Is not a bad place to be. Men, seriously, I mean that. It's not a bad place at all!
Growing up I had this very false idea that before I could ask a girl out I had to become friends with her first. I'm not 100% sure of where this idea came from because I don't remember my parents bringing this up at all. Quite frankly, I blame movies because I can't think of any other medium where this false idea gets promoted more. The truth of the matter is that's just not true. If you are attracted to a woman then you need to tell her straight away. She may return your attraction she may not but she needs to know how you feel about her as soon as possible. The only way you're going to know how a person feels about you (and this goes across genders) is to just open up and tell them. You can't just "play the game" and woo her. You also can't just "drop little hints" and expect him to know exactly what you mean by them. The more subtle you are the less likely the person you're attracted to is going to realize that you like them. People are dumb when it comes to romance.
The Ninja interview fiasco has brought into sharp relief a very serious issue about attitudes towards dating in this country. This idea that people have that any relationship between a man and a woman must include sex is simply bogus. In fact I daresay the opposite is true. Men and women need to be friends without sex more often. Think about it, who do your share your feelings with more? Your friends or someone you want to date? Now, speaking for myself I find that when I'm attracted to a woman that I'm trying to be friends with I have a much harder time being forthcoming about how I really feel about certain things. I may hold back out of fear that she'll reject me if she knows how I really feel. My female friends on the other hand I emotion dump all over. I feel a lot more secure about my friendship with them so I'm not afraid to be open about my feelings. However, there's a twist. I'm also a lot more open to listening to my female friends about how they feel about certain things. Ah ha! You see what I did there?
For whatever reason masculine culture demands that your self worth is directly tied to the number of times you have sex. That simply isn't true. First of all your sex life is none of anyone else's business. If you choose to be open about it good on you but don't feel bad if you'd rather keep that close to the vest. You have a right to be as open or as private as you want to be. Secondly, whether you fuck 50 women or only one is irrelevant to your happiness and well being. Those relationships could be the most amazing you've ever had or they could be nightmare fuel wrapped in a selfie. Either way your life decisions ultimately define who you are as a person, both the good and the bad. Yeah my ex-wife and I haaaaaate one another but if I never marry her I never have the most amazing daughter a man could be blessed with. Just to add one more tidbit of knowledge to put things into perspective, Issac Newton, one of the most respected men ever to live died a virgin.
The bottom line here is that if you ever find yourself "in the friends zone" don't sweat it. It doesn't mean you're a loser that can't get any tail. It's means you're a good dude that women like. Women are friends with you because they're comfortable opening up to you about their feelings. They trust you. In the end, isn't that what we really want anyway?