“Oh God, this is nice!” Beth thought to herself as Miles kissed her neck, pushing his hand into the small of her back, pulling her closer to him.

Another involuntary groan came from her throat as she ran her fingers through his wet, brown hair. She could smell shampoo and the faint scent of boy’s deodorant as she felt the stubble on his chin brush her neck. She ached for him to be kissing her lips again and so moved her head around and with her hand on the back of his head, fingers entwined in his hair she guided him back to her mouth. His lips smiled before locking back onto hers for another deep, passionate kiss.

“I think I’m going to explode,” Beth thought to herself, “Oh God, his hand is on the skin on my back, he’ll be able to feel the rolls. Oh God, I must repulse him.” Beth felt as his fingers on her back had found their way under her top and could feel his strong hands stroke up and down her spine.

Miles broke away from their kiss and Beth thought for a terrible moment that the feel of the soft rolls on her back had brought the mood to an abrupt end. Her fears were immediately allayed when Miles, voice husky and brimming with desire whispered, “Oh God, your skin is so soft. Can we go over to the bed?”

Panic set in Beth’s eyes. She wasn’t ready for this. For any of it. She could hardly stand the thought of looking at her own body, but allowing Miles access to her skin, to the parts she so desperately tried not to show under baggy t-shirts, men’s jumpers and baggy trousers was too much. How could she be intimate with someone when she couldn’t stand to look at herself?

Miles saw the look in her eyes and pulled her closer. “Babe, don’t worry. I am not going to force myself on you! Jesus, it will take every bit of strength I have to not peel those layers off you. But we have all the time in the world and I don’t want to rush this, Beth. I adore you and we will go at whatever pace is best for us, OK?”

Beth smiled. How could she feel anything but safe with him? The sincerity and warmth in his eyes put her at ease and she followed him over to the bed.

Miles sat on the bed and Beth stood in front of him. He patted the bed next to him, inviting her to sit down beside him. She looked down into his beautiful, sapphire blue eyes and felt like her heart melted.

As she sat down, he grabbed her hand and placed their entwined fingers on his lap. Beth could feel his solid, muscular thigh on the back of her hand and a pulse rippled through her core.

“I needed to sit down, babe. I hurt my back in practice, that’s all. Look, got a cracking bruise apparently!”

He turned and pulled his shirt up, revealing an almost perfect boot mark on his back.

Suddenly, with no warning Beth’s mum charged into the room with a tray of drinks and a few biscuits.

“Don’t mind me! Thought you two would be thirsty!” She breezed, looking over to where they were sitting on the bed. “Oh! Lord! I’m so, so, sorry, I should have knocked! Oh … looking away now! I’m looking away now!”

Beth realized that Miles looked like he was taking his top off and immediately set about putting her mother straight, “Ah! Mum! Don’t just barge in! It doesn’t look like … what it looks like! Miles was showing me the injury he got in rugby, that’s all!”

Miles pulled his top back down, face glowing in embarrassment, “I’m so sorry, Mrs Evans. I seem to have a habit of flashing my tummy at you!” He laughed and Beth’s mum waved his apology off graciously.

“Oh, nothing I haven’t already seen before!” she gushed, “I remember your dad’s injuries Bethany. There wasn’t a week that went by that your father hadn’t picked up another knock, bruise or cut!”

“Hazard of being a front row, Mrs Evans. In the thick of it!”

“Well, that’s where the real men play! Let’s have a look then, while I’m here!” Beth’s mum exclaimed, walking over to the bed.  “Come on, stand up, let’s see it then!”

Miles dutifully stood up and turned his back to Beth’s mum, pulling the back of his shirt up.

“Mum!” scolded Beth, mortified at her mother’s intrusion.

“Oooh, that’s a good one, Beth! You could almost work out the size of the boot that had him!”

Suddenly Beth’s dad’s voice boomed from the landing, making Beth jump. “Lydia Penelope Evans! What the hell are you doing in there? I thought you’d gone to the conservatory! I should have guessed you’d be up here!” and he walked into the bedroom cautiously.

“Come and have a look at this, Bill. Remember when you used to get these?” Beth’s mum enthused. “I forgot to knock and … well Miles was showing Beth his bruise!”

