Empty Net (8 page)

Not that she approached any of them.

She stood with Piper, watching the dance floor and drinking more champagne than she needed. Piper was wearing a bright red halter top that was lined in stones along the bust. Her skirt was a sparkly black and her red heels were to die for. They made her at least six inches taller and made her legs look long and lean. She looked amazing with her long, light brown hair in big curls and her makeup done so perfectly that her eyes looked bigger than normal. She was one stunning chick.

“Fallon is so pretty,” Piper gushed.

Audrey nodded as she watched her sister break it down with her groom. “Yeah, she is,” Audrey agreed, downing the rest of her champagne. Her eyes swept around the room, taking in the gorgeousness of the men. “So are the men in here. Jeez, that hockey team is smoking hot!”

Piper giggled. “Right! Man, that one guy, the one with no teeth, whoa! If he just kept his mouth shut the whole time, I could probably holler at him.”

Audrey giggled as she shook her head. “Yeah, he is, but did you see Anderson? My God,
Fallon was right, total eye candy. I could suck on him like a Blow Pop!”

Piper laughed loudly. “You’re so bad!”

Both ladies giggled, then Piper went quiet and Audrey looked down at her, confused. Piper was staring off to the side where her twin sister stood with one of the most gorgeous guys in the room. Reese stood tall in silver heels that matched her short, sparkly silver dress. It was open in the back and hung off her shoulder, showing off the amazing tree tattoo that took up her whole back and shoulders. Piper had one to match; it was their twin thing. Reese’s hair was braided down her back and her makeup was dramatic and gorgeous. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome stood only inches away, obviously spitting some mad game at Reese. She was shaking her head, laughing, but Tall-Dark-and-Handsome wasn’t giving up. He obviously had his sight set on Ms. Reese Allen.

“What’s wrong?” Audrey asked.

“Nothing,” Piper said, looking away. Audrey looked down at her until Piper looked up, and then saw the hurt in her eyes.

“Who is that?” she asked Piper.

“Erik Titov, Jakob’s brother.”

“Oh, do you not like him?” Audrey asked. She hadn’t met Erik yet, but she’d heard of him. He was apparently a great guy, quiet but nice.

Piper shook her head sadly. “More like totally in love with him. But he wants nothing to do with me. He wants Reese.”

Audrey’s heart broke. She knew what it was like to lust after a guy who wanted her sister. She had lived it growing up. Thankfully, she didn’t have that problem anymore. She took Piper’s hand in hers and squeezed.

“He doesn’t deserve you.”

Piper gave her a watery smile before nodding. “Excuse me.”

Audrey let her leave, and when a waiter passed with a tray full of champagne, she took one. She didn’t know what was up with Piper and Erik but planned to find out. She would give Piper some time before she forced it out of her. She would need cupcakes and maybe some vodka. Piper was a lush when it came to vodka.

“Well, hey there, beautiful.”

Audrey looked over and almost did a double take, seeing the guy she had left alone in her hotel room not more than a week ago. She took a quick breath as her eyes met his. How the hell did he find her? Even in her state of shock, she couldn’t help but notice he looked positively scrumptious with his big blue eyes and blond hair. That was probably the reason she slept with him. He was beautiful.

“Hey …”

Yup, his name wasn’t clicking at all. Eek, she was such a slut! Wait, she remembered now. She hadn’t wanted to know his name. And why did he look younger than he did the other night? He looked like he was sixteen! Oh, goodness! What had she done? She was a child molester! She was going to go to jail for sleeping with a minor!

Oh, good Lord!

Her one-night stand laughed as he looked around. “Should my feelings be hurt that you don’t know my name?”

Oooh, he had an accent. She recalled that now. Man, accents were sexy, but not coming from an infant! She needed to get rid of him, and fast.

She smiled and looked around for something to pull her from this conversation. “Not at
all. I was very drunk that night. I doubt you even remember my name.”

“Audrey Jane Parker.”

Audrey whipped her eyes back to him, shock all over her face. “How’d you know that?”

The guy smiled, and her pulse kicked up in speed.

He had a gap in his teeth.

She loved gaps!

Another reason she probably went home with him. Man, she was such a little hussy.

“I Googled ‘Most Beautiful Girl Ever’ and your name came up.”

Audrey broke out in a big grin as her face flushed. “Smooth.”

“I thought so. No, I play with Lucas.”

“Lucas? Lucas Brooks? My new brother-in-law?”

The guy nodded, and Audrey decided this was getting worse by the moment. Not only was he an infant, but he also played hockey with Lucas. Not good. She pinched the bridge of her nose and gasped out, “Does he know?”

“That we slept together?”

“Yeah?” Audrey asked.

“Not at all. I don’t want to get killed.”

She couldn’t help but giggle as the guy looked around the room. Probably to see if Lucas was in earshot. Ever since Fallon finally decided to stop being an idiot, she and Lucas had become close. Lucas was the brother she never had, and she loved him dearly. She couldn’t count how many times Lucas had yelled at Levi for dating her. He hated it and said that Levi wasn’t good enough for her.

Maybe she should have listened sooner.

Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she asked, “So what is your name?”

She needed to know. There was something about him. Maybe his eyes. They were mesmerizing. Or maybe his swagger. He was confident. He really looked at her like he was taking in everything about her, and she liked that, but knew that nothing could ever happen between them. She just needed to get him to promise never to mention that night and everything would be fine. She needed to make sure that Lucas and Fallon never found out about them. They would freak.

“Tate. Tate Odder,” he said. He flashed her a winning grin, taking her breath away. He had beautiful white teeth with a sweet little gap between the two in front. When her eyes took in his gap, her breath caught. Man, that had to be the hottest thing ever on a guy. It was the simple imperfections that always made Audrey’s heart race.

