“Well, I’m not sure I want to skate if you’re not touching me,” I purred suggestively.

He smiled. “Hmm, I never thought of that. Hopefully you won’t catch on too quickly then.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, making me laugh.

Skating was fun. He was right, I was a lot better this time. It was probably due to the fact that he was such a good teacher, and because we spent almost all day here last time. He was so much fun to be around. He skated backwards just like he did before, holding both my hands, making jokes, and chatting. I only fell a few times and each time he would break my fall or catch me and pull me up. I looked at him as we skated, he was smiling broadly and my heart skipped a beat. He was so handsome, kind and patient. I could feel myself falling for him. I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was head over heels for him.

“Hey, how about you show off a little? I love to watch you skate,” I suggested, gripping onto the side for dear life so he could let go of me.

He kissed me before skating off backwards, he turned sharply and skated forwards so fast that it actually scared me. My heart was hammering in my chest at the sight of it. If he fell while skating like that, he would be seriously hurt. The thought of him being hurt terrified me. He did a few laps, showing me his skills like jumping and skating on one foot. I’d always loved to watch him skate. It looked so beautiful and graceful, but I never really lusted after him for it, until now. He looked so sexy when he was skating, so powerful and masterful.

Liam wanted to play hockey professionally, he had already been scouted for a really good team but needed to be in college before they could sign him. He’d been offered a full athletic scholarship to a really great school in Boston, which would mean that he would have to move away when school finished in a few months. The time apart was going to kill me. I was going to have nightmares every night when he wasn’t there, not to mention the heartache I’d feel watching him leave. I hated the fact that he’d be so far away and that girls would be falling all over him. I sighed, refusing to think about it. I needed to trust him. And I did, I trusted him completely, I believed that he loved me and that he didn’t want to hurt me.

When he came back to me, he skidded to a stop, sending an ice spray off over the side. “Is that showing off enough for you?” he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing me tenderly.

“Oh yeah. My man can skate alright,” I confirmed, grinning at him.

“Mmm, say that again. I like that,” he growled, in a husky sexy voice that made my insides tremble.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and pulled him in close. “My man can skate,” I purred seductively, looking into his eyes. I could feel the burning passion sizzling between us. He bent his knees so we were on the same level, held me tight and then stood back up, lifting me off my feet. He started to skate gently around the rink. I wrapped my legs around his waist while he skated around, occasionally doing small spins and changing to skate backwards. His eyes never left mine. It was the most erotic and sexy thing that had ever happened to me, and my whole body was yearning for him.

“I love you so much, Angel,” he whispered.

I smiled. My insides were bubbling with happiness and passion. He was driving me crazy; I wanted him and needed him. As I looked into his beautiful blue eyes, I could see all of his love for me shining through and it made my heart beat way too fast. Suddenly, it hit me like a truck, I loved him too. Maybe I’d always loved him, I wasn’t sure. He had kind of crept behind my defences and wormed his way into my heart, but I had always refused to look at him that way. He made me feel safe, wanted, needed and special; I didn’t ever want to let him go. I loved him like crazy, more than anything, he was the one thing I needed out of life.

I opened my mouth to tell him I loved him too, but he spoke first cutting me off. “Let’s go for dinner,” he suggested, skating off the ice rink and sitting me down on the bench. He got down on his knees and took my skates off for me. I just watched him as he did it, unable to keep the smile off of my face. Was this boy really mine? How did I get so lucky?

After we got our shoes back on, we drove to a little Italian restaurant that he said made the second best lasagne in the world. “Second best?” I asked, laughing.

“Yeah. Your lasagne kicks ass,” he stated, holding my hand tightly as we followed the waiter to the table.

“You do know that you’ve got me now, you can stop with the compliments,” I teased, laughing. He grinned and shook his head, rolling his eyes like I was being stupid.

The food was good and the restaurant was really cute, it had candles on each table and was really quite romantic, he was so much fun to be around there wasn’t one awkward silence. I couldn’t help but wonder how I didn’t know anything about him before we got together. I guess it was because the only personality he ever showed me was the as**ole side, which actually, didn’t seem to be a part of his character at all.

“Liam, can I ask you something?” I asked, too curious not to ask.

“Sure. Whatever you want.” He shrugged, taking a mouthful of his drink, watching me curiously.

“Why were you always such a jerk to me? If you’ve liked me all this time, why were you always pushing me over when we were kids and being such an ass to me? You do know that I used to hate you, right?” I asked, raising my eyebrows, looking at him apologetically.

He laughed. “You know, there’s a thin line between love and hate. Maybe you loved me and didn’t realise,” he suggested, grinning. I smiled because that was exactly what I was thinking earlier.

“No, Liam. You were a complete ass to me. But most of it was an act, right? So why did you do it?” I asked, needing the answer, it was killing me because I just didn’t understand.

“Jake.” He shrugged.

“Jake? I don’t get it.” I gave him my best ‘what the hell’ face.

He smiled sadly. “Jake really didn’t want me near you. He beat the crap out of me a couple of times when we were kids for it. He’s really protective of you. It was just easier to keep myself away from you if you didn’t actually want to be with me. I thought that if I made you want to stay away from me, then I wouldn’t have to try as hard,” he said, frowning.

Wait, he pretended to be an as**ole so I wouldn’t want to be with him because of Jake? Damn that boy!

“All those years, Liam, it just seems like a waste.” I sighed and shook my head; if he’d have told me then maybe we could have been together for longer. “You know, I always thought you had a split personality,” I told him, laughing.

He laughed too. “You did? Why?”

“Well, I always thought of you as daytime Liam, who was an asshole, jerk and a man-whore, flirt. Then there was night-time Liam, who was adorable and sweet and caring. I’ve always liked night-time Liam,” I said honestly.