Beth put her head in her hands as she watched her dad wander over to a bare-backed, sheepish looking Miles and, pulling the glasses down that were balanced on the top of his head, his dad critically surveyed Miles’ back.

“Ooh – looks like you got a stamping there, boy!” his dad commented, with a little too much relish, Beth thought.

“Yep, wrong side of a ruck. Deserved it though. Got him back later though with an ankle tap and he went down like a sack of spuds!” Miles replied, pulling his shirt back down.

“Ah, those were the days!” her dad said, misty eyed, “the smell of Vaseline and Deep Heat rub always takes me back to Sunday mornings, up to my arse in mud, hungover and having the shit kicked out of me. Happy days!”

Beth laughed. Hearing her father talking like this was a revelation, but she was still miffed they were in her room!

Her dad, sensing that they’d overstayed their welcome, ushered her mother out of the room, “Come on Lydia, it’s quarter to nine and we’re eating into their alone time!”

Her parents bustled out of the room and, laughing Miles sat back down on the bed next to Beth.

“They’re funny.” Miles confirmed.

“Yeah, hilarious!” Beth replied sarcastically. She leaned back on the large bed, lay on her side and propped herself up on her elbow. Miles, taking her prompt did the same and faced her, their faces only inches apart.

“You get your sense of humour from your dad,” he remarked, tracing her chin with his fingers, “and you have your mum’s eyes.”

“What do your folks look like?” Beth asked, “Who do you take after?”

“I’m nothing like them, really. Mum always joked that she found me on her front doorstep, they took pity on me and took me in! You’ll meet them soon enough. They’re already curious about you.”

“What you’ve told them about me?” Beth asked, panic rising in her voice.

“Of course I have. Even told my dad the morning before school that I’d be making my move that day. They know all about you, your singing, how funny and clever you are.”

Beth blushed. Whatever he’d told them, she was bound to fall short of their expectations when they finally met her.

Beth studied his lovely face, finding herself falling in love with his features, each laughter line, the curve of his nose and his perfectly shaped lips. Her eyes lingered on them for a moment.

“You’re old for your years,” she found herself commenting, “I mean, you’re not like the other boys in our year. You’re, you know, respectful. You open doors for girls and I’ve never seen you be rude to a teacher. It’s like you’re older than me by at least 5 years or so. Why is that?”

Miles’ face darkened a little, while he struggled with his response. He explained slowly, each word chosen after some deliberation. “I’ve had to … grow up, I suppose. I have an older brother, he’s … well Charlie is 23, so he’s 7 years older. My parents didn’t know if they’d have another child after Charlie … and then I came along.”

“Why the gap? Did they think they couldn’t have more children?” Beth asked, idly pushing his now dry brown hair back from his face.

“Not that they couldn’t. But whether they should have more children,” Miles responded and seeing Beth’s confused expression, he continued. “It’s not a secret, but … I’m quite private about our family, Beth. Charlie is … well special. In fact, Beth, he’s completely and utterly awesome, but because he’s vulnerable, we try to protect him.” Miles’ stopped for a moment and seemed to wrestle with his words, “ … Beth, Charlie has Downs Syndrome. You know what that is, right?”

Beth nodded, trying to keep an even face although she was genuinely shocked, not knowing Miles had a disabled older brother.

“So, he is my older brother, but because of his learning difficulties and development, it’s a lot like having a younger brother. Oh Beth, he’s brilliant. He’s so loving, and so, so funny. He’s always up to mischief but my mum loves him even more for it. She calls him her ‘Little Imp” and he’s doing so much better than we could ever have expected. He has a heart problem, which is quite common for Downs but it’s thankfully not too serious.”

Beth watched as Miles continued to excitedly talk about his big brother and it became rapidly clear to her why Miles was so respectful and so grown up for his years. He had to be the older brother from a young age and accept that Charlie was different and that was the way of the world. Beth marvelled at the pride Miles genuinely showed in his brother and how animated he became when he spoke about his achievements. And in that moment Beth realised that she was falling hopelessly and utterly in love with him and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

“Sorry, I’ve really gone on about him, haven’t I?” Miles smiled, putting his hand on Beth’s waist. “I don’t talk about him much to people who don’t know him. I’m hoping you’ll get to know him, Beth. I want you to be part of all aspects of my life.”

