Empty Net

by Toni Aleo

  “We, ahhh-”

  “Tate you don’t have to answer her. She’s a pain.” Audrey said quickly, reaching over and smacking Piper. “Leave him be.”

  “No, she’s fine,” Tate said because he wanted Audrey to know. Since talking directly towards her was awkward for her, this was the second best way. “When the Florida Rays made an offer, my family was really excited. I was going to play in America, on one of the best farm teams in the nation. Elsa, my ex, wasn’t too happy. She didn’t want to leave home, her job, her family. She told me that if I go, we are through.” Tate paused.

  He had made the decision to leave a week after he buried his family. He had to leave; he couldn’t stay in that place. Not being able to hear his mother’s laugh, his father’s afternoon TV court shows, or his baby sister playing her violin or dancing around, honestly killed him. He couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t handle living in the house where they all had lived their whole lives. So he left. He left everything.

  “I told her this was a great opportunity, and that I was going. I asked her to come but she said, “No”. I asked if she wanted to do a long distance thing, but no, she didn’t want anything to do with me at all,” Tate finished. When he glanced up, Audrey was blinking at him while Piper was nodding.

  “Her loss, because America is freaking awesome,” Piper exclaimed with a grin, “I’m also pretty sure that you’re freaking amazing too.”

  Audrey rolled her eyes, falling back into her chair as Piper giggled. Tate smiled and leaned back also, giving Aiden a better place to lie. Aiden glanced up at Tate and smiled before taking another bite of his s’more. Tate smiled back, his heart filling with the love only a child could give him. He loved Aiden, a lot. The kid was just like his dad, and made him laugh constantly. When Tate was learning English, Aiden was always right there, trying to help. He was such a great kid.

  “Are you looking for a girlfriend, Tate?”

  Tate’s eyes met Piper’s as her face broke into a wicked grin. She slowly licked marshmallow off her finger and Tate had to chuckle. For a little woman, she sure was brash.

  “For the love of God,” Audrey muttered, shaking her head.

  “Well, Piper, who’s wondering? You?”

  It was a Lucas thing to say, but this needed to be nipped in the bud. He didn’t want Piper and he didn’t want Audrey to think he did.

  But Piper didn’t even blush, instead her grin grew. “Maybe. Maybe not. I have a source who is very curious but won’t ask anything.”

  Tate smiled, hoping that it was Audrey. He had a feeling it was, but she wasn’t giving anything away. Her eyes were glued to her phone. She was constantly on that thing, he noticed. With a chuckle, Tate said, “If the right girl came around, sure.”

  “Good to know,” she said. Audrey shook her head as Tate leaned back, shifting Aiden in his arms. The little guy had fallen asleep. His eye lashes fanned over his plump cheeks and his lips were slightly parted. He really was a sweet kid. Aiden’s head fell into the crook of his arm and Tate smiled down at him. He used to watch Matilda sleep all the time when she was younger. She was so pretty with her golden hair wrapping around her face. Her eye lashes were longer than Aiden’s, her lips fuller, but staring down at Aiden still brought back all the memories of her causing Tate’s heart to slowly break all over again. Matilda was almost five years younger than he and being a big brother, Tate felt extremely protective of her. He was always scared something horrible would happen to her.

  And it did.

  Before Tate could fully subject himself to the pain that was about to come, he was startled by the sound of hands being clapped together. Tate looked up to see Piper stand with her hands in the air.

  “I am drunk!” she proclaimed, “too much beer.”

  “Two cans,” Audrey said with a shake of her head. She then started dialing her phone before bringing it up to her ear.

  Tate looked up at Piper to see her grinning at him, “I’m a horrible lightweight. I can’t handle alcohol well.”

  Tate chuckled, “I see that.”

  “Its cause she’s a hobbit,” Audrey giggled.

  “Shut up! You are borderline hobbit too!” Piper spat back before falling back into her chair.

  “Ha-ha, whatever, I am a good ole’ 5’5 thank you. You’re what? 4’7?”

  “Oh. My. God. Audrey! That is horrible, I am 5’1!”

