Empty Net (27 page)

He smiled as she pushed the door open. She turned in the doorway, biting down hard on her lip. She didn’t know what to say and was freaking out inside. Tate looked calm, looking down at the floor as he kicked around at the black carpet.

“When are you leaving?” he asked.

“Tomorrow morning, at five.”

He nodded, and when he looked up into her eyes, she lost her breath. “Do you want to come watch me play tonight?”

She smiled. “I didn’t buy a ticket.”

“I’ll get you a ticket.”

She nodded. “I would like that.”

He took a step toward her, taking her hand in his. “I want you there.”

Looking down, his hand moved up to cup her face. She took a shaky breath before saying, “Then I’m there.”

A slow grin went across his lip, then he dipped his head down, placing a soft kiss against her lips as she closed her eyes. It was over before she knew it.

Opening her eyes, she watched him walk away, chuckling. Shocked, she threw her hands up. “That’s it?!”

Tate laughed while walking down the hall. Throwing a playful grin over his shoulder, he said, “We’re just friends, remember.”

Ugh!

The rest of the day, Audrey enjoyed lying in bed and recovering from the night before. She
thought a lot about Tate, and later that night, it surprised her how much she screamed and cheered for him while he was in goal. He was amazing, and she couldn’t help but notice that he kept sending her quick glances and grins. It was nice to have someone who was so in tune with her. She had never had a guy chase after her, tease her, and want her all in one. It was different, and she loved it. As she watched Tate block over forty shots, she was screaming so loud that she was sure the whole arena heard her.

It was then that she realized that she and Tate Ooooodder were way more than friends.

The next day, Audrey pulled into her driveway a little sad that she wasn’t able to say ’bye to Tate in person. He had interviews after the game, and she tried to stay awake but couldn’t, and then he was asleep when she left that morning. She hated not being able to say bye, and she kind of wanted to thank him for the two amazing nights he gave her with a way better kiss than they had shared. She hadn’t had that much fun in a really long time, and it was all thanks to him. With a smile, Audrey thought that it was a good thing he was coming home that night, even if it was only for two nights, it was better than nothing.

Since she was still being lazy, Audrey left her overnight bag in the car as she made her way to the mailbox. Just as she reached into the mailbox, her phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw it was the guy she had been thinking about all morning and all night.

“I overslept. I’m sorry,” Tate said when she said hello.

“No big deal. I’ll see you tonight, you can make it up to me,” she said with a grin as she opened up a letter from the health department.

“Actually, I’m not coming home tonight. After the game tonight, I’m going to stay with
some of my old roommates. I haven’t seen them in months.”

“Oh,” she said sadly. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah, but I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “How so?”

“I was thinking dancing at our favorite club and maybe some dinner.”

“If you say sushi, you might have yourself a date.”

Tate chuckled. “Go eat sushi with me, love, and then go dancing with me.”

“Well, since you asked so sweetly,” Audrey cooed.

“Good, but the only thing is, I think Erik and Phillip want to go.”

Audrey laughed. “That’s fine. I’ll ask Piper to go.”

“Awesome, have you told her that you told Erik she liked him?”

Audrey gasped. “Oh no! I totally forgot about that! She is so gonna kill me.”

“Yeah she is.” He laughed.

Audrey giggled as she read the letter she had opened. With a grin, she said, “Well Mr. Ooooder, I would like to inform you that I am not pregnant, and that I am clean as a whistle, which means you are, too.”

“Huh?”

“I went and got tested after our one-night stand.”

“Oh! Okay, well that’s good to know. I forgot I hadn’t used condoms, good thing you are on birth control. That was the first time I wasn’t prepared.” He laughed as Audrey stood quietly in her driveway.

It was a perfect opening for her to tell him, but instead of taking it, she crumbled the piece of paper in her hand and sadly said, “Yeah.”

Come see me
.

No
.

Please, I need to see you
.

What do you want, Levi? I’m not having sex with you. I’m done with all that
.

No, it is not that. I want to talk about giving this thing you call “forever” a shot
.

“Please God, Audrey. Do not go in there,” Piper pleaded over the phone. Audrey sat in her car outside the Starbucks on West End. She was supposed to meet Levi in the coffeehouse a few minutes ago, but at the last second she freaked out and called Piper.