Beth smiled, “Well as long as part of your life doesn’t involve naked paragliding or alligator wrestling, I’ll be happy to be part of anything you want me to be!”

Miles laughed, throwing his head back and flashing his perfect teeth. He looked back at Beth with a renewed intensity in his eyes, “Oh Beth, you are fucking gorgeous” and before she could react, his lips were firmly locked onto hers and his hands pulled around her waist, drawing her closer to him.

Beth’s supporting arm gave way and her head rested back on the pillow and Miles followed. With Miles lying partly on top of her, their kiss took on a deeper, more passionate rhythm and Beth threw her arms around his neck pulling him in tighter. No matter how hard she tugged at his hair, she felt like she couldn’t hold him close enough. Beth felt Miles’ hand again on the small of her back under her top. Any insecurities about her body had evaporated in the heat of the moment and she found herself moving her leg to partially wrap it around Miles’ thigh. The groan emanating from Miles in response to Beth’s move just heightened the intensity and Beth found herself making involuntarily sighs as each kiss, each movement of his hands on her skin brought her to new levels of desire.

Miles pulled back from her and Beth opened her eyes. Gazing up she looked into the sapphire eyes and smiled at him, blushing slightly at how unguarded she had been in the last few moments.

“Beth Evans,” Miles smiled, voice low and passionately breathless “I don’t care if you don’t feel the same way yet, but I love you. I want you. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t eat and I can’t concentrate because I just want to be with you. All of the time. I know it’s a serious word, but I do. I love you. I am IN love with you. And I will shout it from the rooftops if I have to!”

Beth giggled and it dawned on her that the words didn’t intimidate her any more. She trusted that he meant what he was saying and it made her deliriously happy.

“Miles … I’m not going to say it back … just out of habit or because it’s expected. But I know … given time … you’ll be the first.” Then blushing, she added, “You’ll be the first … in other respects as well…” and she lowered her eyes in embarrassment.

Miles hugged her tightly, his chin resting on her shoulder and he softly murmured in her ear, “Then we’ll be firsts together…”

Beth felt reassured that Miles was an inexperienced as she was and as he pulled his head back, he was blushing slightly too.

Beth lay back a little on the pillow and leaned over onto her side so she could face him properly. Miles lay back with his head on the pillow, his eyes closed but smiling widely. Beth looked down his body and saw his shirt had come up and she idly stroked his tummy. It was a little hairy and soft.

“Hmmm, finally something that’s soft on you,” she remarked out loud.

Miles opened his eyes and looked at her quizzically.  “What do you mean, finally something soft?”

Beth giggled, embarrassed her internal monologue had popped out, “Oh, it’s just that your arms and … thighs … well .. your chest and back too … I didn’t expect them to be so muscly and hard, that’s all.”

Miles grinned sheepishly at her, “Aah, yes that’d be the rugby. Still got my belly though!” and he grabbed it and shook it slightly so it wobbled.

Beth laughed looking at his soft, hairy tummy and looked further down Miles’ body. Following her gaze, Miles added, “Something else is most certainly not soft anymore. A minute with you and … well, it’s anything but!”

Beth could immediately see the enormous bulge in Miles’ jeans and her cheeks blazed a crimson red. Her hand remained perfectly still on his stomach and she looked back to Miles’ face who was grinning a wicked smile.

“Suddenly a prude now, Miss Evans?” he teased, pulling her closer to him, “You will need to understand, my love that you have that affect on me. You quite literally drive me crazy.”

Beth smiled, embarrassed and incredibly turned on at the same time.

“I … I’m sorry?” she managed, weakly.

“Ha ha! I’m not!” Miles laughed, “Just one look at you sometimes in class and I’m having to hit it with a hard, heavy book!”

Beth laughed. She wasn’t used to boys talking about this part of their body but Miles spoke so easily about it, about his own biology that Beth relaxed a little, reminding herself that every experience with Miles would be new.

