Empty Net

by Toni Aleo

  With those words, Tate came to mind. Audrey wanted to shake the thought away but it didn’t go anywhere. Pictures of Tate playing with Aiden and then holding Posey played front and center in Audrey’s mind. He would be the best father ever.

  To someone else’s kids.

  “Your person is out there Audrey, don’t give up and don’t settle for crap,” Elli said bringing Audrey’s attention back to her.

  Audrey slowly nodded, knowing that Elli was right.

  “Now come on, Tate is holding my babies and we have a party to get too.”

  Wiping her eyes again, Audrey followed Elli out the bathroom, through the sitting room, and into the hall where Tate stood with Shelli and Posey. Audrey’s heart could have exploded with the sight of him with the two little girls. He was at such ease with them in his arms.

  “Give me my babies, Tate Odder,” Elli giggled.

  Tate smiled as she took both her babies, kissing them both before saying, “Thank you”. Elli then looked between Audrey and Tate before pinning Audrey with a look.

  “Sometimes what you’re looking for is right in front of you. Don’t be blind Audrey, it isn’t attractive.”

  With that Elli Adler was gone.

  Audrey looked up to see Tate watching Elli walk away. When he turned to look at Audrey he shrugged his shoulders, “That was weird.”

  Audrey giggled and Tate smiled before saying, “Are you okay, I’m sorry for….yeah I have no clue what I did.”

  Audrey continued to giggle to the point of tears. Tate joined in, leaning against the wall as she held her stomach. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Oh, good,” Tate said in a whoosh. “I was worried that saying you are beautiful was wrong, or something.”

  Audrey shook her head while her face started to hurt from smiling so widely. It was weird how not ten minutes ago she was crying her eyes out. And now, out in the hall, being with Tate for only a minute, she was laughing her butt off. He was so easy to get along with when she allowed herself to enjoy him.

  “It isn’t wrong,” she finally said when she stopped laughing.

  “Well then, really Audrey,” he started, his voice dropping a few octaves, “you are simply gorgeous today, every day for that matter.”

  Her laughing stopped as the air rushed out her.

  God, his voice was orgasmic!

  Audrey’s cheeks started to warm as she looked up at him through half lidded eyes, “I thought we were friends.”

  Tate smiled, his grin wide, “We are. I can think my friend is hot, can’t I?”

  Audrey giggled, “I guess.”

  “What, you don’t think I’m hot?” he asked with a wounded look. “It’s my beard, huh?”

  Audrey was full out laughing again. If only he knew how much she wanted to lick that beard of his. “Jeez, I thought only girls fished for compliments.”

  Tate chuckled loudly, “I am just curious to what you think.”

  Audrey rolled her eyes. He was fishing and he knew it. Without thinking, Audrey moved off the wall onto her tippy toes so she was closer to him. Her lips only inches from his jaw, she whispered, “I slept with you didn’t I? I think that says something.”

  Tate ran his tongue along his bottom lip, his gaze holding hers, “Sure it does, but you ran out the next morning, what does that say?”

  Audrey knew she was wrong. She was flirting and she had no intent of moving forward with him. She couldn’t help it though; she was so attracted to him. All thoughts of Levi were gone when Tate was around. It was different and it felt good not to be sad over an asshat.

  Taking in a shuddering breath, she whispered, “That I was stupid?”

  Tate took in a quick breath, and Audrey’s gaze fell to his lips. They were so full, so inviting. Audrey wanted nothing more than to get lost in his kisses, but she knew it was wrong. Even if she felt good around him, he wasn’t the guy for her. Audrey thought back to what Elli said, but Elli didn’t know what she was talking about when she said that ‘what Audrey was looking for could be standing in front of her’. Elli didn’t know, hell, no one knew, that Audrey would never be able to give Tate what he wanted. She had seen him with the Adler babies; it was obvious he wanted little babies of his own.

  Ones with his DNA.

  Tate was frozen against the wall as he watched every move that Audrey made. She started to move away, she had to, or she was going to ignore all the reasons she couldn’t kiss him and do it anyway.

  “Flirting is against friends rules,” she said as she backed away down the hall.

  “But it’s fun,” he said with a grin.

  Audrey nodded, “It sure is.”

  And it was fun even if it could be considered another epic mistake, because Audrey felt that their friendship wasn’t going to last long. Either they wouldn’t be able to be friends, or they were going to end up in bed.

  She didn’t know which one was worse.

  Audrey was lying on the couch, recapping how great Shelli’s party had been while she looked mindlessly through the Facebook app on her phone. Aiden was upstairs asleep, but Audrey wasn’t tired yet, so she decided to take time off instead of work. She needed to check in on work stuff but she had no desire to do that. She much rather play on Facebook.

  Being the nosy girl she was, she typed in Tate’s name and waited for his timeline to come up. Tate had posted a new status 16 minutes before and Audrey couldn’t help but laugh when she read it.