  Audrey turned to Tate, giggling, “She is not.”

  “I am too! Now call for my chariot!”

  Audrey laughed, “The cab is on its way.”

  “Right-o, good sir.”

  “Oh Lord, here comes her majesty,” Audrey said, taking a long pull on her beer. Tate watched as Piper sat back sipping on her empty can of beer. “Let’s hope the cab gets here before she goes into full majesty mode. You’ll probably never want to see her again, if she reaches that point.”

  “Majesty?” Tate asked.

  “Yeah,” Audrey giggled, “we tend to think we are awesome British princesses when we are drunk. It’s quite scary. But really, if I had a British accent, or hell, any kind of accent, I would never shut up!”

  Tate laughed, “Why is that?”

  “Because accents are hot,” Audrey blurted out. A second later her hands came over her mouth, as if she had said too much.

  He didn’t think so.

  Tate liked that she thought accents were hot. He had one; anything to make him desirable to her was a plus in his book. Audrey turned her attention to Piper and then they were getting up.

  “Is Aiden okay? I need to help her get her things,” Audrey asked.

  Tate nodded, “Yeah, he’s asleep.”

  “Oh! Okay, I’ll be right back to get him and put him to bed.”

  “No hurry,” Tate said. Audrey smiled sweetly down at the two of them before turning back to her friend and helping Piper to the house.

  As Tate sat alone with Aiden, sleeping in his arms, he couldn’t help but think of Matilda again. She was only 14 when the wreck happened, when her life was cut so short. But that wasn’t the moment he was thinking off. He could picture her when she was nine, with all her top front teeth gone and two on the bottom also missing grinning up at him after his hockey game. Her eyes were always so bright and full of life. Those were some of his favorite times. Matilda was loving and always cared about everything Tate did. A grin covered Tate’s face and he swore he could still hear her screaming for him when he was in goal. She was his second biggest fan, his first being his parents.

  Just as his chest started to ached and his eyes pooled with tears, a cab pulled into the driveway. It didn’t take long before Audrey and Piper were making their way down the steps and towards the cab. Taking in a long steady breath, Tate forced the thoughts of Matilda away. He watched as Audrey put Piper in the cab, reassuring her that she would bring her back to get her car tomorrow after the party. It was then that Tate remembered he had Shelli Adler’s first birthday party tomorrow. He couldn’t wait.

  Not.

  The only upside to the little girly party was knowing that Aiden and Audrey would be there. Tate watched as Audrey made her way towards him, the cab pulling away just as she reached them. She clapped her hands together and looked down at Aiden, a loving smile on her face.

  “Well, this has been fantastic, and it looks like it wore my little Punkin out. Can you hand him to me please?” she asked, her hands stretched out in front of her.

  Tate shook his head, standing up quickly and efficiently as if he wasn’t holding a 60 pound child. “I’ll carry him in for you.”

  Audrey paused for a moment, and then nodded, leading the way into her house. Tate followed behind her, his eyes drifting to the sway of her spectacular backside. He loved her curves, they drove him mad, but what he really liked was the curve of her ass. It was easy to say that those jeans were probably the luckiest things on earth. Tate would do anything to get the chance to hold onto Audrey’s ass again.

  Anything.

  Inwardly groaning, T
ate followed Audrey up the stairs. He glanced over at the pictures on the wall, and smiled at the ones of her when she was a child. Audrey had been a beautiful child. She was still beautiful. Hell, the whole Parker family was beautiful. A picture of her and Lucas reminded Tate of his best friend. It had been a long week without him at practice. It was funny how much Tate missed his cocky humor and his mean words towards their teammates. Lucas was an ass, but Tate loved him just the same.

  Once upstairs, Tate followed her into a room to the left of the stairs. When Audrey opened the door, she glanced back at him.

  “This is the closet we are redoing. It still has a bed for Aiden, but it will be moved out once Lucas gets back and finishes.”

  “Okay,” Tate said with a nod.

