I'm not sure what to do about my friend...

Okay, so here's a short summary (as short as it can be, anyway)... basically, I met my friend about 3 years ago when we were coworkers. At that point, I was really uncomfortable around attractive men and found myself constantly avoiding him (was/still in the closet). He (let's call him Jake) was extremely friendly and insisted on getting close to me. The way he treated me was completely different from how any other guy had treated me up until that point. Whereas most guys would just sort of acknowledge my existence if we were in the same room and there was no one else to talk to, Jake would always pay me a lot of attention when we worked together. He always gave me this intense smile and wasn't afraid to be a little flirty. He'd call me things like cute, pretty boy, compliment my looks, was really touchy feely (one time, he just randomly came up to my, felt up my arm, and said "you've got some big muscles, I bet you get all the ladies"), I would often times even catch him staring at me from across the room, etc.

So, inevitably, I fell for him really hard. Unfortunately for me, he identified as straight and eventually got a girlfriend. At that point, I figured that i'd just be his friend, but my feelings for him never went away.

After about 2 years of knowing him, he randomly started acting a lot more distant than he used to be. He still hung out with me, but he wouldn't do the things that he used to do (he even outright denied that they happened if I brought them up jokingly) and he would constantly go on about practically every single girl that walked by us, as if trying desperately to take back the vibes he was sending when we used to work together.

I eventually came out to him when I felt comfortable enough to do so and he was fine with it, but asserted that he was straight. At that point, it didn't really matter to me because I knew nothing was going to happen between us anyway.

A while after that happened, I noticed that he got even colder with me. He would often say and do things that would bother me and if I tried to tell him to stop, he'd belittle me for it. He would also act significantly nicer to acquaintances and even strangers than he would be with me. One time, I was playing with his kid in the park while I was standing next to him and he physically pushed me away and told me that he didn't want people thinking that we were a couple (even though probably no one would think that).

Eventually, I got the balls to ask him if he used to like me back when we worked together and he got really upset that I asked him that, insisting that he was straight and that I was weird for even asking such a thing.

After a couple of weeks later with almost no contact from him, he randomly texted me one day and asked if I wanted to hang out with him. I decided to take him up on his offer and he acted a lot nicer than how he was before the weeks of no contact. He even complimented me on being skinny.

After a few days of hanging out with him again, I realized how better things got when I wasn't around him. I stopped obsessing about him (or the guy he used to be, anyway) and I was able to even date a guy for a little bit without thinking about Jake too much.

I told Jake a few days ago that I needed some time alone again and he seemed genuinely concerned about me. Even though he was acting like a total douchebag before, it still seems like he wants to be my friend.

So at this point, I'm not sure what to do. Should I tell him that I don't think we can be friends anymore and move on, or should I try to keep him as a friend, despite the previously mentioned hardships that came with that? I really need help with this decision and any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for the advice, guys!

There's just one thing I've been thinking about. Would it be selfish of me to end the friendship just to help myself? Despite his behavior, he seems to really like me as a friend, so one thing that's really holding me back on this decision is whether or not I'm doing the "right" or "moral" thing here.