Guys, remember ... the childhood friend has been teasing the MC for years now. His current 'density' isn't a self-inflicted one, and the childhood friend is both too stubborn to be honest and too far deep in the 'bro-zone' where such honesty won't be taken seriously up to now.
If anything, the quote applies to her as much as it does to MC. Both of them need to work it out, themselves, or, dare I say it, introduce a love rival to urge the childhood friend to get her shit together and progress the relationship already.