Empty Net

by Toni Aleo

  He chuckled, a deep throaty sound that made Audrey’s girly parts scream. Oh, he was sexy. “I am always right.”

  Audrey giggled at his cockiness. It was totally something Lucas would say, and thinking of him made her smile. She nodded her head before looking back up into the giant’s eyes, “Is that right?”

  “Yes, I’ve been watching you all night and I am sure I was right to come and talk to you because honestly, you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen.”

  Oh, wow.

  ***

  Tate Odder was nervous.

  He wasn’t lying to the beautiful brunette when he said he had been watching her all night. He had been sitting at the bar when she walked in with her phone at her side, looking so gorgeous it took his breath away. There was something about her wide bright brown eyes that had him begging to know her name. He spent hours watching her and her friends. He recognized the team’s owner, Eleanor Adler, and he swore that one of them was his good friend, Lucas Brooks’ soon to be wife, Fallon, but he wasn’t sure. Not that he cared though. He had eyes only for the curvy brunette and he had to figure out a way to go over there. Even after calling Lucas six times to tell him about her, he still couldn’t get the balls to walk over to talk to her.

  Since coming to Nashville, Tennessee eight months ago, he still hadn’t adapted to dating in Music City. There was something different about the girls here than in his Swedish homeland. Maybe it was their accents or his but he felt like an idiot. No matter how much Lucas coached him on the art of picking up women, Tate couldn’t do it. He was scared they would make fun of his accent or the gap between his teeth.

  He was just starting to get popular in the NHL world. Even though he was ranked fifth in the NHL for saves, he still wasn’t confident enough to walk up to a woman.

  But that was about to change.

  When the beauty walked to the bar by herself, Tate channeled his inner Lucas and made his way toward her. When he got closer and saw that she looked sad he had to know why.

  Tate couldn’t help notice how beautiful she was. She was short, but he didn’t mind. After dating nothing but tall Swedish women, he was ready for a change. Tate liked that she wasn’t bone thin either, he liked that she had wide hips and a nice round ass. When his eyes fell on her large breasts, he had to make himself look up into her beautiful face. There was something about big breasts that did it for Tate. Call it cliché but he loved big breasted women.

  The bigger the better.

  As his eyes met her heavy lidded, bright brown ones, he couldn’t help but smile. Her eyes sparkled as a bright smile came across her luscious glossy lips. “All night, huh?”

  Tate nodded as his eyes filled with lust. He needed her. There was something uncommonly beautiful about her. Maybe it was the shape of her face, round but with a pointy nose. Or maybe it was the fact that he couldn’t keep his eyes off her chest. What it was, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he needed her.

  Now.

  Nothing was said as the two stood gazing into each other’s eyes. Tate couldn’t help but notice the lust swirling deep within her eyes as her smirk grew wider. When Tate asked Lucas to help him pick up women, he thought Lucas’ advice was going to make it easier for him. He was completely wrong. He had spent the last four months listening to every pick up line Lucas gave him but even at that moment, nothing was coming. All he could do was stare into the depths of her brown eyes. They were mesmerizing.

  “You’re beautiful,” he gasped out.

  She bit into her bottom lip and Tate’s grip on the bar tightened. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. I should be thanking you for gracing this world.”

  Ooo, good one, Lucas, Tate thought as blush dusted the beauty’s cheeks.

  “Ooo, that was smooth,” she giggled. She lightly brushed her hand against his, and Tate was convinced his hand was on fire. She must of felt it too, because she gasped, moving her hand away quickly before looking up at him.

  “I have to tell you,” she said with a shy grin, “It’s usually not this easy.”

  He looked down at her, “Easy how?”

  “This easy to pick me up. I usually make guys work for it.”

  He grinned and her smile widened, “So you want me too?”

  She eyed him, her face bright with excitement. He may have been a little too forward but he was a blunt person, and hardly ever hid his feelings from anyone.

  She moved closer, her eyes grew dark with lust as she said, “I do and I don’t even know your name.”

