Same. I recently met a wonderful woman who I've become very good friends with. When I first met her, I was interested in maybe dating her, so I was very careful and selective with the compliments I gave her because I didn't want to sound like a creep (and I'm autistic so I'm bad at judging what's okay to say). After I asked her out and she rejected me, we agreed to just be friends, and I suddenly felt far more okay openly complimenting her in many different ways. It feels really good to give someone a genuine compliment just because you want them to feel good, no strings attached.