How come he wants my number?....What did he want it for?... What did he say?.......What did he want? and Emma said…..he didn’t say….he just said he wanted your number and Bob said….NO,no,no,no….I don’t like giving my number, even my friend Liam said he made an angry face and that he said again……I don’t like giving my number to anyone…..What was it for?.....and Emma asked him…..Do you remember what he wants your number for?.......and Bob said……as far as I remember I never became friends with Robert (He was lying). In fact, Bob was the one who started approaching me since the first few days I started working there and definitely showed signs of being attracted to me, to the point where the other co-workers noticed he started doing things he didn’t do before I started working there. As I said before, he discreetly/on the sly was pursuing me during the time I was working at that store. But now he pretends like nothing happened.

So my friend Liam heard all of this, he then told my friend Tracy, once she recovered from the flu and returned to work. After that, my friend Tracy told me all of this through a voice message on WhatsApp. She also said this guy doesn’t give his number to anyone and that Emma’s the only one who has his number. I don’t know why he acted like that, but it felt so bad to be rejected by him.

Do you think this is an obsession, given the fact that after all this time of no contact and after being rejected by him, my feelings/attraction to him is still strong?

I told my therapist about it and I even forwarded to her the WhatsApp messages Tracy sent me in order for her to give me her opinion or what she thought of the situation and after listening to them, she said…Robert from the sound of it, it looks like this guy is quite reserved, don’t you think this guy was probably interested in you, but he might have been bothered by the fact that you personally didn’t ask him for his number?, to which I said…Look I appreciate your opinion, but in my opinion I think if this guy were really interested in me, he would’ve looked for ways to reach out to me like I did with him…I mean, if someone is really interested in you, that person is definitely going to look for ways to reach out to you, am I right?.....Then later she told me…Yes Robert, you’re right. When someone is interested in you, they’ll show it no matter what. I agree with you. Besides, how am I supposed to ask him for his number if I don’t work at that store anymore? and I didn’t dare to ask him for his number at the time because like I said before, I felt very anxious and awkward when I saw him. Actually, during my time working there I felt stressed/anxious just by thinking I was going to run into him or simply by knowing he worked there. Yes, I know it sounds crazy but whenever I have a crush on a guy, I always get anxious/very nervous that I don't dare to start conversations with them for fear of rejection and I've let many opportunities pass because of that. However, it looks like this is coming to an end because I’ve made a lot of progress in therapy, that’s why I was decided to reach out to this guy to get to know him better, which I didn’t dare to do before because I was afraid of rejection. In fact, before starting therapy, the idea of reaching out to him terrified me

Who do you think is right, my therapist or myself?

Right now I’m feeling guilty, my therapist made me think it was all my fault for not asking him for his number personally.

As I said before, I think when someone is really interested in you, they’ll show it no matter what.

What can I do to not feel guilty or like it was all my fault?

Do all reserved guys act like this when you ask for their number through other people?

What do you think of all this?

I also forgot to tell you I’m not going to insist and I think I’m going to have to move on, as I’ve realized this guy isn’t worth my time.

Do you think I should move on?

Thanks in advance and I appreciate your advice and/ or opinion.

 

I definitely think if this guy was really interested in me, he eventually would've reached out to me after that.

I think when someone is really interested in you, they'll show it no matter what.

What do you think?