He smiled happily. “Well, the night was when I would stop trying to push you away. I decided that since Jake didn’t know about it, that I could be myself and enjoy my time with you. Just so you know though, both of my personalities have loved you forever,” he said, shrugging and grinning at me.

Aww, he’s so freaking sweet! I reached out and held his hand tightly. “I wish you’d told me sooner, I really did hate you at times,” I admitted sheepishly, making him laugh.

“Yeah? Like the time I cut your stuffed bear’s head off and threw him in the trash?” he asked, laughing. I gasped at the memory of it, I’d forgotten about that! Jake had got my bear out of the trash and put him back on my bed for me and fixed his head.

“Yeah, you jerk!” I scolded, fighting a smile.

“You know I never really did that, right? I pretended to cut his head off and I hid it up my sweater and put him back on your bed a couple of hours later,” he said, still chuckling.

“No way! Jake told me he got him back for me!” I laughed.

He shook his head. “No. That was one of the times he kicked my ass. He caught me sneaking into your room that day. I’d told him I was going to the bathroom,” he said, laughing and shaking his head.

“I can’t believe my brother kicked your ass. That’s just too funny.”

“I’m just glad he didn’t kill me for dating you. I can hold my own in a fight, but Jake’s a damn psycho when it comes to you.” Liam frowned, shaking his head slightly, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah, well, you better make sure you don’t hurt me then, huh?” I teased.

He nodded. “I would never hurt you, ever.” He squeezed my hand gently, looking right into my eyes, his whole demeanor showing me the truth of his words.

I believed him, I didn’t think he would ever hurt me on purpose, but I knew he would break my heart sooner or later. When he went to college and we were apart, even if he didn’t cheat, that was going to hurt badly. Even if we weren’t dating it would be awful being without him, but now it would be like torture. I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. I couldn’t think about it, not until it happened and even then we could get through it. I loved him enough to wait for him. I just hoped that he would feel the same in four months’ time when all the college skanks were throwing themselves at him and I was a three hour drive away.

“Right then, you ready to go?” Liam asked after I had eaten a massive piece of chocolate cake all to myself. I nodded and he threw some money on the table, holding out a hand to help me up.

I grinned. “You know you’re shaping up to be the best boyfriend in the world,” I said happily.

“I love it when you call me that.” He grinned and wrapped his sweater around my shoulders as we walked out into the cold.

I gripped hold of his hand, not wanting to let go. As we got to the car he even opened my door for me. “Such a gentleman, Liam,” I teased.

I watched him walk round to the driver’s side. He was just so handsome, and he was mine, I couldn’t help but smile at that knowledge. I’d never dreamed I would ever have anything like this with a guy. When I used to think about dating it would scare the life out of me because I couldn’t let people touch me, and all the time I had the perfect guy who was in love with me, who held me and kept me safe every night, and I didn’t even know. How could I have been so stupid?

When we got back to my place, it was only eight o’clock. Jake wouldn’t be home for another hour so we had the house to ourselves. “Come here, I want to talk to you,” I said, pulling him towards the sofa. He looked a little worried and nervous. I pulled him down next to me, sitting close to him. I could feel the passion building and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would be ready to take things further with him. I’d never felt like this before and although we had only been together for five days, I’d known him forever. I trusted him like no one else and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I wasn’t worried about him not being able to wait for me, I could see in his eyes he would wait as long as I wanted, and that knowledge was pushing me forwards. If I doubted he would wait for me, then there would be no way that I would feel like this. I gripped his hand tightly as I just looked at him, trying to find the right words to express my feelings for him.

“What’s wrong, Angel?” he asked quietly, frowning rubbing circles in the back of my hand.

Oh crap, could I say it? I was so embarrassed; I’d never said anything like this to anyone before.

I took a deep breath and willed my voice not to show the nerves I felt inside. “I love you, Liam,” I said honestly. He looked at me, shock clear across his face. His mouth was hanging open, his eyes wide as he took in what I said. I couldn’t help but laugh. “OK, that’s not how I imagined your reaction.” I winced, waiting for him to say something.

He pushed me down onto my back, rolling on top of me. “You love me? Seriously?” he asked, the shock leaving his face to be replaced by excitement.

I nodded, feeling my cheeks heat up slightly. “Yes, I love you.”

He laughed and kissed me passionately. When he pulled away his eyes were sparkling with happiness. “Thank God! I thought you were going to dump me or something. You looked so serious that I thought you didn’t want to be with me,” he said, shaking his head, grinning.

I laughed. “You did? That’s why you were looking nervous?” I asked, giggling.

“Say it again,” he whispered.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, his mouth about an inch away from mine. “I love you, Liam James,” I whispered.

“I love you too, Amber Walker.” He kissed me, hard, and I couldn’t help but kiss him back with the same intensity. I ran my hands down his back and gripped the bottom of his t-shirt, pulling it up over his head, trailing my fingers down his chest, just marveling at how flawless he was. His hands were roaming all over my body hungrily; he gripped the bottom of my top and started pulling it up slowly, as if he was waiting for some sort of reaction. I felt my love for him bump up another gear because of how thoughtful and patient he was with me. I smiled against his lips and he pulled away, looking at me curiously.

“OK?” he asked, concern colouring his voice.

I nodded and pushed him off of me so I could sit up. I gripped my top and yanked it off over my head, throwing it to the floor. He was just watching me in shock. I pulled him back to me, kissing him deeply. His hands were everywhere while we made out but he didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to. It was perfect and sweet. An incredible end to an incredible date. After a while he pulled away and laid next to me, we talked happily for awhile.

At nine, he sighed. “Jake’s going to be home soon, maybe we should get dressed,” he suggested, looking a little reluctant as his fingers trailed over my bra and stomach.