How do you (in text) show a friend you wanna date?

I think this is hard because we already have a flirty tone on and off i'm also very shy so I dont really express my emotions and he is kinda shy too but he does more than me. He said he's into me once but we havent talked about it again. I dont wanna bring it up because its not my thing to be that straight forward I can be if im dating someone I can ask him where we stand but with a friend its hardern.So how can I show in text how I feel without saying to him I wanna date or whatever you say I am not good at flirting when we have that tone its him who acts flirty and I just go along a little because im not relly sure how you do it.It has to be in text because of corona.I already talk to him everyday to show I want to talk to him much but dont think thats enoug he doesnt see anything special with that I think becase in periods we talk everyday then other times we talk less so thats normal with us