Title: im soo confuseed!??!

By: silvrz

i met my cousins best friend about two months ago and have become very good friends with her. we have gone out numerous times and have had the best times with her. i like everything about this girl, from her personality to her looks to the way she does everything. she just broke up with her ex about 4 months ago and the kid wont leave her alone still. He broke up with her, and now wants her back. It makes her upset because she never want to leave him in the first place but because of the way he treated her she wont get back together with him. i did the best i could to be there for her and comfort her and we became really close friends.
she is a very good looking girl which attracts a lot of attention from other guys, which kind of bugs me.. three weeks ago, i decided i was going to distance myself from her, because i felt like i was getting too attached to her and i didnt want to hurt myself,if she found another guy because i really like her more than a friend. she noticed what i was doing and questioned me one nite after going out with a group of friends and we ended up talking. I ended up telling her what i was doing and she didnt understand, then i told her that i was doing it because i liked her more than a friend and if i back off now it will be better than later. i was shocked to hear from her that she actually like me back but didnt think i liked her like that. we ended up kissing that night which was amazing.
my cousin is staying at my apartment for the summer and doesnt like the whole idea of me and her best friend dating because of the ties between her w/ me and her friend. a couple days later her friend came over and everything seemed like nothing happened a couple of nites ago so later i questioned her, because maybe it was just the alcohol. she told me that everything she said she meant and she is interested in me but im the one that doesnt show any interest in her, which is partly because of my cousin. since that day i tried showing interest by calling her and im-ing her every day and i even sent her flowers at work, and still nothing has come of it. my cousin doesnt think i like her more than a friend so she kind of tells me things i shouldnt really know if i was interested in her. she told me that her friend has a lunch date with some guy at work that she thinks is really hot. things like that which really confuses me because supposedly she likes me but now is going out with other guys? the last conversation we had was telling me that we havent had the opportunity yet because she knows how my cousin isnt really confortable with me and her dating, so thats why she really hasnt showed much interest in me when were out. I dont know what to do anymore because the longer this goes on it hurts more, not sure if shes leading me on, and if i wait around and she finds someone else i will be crushed. should i give up and move on or keep trying although it looks like im the only one putting in any effort in this. please help me!!
thanks mike