Withdrawing Cancer Man - Help Please!

I??ve been seeing this Cancer chap for a relatively short period (literally weeks) and I can't seem to get the measure of him. We met through work and since then we have been flirting outrageously with two nights of great joking, laughter, sex and intimacy.
Communication was relentless for the first fortnight until after the second date, and this is what happened;

We were out drinking flirting, laughing, taking the —P?? etc, when a distant friend randomly turned up. He and his mate joined us for one drink and when they had left my Cancer —chap?? went silent on me. I asked what the matter was several times and I could sense something wasn't right, as he wasn't his normal cheeky self. After a third time of asking he told me, and was quite emotional at the time. He said he had felt stupid, as if he was being spoken down too by my friend and was embarrassed. He also said that I was flirting with my friend (I'm a Libran). I reassured him that this was not the intention or the case at all and I apologised (although I'm not sure what for). It knocked me for six to see him so troubled and wounded by this. Anyway, after a chat we were ok and back to being physical with each other (which was great).

Since this happened (6 days ago), texts have been less frequent (although that level of sustainability could never of continued), but I do hear from him daily, although I have to prod him sometimes. We??re seeing each other this week and not sure how to play it/say or to just try and move on—

All in all at the moment I can't get the measure of him as on one hand he's always joking, teasing, being sarcastic, which I thrive off and doesn't give many feelings away. Then on the other hand, when we??re together he comes across as one of the most loving and caring guy??s I??ve been with, plus I fancy the a** off him!

He's definitely gone into his hard shell and all I want to do is to reassure if something was 'to be' there would be fun, excitement and something potentially special. Is it a case of he likes me, but is afraid of getting hurt? How do I win him back—?

Here are the two simple points of action that I would follow if I were you:

A) Don't think or talk about that incident, by doing so you give life to it. Besides, he is probably embarrassed about being such a wuss.

B) Keep your behaviour and affection towards him consistent, no matter what he does. Do NOT alter your behaviour at all to fit his actions or whatever.

I don't know if you're a sheila but if you're don't over analyze it.

Thanks for the above. I'm keeping my actions consistent, and I am getting conversation, which flits from being nice to a playful 'mean'. I'm guessing he's just hiding behind his true feelings otherwise I'd hear nothing??

Mmm... he may be jealous and is lacking trust in you. Notice his behavior, the same behavior of a shy girl in front of her crush, shy girls tend to be extroverted with friends and dudes they don't care about, put their crush in front and they go all silent. Some men do never really show or tell you about their feelings, i guess he's confused about you, if not why such a sudden change of behavior?