  Friendship is harder than I thought.

  She hit the ‘like’ button and rolled her eyes. Little did he know that she was thinking the same thing. She was starting to rethink her reasons for wanting to be with him. She had no clue what he wanted in a relationship, hell, she didn’t even know if he wanted a relationship. He just wanted to get to know her. What if he did and didn’t like who she was? But what if he did and she really liked him. Next thing you know they are in love and Audrey has to tell him she can’t have his children. Then what? Would he understand? Would he want to adopt a baby? Or would he leave her? Could she really put herself on the path to potential rejection?

  Before she could make a witty comment, there was a knock at the door. Glancing up, she wondered who it was. Looking at the clock, she noticed it was almost midnight. Rolling off the couch, she headed for the window where she saw Lucas’ truck in the driveway.

  “Eek!”

  Running to the door, she threw it open to her beautiful sister and her husband. “Y’all are home early!” she said wrapping her arms around the two.

  “We caught an early flight home,” Fallon said against Audrey’s cheek, “we missed y’all too much.”

  Audrey pulled back, grinning at two of her favorite people. They were tanner than they had been, and both looked blissfully happy, especially Fallon. She looked as if she had been loved to the ends of the earth and back.

  Lucky bitch.

  Jealous, Audrey said, “Did y’all have fun?”

  “Too much! It was a blast, you have to go to Goa, it’s beautiful!” Fallon gushed as they came inside. “Audrey, oh my God, let me tell you, it was insane. No one was there but us and Alex, our chef. It was magical.”

  Fallon looked up at Lucas with a dreamy look that made Audrey want to puke.

  In a good way, of course.

  “It was,” Lucas agreed, leaning over to kiss Fallon softly. “Now where is my little guy?”

  Audrey smiled, “Upstairs, in the closet that you have not finished.”

  Lucas smiled sheepishly, “I’ll get it done.”

  “When? You have hockey to play.”

  “I’ll get to it. I have help I am going to call on,” he said with a grin.

  Knowing that the help was Tate made butterflies flutter in Audrey’s belly. She could just imagine him, shirtless, sweat dripping down his hot, rock hard body.

  Sheesh, I’m a total horndog. Guy Break? Was I an idiot?

  Ignoring her weird horny thoughts, Audrey watched as Lucas ran upstairs to get Aiden. Turnin
g her attention to her glowing sister, she asked, “So did y’all do it everywhere?”

  Fallon scoffed, her face flushing, “Every damn surface imaginable!”

  That had the sisters in a fit of laughter. “Oh, Audrey, it was fantastic. I feel so rejuvenated, so ready to get back to work, be a mommy, and watch some hockey. Gosh, I just love my life.”

  “At least one of us does, I’m happy for you, Fal,” Audrey said sincerely.

  “Uh oh, trouble in Audrey’s land?” Fallon asked with a concerned look on her face.

  “Nothing that can’t be discussed when you come down from your sex filled week. I refuse to ruin that for you. So don’t think of me at all.”

  “Okay,” Fallon scoffed as she made a ‘come on’ kind of look, “if you didn’t want me to worry about it, you shouldn’t have made the comment.”

  Thankfully, Lucas and Aiden came down stairs. Aiden was grinning ear to ear, his arms held out for Fallon. She took Aiden into her arms, hugging him tightly while kissing all over his face. Watching Fallon be a mom was probably one of the greatest gifts ever. Just as she had taken care of Audrey growing up, she cared for Aiden exceptionally. Audrey had noticed such a difference in Fallon since Lucas came along. She was much happier and smiled a lot more. Fallon being happy should have made Audrey happy and it did for the most part, but there was still that part of Audrey that was beyond jealous.

  “Ready to go home, bud?” Lucas asked. He then wrapped his arms around his little family, and tears sprang to Audrey eyes.

  They were leaving and Audrey would be all alone.

  Why was she always so emotional!?

  “Did you get a new couch?” Fallon asked.

  Shit! Audrey had forgotten that Fallon would notice something like that.

  “Yup! Those hippogriffs I left, they poop everywhere! Me and Will cleaned up what AA missed after she bought the new couch.”

  “What?” Lucas asked, confused.

  “Who is Will?” Fallon asked.

  Audrey laughed, “I’ll explain everything later. Y’all are tired, go home.”

  “Okay,” Lucas said with a shake of his head before kissing Audrey’s cheek and heading for the door.

  “Say bye to AA and thank her for keeping your stinky butt,” Fallon giggled. Aiden held out his arms and Audrey took him quickly, kissing his cheeks loudly.

  “Thank you for keeping me,” Aiden said against her cheek.

  “Anytime, Punkin, you know that.”

  “Yup! I love you!”

  Audrey smiled, “I love you ‘cause you are honestly my favorite of all time in the history of ever, kiddo.”

