In love w my best friend?

ok so there’s this guy, 17M, who I’ve been friends with for just over a year. we’re super close (or so it seems) and I think I’ve fallen for him? Although we’ve been through some tough arguments and some big fights, we’ve always made it through. He’s mentioned that he doesn’t like to date girls younger than him (I’m 15F), but I’d like to think (or at least hope) I still have a chance because we’re both juniors and have an established friendship already. How would I go about flirting w him without making it too obvious or awkward? I want him to ask me out, but I don’t want to lose our friendship.