Empty Net (28 page)

Tate sat on his porch with a bottle of water in one hand and his cell phone in the other. He thought it would be a little weird to text and ask Audrey where she was, and so decided to stalk her Facebook. There wasn’t anything on her page and he was confused. He thought she would have been home, getting ready for their date, but she wasn’t. Did she forget, sushi dinner and dancing with Piper and the guys?

Where was she?

He’d had a rough night partying with his teammates. It was a good time, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Audrey. He even texted her from the club to tell her he was sorry he wasn’t home. She was cute about it and told him she expected something big today. He planned on delivering just that. In the fridge there were a dozen fresh-cut, pink chrysanthemums that he knew she would love. He was excited to give them to her and even more excited to wrap her up in his arms.

But something didn’t feel right.

Where was she?

Messing around on his phone, he brought up her number and pressed Call. It only rang twice before she answered.

“Hey.”

“Hey you,” he said, smiling at the sound of her voice. “I’m very disappointed right now.”

“Why?” she asked flatly.

Fuck, something was wrong.

“Well, I’m home, and you are not.”

“Oh, shit, what time is it? Crap, I’m turning onto our street, I’m almost there. I lost track of time,” she said, flustered.

“Whoa, it’s okay. I was just joking with you.”

“Oh, well I’m home now,” she said just as the crunch of her tires on the gravel sounded her arrival. Standing up, he smiled as his eyes met hers.

“You are, and man, love, you are simply gorgeous.”

Audrey smiled and waved as she said, “Oh, thanks. Wow, you really know how to cheer a girl up, doncha.”

“Get out of that car, now,” he said, and made his way toward her. Audrey met him halfway, and he enveloped her in a tight, fierce hug. She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her nose in his chest, holding him just as tight. He placed a kiss on top of her head, then nuzzled his nose in her hair. They stood in each other’s arms like that for what seemed hours though it was only minutes. He loved the feel of her and felt that she needed this.

That she needed him.

“I want to kiss you, Audrey,” he whispered into her hair. “Look at me.” When she looked up at him, he saw her eyes were pooled with tears. “Whoa, what’s wrong?”

Shaking her head, Audrey bit down on her lip and looked down at his chest.

“Audrey, love, tell me.”

“I saw Levi today.”

“What?” he said as she moved out of his arms, leaving him feeling empty. He had a bad feeling growing in his chest and no clue what it was.

“I told him it was really over. He’s been texting and calling and stuff, but I told him to leave me alone.”

Tate nodded. “Good.”

“But he said some really awful things to me, and Tate, it still hurts.”

“What did he say? I doubt anything that asshole said was true, he was just trying to hurt you.”

“Well he succeeded,” she said sadly.

At the crunch of gravel, they both turned to see Piper pulling into the driveway. Turning back to Audrey, Tate said, “Tell me what you need me to do.”

She paused, then said, “I need you to be my friend.”

It felt like she had kicked him in the gut. “Your friend?”

“Hey!” Piper yelled as she made her way toward them, “Hey, Tate,” she said, but he couldn’t speak. He stood there unable to catch a breath, sensing that a wall had come up between them again.

And like before, he’d run dead into it.

Tate didn’t say a word to Audrey through dinner. He hadn’t even given her the flowers he bought. All he did was sit there and eat. It wasn’t like she was talking to him, though, she just picked at her food, basically ignoring everyone. Phillip and Piper were in a full conversation, with Erik adding in his part here and there. Tate noticed that Erik had been talking a lot more to Piper, and if Audrey hadn’t been in a pissy mood, he would have pointed that out.

Glancing over at her, he hated how even though he was mad, and hurt, he couldn’t help but think she was gorgeous. Her hair was down along her shoulders, hiding the open back of her lace black dress. It was frilly and girlie as hell, and man, she looked good in it. It came to her knees, and she wore lace black high heels with diamond-encrusted heels. Her makeup was soft this time, and she looked so damn vulnerable. Despite being upset, he just wanted to make everything better.