  “Do you want to know it?” he asked with a cocky grin. It was another line out of Lucas’ book and Tate couldn’t believe he remembered half of what Lucas told him. He was drunk, and horny, not a good combination when trying to pick up a woman. Especially one as gorgeous as the one who stood in front of him.

  Tate expected the beauty to nod her head, so when she shook it, stepping closer to him, he mentally prayed he was ready for what she was about to say. Things were so much different in the States than in Sweden. Back home all he would have to do is nod at a female and she would be on him quicker than he could blink. He was a hockey god there, but not here. Tate wasn’t used to feeling like he wasn’t good enough or that he couldn’t succeed and he hated feeling like that. He knew that his confidence would be broken if she told him to fuck off, so he took a deep breath as she went toe to toe with him, her head only reaching to his chest before looking up at him with a sexy little smirk on her lips.

  “All I want to know is when you can leave? I have a room not even a mile from here.”

  A slow grin went across Tate’s lips as his hands came to rest on her hips. When they connected, she inhaled sharply and brought her bottom lip between her teeth as she gazed up into his eyes. Tate had never felt such a connection than he did with the woman who stood in his arms. He wanted to throw her against the bar and have his way with her. He had never in his twenty-one years felt the need to totally devour a woman, but he did now. There was something special about this girl, and he was going to find out what it was.

  He didn’t hesitate or even think for that matter. Tate just smiled as he nodded towards the door, “Let’s go.”

  As they walked through the crowded bar together, hands locked, Tate couldn’t help but smile and thank God for Lucas Brooks.

  Chapter 2

  Something was ringing.

  Very loudly.

  Audrey couldn’t move, or open her eyes. Her head was pounding and her body was gloriously aching, but the ringing needed to stop. It was her alarm, and if she didn’t find her phone, it would never stop. With each little ding of the alarm, she swore her head was going to explode. Man, she had a lot to drink last night.

  Since Audrey never went far without her phone, she started patting her hand around her limp body. She patted around her pillow, off to her right, and by her legs. When she couldn’t find it, she used her left hand to pat along the other side of her.

  When her hand connected with what she knew wasn’t her phone, more like a very large penis, a loud, male grunt filled the room. Audrey’s eyes opened quickly to see that she wasn’t alone in the massive king size bed.

  “That’s one hell of a way to wake me up,” her bedmate crooned as he leaned closer, dusting her lips with his.

  Audrey blinked a few times as the blonde hottie reached out, stretching the mouthwatering muscles of his arms. He glanced back over at her and gave her a sweet closed mouth smile as she still lay there in shock.

  Did this really happen?

  Did she really bring a guy to the hotel room last night?

  She still had to be drunk because something wasn’t clicking. She remembered dancing, and drinking a lot with Fallon and the girls, but nowhere did she remember the hottie who lay beside her. She didn’t even remember his name- oh wait! It was all coming back to her. She told him she didn’t need to know. As his eyes bore into her, the whole night began to replay as Audrey’s phone continued to sound. He had called her beautif
ul with his hot little accent and she was a goner.

  Yup. How very whorish of her.

  Audrey’s hands came over her face as she mentally began to kick herself. How could she do this? She didn’t even know if he was clean or anything! Audrey never did this. She was usually careful about how long she dated before she jumped into bed with a man. She made Levi wait a good couple of weeks before he got her naked. All Blondie (She had to call him something!) had to do was say she was beautiful and she was ready.

  She was such a little slut!

  When Blondie’s hand slid across her belly, to pull her close to him, she pulled away. Scrambling out of the bed, her footing was a little off and she fell on her face with a loud thud. Pain shot through her nose to the back of her head.

  Yeah, that wasn’t her smartest move of the morning.

  “Are you okay?!” he asked as she lay with her face in the plush carpet.

  “Just fine,” she muttered as she thought of a way to get out of there.

  She didn’t even know where her clothes were. She also didn’t know what she told this guy. Did she tell him her name? Did she tell him what she did for a living? Who her father was?

