Empty Net

by Toni Aleo

  Which, she was, but still.

  “Exactly, so I need to find someone my age, someone who wants a long term relationship and someone who doesn’t mind me having so many shoes,” she added when really she wanted to say, ‘someone who didn’t mind adopting.’

  “You’re crazy,” Piper said with a shake of her head.

  “Eh, true, but you still adore me.”

  “Very true.” Audrey smiled as Piper ran her finger along the top of her beer. When she looked up, Audrey stopped smiling. “You haven’t heard from Levi have you?”

  Audrey looked down, picking at the label on her beer, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, I have.”

  “Blah, what in the world could that low life want?”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know, he said he needed to talk to me, and I didn’t answer him back.”

  Piper shook her head, “Please, babe, just stay away from him. He’s nuts.”

  “I know,” Audrey agreed. She looked over at her friend and said, “Speaking of nuts, are you still lusting over Erik?”

  Piper let out a long, distraught breath, running her hands through her hair before nodding. She looked over at Audrey with a look of failure. “Sure am, it is disgusting too, because I’m pretty sure that he slept with Reese.”

  Audrey made a face, “Ew, please say it isn’t true.”

  “Yeah, I think they did. I haven’t asked her yet, she has been crazy busy with the studio.”

  Audrey didn’t understand Piper’s obsession of Erik. Yes, he was insanely gorgeous with dark, dark hair and dark sexy eyes, but he kind of gave off a dick vibe. Piper was such a sweet and funny girl and Audrey really didn’t think that they would be good together. But apparently, Erik Titov did it for Piper and who was she to question it? Audrey was in love with an asshat and lusting over a child. She was in no place to judge anyone on their lusty needs.

  “Well, let’s hope they didn’t. Have you said you’re interested in him? Flirted at all with him?”

  Piper shook her head, sadly. “No, he doesn’t really look at me. I’m shorter than Reese, and I guess he just doesn’t see me.”

  Audrey rolled her eyes, “You’re gorgeous, Pipe. He’s probably too blinded by your amazing awesomeness and can’t handle it, so he goes to Reese.”

  “Audrey…”

  “What?” Audrey said innocently.

  “Be nice, she’s my twin.”

  Reese was also a bitch.

  Reese Allen was not Audrey’s favorite person. She walked around like her shit didn’t stink and Audrey was quick to tell her it did. So what if she had legs up to Audrey’s head, and who cared if she could put those said legs above her head. Audrey sure the hell didn’t.

  “I know that,” Audrey said with a smile just as Aiden came barreling down the stairs.

  “AA! Tate is outside!”

  “Who?” Piper asked.

  Audrey looked out the window and didn’t see anything, but it wasn’t like she could with Aiden’s head blocking the window.

  “He’s making a fire! We should go out there!”

  “Who’s Tate?” Piper asked again as Audrey got up and went to the window.

  “See, AA!” Aiden yelled.

  “Yup, I see,” she said as she watched Tate throw a log on a small fire.

  What was he doing?

  “Can we go out there?” Aiden asked as Piper came up beside her.

  “I don’t know,” Audrey said.

  “Oh, hot hockey-goalie-lay!”

  “Piper!” Audrey shrieked, smacking her on the arm. “Little ears!”

  Pipers giggled while Aiden paid them no mind. He was too busy slamming his fist against the window.

  “TATE!”

  “For goodness sakes, Aiden!” Audrey complained, pushing his hand from the window, “You’re gonna break my window! Bad enough you leave hippogriffs here! Sheesh!”

  Aiden shot her a toothless grin before running to the door and throwing it open. “Hey, Tate!”

  “Why is hot hockey-goalie-lay making a fire outside your condo?”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders as she made her way to the door, “I have no clue.”

  She threw a coat on as she walked outside with Piper on her heels. Tate had made his fire in the same place she had made hers. He sat in a chair, with Aiden in his lap, putting a marshmallow on the end of a metal stick.

  “AA, we’re making s’mores!”

  “Ooo! S’mores!” Piper gushed as she ran past Audrey to get a stick. Before grabbing the stick, Piper held her hand out to Tate. “Hi, I’m Piper, Audrey’s best friend.”

