A friend who is OVERLY protective of his "turf"

I have a friend I've grown up with. We now live far away from each other but I do go to see him. He doesn't come to see me. There is no party scene where I live. Sheez! However, we've never had any major issues along the way. The last time I was his way, he put me up, made sure I was fed, and we had a good time.

Based on a request, I've noticed something about him that bothers me. If his friends are around, he is overly cautious in that he doesn't want me to get to know them too well, befriend them, and certainly not have much alone time with them. He has "been" with most of them, though these situations have reverted to the friend zone once the sparks were over.

The situation at hand is that I was planning a vacation. One of his friends, who I remember and remembers me, has ended up in a small city far away after getting a trust fund or something like that. He wanted to live in this place and he did just that. On this vacation I was planning, and unbeknownst to me that this guy lives there, I would be stopping in this city. This is a person I have NEVER indicated any kind of interest in, other than finding this person amusing. I told my friend to tell this person that I might be coming to town and that I wouldn't mind him showing me around. He doesn't work because he doesn't have to. At any rate, my friend clammed up pursuant to my request. At the very most, if this person was to offer me a couch to crash on, he'd be bought the best dinner in town as a token of appreciation. However, I just wanted to spend a couple of hours having him give me the local's tour and being able to shoot the breeze with him.

Would you drop it, would you ask him (my friend) what the problem is, or, if I had the guy's last name and he's listed, would you contact him directly? He does remember me. And, as eccentric as he is, he is a real nice guy and fun to talk to.

 

Thanks for responding and providing advice. I will try to remember his last name, pull it off on my own, and then tell my friend later.

With this person, there is zero interest "that way." I think that, with the others, my friend thinks I might steal his friends ... or something worse, if you know what I mean. And that's ridiculous, because I now live far from him.

If folks disagree with going about it this way, please chime in.