When a girl admits to a shy guy that she likes him and he kind of acts like he likes her back why doesn't he just say if he likes her or not?

He's shy and tells you later but when he is confident. It's a maturity thing too. Boys mature later tahn girls and it's also hard to be rejected. I know that my son is afraid he will be turned down. It's an ego thing too. Unfortunately they will have to go through a few heartbreaks to learn about it. A few turndowns is the best remedy to understand.