More than "just friends"?

so theres this guy who i have been friends with since i was really little. were both smart so were always in the same cles and stuff. we have a lot of the same friends and in school all of us always talk and joke around with each other. lately he has been picking on me in a friendly way. in bio he sits behind me and always kicks the books out from the basket under my desk and then we both giggle about it and i jokingly roll my eyes about it. he also taps me on the shoulder repeatedly until i look and then just says "hi" and smiles. The other day we could work with partners in trig if we wanted and he and another one of my guy friends worked together but i worked alone. after cl he asked me "hey, how come you didnt work with us? are you to good or something?" but he was joking and smiling about it. do you think he likes me for real or is it just like im one of the guys? should i say anything to him? and if so what? okay sure he likes me but hes kind of shy so how do i approach him without being overbearing? also hes really cute and has a bunch of popular girl friends but hes reallly shy and has never had a real girlfriend so..