Worried I've made a male friend uncomfortable, should I apologise?

[Duckduckduckgoose1]

I can't be certain I have, but I'm worrying. I've only really known him a few months, and I'm fairly certain it's only friendly between us nothing more.
He asked me to hang out after work next week which I agreed to, we've met up once before. We chat a lot online at work too, I hardly ever see him in person due to different office days.
Anyway, we talk almost every day.
He told me he likes talking to me and that we have a lot in common, he said to a mutual friend I'm very sweet and laid back, and I said the same about him.
I feel like he's really easy to get on with and I appreciate him as a person.
Anyway for some reason I'm worrying I've given him the wrong impression..
Basically we have a mutual colleague at work who's a bit younger. He was being very sleazy the other day towards another female at work, being quite inappropriate.
I joked with my male friend 'At least you're a bit more respectful than that!'
I meant it genuinely as he's a good guy and I meant I couldn't picture him (or most other men there) literally chasing some poor girl round the office.
Now I'm worried that he took it as a come on.
We chatted the next day after that and it seemed fine. However he asked me to send some holiday pictures from my recent trip. I did a couple of days ago and he's still not opened the message. I saw that he's online but even 2 days later still not opened it.
It's not really like him and I'm worrying I've made him uncomfortable. Should I apologise? It could just all be in my head.

There are more men than women at my workplace. I enjoy having male friends as well as women, however it doesn't always go that way unfortunately. I feel like it's very easy for things to be misinterpreted.

It was just meant to be sort of a joke/compliment like luckily there are other good guys around like you.

I don’t think you said anything to worry about.

I don't either . It's just odd he's ignoring my msg :( it's not like I said 'youre so sexy' or something.
However maybe I did make him uncomfortable and I do feel bad.

Not sure what you’d apologise for 🤷‍♀️

I'm not sure what you mean by him taking it as a come on. I can't see why he would.

OP, you have done absolutely nothing wrong. This man has closed ranks, as he perceives your comment as a criticism of his friend.

If I'm right, then it's pathetic really. Don't give him another thought.

That said we spoke the next day and he asked me if x day was ok to meet up. I don't think he likes me in that way? I'm pretty sure he just likes chatting to me.

Oh no, he was agreeing about the other guy. We were both saying oh what's he like, chasing that poor girl.

He also complimented me by saying I'm really sweet and we've a lot in common, and I said the same about him. I've not said anything sexual or suggestive. I just don't get why he's ignoring my msg?

Hmm, then I really don't get it.

To be honest, unless you want a pen-pal, I'd probably forget the whole thing anyway. Some men like to have a pseudo girlfriend they can check in with every day, whilst being able to keep their options open.

Don't overthink it. You did nothing wrong and meant nothing bad. Therefore if he's being weird just label it as that, don't waste time on the mental gymnastics of trying to figure out what you did to cause it and what you can do to fix it (I've wasted far too many hours assuming other people's behaviour was somehow caused by me rather than being about them).

Do they? What’s the point of that?

Thanks for reassuring me. It's a bit hurtful, I do tend to overthink and worry. This other guy I mentioned is an absolute character, very well known in the office for his antics and being a clown, he even admits it himself, so sometimes we do have a laugh between ourselves and say oh what's he like, sort of thing.
We're still meant to be meeting up next week anyway hopefully

@Westernesse

It happens on the online dating scene. Maybe it's a way of combatting boredom without having to commit.

OP, I reiterate, you have done nothing wrong. Please don't blame yourself, waste mental energy or become so invested in a man who isn't interested in you romantically.

OP you are clearly tying yourself in knots because you do like him!

Why don't you let him know that instead of trying to convince yourself there's nothing there?

Honestly never got the impression he likes me. I mean I did question it once briefly because he talks to me a lot, but he's never really flirted or said he's interested. I thought we were just mates but it's easy to get wires crossed.
However he's done this once before.
Basically we met up once for a drink, stayed a couple of hours, all nice and platonic. About a day later I texted saying we should hang out again the week after if he was free.
He sort of dropped off the radar a little bit then and I was worried I'd got the wires crossed. We had a bit of a chat and it was all fine, then as I say a few days later he asked me to meet again. So I don't know

I'm not sure if I fancy him, but I suppose by talking to him every day I'm a little attached. It's strange :( however I've only ever gotten a friend vibe between us so I've never seen it as any more than that.

I would also caution you not to jump too far ahead in feeling like you really know this man well. I'm not sure how long you've known him so I may be off the mark. But (and this is another trap I've fallen into too many times) it's really easy to use the pleasant but ultimately not that long interactions you've had to sort of fill in the gaps of their personality in your head. When we do that I think it leads to the sort of scenario where if they behave in a strange or mean way we dismiss it as caused by us (because they are so nice they wouldn't blank me for no reason etc). I don't knownif that's what is happening here but wanted to mention it just in case.

You're right, he seems very sweet but ultimately I don't truly know him, maybe there's something going on I don't know about. Hot and cold just annoys me so I may take a step back.

The only other male who regularly talks to me is a friend who's much younger and therefore it's more like a little brother thing.

Yes, blowing hot and cold for no apparent reason is very off-putting, whether that be for friendship or relationship.

Last time he kinda made out like he had 'stuff going on'. But when you can see the person is online and not opening the msg... It does kinda put me off him a bit as a friend.

I may be over thinking as the very last time he still said he was up for meeting, however I don't know.

Then don't worry about it. Keep yourself busy with other things and just see what happens next and go from there.

Please don't make a joke about this 'character' of a colleague being inappropriate with women in the office. It's not funny and it shouldn't be encouraged.
Would you want him to be sleazy with you?