“WHAT? WHAT IS IT?” Jake shouted, looking around like there was a fire or something.

“Er…. Er, it was a…. er,” I stuttered, grasping wildly for something to say.

“Spider,” Kate interjected quickly, pointing in the direction of my bathroom.

Jake sighed and walked in there, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Seriously, all that over a spider? I thought you were being murdered in here!” he scolded.

Kate smirked at me and Liam. He actually looked like he was having fun watching me squirm. He winked at me, which made Kate laugh. I stuck my tongue out at him and he waggled his eyebrows at me, she just laughed louder at the two of us.

Jake walked back out, frowning and shaking his head. “I couldn’t find anything in there.”

“Oh, maybe it wasn’t a spider; it might have just been a bit of fluff or something,” Kate suggested, waving her hand for them to leave.

Jake rolled his eyes. “Jeez, Kate, you really are weird,” he said, walking out and shutting the door behind him.

She turned back to me, looking excited. “I can’t believe you lost your virginity to Liam James! Was it good? I bet he was good, right? He is so freaking hot! I’m so jealous!” she cooed, going off into a world of her own.

“I didn’t have sex with him,” I said quickly.

She snapped her eyes to mine. “You didn’t? Well why the heck not? If that was me I would have jumped his fine ass there and then.”

I giggled and shrugged. “Yeah I know you would, but that’s just not me.”

“OK, I know.” She sighed, looking a little defeated. Suddenly her face brightened again. “So, what did you do then?”

“We just made out, Kate, that’s all,” I said honestly. We really hadn’t gone much further than that, so it wasn’t really a lie.

“You’re so lucky. You have the hottest guy in school as your boyfriend and the second hottest is your brother. I mean, that’s just greedy!” she scolded, waggling her finger at me in a mock annoyed gesture. “So, he called you his girlfriend! Has he asked you out? Like officially, you’re a couple? Exclusively?” she asked, looking at me in awe.

I nodded, but grimaced at the same time. “Yeah he has, and yeah we are. But to be honest, I don’t know how it’s going to work out. I mean, he’s such a player I’m honestly a little scared to let myself fall for him in case he cheats on me or dumps me or something,” I admitted in a small voice, staring at the floor as all of my worries flashed through my mind.

She grabbed me into a hug, which immediately made me start to feel sick. My heart was pounding in my chest at her casual touch. I knew she was only trying to comfort me, but I couldn’t help my body’s reaction to touch. “I don’t think he will. I mean, he’s never had a girlfriend before, he’s never been exclusive, so you have nothing to base your theory on. Technically, he’s never cheated on anyone before.” She gave me a half smile. I couldn’t help but laugh at her attempt to make me feel better. I guess that’s true, the fact that he’s willing to be exclusive is a sign that he’s into it.

“We’d better go anyway; Sarah and Sean will be waiting there for us. Oh and Kate, don’t say anything to anyone, OK? Not even Sarah. I just want to see how it goes for a couple of weeks before Jake finds out,” I explained.

“I won’t, I promise,” she vowed, crossing her heart. “So, is he a good kisser?” she whispered, as we walked down the hallway.

“Unbelievable,” I replied, as we walked to the lounge.

“Damn it! Lucky cow!” she muttered quietly, making me chuckle.

Chapter 9

“So, are you guys coming or not?” I asked, because they were still sitting on the couch.

“Yeah, OK.” Jake sighed. He obviously didn’t want to come, maybe Liam was making him. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door. “I’ll go get the car out of the garage. Meet you out there.”

“Oh crap, I forgot my purse,” Kate said, skipping off back to my room.

Liam immediately grabbed me and kissed me, pushing me against the wall gently. I wrapped my arms around his neck, gripping my fingers in his hair. “Mmm, I’ve missed you,” he murmured against my lips.

“You did? I had no idea. Could you make it a little more obvious?” I joked, making him chuckle.

He kissed me again, sucking on my bottom lip lightly, asking for entrance. I eagerly opened my mouth for him; he slipped his tongue in, exploring every part of my mouth, making my stomach get butterflies. Someone cleared their throat and we jumped apart, thinking it was Jake. Thankfully it wasn’t though, it was Kate.

She had the biggest grin on her face that I had ever seen. “You two look hot together,” she stated, smirking at me.

Liam laughed and threw his arm around my shoulder. “Angel looks hot whoever she’s with.” He grinned and kissed my cheek, softly.