  Audrey had to smile at Piper’s proclamation. They really had gotten close over the last couple months, and she did love Piper with all her heart, so the ‘best friend’ status fit. Audrey looked up just as Tate flashed Piper a full on grin.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Tate Odder.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you,” Piper giggled before dropping down in an empty chair. Tate looked confused but when he looked up and his eyes met Audrey’s, they both froze. She really needed to stop looking him right in the eyes. It was like he was a basilisk, freezing her in place. She felt like she couldn’t move or think. She was lost in the sea of his eyes. A slow, sexy grin came across his lips, bringing her attention from his eyes to his full lips. When he pressed his tongue against his teeth, she swore she came.

  Seriously?!

  “Hey, Audrey.”

  The slow way he said her name sent tingles down her spine. She swallowed loudly, bringing her gaze from his lips to the ground. She waved awkwardly and then looked away, “Hey.”

  “Want a s’more?”

  Audrey was never one to turn down sweets and it wasn’t like he was asking her to sleep with him. So she nodded eagerly, sitting in the chair beside Piper. Once there, Tate handed her a stick with a marshmallow already stuck on the end.

  “Thank you,” she said, placing her stick over the fire.

  “Anytime,” he said in a low voice.

  Audrey refused to look over at Tate; instead she cuddled into her jacket, holding tight onto her stick. The temperature had dropped again and everything was dying quickly. It was probably the worst thing about winter. She hated when everything went from orange to dead. Tennessee was much prettier with color on its rolling hills. The only thing good about winter, Audrey decided, were the Christmas decorations, which she just loved.

  “So, Tate,” Piper said in a cute little voice. Audrey knew the voice well. It was Piper’s ‘pick them up’ voice.

  Who the hell was she trying to pick up?

  Audrey glanced over to see Piper giving Tate a wide smile as she bent into the fire, showing off her skinny figure.

  What the hell was she doing?!

  “What made you want to make a fire in the middle of your yard?”

  Tate chuckled as Audrey stewed with anger. She didn’t understand Piper’s game but Piper needed to cut it out.

  Holy crap, am I jealous?!

  “I was in the mood for s’mores.”

  Piper giggled, “You can’t just go making fires on your front lawn! What if the cops come by?”

  “Apparently, as long as it’s not higher than five feet and you are only burning wood, you are okay. But when you burn say, furniture, or an Xbox, there is a hefty fine.”

  Laughter escaped Audrey’s lips causing everyone to glance over at her. She swallowed her laughter, shrugging her shoulders while Tate gave her a knowing grin. “What?”

  Piper glanced between Tate and Audrey and then shrugged her shoulders, “Nothing.”

  “My mom and dad are coming home in two days, Tate! Isn’t that awesome!?” Aiden exclaimed with a big grin.

  “Sure is. I bet you are excited to see them,” Tate said. He took Aiden’s burnt marshmallow and squished it between the two graham crackers and chocolate before handing it back to him. It was weird seeing someone else who was so great with Aiden.

  “I am! I’m gonna miss my AA though, and W
ill.”

  Audrey looked up, “You can take Will with you.”

  Aiden shook his head quickly, “He says he wants to stay here and protect you.”

  Audrey smiled, “Baby, I don’t need protecting, I promise. Take your friend with you, please.”

  “I’m so confused right now,” Piper chimed in beside her.

  Audrey shook her head as Tate said, “Yeah, me too.”

  “Who is Will?” Piper asked.

  “Will is my friend. He’s sitting right there.”

  Tate, Piper and even Audrey all looked over at the empty chair, before looking over at Aiden.

  “Oh,” Piper said as Tate said, “Cool.”

  “Yeah,” Audrey responded. Will freaked her out and Aiden really needed to take him to Fallon’s.

  “You know Aiden, I could watch over Audrey for you and Will. I’m really good at protecting things.”

  Audrey looked up to see Tate grinning at her. Aiden nodded slowly, “You can protect a goal, but I don’t know about my AA.”

  Audrey rolled her eyes, “I’m a big girl, Aiden, I can protect myself.”

