Yeah, I dunno about that... she started the whole tickling thing so how is it his job?
She is kinoing you pretty heavily so you have plenty of opportunities for push/pull. Neg her about being so touchy and ask if she's like that with everyone, while at the same time pulling her in for a hug. Or, ask her who gave her permission to tickle you, then poke her. She'll poke you back and you can make kind of a game out of it. You can read up all kinds of material on push/pull, just have a look around.
You've known her for a while so escalating things might be a bit weird for her, when you start acting differently after a while girls put up their defenses a bit and she will probably play the "but we're friends" card, saying things like "I dont wanna ruin our friendship" and so on. So yeah, hang out with her more and be together in private, you can have her over to watch a movie or you can chill at her place, whatever. If she can cuddle up to you then she either wants to fuck you or is so comfortable with you being her friend cos she knows you'd never try that kinda thing cos you're so nice... yeah. So, get her to cuddle up to you and just go in for the kiss to find out which it is.