yes.
BUT... there are stages.
most guys in stage one cannot be
"just friends" with a pretty girl.
imo,
it cannot happen.unless the guy is
stage one will be called the
attempt/trying stage. guys will do (or not do) whatever it takes to be with the pretty girl. when a guy is in stage one and he says "you're such a good friend", IT'S A TRICK.
however, once lines are completely drawn and both parties actually believe it that it is just friends, then you are in
stage two which is commonly known as the
friend zone.
this is a simplified explanation, and we know there are a lot of factors and specifics that could affect any given situation, but this is what i have commonly seen for quite some time. generally the girl is usually in charge, which sux for us guys, but every so often you get one guy that makes the rules where he says "let's just be friends".
IT'S A TRICK and he's still in stage one.
yeah it's hard for a guy to get into the second stage.
it happens, don't get me wrong, but every guy that doesn't want to ruin the friendship gets on board eventually.
*there are exceptions to the rule and this is a generalized opinion*