Has anyone gotten him to actually admit he's smitten instead of just fumbling around it?

Ran a session where he kept doing the described stammering thing, tough-guy exterior completely undone the moment things got personal, and it was genuinely charming watching him try to cover for it. But I couldn't get him to actually say the quiet part out loud, just circled it every time I asked directly about the Sunday plans line. Anyone had better luck pushing past the awkward-cover-up phase into something more direct?