  Even with all those questions running through her head, she couldn’t help but think that they had spectacular sex the night before. The best sex ever. It was even better than it was with Levi, or hell, anyone in that case. He was a giving lover, something Audrey had never experienced. Guys had always wanted theirs when Audrey would sleep with them, but not this guy. He wanted her to have hers over and over again, and he wasn’t even worried about himself.

  He was fantastic.

  But amazing or not, she had to get out of there. She popped up and looked over to where he lay with his arms above his head and the sheets lying low on his waist. Three black birds graced his chest and on his bicep was a wire cage with the door open. Her eyes moved from each bird to his amazing set of abs before resting on his pelvic muscles. They made a perfect V, pointing right to the place she wanted to be, again. There was a vein leading to his naughty place, tantalizing her. Lord, how Audrey wanted to follow it like the yellow brick road with her tongue. Her mouth watered at the thought. It had to be the sexiest vein she had ever seen.

  Jesus, he was hot.

  She swallowed loudly before saying, “I gotta go.”

  “You do?” he asked, coming up on his forearms.

  Audrey nodded as she got up and started for her clothes, throwing them on as she reached each piece. She was starting to panic, what if she had caught something! The world was plagued with crazy sexually transmitted diseases and she was pretty damn sure they didn’t use a condom. At least she didn’t see any anywhere around the room. Lord, what had she done? And why did he have to look so sexy all laid out for the world to see. It wasn’t right for a man to be that gorgeous!

  Audrey erratically looked through the room for her shirt, but she couldn’t find it. When she glanced back to where Blondie sat watching her, she saw her shirt.

  Beneath his massive feet.

  Audrey let out a huff as she zipped up her skirt. He looked down to where she was looking and then back up at her. When his eyes met hers, Audrey’s whole body caught on fire. His eyes were such a captivating ocean blue. As their gaze stayed locked, she swore she could feel the surf running up on her ankles, the sun hitting her face, and could actually smell the salt in the air. They were so beautiful, so picturesque.

  Man, she needed to get out of there!

  She was beyond embarrassed. He probably thought she was a whore, sleeping around with random men five minutes after meeting them! He probably thought they were going to go at it all day and then they would leave without contacting each other ever again. Little did he know that wasn’t going to happen! She would never be able to face this guy again, not with the nagging feeling of him thinking she was a whore.

  Audrey went to the bed, pulling the shirt out from underneath his feet before dropping down on the edge of the bed. Her shoes were right under the bed, so she reached under to grab them before sitting up as she slid her feet into them. She felt the bed move as she bent over to buckle her shoes. When she felt the warmth of his hands rest on her waist, and then his lips touched her bare back, she froze. His lips moved along her spine before resting right below her bra strap.

  “Don’t leave,” he whispered his breath warm on her back. “Let me get to know you. I don’t even know your name.”

  Audrey swore that breathing wasn’t an option. No man had ever been so tender to her. How could a simple kiss on her back make want her to rip her clothes off and jump back in bed with him? He was a stranger, and he probably thought she was a slut! There was no way he wanted to get to know her! Yeah, naked maybe, but not her, not the real Audrey.

  She stood up, moving from his grasp before pulling on her shirt and then reaching down to buckle her shoes. She found her purse and then, finally, her stupid phone that was still sounding the alarm. Silencing the annoyance, she saw she had six missed calls and 14 text messages.

  Shit, they were mostly from Fallon and she was probably freaking out.

  “You gotta be out of here by 11,” she said, not looking over at him.

  “Okay, I’m getting up now.”

  She nodded as she texted back to Fallon that she would call her in a few. She then looked up just in time to catch Blondie pulling his jeans up, also to take notice that he didn’t wear underwear.

  Why couldn’t she jump back in bed again?

  “Can I at least get your number, maybe your name?” he asked after digging his phone out of his pocket. She could tell his English wasn’t perfect, and she still found herself loving the accent. It was hot and smooth, like butter on a hot skillet.