  “I promise I’ll keep an eye on her.”

  Tate was the last person Audrey needed keeping an eye on her. That spelled disaster.

  D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R.

  His aunt’s sanity not a consideration, Aiden nodded his head slowly, “We hope you keep your promise,” he said. He turned to the empty chair, “At least you get to come home with me instead of staying here, and watching AA divide her shoes by color!”

  Tate chuckled before glancing over at Audrey, “You divide your shoes by color?”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders, “Yeah, so?”

  “What, do you have a lot of them or something?” he asked, his eyes not leaving hers. She took in a deep breath. She was nervous, and that made no damn sense! Why did she care if this guy thought she was even more crazy?

  “Um, yeah. She has a whole room,” Aiden scoffed, “It’s crazy.”

  “It is not!” Audrey countered while Piper giggled.

  “Yes, it is. And the shoes are all high ones, not flat ones like I wear. Ones with high sticks and glitter and stuff.”

  Audrey glared at Aiden, “Wow, anything else you want to say, bud?”

  Aiden gave her a wide grin, “No ma’am.”

  Audrey shook her head while stealing a glance at Tate. He was still watching her, a smile tugging at his lips. But then Piper started to talk, taking his attention.

  “It’s really intense, Tate,” Piper said. She then took a huge bite of her s’more, making everyone wait while she chewed and swallowed. “She has this massive closet and I swear there is no room for anything in there but her heels. I bet she only has two pairs of sneakers.”

  Was it pick on Audrey night or something?

  Still staring down at her s’more, Audrey said, “It’s really not that bad.”

  Piper giggled, “Sure it isn’t.”

  “Isn’t Lucas working on your closet?”

  Audrey looked up from her s’more. Tate was making another s’more for Aiden, but still had his eyes on her. She nodded and said, “Yeah.”

  “Yeah, he asked me to help him. I guess you really do have a lot of shoes.”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders, embarrassed, “I guess.”

  “So, Tate, are you dating anyone?”

  Both Tate and Audrey whipped their heads to stare at Piper in response to her question. She, of course, was grinning her cute little gappy smile.

  “Hey, you have a gap too.”

  Audrey whipped her head back to Tate to see that he was grinning as wide as Piper was, and that they were giving each other googly eyes!

  What the hell!!

  “I do and I love it. We gap folks, need to stick together,” Piper flirted.

  Tate smiled and by the grace of God, before Tate could say anything, Aiden asked, “Hey Tate, wanna help me and Will get a soda?”

  “Aiden, I can get you a water,” Audrey said.

  “I want Tate to,” Aiden giggled.

  Before she could get up, Tate was already standing with a laughing Aiden over his shoulders.

  “Is it okay?” he asked.

  Audrey nodded, “Sure, but a water please.”

  “Will do.”

  Audrey and Piper watched as Tate carried Aiden into the house. Once they were out of earshot, Audrey reached over, smacking Piper on the arm.

  “Ow!”

  “What the hell! I slept with him!” Audrey stressed.

  “So? He’s hot, and you said you didn’t want him. I’m not on a Guy Break, but I would love to go on a break with Tate. He has a gap, Audrey, I love gaps.”

  “You don’t love gaps! I love gaps! Back off!”

  Piper’s face twisted in a grin. She reminded Audrey of a cat that just ate the canary. She actually scared Audrey a bit. “Why would I back off, Audrey?”

  When Audrey didn’t answer, Piper’s grin grew, “The only reason I could think of would be if my BFF was trying to holler at the gorgeous Tate? Are you?”

  Thankfully, Tate and Aiden chose that moment to come back outside. Audrey looked down at her sticky fingers and couldn’t help but wonder why she was telling Piper to back off. She didn’t want to date Tate, so why did it matter if Piper did? It wouldn’t last if they did hook up. Tate was too tall, and Piper was too petite. Audrey knew for a fact that Piper wouldn’t last two minutes in bed with Tate.

  He liked it a little rough.

