Confused about how to proceed after developing feelings for a guy for the first time

Hi! I'm reposting something I wrote on relationship_advice 'cause I got no answers there and I'm a bit anxious. Hope that's ok.

Original title: I (37m) have developed feelings for a friend (35m) and I don’t know what to do next

Roughly two years ago, my long term partner (39f) and I ended a ten year relationship. It was the most meaningful bond I’ve experienced since my mom passed away when I was a teenager. Needless to say, getting back on my feet was tough, specially since we had moved together from the US to the UK years ago and had built a new life together.

Since then, I’ve moved back to my home country (not the USA) and started reconnecting with old friends. Amongst them, a guy I knew in high school, who I’ll call F. He also recently returned to the country after living in Spain and has experienced a breakup in the last year. F came out as gay in his thirties and this breakup was with the first guy he ever dated. My ex was bisexual and helped me come to terms with my own bisexuality during our relationship, though I have no experience with men, save for a pretty tame crush in my early twenties (which I didn’t even register as a crush at the time).

I think that’s enough context, so onto my current situation.

The past couple of months, F and I have been meeting up for creative reasons. I’m working on writing a novel and he’s working on his own fictional project as an illustrator. We basically get together and work on our own stuff, sometimes navigating conflicts out loud or brainstorming. But lately there’s been more discussing our personal lives rather than talking about work. As time goes by I’ve been writing less as I’m experiencing writer’s block. Honestly, I can’t get this guy out of my mind and I’m finding it hard to concentrate on my main character’s struggles. It’s like one day he came over my place looking handsome AF and I was done for.

He’s a very quiet and chill guy and I’d hate to make him uncomfortable so I’m not sure about what to do next. I find myself wanting to do or say something but I’m not getting the feeling that he likes me that way. Having said that, I’m lousy at flirting so I don’t think he could tell that I like him either. At times I get the urge to just blurt out ‘yo, I like you’ and face the music. But then I think ‘what if you don’t really like him? What if you don’t even like kissing a guy?’. Is this internalized biphobia? Or is it just me being close to 40 and stressing about starting a new relationship? On top of that, I’ve never been one to make the first move.

I’ve thought about asking him out but we’ve already met up in pubs before so I don’t know how to make it clear that it would be a date.

Thank you for reading.

TLDR: how the hell do normal people flirt??