Empty Net (44 page)

Tate glanced over at her, then quickly back to the road. “Did he physically hurt you?”

“What brought this up?” she asked, buying herself some time.

“It was brought up a couple weeks ago.”

“By?”

“Lucas.”

“Oh,” she said, dropping her hand from his face. He didn’t let her get far before he tangled his fingers with hers.

“Tell me.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, he did.”

“How?” he asked, his hand squeezing hers as his body went tense.

“He was really rough with me in bed. He never hit me, but he would make me take it the way he wanted. He also liked to choke me when he climaxed. It did nothing for me, but he got a kick out of it. He was really mean when he talked to me sometimes too. But it’s fine, I’m over it,” she added quickly when she saw him shake his head.

“I am going to kill him,” Tate sneered.

“No, you’re not. What good would that do? He is gone. It’s me and you now. Nothing else.”

“I wish you would have told me that before, baby, I would have decked him at the Christmas party.”

Audrey giggled. “And then Elli would have killed you. It’s no big deal, it’s over. It’s not like I think of it, or that I’m even worried about him anymore. I was in a bad, desperate spot, and I thought I was in love. I was ready to take anything as long as he stayed with me.” She squeezed his hand as she said, “But now I know what love is, Tate. You made me realize my past mistakes with guys.” With a laugh, she added, “Thank God, I woke up next to you three months ago.”

Tate kissed the back of her hand again and smiled over at her. “Thank God, for sure.”

Audrey smiled as he seemed to relax. He took a turn and then another until they were in the city of Lebanon. Driving down a road Audrey was familiar with, they ended up at Thompson Storage.

“What are we doing here?” she asked as he parked. Looking out the back window, she saw people gathered around the gate as Tate shut the engine off.

Looking back at him, she found him grinning at her. “I figured we have watched enough
Storage Wars
that we can give these people a run for their money,” he said. “I have a pocket full of cash, and we are going to buy us a locker.”

Audrey let out a squeal. “Shut up!”

“If I shut up, how am supposed to say, yuuu​uuuuu​uuuuu​upppp​ppppp​p!” She was in a fit of giggles as she wrapped her arms around Tate’s neck. “You’re the best,” she whispered against his lips.

“Am I?”

She couldn’t contain her laughter as she and Tate mimicked the show’s famous, “Yuuu​uuuuu​uuuuu​uuuuu​uuuuu​uuppp​ppp!”

Audrey was surprised they were still dressed when they made it inside her condo.

Tate couldn’t keep his hands off her, and she couldn’t keep hers off him on their way back from Lebanon. They came home empty-handed, but that was by choice. They had fun screaming the famous “yup,” but there wasn’t anything they wanted. It was a disappointment in one way, but at the same time, she would have never gone if it wasn’t for him. He continued to amaze her every day, and after their amazing special date, she was in a rush to get him naked.

After ripping his shirt over Tate’s head, Audrey ran her hands down his chest, took hold of his jeans and brought him around the couch. There was no time for foreplay, she wanted him inside her, now. His fingers did quick work of her blazer and jeans before she ripped them off, throwing them to the side with his shirt. With his jeans down, Audrey pushed his black boxers down, freeing his spectacular hard on, taking in the beauty that was him. As she undid her bra, she took him into her mouth, racking her teeth along the length of him before tantalizing the tip with her tongue. Tasting the sign of his arousal on her tongue, she inwardly groaned, then pushed her bra away and pulled her panties down.

Tate gave her a lazy smile as he ran his hands down her naked body, causing goose bumps to appear along her skin. She moved her hands up his chest, to his shoulders, then pushed him down onto the couch, much to his surprise. As she straddled him, she held his thick dick in her hand, guiding it until he was hidden inside her. They both let out matching groans of appreciation before she started to move up and down on him. His hand gripped her hips, picking her up and guiding her down slowly, building her climax. She was almost there, but then Tate’s hands left her hips, taking her full heavy breasts in his hands, bringing them together as he swirled his tongue around her tightly beaded nipples. She fought for air, her body squeezing his. When his hand came between them, moving his fingers into her hot, wet sheath, she exploded
into a thousand pieces. Digging her nails into his shoulders, he captured her lips with his as her body convulsed around his hard cock. Tate bit her bottom lip playfully, taking her hips in his hands and moving her up and down his straining dick at a quicker pace.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She wanted to please him for all he had done for her that day, not be like a noodle and let him have his way with her. Pushing through the cloud of her arousal, Audrey took his hands from her hips, getting a confused glance from him before she placed his large hands on her breasts.

“Mm,” he moaned as his lust-filled eyes held hers. She could only nod as she started to rock against him. She picked up speed, riding him hard, her body slamming against his, his hard dick deep inside her as his head fell back. She watched as he bit down on his lip, which encouraged her to go faster and harder. He was deep inside her, and she felt another orgasm building. But then he suddenly took her by her arms, holding her still as he stood up. She let out a scream as he let her fall while holding her by her arms, upside down, her legs tight around his waist as he pounded into her. She had never had such crazy, wild, abandoned sex in her life, but man, did she love it!

He thrust inside her, his hands tight around her wrist, until she shattered again, but this time he came with her. Their bodies shook and twitched as they rode their climax to the end.