His hand rubbed her back again, electricity dancing across her skin and suddenly Beth was aware of her own biology. Her heart raced again and the pit of her stomach tightened and turned as each pulsating throb travelled lower into her abdomen.

With Miles’ head on the pillow, it was now Beth’s turn to kiss him. Biting his lower lip lightly, she guided her lips onto his while her tongue gently caressed them. Miles’ again groaned and moved his hand further up her back, electricity now dancing on newly touched skin.  Beth throbbed, longing for him to move his hand to other areas, to expose new skin to his wonderfully soft and masculine touch.

Miles moved his hands slowly around to Beth’s side and his thumb lightly touched the outside of her breast. “Oh God,” Beth thought to herself “did I shave under my arms this morning?” and remembering the slight cut she’d given herself, she remembered she had. Beth relaxed again and longed for his hand to move further round but a little groan coming from her throat was all the encouragement Miles needed and his hand moved around to the front of her bra as he gently squeezed her breast.

Lightning shot through Beth’s body as she reacted to his gentle, but passionate touch. Her lips broke free from his and she instinctively leaned back onto the pillow, allowing Miles to lean over her, hand still firmly placed precisely where she longed for it to be. She gasped as his thumb moved over and around her nipple over her bra as he nuzzled her neck. With each gasp, Miles moaned more and more and Beth felt like she could faint at any moment or explode in a crescendo of pulses.

Miles pulled away, “Oh God, Beth!” he gasped, panting lightly, “I’ve got to leave now …”

“But why?” Beth insisted, panic rising in her stomach. Had she done something wrong? Was she not what he wanted any more?

“Because … if I don’t leave now …” Miles panted, voice gruff and low, “then I’ll forget I’m a gentleman and the shred of control I have left will be shattered.”

Beth smiled, relieved that he was struggling to control himself and quietly flattered at the admittance.

“As it is, Babe,” he continued, control returning to his voice and the smile returning to his eyes, “I don’t think it’d matter how big or heavy the book is, it won’t be enough. It’s going to be an uncomfortable walk home!”

Beth giggled naughtily and pulled herself up to sit on the side of the bed.

Miles looked at his watch and joined her on the edge of the bed, hand resting on the small of her back. “Your dad will be calling up any second now and I’d rather be the one coming downstairs of my own volition than having been reminded by your father.”

Beth looked at him lovingly, amazed at how respectful and understanding he was and just how fortunate she realized she was.

“Miles,” Beth began, unsure of herself, “I know you can’t make every music lesson because of this rugby tournament thing so you might not be actually at the choir thing… but … well other people who aren’t singing are going to support the school and there’s this …you know, party afterwards …  and well… I wondered if you were going?”

Miles laughed, pulling her closer into him and kissing her on the top of her head, “Of course I fucking am, you silly girl. I’m taking you. And … the thought of you in a sexy dress … none of this baggy shit you usually wear … I want to see those curves, Miss Evans because I have now felt some of those curves and I have to say … DAMN girl! You is sexy!”

Beth threw her head back and laughed at the silly accent Miles used calling her sexy.

He got up and rearranged his shirt, pulling it down over what was going to make his walk home uncomfortable. A fleeting pang of desire waved over Beth as she thought about the affect she’d had on him.

Miles gently kissed her as they stood in the middle of her bedroom.

“See you tomorrow?” he softly asked and Beth nodded.

They both walked down the stairs just before 9pm. Her parents had returned to their normal lounge and her father came out as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Miles retrieved his coat as they all said their goodbyes.

Beth stood on the porch step and watched Miles walk down their driveway, turn and wave with one last sapphire smile and disappear into the street. As she stood there in the cool evening air she pulled her mobile out of her pocket to see seven unopened texts from Jess, each enquiring with greater insistency how the conversation with Miles went.

Walking back into the house she bypassed her mother who had been waiting patiently for a debrief in the hallway and, pausing only to gently kiss her mum’s cheek, Beth pressed the mobile to her ear.

“Hi Jess,” she began running up the stairs back to her bedroom, “You’ll never guess what? He came round!”

All her parents could hear downstairs was squeals of laughter coming from Beth’s room.