What should I do about him?

So I am going to do my best to make this a long story short, so here goes: There is this guy that lives in my neighborhood and goes to my high school. We ride the same bus and always talk to each other. Last year, some of his friends who also live in our neighborhood suggested that the two of us date. I told them no, but at the time I thought that they were just playing and I wasn't sure if I really felt that way about him. Well now we are both sophomores and we still talk every day on the bus. He really makes me laugh and he is such a sweet guy. He seems to open up to me more than most people (like he told me that he was an "ooops" baby because his mom had him when he was 16). We both talk about our dreams for the future and I just feel really comfortable around him. I was talking to one of my friends and I mentioned how he was going to be such a good boyfriend for a girl someday. Recently, I have started to feel like I want to be his girlfriend. How do I know if these feelings are true or not? I really do not want to hurt him again because I really care about him. If you think we should try a relationship together, how would I go about suggesting this (he doesn't really text on his phone)?