  Man, he was yummy. The only good thing about this was that she actually picked up a gorgeous guy!

  “Not a good idea,” she muttered as she walked toward the door. “This was a one night thing.”

  She looked over her shoulder to see him watching her, “It doesn’t have to be.”

  Audrey blinked twice before shaking her head. There was no way this was happening. Did he really think she thought he wanted to be with her? He came with her knowing what they were going to do, so why would he think that she would fall for his notion of it being something more? She was tired of being fucked over by guys, and even though this guy was beautiful, and gorgeous, and generous, she didn’t know him. She would be damned if she was going to be fucked over by another Levi. Audrey knew she was being a bitch, but she didn’t want to get hurt again. She couldn’t put herself out there again.

  She had to stop this.

  She had to be strong.

  So when she locked eyes with her bedmate, her heart pounding against her chest, she knew what she needed to say.

  “Yeah, it does.”

  Audrey pulled into her driveway, and put her new black Volkswagen CC in park. Even though she fell in love with her car at first sight, she wasn’t feeling it right now. She was feeling more like a big ole whore, and she was dreading going inside. She knew when she went in that all Levi’s things would be gone and that he wouldn’t be there. She knew she shouldn’t be sad, but she was. She hated that their relationship was so jacked up, and she missed him already, and for some reason she missed Blondie.

  How did that make sense?

  Audrey had this nagging feeling inside her that she had made a huge mistake walking out of that hotel room. It might have been her leaving Blondie, or maybe the fact that she didn’t make sure he left. What if he ran up her tab at the hotel? Not only was she a whore, but also a whore who might be spending money on a hotel room for a man she wasn’t even sleeping with! She needed to call the hotel. Not now, but soon.

  Audrey made her way into the condo, and locked the door behind her. She dropped her overnight bag down on the couch and looked through the condo. Fallon had taken a lot of her things with her when she had moved out. That didn’t bother Audrey much, but she did miss Fallon’s ugly owl statues and her silly
little wine holders. Fallon was obsessed with wine, while Audrey couldn’t give two shits about the industry. She had promised herself that she would start collecting things she liked, but the only thing she had done was buy one inspirational picture. Audrey’s eyes observed the quote that was in a Victorian style frame above her bookshelf.

  Move on. It’s just a chapter in the past. Don’t close the book. Just turn the page.

  Well, didn’t that just apply to this moment in her life right now?

  Audrey rolled her eyes, hating that she thought it was a good idea to get inspirational quotes for her house. As she headed for the kitchen, she tried to ignore the fact that all of Levi’s shoes were gone but it was hard. If his things were there she would have already started bitching about the shoes that took up all the spare spaces in her living room. Or the way all his magazines cluttered her table, and the way he couldn’t put a glass in the sink if his life depended on it.

  Audrey opened the fridge taking out a can of beer and a big Kit Kat bar before heading up the stairs. She had to find something to distract herself and since Lucas was slow to finish the closet he was building for her, it seemed to be the perfect distraction. Beating the hell out of boards with a hammer, imagining that each nail was Levi’s head was a perfect way to distract herself.

  At least she thought so.

  She laid her beer and chocolate down and picked up a hammer. Lucas had worked hard knocking out the wall between Aiden and Fallon’s old rooms. Yes, it was a little ostentatious of her to want a humongous closet, but it made her feel good about herself. Plus, it wasn’t like she would ever have a family to fill the condo, so why not fill it with shoes? Lucas had done a lot already, the shelves for her shoes were almost done, but there was still a lot to do.

  Audrey shimmied out of her skirt and threw it against the wall, standing only in her panties. She really needed to take a shower, but banging the crap out of a board seemed like a fantastic idea to her. She went over to the far wall, and picked up a board. She didn’t know what she was doing but she didn’t care. She slammed the hammer against the board, nailing 18 different nails into the wall before she crumbled to the floor and promptly started crying.