“Otter?” she said. By the way he kept grinning, she had said it wrong.

“Ooo-der,” he said, breaking down the sounds for her.

“Oooooooooder?” she asked.

Tate smiled.

“Works for me.”

They shared an intimate grin before Audrey looked away. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Thank you for the cupcakes.”

Whoa!

“You’re my neighbor? Lucas’s best friend?” Oh God, how did it not click? Fallon had said countless times that Tate was young and that he was gorgeous! Was she that distracted by the gap and his eyes that she didn’t even realize he was her neighbor?!

“Yup, that’s me.”

Oh God, she couldn’t breathe. The guy who she slept with was not only her neighbor but also her brother-in-law’s best friend and the guy for whom she sat up for hours just to listen to him play the piano. No wonder he was good with his hands and fingers. Ack! Don’t think about sex with him, Audrey! she told herself. Dumb girl! Ah!

“Oh my God,” she gasped out.

“What?”

“Oh nothing, I just fucked up royally.”

Tate’s face twisted in confusion. “Royally?”

“Yeah. I got drunk and slept with my brother-in-law’s best friend, who is also my neighbor, who probably isn’t over the age of eighteen. I am a winner.”

“I am twenty-one,” he said sternly, and she could tell he was irritated.

“Well, thank God, you can drink! Oh my God, I am sick,” she muttered, before taking a long pull of her own drink. She needed to get away from him. She was pretty sure she couldn’t embarrass herself anymore, and really, who sleeps with a kid? He was seven years younger than her! When he was being born, she was in first grade, begging Bryan Richards to hold her hand! When he was seven, she had sex for the first time with Bryan Richards! And when he was fourteen, she was getting an abortion! No, it wasn’t Bryan Richards’s baby, wouldn’t that have been something, but still! She was eons older than this kid!

“So, I take asking you to dance would be a waste of my time?”

Audrey nodded. “Yup, sorry. What we did was a one-time thing. I hope that you keep that to yourself because we do need to live by each other and more than likely this won’t be the last family event we are at together.”

Wow, she was being a bitch. But she couldn’t help it. She was beyond embarrassed, and a
little drunk. She also hated that she still wanted to get to know him. Why did he have to be so young and sexy? Couldn’t she pick up a guy her own age? Was she that hopeless that she went for the first guy who hit on her? When she glanced up and her eyes met Blondie’s—
oh wait, Tate’s
—her heart started to race. He was staring at her with such a wounded look. Did he really think something was going to happen between them?

Audrey watched as his hand moved toward her, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Nice to see you again, Audrey.”

With that, he walked away and her shoulders sank. She wanted to run after him and apologize. She wanted to make him realize that she wasn’t good enough for him. He was too sweet, too innocent … okay, innocent was a long shot. She remembered the things he did in that bed. He was very much a man, but still, she felt bad. Tate deserved a young girl, someone with bright blond hair and blue eyes, so that when they were ready, they could make beautiful little blond-haired, blue-eyed babies. She wasn’t that person. For some reason, her heart hurt. She had this fantasy about Blondie, and now that she knew who he was, her fantasy was gone. He was untouchable.

“Who was that?” Audrey turned to see that Piper had returned.

“That guy I slept with after Fallon’s bridal shower,” Audrey said with a huff before finishing off her ninth glass of champagne.

“Really? Good God, he was beautiful! Why aren’t you trying to do a repeat?” Piper exclaimed.

“Because he is a baby, and my brother-in-law’s best friend, and my neighbor.”

Piper’s eyes went wide. “Wow, A, you sure know how to pick ’em.”

Audrey laughed. “Right?”

Well, that didn’t go well.

Tate was sure that when their eyes met, Audrey would have remembered the moments when they were in bed together. But for some reason, it seemed she hadn’t. She was hot and cold in a matter of minutes. One minute she wanted to know who he was, the next she basically dismissed him! What the hell? So what if he was Lucas’s friend? As soon as he told Lucas that he wanted Audrey, he was pretty sure that Lucas would be supportive. Lucas was a little weird when it came to Audrey, but surely Lucas knew that he was a good guy.

But honestly, what was her deal? She acted like she was better than him or something. They both wanted what happened in that bed. He was the same person then as he was now, so what was the problem? She wanted him with a fierceness that he had never experienced. She basically ate him alive, and boy, did he do the same to her. He still couldn’t stop thinking of her sexy little body touching his. Her soft, beautiful skin hot against his. Man, he was getting hard just thinking of it.

Tate looked through the crowd until he found Audrey standing with Piper. Two beautiful women in one spot didn’t help his hard-on. At one point she’d moved her hand down the crease of her breast and he found he was having a difficult time breathing. Now he watched as she talked, and he loved the way her glossed-up lips moved. The way her eyes widened with each word, or how, when she laughed, she laughed with her whole body. She was bright like the sun, and he was drawn to her light. He craved it. She was radiant and he needed her. All of her.

A guy approached her then, and it was as if her light shut off. Piper looked at him and then at Audrey before looking away. The guy looked like a
Jersey Shore
reject. He was short, dark featured, and had a weird buzz-cut head. Tate hated him instantly. He watched Audrey’s
body tense up when the guy slowly grazed his fingers down her cheek.

“What are you staring at this time? Still Audrey?” Phillip asked. “Dude, just go over and talk to her, she’s really nice.”

Tate shook his head. “She blew me off.”

Phillip laughed. “Really? That’s crazy.”

“Yeah,” Tate agreed, watching as Piper walked away with a worried look on her face. Tate felt an overwhelming need to go over there and make sure Audrey was okay. Her face was twisted in worry, and the guy kept getting closer as she tried to get away.

“Ah, forget her. She isn’t worth it.”

Tate couldn’t have disagreed more.

She was worth it, and she was going to be his.