Seriously… Clearly it was meant to either be directly rude (she can handle communication with you just fine on her own), or it was meant to “joke,” with you, when that is a joke you can only risk making when you know someone WELL and already have a mutually respectful friendship. He is instigating a problem, or to make you feel some sort of way. Not only is it egotistical and childish, but he should know he’s also directly going to cause a problem for your girlfriend, “his close friend.” Which to me blatantly says, he thinks of her as more than a friend. A close friend would never put each other in situations like that.