I have a friend, we'll call him Tyler. I have known him for over ten years. We met at a party when we were 14. We proceeded to have a short-lived "relationship" and stayed friends after it ended. We grew apart for several years but never lost contact. We started to follow similar paths in life, which rekindled our friendship 4-5 years ago. He moved to another state a few years ago but would come back in the summers. In 2019, we had a wonderful time hiking and such and eventually found ourselves falling asleep in each other's arms after a passionate night. My heart felt full. I remember waking up before him, thinking "this is the man I want to be with." But I was too free-spirited at the time. I hadn't been single for very long and he was only here for a couple months. He came up the following summer but I was in a relationship at the time, so we only spent time together platonically. It was still a blast. I was unhappy in my relationship (which lasted about 8 months, ending shortly after Tyler went back home, about a year ago). At this point, I also felt like, even if I weren't in a relationship, myself, I didn't think he was the relationship type. He also took me as very free-spirited. Shortly before my relationship ended, he became exclusive with someone. My heart sank. I never took a shot because I never felt like either of us was ready. And I felt like I had missed my shot. (My last relationship really wasn't planned, it was more like a FWB had pursued me and I thought maybe it could work but I was wrong).
Fast forward to this summer. He has moved back to my state. He is still in the relationship. He has vented to me about how unhappy they are together but I have tried so hard to remain unbiased and offer my perspective. He has always seemed to find my advice helpful and continuously tried to bring himself to leave. I don't know the details about why they stayed together. I have tried to not interfere in their relationship, whatsoever. I genuinely feel that I haven't, at all. I have found myself feeling that my life may be enriched by a committed partner recently. I have honestly been feeling ready to make room in my life to settle down.

Well, as of very recently, their relationship is ending. Has ended. It seems like it's still a little messy though? Like his car is broken down at her apartment so he's stuck there. I guess the last straw is that he is moving 45 minutes away from where I live (and she lives) for work. I learned this because he was in my town yesterday and asked if he could stop by. Of course I agreed. We spontaneously spent the entire day together. And we had a BLAST. We have SO much fun together!! Unlike anything I've felt before. While we watched on the worst sci-fi movies in existence, he started resting his hand on my leg (he doesn't really touch me like this when we are platonic). But the whole day, I couldn't shake thoughts about how much I admired him as a person and how much I deeply enjoyed his company. My heart felt full again. I still genuinely feel like this is the person I want to be with. I haven't stopped. Our futures really would align so well. We want so many of the same things. Sure, I could be looking at this through rose-colored lenses but this is something I have been thinking on for three years.

Now, what I don't want to do is take advantage of his vulnerable state of being fresh out of a relationship. I also don't want to be his rebound. I want him to take all the time he needs to heal and recover. I'm happy to be there for support. And whenever he feels ready to commit to someone again, I want to be that person. I don't care if it takes six months, two years, whatever. I just feel like he is the person for me. And I feel like I finally have room for him, for love, in my life.

Two questions

1. Is this even okay/ethical?
2. Is there a right way to do this?

Nobody has created such a spark in my soul the way he does. But it doesn't feel addictive/intoxicating with him like so many have. It feels stable and sustainable.
I am, however, a little worried that we may already be bordering on dangerous territory. He is eager to spend more time with me and felt comfortable touching me. I would normally enjoy this attention, except that I don't know how much of it is true desire for me, and how much of it is him trying to distract himself from his broken heart.

Please tell me what to do. When he's ready, I want to be with him. Is it wrong to wait around for someone like this?
Surely, my mind could be changed. If I met someone I aligned with even more, I don't think I would be emotionally unavailable. And if he met someone else, I don't think I would be shattered. But I can't help but feel like I was meant to be with someone like him.

TL;DR: For three years I have felt like my long-time friend and I may be "soulmates" but the timing has never been right. I'm finally ready but he's just getting out of a relationship. I want to be the one he is with when he's ready, however long it takes. But I don't want to be a rebound or take advantage, nor do I want to rush it.