He just didn’t know how.

After dinner they all rode in Phillip’s big truck to Wanna B’s. Audrey and Piper were stuck in the back with Tate, and she was pressed to his side. He wanted to wrap his arm around her, tell her everything was okay and that what ass-hat had said wasn’t true. But instead he sat there, waiting for the night to be over. Once parked, everyone piled out of the truck and headed
into the nightclub. When Phillip stopped him, he held back as everyone walked past them. “Everything okay with you and Audrey?”

Tate nodded. “Fine,” he lied before moving away and heading to the bar. Glancing back to where Audrey and Piper sat talking, he downed a beer and ordered another one.

“You sure?” Phillip asked from beside him.

“She fucking friend-zoned me again,” Tate said, pointing to Audrey with his beer. “And I want to kill the guy who is fucking with her.”

“Wow, I haven’t heard you cuss that much off the ice. You must be angry,” Phillip said, leaning beside Tate, drinking his own beer. “If you need help with the body, Erik and I got you.”

Tate nodded. “Thanks.”

“Tell me what happened, maybe I can help.”

So Tate did, in the middle of a bar while the girl he wanted sat not even fifty feet away. “So tell me, is it worth it? Do I stand here and wait, or do I go on? We have something, something great, but she won’t let go of all the shit this dick did to her.”

“Well, I am the wrong person to ask, I fuck ’em and leave ’em,” Phillip said. “That’s how I roll. But I agree there is something between you guys, and if I can see it, you know it’s real. So I mean, shit, Tate. Do you … What do you want to do?”

“I want her to love me.”

Phillip nodded, a shocked expression on his face. “Okay, what does she want?”

“She wants me to be there for her as a friend. She said she needs a friend.”

“And now you both are acting weird?”

“Yeah.”

“So stop, act like nothing changed. Until she says, ‘Tate, I don’t want you,’ keep on the
way you’ve been. Be persistent. Don’t give up.”

Tate glanced across the bar and saw Audrey was sitting by herself now. On the dance floor he saw Piper and Erik dancing close, intimately. He had been so excited about getting her on the floor again, about being close. Phillip was right. Setting his beer down, he cupped Phillip’s shoulder in thanks then made his way across the bar. Audrey looked up just as he reached her.

“Get up, love, let’s go dance,” he said, pulling her up. Once they were on the dance floor, he took her hands and made her dance with him. When she wouldn’t move, he asked, “What’s going on!?”

She shook her head, pointed to the door. “Tate, let’s go talk.”

He smiled, shook his head and pulled her in close with his arms. “I don’t want to talk. I want to dance with the most beautiful girl in the room. So come on, show me these mad moves.”

Audrey moved her hands up his arms and shook her head. “You’re not gonna give up, are you?”

Tate smiled, leaning his head against hers. “Never.”

After that, the night went great. Tate and Audrey danced, and enjoyed the company of their friends. They just did what they did best, and that was being together.

Phillip had decided to go home with some girl, leaving them without a ride. Phillip was good for some things, but when a girl was involved, he was hopeless. Erik and Piper decided to share a taxi, leaving Tate and Audrey to get one of their own.

Standing in the driveway of their condos, Tate paid for the taxi as Audrey stood beside him, his jacket tightly around her. Thanking the driver, Tate turned, wrapping an arm around her.

“It is freezing out!” she declared, snuggling closer to him.

“It is, come on, let’s get you inside,” he said, walking with her to her door.

“So, thanks for a great night,” she said, turning to face him. “You really know how to show a girl a good time.”

Tate smiled. “You are welcome. I am just glad I got to see these mad moves of yours.”

“Told you they were killer,” she joked as she smiled brightly at him.

Silenced stretched between them as they stood staring at each other. Tate pushed his tongue against his teeth before taking her hand in his. “Are you going to let me kiss you good-night?”

Audrey looked long and hard at him.

“Kiss me, Audrey,” he said, pleading with his eyes. “Give me the green light, love.”