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Kate cooed, putting her hand over her heart, looking at him adoringly.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on! We’ll be late if we don’t go now.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the door. I turned back and threw my keys to Liam, who locked the front door behind him. As he handed me back my keys, his finger brushed mine on purpose, making me moan a little in the back of my throat.

“Hey, Liam, you don’t mind riding in the back with Amber, do you? I really want to sit up front,” Kate called from the car, giving me a wink.

I saw Jake shaking his head at Liam, obviously asking for help. Liam smirked in his direction. “No. That’s fine if you want to ride up front.” He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. I smiled at Kate subtly. I loved my best friend; bless her, she was giving me time with him.

I climbed in the back and Liam slid in next to me, pressing his knee against mine. I put my hands in my lap and smiled. He reached out and took my hand, holding it tightly, putting it on the seat in the middle of us and moved his leg so it was shielded from view in case Jake turned around. There wasn’t really much chance of that though, considering he was driving, but I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry. Liam’s casual touch was sending sparks of electricity shooting up my arm. I bit my lip and looked out of the window, fighting the desire to grab him and kiss him until I couldn’t breathe. After the longest, most excruciating car journey ever, we arrived at the bowling alley. OK, that a slight exaggeration, it only took ten minutes, but the whole time I was fighting with myself to just jump on him and hold him tightly.

There were eight of us bowling; Me, Liam, Jake, Kate, Sarah, Sean, his girlfriend Terri, and she had brought her brother, Mark, who was down from college. Liam seemed to have taken an instant disliking to Mark for some reason. He was being polite enough, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. I was actually having fun even though I was totally losing. I was terrible at bowling and only really came to be with my friends. The highlight of the whole experience was watching Liam bowl. When he bent to throw his ball, I got a perfect view of his perfect behind, and I could barely contain my enjoyment.

“Not too good at the whole bowling thing, huh?” Mark asked, sitting down next to me, smiling.

I laughed. “Nope, I never did get the hang of it,” I stated, shaking my head in mock horror.

“I could teach you if you want. It’s all about the positioning,” he purred, suggestively.

I gulped nervously, but tried not to let it show. “Positioning, really? That’s why I’ve been getting it wrong all these years?” I smiled, a little uncomfortable, but to be honest I liked flirting, as long as they didn’t get the wrong idea and start trying to touch me.

“I’m somewhat an expert with positions. I would be more than happy to give you some lessons,” he purred, leaning in closer to me, making me lean back to keep some personal space.

“Well, it’s my turn right now, so what would you suggest?” I asked, standing up and choosing my ball.

He stood up and walked close behind me. “I would definitely suggest moving your h*ps with the ball. Maybe you should spread your legs further apart, give you more balance,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

I laughed at his suggestion; jeez, this guy is so obvious! “Well thanks for the tips; I’ll see how it goes.” I laughed and walked up to take my turn. My ball went straight down the edge and only hit one pin. My second ball went straight down the gutter. “Hmm, Mark, I think you may need to work on your tips. You kind of built my hopes up there, I feel kind of let down,” I joked, pouting.

He laughed. “Wow, I’ve never let a girl down before,” he said, smiling proudly.

“Cocky much?” I asked, laughing.

“Want to find out?” he teased.

“Hmm, let me think.” I narrowed my eyes and dragged them down his body, slowly, from head to toe and back up again, making sure to bite my lip in a flirty manner. He was grinning wildly. “Could you turn around?” I asked, trying to hide my laughter.

“You want me to turn around?” he asked, smirking.

I nodded. “I’ll need to view the back, I’m not sure if I want to accept your offer,” I said dismissively. He winked at me and turned around, obviously thinking he was in luck. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing and mouthed ‘What an idiot!’ to Kate and Sarah who were giggling like mad girls on crack. “OK, you can turn back now,” I said after a few seconds.

He turned back to face me. “Well, like what you see?” he asked, smirking at me confidently.

I leaned in close to him. “No, I don’t, actually. You just don’t do it for me, but thanks for the offer,” I stated, smirking and winking at him as I walked back to the seats. I could hear my friends burst into loud laughter; Sarah slapped Kate a high five. Mark was just staring after me with his mouth open, obviously not used to rejection. I glanced at Liam, he looked hurt and angry.

Oh crap! What did I do? I was just flirting, I wouldn’t have done anything! I tried to catch his eye but he just looked away at the score board, ignoring me. My heart sank.