  Audrey then pushed the door opened and Tate went into the bare room that was the length of the whole condo. Everyone wasn’t joking when they said Audrey had a lot of shoes. They were everywhere. Tate had never seen anything like it. Since he noticed she was embarrassed by the number of shoes she had, without commenting Tate entered and headed for the bed. After laying Aiden down and Audrey tucking him in, the two left the room.

  Audrey shut the door and then leaned against it, glancing up at Tate.

  “Thanks for bringing him in.”

  Tate shrugged his shoulders, “No big deal.”

  Awkward silence filled the space between them, and Tate hated that. He wanted this to be relaxed; he wanted her to be comfortable. He cleared his throat, causing her to look up into his eyes.

  “What do I need to do to make this less stressful for you, Audrey? I don’t want this to be awkward between us.”

  She narrowed her eyes, curiously, “I don’t know what ‘this’ is.”

  Tate shrugged his shoulders, “Me neither, but when it is just us, you act weird.”

  “Because I don’t know how to act around you.”

  “You just have to be yourself, Audrey. I don’t want anything else.”

  Audrey smiled, “I’m not that girl who came home with you after 5 minutes, Tate. That was hurt, drunk, Audrey, I’ve never been like that before.”

  Tate nodded, “I understand that, I’m not asking you to be.”

  “Then what are you asking?” she asked, her eyes wide and glossy as she looked up at him. He took a step toward her, and luckily, she had nowhere to go. Her head leaned back against the wall, as her eyes met his. He watched her for a reaction and when she didn’t say anything or move, he reached out, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. He needed to touch her, and even if it was only for a second, his heart was beating in over drive.

  “I just want to know you, Audrey. I’m not asking you to sleep with me again,” he paused, his lips curving into a grin. “Not that I would mind if you wanted to,” he added with a chuckle. She smiled bashfully as he continued, “I just want to know you. I want you to be comfortable around me. Yes, I’ve seen your- what did you call them? Wobbly bits?”

  Audrey’s face broke into a grin as she nodded, “Yes, wobbly bits.”

  Tate continued to smile, “I’ve seen them and again, I wouldn’t mind a repeat but not until you are comfortable.”

  Audrey started to shake her head before Tate even finished his sentence. “Tate, nothing can ever happen between us. You are so young and my brother-in-law’s best friend. What if the relationship went south? I’ve already tried dating Lucas’ best friend, and it didn’t work out for me. I just don’t see this,” she moved her hand between them, “working at all.”

  Tate’s shoulders fell in defeat. He wanted to shake her, tell her that he was different, that he would never hurt her. She didn’t know him though, so how could he convince her when she had no proof?

  “Then let’s be friends.”

  Audrey narrowed her eyes again, her lips perked out, “Be friends?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Just friends?”

  “Sure,” he said with a shrug. He knew that once she got to know him and when he put on his charm, she would have no chance. She needed to trust him first, though. Turning on a 100 watt smile, Tate looked deep into Audrey’s eyes, begging her to say, “Yes”. He needed an in, he needed her to agree so that he could convince her he was a good, honest, man.

  Audrey watched him for a moment and then let out a long breath. “Okay, I’ll try.”

  “Awesome.”

  After saying goodnight, Tate went back to his condo. He kicked off his sneakers and tore his shirt off as he made his way through his living room before going upstairs. A grin remained on his lips as he opened the door to the second bedroom and went inside. Moving behind the piano he had had since he was four and sitting on the bench, he opened the keyboard lid and ran his fingers along the cool white keys. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone, turning it on before pushing his Facebook App. When he did what he wanted to do, he moved his fingers to the keys and started to play one of his favorite songs. It had been an emotional day, he had thought a lot about his parents and sister.

  Being so close to Audrey and not being able to either verbalize his feelings or physically touch her the way he wanted had also taken its toll, but hopefully all that would change. Hopefully, he could convince her that he wasn’t too young and that he was different than that asshat she had dated before. He was a patient man, and had no problem waiting. He knew Audrey was different.

  She was the girl who made him want to have a girlfriend.

  ***

  Audrey leaned her head against the wall with the melody A Drop in the Ocean, by Ron Pope playing just for her. Tate played it beautifully and it always made Audrey breathless. She wondered what it would be like to lie on his piano and watch him play. She bet it would be a sight to see and she would enjoy every moment, but she knew she couldn’t do it. A little piece, okay, maybe a big piece of her was already smitten with him.