  Piper was so short and so sweet. She may act like a horndog, but Audrey knew that she really wasn’t. All and all, Audrey knew they wouldn’t last, so why not let them date? Let them try it out and watch it blow up in flames. Tate didn’t want the things Piper wanted, and Piper was too hung up on Erik. It was a train wreck waiting to happen.

  Audrey looked up, catching Tate staring at her. Her eyes drifted shut a little as his mouth curved in a naughty little grin. When his tongue pressed the back of his gap, she knew the reason why she couldn’t let Piper and Tate hook up.

  She wanted him.

  Well, fuck.

  ***

  Tate wanted her.

  He wanted her so badly that he swore he could taste her.

  Audrey moved her finger along a stray piece of her hair, twirling it slowly, while her eyes never left his. Her face was illuminated by the fire and her eyes were half lidded. Her lips were parted a little while her other hand moved up and down her leg in a way that made Tate want to grab a hold of her. She had been nervous, or embarrassed, this whole evening and Tate assumed it was Piper who was making Audrey feel that way.

  When Piper set her eyes on Tate, he knew he was in trouble. He knew with just a glance that Piper was feisty and sweet, all in one little itty bitty package. But, every time she opened her mouth, Audrey would tense up, sending a quick look to her before looking back down at her legs. Tate didn’t understand what was going on, but Piper was up to something.

  He prayed it wasn’t to pick him up.

  For the first time, Tate didn’t want a girl to want him. Piper was a beautiful girl, sweet, but he wasn’t attracted to her at all. She wasn’t thick and delectable like Audrey. She didn’t have the mouth that Audrey had.

  She wasn’t Audrey.

  “So, Tate, you never answered me.”

  When Piper spoke, Audrey broke their eye contact. She turned her attention towards the fire. Tate glanced over at Piper to see her looking at him with a little delighted grin on her face. He wanted to be locked in Audrey’s gaze, not talk about whatever Piper was curious about.

  “What’s that?”

  Her smile remained as she asked, “Are you dating anyone right now?”

  Out the corner of his eye, he saw Audrey look towards him. Before he could capture her gaze, she looked back down at the fire. Tate took in a deep breath, moving Aiden to his other knee since the one he was on had fallen asleep. Aiden ate his s’more, happily, not paying any attention to them.

  “I am not,” Tate
finally answered.

  He swore that Piper’s grin grew, “Are you afraid of commitment?”

  Audrey took in a sharp breath before saying, “Jeez, Pipe! Personal much?”

  But Piper didn’t care. Her grin remained as she waited for Tate’s answer.

  “No, I’m not afraid,” he answered, “I was engaged for almost a year before I came over here.”

  Audrey’s head whipped quickly towards him, her face full of shock as she said, “Engaged?”

  Piper chuckled beside her as Tate shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah.”

  “How old were you?” Audrey asked, her mouth slightly parted, her eyes still wide.

  Man, she was pretty.

  “19 when we broke up.”

  “19,” she repeated. She then shook her head in what Tate thought was disbelief. He didn’t understand why though. Young people get engaged all the time, so why did it matter how old he was?

  “Why did y’all break up?” Piper asked.

  “Piper…” Audrey warned, but again Piper ignored her, grinning over at Tate.

  “Um, well….”

  Tate hated thinking of Elsa. He had thought she was the one, the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with. His mother and father loved her, Matilda didn’t, but he knew she would warm up to her. Matilda loved Tate with all of her heart and didn’t think anyone was good enough for him. But then again, maybe Matilda was on to something because without warning Tate and Elsa’s relationship fell apart. He blamed a lot of it on himself, but she had her part too.

  Tate still missed Elsa every once in a while, but it was nothing like the way he missed Audrey. It blew his mind the way he wanted her. He didn’t understand it. Tate consistently felt empty. It was worse when he didn’t get the chance to see Audrey’s luscious lips or her voluptuous body. He felt like he wanted to get in a hole and never ever come out again. The glimmer of hope that he might get to see her soon, helped Tate stay out of that hole. Call it juvenile but he was smitten with her. He just wished she felt the same.

  It would make everything so much easier.

  Tate looked up to see Piper still waiting for an answer. She was a persistent woman, that’s for sure.