Afterward, Tate pulled her up, cradling her in his arms as he kissed her lips hard. She opened her mouth, then her tongue danced with his as she felt his dick twitch and come back to life inside her. She looked deep into his eyes, moving her fingers along his jaw. “I think you broke me,” she gasped, taking sharp breaths as her body sang for his. Only he could make her feel like this. No other man had ever turned her inside out and made the hurt feel good.

Tate kissed underneath her jaw, said, “I will always be here to put you back together.
Always.”

The next couple of days were magical. They spent every waking moment together. They went to movies, stayed home to watch reruns of their favorite shows, looked for places to rent for Audrey Jane’s, but most of all they made love. Every chance they got they enjoyed each other’s company. It was amazing. She had never been so in love, and she wouldn’t change it for the world.

However, she had made a mistake in taking Aiden to a germ-filled kid concert. Ironically, the group was called The Little Petri Dishes, and there were tons of kids in attendance with their grubby, sickly hands everywhere.

If she hadn’t gone, she knew she probably wouldn’t have been in her bathroom now, sitting on the floor with her head in the toilet, puking her brains out. Her stomach felt like it was going to rip open and little aliens were going to run wild out of it. She was puking, crapping, and had a fever that burned her body from head to toe.

It sucked.

Especially since Tate was leaving for eight days.

“Baby, I’ll stay, I don’t have to go, and it’s only the All-Star game. They can get someone else,” he said from the doorway of her bathroom. She hated that he was seeing her like this, but there was nothing she could do about it, and she was throwing up so bad that she hardly cared.

“No,” she said, waving him off. “It’s your first invitation, you gotta go.”

“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter, you are more important.”

She knew he was just being sweet. For weeks he had been so excited about the All-Star
game. They had bought two tickets and planned to go together, but that plan went out the window when she got sick.

“No, Tate, go. It’s okay, I swear. I’ll lie on the couch, watch you on—” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence because she started puking again.

“This is stupid, I’ll just stay,” he said, coming up behind her and rubbing her back.

“No way, good sir,” she said, wiping her mouth. “You are still considered a rookie goalie, and it is your first week of All-Star stuff. You’ve got to go.”

She heard him let out a frustrated breath before he said, “Well, maybe you will feel better before the flight tomorrow morning.”

Holding up her hand, she crossed her fingers. “Fingers crossed, ’cause I want to be there with you.”

She didn’t make it.

She spent the next couple of days laid up on the couch, running to the bathroom. Thankfully, the pain, diarrhea, and fever subsided, leaving her puking only every once in a while. It was horrible. But most all she was upset she missed going with Tate to All-Star week. She was stuck watching it on TV, which was awesome but sucked at the same time. He looked so excited and he was first pick by Team Adler, which Audrey thought was the best choice, but everyone thought Shea would have picked Bob Timoney Luckily, Shea was able to pick Lucas before the other team so that one team was entirely made up of Assassins. The game wasn’t until Friday, but before that they had the skills challenge and other cool stuff. Tate had told her he was really excited but wished she was there with him.

So did she.

After a couple days laid up on the couch, Audrey slowly got dressed, trying to look professional and like a cupcake maker. Just as she reached for her gorgeous green peacoat, she had the urge to throw up. Running across the hall to the bathroom, she realized that she could run pretty well in heels. Diving for the toilet, she puked to the point where she was dry heaving.

“Oh my God,” she groaned, sniffling as she took deep breaths. “This is horrible.”

Sitting back on her haunches, she reached for a towel to wipe her mouth, then stood up, reached for the toothbrush and brushed her teeth. After reapplying her makeup, she only made it two steps out the bathroom before she was turning around again, dry heaving.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” she asked no one at all out loud.

After a few more minutes of dry heaving and reapplying her makeup, she finally made it downstairs to grab her bag and paperwork before leaving. She had a meeting with her realtor about the building she wanted for Audrey Jane’s. It was on West End, beside a busy restaurant chain. The space was perfect, and huge, with a kitchen already in the back. She was beyond excited. Now if only she could stop puking, life would be a heck of a lot better.

When she arrived at the vacant red-brick building, she parked her car and made her way around to the other side, where her realtor, James Justice, Shea’s brother-in-law, was also there. James smiled as she approached.

“Audrey, so great to see you again,” he said with a smile as they shook hands. James had been her family’s realtor for years. He helped with all of Rocky Top’s realty needs, and now he was going to help make her dream a reality.

“Hey, James. How are the kiddos?”

“Great. Ryan is getting huge, acts more like Shea each day, and Amelia is perfect.
Beautiful, just like her mother,” he said, opening the door for her.

“Aw, that’s great. How is Grace? I haven’t seen her since the Christmas thing at the arena. She was working then and I didn’t get to talk to her much.”

“She is good,” he informed her as he hit the lights. “She is busy, like always, but good.”

“Please tell her I said hi,” Audrey said.

“Will do. I have to say, Audrey, you are just glowing. Are you excited?”

She giggled. “I am!”

“Awesome, let’s check out this space. I really think it is what you need for Audrey Jane’s.”

And on he went, into his realtor spiel. The windows were wide, he pointed out, and would be great for displaying her cupcakes. The floor plan was spacious, so she could have a dine-in area, and also a play area for kids. The ceilings were high, with beautiful chandeliers hanging from them. Although they weren’t in the best of shape, they were unique and fixable. The lease, he went on to explain, would only be for six months, or a year if she wanted. it.