Signs of interest?Need opinions

[zroinc]

I'm a bit of a shy female who usually hangs out with 3 other guys.
One of them has a girlfriend and it is this one that is getting me confused/worried about.
I don't know this guy for too long (about 4 months) and,as so,I don't know him very well. Only lately I've learned about some of his preferences(regarding sports/cinema,tv series,etc.) and I found I had many things in common with him.

One of those days,while chatting about some things we have in common he seemed pretty excited and I was too.
Well,as I'm a bit of a shy girl (although I get to be more open to people once I get to be around them quite often) ,I was surprised to see him leaning towards me so much, while he talked enthusiastically, that our face we're almolst about a palm away from each other.
That bothered me quite a bit and I still don't know if it bothered me on the good or bad side.
Sign of interest??I can't tell,it could be of his personality or the fact that he got excited or something else...
The other day we we're chatting and he playfully brought up one of my phobias(which made me laugh) and gave a little slap on my leg.
Then strange thing today before he left he pinched my cheek(men never done that to me and I found it to be quite strange)and said something like 'bye beautiful' which wasn't the 1st time he said...The pinch on the cheek and,which I forgot to mention,the gentle rub on the hair when we met today in the car we're both very strange for me...

What do you think of this?COuld be his personality showing off(which I'm more leaned towards since he has a girlfriend) or any sign of interest?

[zroinc]

Any advice/opinions would be great!