In the jurisdiction I live in, it would be legal for you to ask him if he were interested in having a boyfriend.

It is a really regrettable that there are parts of the world where this natural question is not supposed to be asked even among two relatively mature boys whose age difference is very small. (In fact, you should look online and actually read your state statutes - you may find that given your own age, you may be in a legal situation. Most states if not all have the legislation posted online, and it's not all that hard to find or to read. I have only read Alabama, where you would be completely in the clear with your friend once he turned 16. Pardon me if I'm incorrect in assuming you're American; I know parts of Australia have similar laws.)

We just met so I don't know to what extent you want a bf or want to have male-male sex (I have had a bf for 30 years and yes, some sex has occurred lol). Also, there is that tough decision about whether you want to possibly upset the system by asking such a question - only you can decide if it's worth taking the risk.

Up until the time I was 11 years old, 16 American states had laws banning "miscegenation," marriages and other sexual relations between black and white people. The normal sex acts of adult gay relationships were illegal in several US states until 2003. The sad fact is that the law, in relation to loving relationships, has mostly been a hideous expression of social neurosis and of the most degraded and wicked prejudice; while it must be feared, it cannot be given any respect it hasn't earned. The fact is that hundreds of thousands of loving relationships in the last 100 years have had to proceed in spite of it. I am not encouraging you to put yourself in danger, but I think at least you should understand the problem well.