She wants more, how do I overcome this problem?

My girlfriend recently has been teasing me ually but Im shy and self concious. We both 18. She knows Im shy and it's like she throws it in my face but she doesn't mean it; she's just trying to get me to loosen up around her. She is very beautiful and I just tense up around her and smile too much. Today she was tickling me so I tried to tickle her back but she's not as ticklish as me and she said she only has one spot thats ticklish on her and she said I have to "find it", but she said Its not going to happen (again throwing the shy thing in my face). She said its not a problem that Im shy because she loves me the way I am and thinks its cute and she said she's happy regardless but I feel terrible about it, because I want to have a ual relationship with her and be closer to her but I don't know how. My mom raised me to treat girls with the most respect and I have a fear of messing up or embarring myself. But basically Im a nice guy and I hate it because I always get the "you're too nice, I only see you as a friend." Well that only happened twice but I don't want that to happen with this relationship because I really love her. I don't drink but I was thinking about drinking a little alcohol to help me loosen up. Is this a bad idea? And what are some ways I can be more closer to her and less shy, because it is really killing me?