I like this guy but I'm too shy to really talk to him much.

There is this guy at the college I go to that I like although I don’t know him very well. He knows I like him and my friend told me that when she spoke to him and asked if he is at all interested in me or even getting to know me he said why not. Before that he was saying hello and sometimes how are you almost whenever he saw me and now he says it all the time and winks at me as well and we’ve started talking more. I see him almost everyday and actually a lot throughout the day because when we don’t have classes we hang out at the college cafeteria since the college is small. The thing is I like how I am getting to know him slowly but I feel really shy to go talk to him when he is with friends that I don’t know and he usually is. And like yesterday we were sitting with people I did know, only two I really didn’t, one so and so and the one girl said she was making the conversation and saying stupid stuff just so I could join in but I didn’t because I just didn’t know what to say. What can I do to get to know him and start talking to him more and feel less shy or at least see for myself if he is interested and not hear it from others? Or should I just forget about it? Is it not worth trying?