  Tate was funny, he was sweet, and he loved Aiden. He wanted to know her, he didn’t just want to sleep with her and be done, no he wanted more. So why couldn’t she give herself to him. Throw all her reservations in the air and just jump in?

  Because that’s what she always did. She went out with Levi twice before she was already sleeping with him. She said she never went home with a guy after one night but she sure did the second night. She never got to know someone before she slept with them. She just jumped right in. She listened to the horny little girlie parts instead of her mind. Nothing had worked before, so maybe waiting and being patient would work this time. But was Tate that guy? He was so young. She hadn’t lied when she said it was the best sex ever. It had been. But what was going to happen when he found out she couldn’t have babies, or when she fell in love with him and he wanted to break up?

  When her phone went off, she picked it up, looking down at the display.

  Tate Odder wants to be friends. Accept his friendship?

  Did she want too?

  The door opened suddenly and Aiden stumbled in sleepily. Audrey smiled as she held out her arms for her little guy. He fell into her lap, snuggling up to her neck as he let out a breath.

  “You get scared, Punkin?”

  His little head shook quickly, “No, I miss my mommy and daddy.”

  Audrey’s heart broke a little, “Oh buddy, they’ll be home soon.”

  “I know,” he whispered, snuggling in closer to her. “Can I just sit here with you?”

  “Sure, baby,” she whispered back. Her eyes fell shut, listening to the music that took her to another world.

  “Who’s playing that music?”

  “Tate,” Audrey whispered without opening her eyes.

  “Wow, he’s really good.”

  “I know.”

  Aiden was quiet again, and Audrey thought he had gone back to sleep but then he said, “I think Tate likes you.”

  Audrey giggled, “Nah, I’m too old.”

  Aiden sat back some, looking up at her, “So?”

  Audrey smiled, “So, I’m too old. He probably wants someone his age.” Aid
en shook his head and Audrey knew he was about to argue with her so she said, “Punkin, don’t worry about it.”

  “But I want you to get married and have a baby.”

  Suddenly, it was really hard for Audrey to swallow. Her chest seized as her eyes filled quickly with tears. Looking deep into the grey eyes of his father, Audrey wrapped her arms around Aiden, pulling him in tight before kissing his head.

  “One day,” she whispered against his head, “One day, all that will happen.”

  Even though she knew it wouldn’t, Audrey couldn’t help but wish it would. As she imagined her perfect little child in her arms, she couldn’t help but imagine the child with blonde hair and blue eyes, while its daddy played his piano for them.

  She had no clue what that meant, but it didn’t matter because she picked up her phone and hit “accept”.

  Chapter 9

  “Your boy boy b-b-b-b-b-boyfriend. Your boy boy b-b-b-b-b-boyfriend.”

  Audrey shot Aiden a grin in the rearview mirror as she turned into the Brentwood area. Aiden took the lead while Audrey backed him up, banging her fist against the steering wheel with each beat. As the two jammed to the best boy band ever, Audrey couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear.

  Not only was she with the best kid ever, the cupcakes that she had made for Shelli were probably the best cupcakes ever. Audrey hoped that Elli would love the idea she came up with. Elli had said that Shelli’s favorite thing was ice cream, so Audrey decided to make Ice Cream Infused Cupcakes. With the delectable yellow cake as a base, she made a cake batter flavored ice cream to go on top as the ‘cake’ part. Whipped cream and pink sprinkles adorned the top and according to Aiden, they were fantastic. Audrey was so excited for everyone to taste them and see what they thought.

  The best part of making cupcakes is the reaction to them.

  Pulling into the Adler’s circular driveway, Audrey parked behind a little red convertible. She walked around her car, opening the doors as Aiden came up beside her, bouncing with excitement.

  “Shelli is gonna love her cupcakes!”

  Audrey smiled, “I hope so! Can you do me a favor and go get Mr. Shea, or Mrs. Elli, so they can help me?”