“I need to know what he wants,” she told her friend.

“Oh my God! Who cares? What about Tate?”

“I know, but we are just friends who are kinda moving into dating. We aren’t fully there yet. I’m not doing anything wrong on that side,” she pointed out.

“You are acting like a fucking idiot, Audrey, and I’m done with it. That asshole doesn’t deserve you, and you allow him to fuck with your head!”

“How am I acting like an idiot? I told him to meet me at a public place because I didn’t want the risk of him trying to sleep with me, and not knowing how this was going to go, I wanted to be careful.”

“Whatever, Audrey. What about Tate? Don’t you care at all?”

“Yes, I do, and you know it.”

“Audrey, what the hell? This is insane, it’s like I don’t even know you.”

“I am the same person I was when we met, nothing has changed. I need closure and I need answers,” Audrey argued

At a knock on her car window, she looked up and saw Levi with a pissed off look on his face. She didn’t like how he looked, which was unusual. She usually did. He looked rough. What was wrong with him?

“Audrey?”

“Levi is at the window,” she said into the phone, then hung up while Piper screamed something at her.

Audrey opened the window halfway and said, “Hey.”

“What the hell, I’ve been waiting for almost twenty minutes.”

“I was on the phone,” she said simply.

“Obviously. Come on, let’s get out of here. We’ll go back to my house.”

“No, I don’t have time for that,” she said. “What did you want to talk about?”

Levi let out a frustrated breath before leaning against the car door. With a smirk on his face, he said, “You look good, cupcake, you all right?”

She nodded. “Just fine.”

“Good,” he said. “So do you miss me?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“Well I miss you. Why don’t we just bypass all this talk shit and get to what we both want.”

“I don’t want to bypass anything. I told you my terms, Levi. I don’t want to be just your fuck buddy.”

“Audrey, come on, this is stupid. Why are you doing this? I thought—”

“I thought you said you wanted to talk about forever?”

Levi laughed. “No, that was my way of getting you here. Nothing’s changed. I just want you, bad.”

“For fuck sakes,” she muttered, reaching to start her car.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving,” she said through her teeth. “I’m fucking tired of it, Levi. I’m done.”

“Oh come on, why are you being like this? We both know that isn’t true. You want me.”

“You’re delusional. Move away from my car, please.”

“No, get out, let me talk to you,” he demanded, moving his arm into the car to hold onto her steering wheel.

“No, Levi, get your hand off the wheel and leave me be. Don’t bother me anymore.”

“Why? It’s not like anyone else will ever want you. I’m the only one who wants to deal with your whiny bitch-ass self,” he sneered, still holding onto the wheel. For a split second Audrey was scared, but the fear was quickly replaced by anger.

“And you wonder why I don’t want to be with you! You’re an asshole! Get the hell away from my car,” she said, smacking his hand away. His eyes went wide and he let go of the wheel and took a step back. “I don’t even know what I was thinking coming here!”

“You care about me! You love me!” he yelled.

“No, I’m done, I’ve been done,” she yelled back, then she blurted out, “I’m seeing someone!”

Levi’s reaction sent chills down her spine. He leaned in close, his face only inches from hers, his eyes flashing before he whispered, “You belong to me and always will. No one will
ever be what I am to you. You may think I’m an asshole, but you know I am good to you. I am the best you’ll ever get. I don’t know what your problem is, but get the fuck over it. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. No one—and I mean no one—will ever want you, so why even try?”

“That’s not true,” she whispered as he smirked at her, his eyes dark with anger.

“This guy only wants your hot pussy, that’s it. When he gets to know you, the whiny, needy, bitchy Audrey, the one who wants the house, the kids, and white picket fence, he’ll run. You’re not worth anyone’s time, Audrey.”

Shaking her head as tears gathered in her eyes, she said, “I’m sorry, Levi, I deserve better. I deserve the husband, the white picket fence, and maybe—” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “—maybe children. But what I don’t deserve is this shit from you. I may not get any of those things, but I’m not settling for this anymore.” Levi’s face was tight with anger as he slammed his fist into the side of her car. Pinning her with a look of death, he sneered, “Fuck you, you’ll regret this.”

And with that, he was gone.