Apparently a boy I have a crush on said I look like a model... could he say that without liking me back?

Well, saying you look like a model really doesn't tell you anything, there are lots of men that I think are attractive but that doesn't mean I am interested in them. If you are really interested in this boy maybe you should bite the bullet and try to talk to him about possibly hanging out. If it were me I would bring up my friends crush and say that I guess the only reason why I was making fun of his crush was because there was a guy that I had a crush on and was trying to figure out how to tell him. But I think I may be a little more straight-forward than you. In any case, while he may find you attractive you need to know if he likes more than your looks. Good luck.