She shook her head as she moved away, opening her door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tate nodded and watched as she gave him one last look before shutting the door. Lacing his fingers behind his head, he let out the breath he was holding. She was going to drive him insane, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t have anyone to call to help him figure it out. No family, no friends who could help. He was on his own, and what he wanted to do was not necessarily right. In his mind, he would have kissed her and worried about the repercussions later. He needed her, and he could see in her eyes that she needed and wanted him.

Oh well, there was always tomorrow.

Digging his keys out of his pocket, he’d gone to open the door when Audrey’s opened again. She peeked out, and he looked over at her, heat filling his body at the sight of her. She had changed into a T-shirt, and from where he stood, it looked like she only wore panties. She held out his coat with a small, shy smile on her face. “Here.”

He moved toward her, looked down at the coat and then her.

That was it. This was happening now.

Without warning, he pulled her by her outstretched arm and gathered her into his arms, kissing her hard. Since her lips were already parted, he moved his tongue inside her mouth before pushing her against the wall between their doors. Her hands moved up his arms, taking hold of his shoulders as he continued to drink from her mouth, their tongues dueling. When they parted, her sparkling brown eyes were full of the same heat that filled his.

“I can’t be friends,” he said before bringing her back to his mouth.

He moved his hands down her body as hers stayed at his shoulders, holding him close. His hand squeezed Audrey’s full ass before he lifted her and pressed himself into her. He was harder than a frozen puck, and he was more than ready to be inside her.

“Say yes, Audrey,” he said against her lips. “Tell me I can make love to you.”

Her breath was tickling his lips as she nodded, breathlessly saying, “Please, yes.”

Tate knew that if he didn’t get them inside, he was going to have her right there. So he picked her up, his arms wrapped around her ass as her legs wrapped around his waist, and carried her inside. He slammed the door shut with the back of his foot as his mouth stayed busy with hers. He needed a flat surface and he needed one now. He looked around the room. Everything seemed so far away, his need for her was so compelling, so intense, that he slowly lowered her to the floor, looking deep into her eyes as he laid her down. She looked up at him through heated eyes with a smile tugging at her lips.

“Can’t make it to the couch?”

“Fuck no, I need you now,” he said, before standing and chucking his pants off. He pushed his boxers down, and saw Audrey’s eyes go wide when his erection sprang free. As he looked down at her, trying to figure out what to rip off first, she smiled. As if she knew what he
was thinking, she moved her shirt up and over her head, giving him a delectable view of her bright purple thong. Then she moved her hands up her body, removing her matching bra, leaving her complete and fantastically bare with only a little piece of purple covering her moist wanting spot. It was so unbelievably hot seeing her like that. She was so gorgeous, so curvy and beautiful, his hand drifted to his shaft and moved it slowly up and down as he bit down on his lip. He wasn’t going to make it. She was going to kill him with her sexiness.

“God, that’s hot,” she gasped as she watched him.

“This is hot? You should see what I see,” he said before dropping to his knee and taking hold of her waist. When he flipped her around, she let out a little gasp as he admired the view from behind. Her ass was the perfect size, with a roundness that set him on edge. The only problem was that purple piece of fabric, separating him from his desire. Running his hands along her cheeks, he slid his fingers under her thong, moving it aside so he could see her beautiful core, glistening with the proof that he had turned her on as much as she had done him. He moved his hand over her ass, cupping her sweet dripping wet core as she let out a hearty groan.

“God, I want you,” she whimpered, causing him to bite down on his lip before he started to move his thumb roughly over her taut clit. She let out a strangled moan as he continued to assault the most sensitive spot on her body. He wanted her to come, but he wanted to be inside her when she did. He moved back, using his other hand to direct his shaft inside her, pushing forward until he was fully inside her. They both let out appreciative groans at the intense connection. He had been waiting for this, and the way she felt around his pulsing cock wasn’t a disappointment. It was fucking fantastic.