What does he mean with everything he does?

Hello! So there's this guy I like for a long time. We are sort of friends. I had never tried to tell him how I feel because he had a girlfriend. He recently broke up. We had always had weird moments like starring at each other etc. Lately we hang out a lot. He talks me up to his friends all the time about everything I do. He makes silly compliments like " you have nice teeth" (what is that suppose to mean?) And he wants to sit next to me in order to talk to me. He is also very overprotective of me. It's is weird because he treats me differently compared to the other girls he hangs. I still haven't tried to tell him how I feel because he told me he is not ready to get in a relationship (he dated that girl for 3 years). I think I'm getting mixed signals. I don't know how to decode his behavior towards to me. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!