These people are like a wall between me and him!?

He needs to grow a pair of testicles, you need to grow a pair of ovaries, and you need to put your relationships with Annie And Erik aside and just spend some time together. The next time you're talking to Erik and you see Ryan, tell Erik to hold on, and go strike up a conversatin with Ryan, even if it's just a short one. From what you say, he seems very interested, so if this is something you want, you're going to need to take some initiative.