  Aiden grinned widely before kissing her loud on the lips.

  Then they were gone.

  After shutting the door, Audrey fell onto her couch, digging her face into the pillow before taking in a deep breath.

  She then cried herself to sleep.

  Chapter 10

  “That’s all you got?”

  Lucas glared before shooting the puck, hard towards the net. Tate hit it using his glove hand with ease before giving his friend a taunting grin. Puck after puck, Tate brushed off with the skill that had been drilled into him since he was four. He would never forget the day his dad dressed him in too-big goalie gear and threw him in the net. His father and four of his father’s friends, all took turns, shooting pucks, hard, at Tate. He missed every single one.

  But that wasn’t the case anymore.

  He was pretty sure after years of practice and camps that he could take on the five grown men. Tate was now the highest ranked goalie in the US. It was a proud accomplishment. He only wished his dad was there to see it. He would have been so proud. His mother and sister would also have been exceedingly excited for him.

  Now there was no one to be excited or proud of him.

  Only himself.

  Blocking another shot that Lucas tried to put in between his legs, Lucas threw his stick against the boards, distracting Tate from his sad thoughts.

  “I mean, shit! I can’t score against you if my life depended on it!”

  Tate forced a laughed as he tucked his stick between his pad and leg before taking off his helmet. “Hey, thankfully you don’t have to worry about shooting against me.”

  Lucas shot him a dirty look from center ice, before skating towards him. It was great to have Lucas home. Tate was getting lonely, running and lifting weights without him. They had gotten into a routine since becoming friends so long ago. Lucas felt more like his brother than friend or teammate. It was nice to have someone who he could talk to. Maybe he wasn’t as alone as he thought. He did play on a team of 30 guys, but he didn’t have a soul-deep connection with anyone of them. Not even Lucas knew all of Tate’s secrets.

  He knew only the basics.

  Tate was engaged, his parents and sister died, he came to the United States.

  There was really nothing more that Tate wanted to share with him. But he wanted to share his life with someone. Someone who would love all of him, especially the broken part.

  After a six-mile run, they decided to play around until Lucas had to get Aiden ready to go to school. It was such a convenience having an ice rink in Lucas’ house. Not only was Aiden right upstairs, making it easier on Fallon and Lucas for childcare, but Lucas and Tate hardly ever had to go to the arena to skate except for team practices.

  Running his hand through his wet hair, Tate squirted some water into his mouth before throwing the water bottle down on the back of the net.

  “So what did you do while I was gone?” Lucas asked before stopping in front of Tate, his own water bottle in hand.

  “Nothing. Watch a whole lot of TV.”

  Lucas laughed, “Sounds like fun.”

  “Yeah, Leann called last night,” Tate said, referring to his old speech therapist.

  “Did she now? What did she have to say?” Lucas asked with a dirty grin on his face.

  Tate shrugged his shoulders, “She was making sure I was doing well, and asked if I wanted to come over.”

  Lucas chuckled, “So you got laid last night.”

  Tate laughed, shaking his head, “No, I didn’t go.”

  Lucas stopped laughing, “What?”

  Tate shrugged his shoulders again, moving his skates back and forth, “I didn’t want to go.”

  “Didn’t want to go? What are you talking about? She is gorgeous and you said she was fun.”

  “She was, but I don’t want to only have sex with her,” Tate said sheepishly.

  Lucas face scrunched up, “I’m sorry. I am so confused right now.”

  “What?” Tate asked.

  “You were really into Leann, what happened?”

  Audrey happened.

  Tate hadn’t figured out a way to tell Lucas about Audrey and he needed to figure it out quickly. Tate knew that this friendship crap wasn’t going to last. The air crackled when he was around Audrey, he felt it and he knew she did too. She just had to get over asshat before she could fully give herself to him and he was the perfect person to help her forget about him.

  “I just don’t want to only screw around, I want a relationship. I want to settle down. I’ve told you this.”

  “I know this, even if I think it’s crazy. But why isn’t Leann settling down material?”

  Tate shrugged his shoulder. Tate didn’t know if she was or not. He had slept with her a few times after his private lessons and then she would leave. It was fun but it wasn’t as if she knew his darkest secrets or anything. All she knew was how to please him, and he knew the same about her. In all reality, Tate just didn’t feel a connection with Leann the way he had with Audrey. Hell, not even with Elsa did Tate really feel the way he felt when he was with Audrey.

  What did that even mean?

  Looking up, Tate caught Lucas shaking his head.

  “You aren’t telling me something,” he said, giving Tate a sideways glance. Tate didn’t say anything and Lucas’ eyes narrowed even more. “Please don’t tell me you ar
e still hung up on your runaway lay are you?”

  Tate rolled his eyes, “I like her.”

  “Like her? It was one time and you haven’t seen her since-wait, have you seen her?”

  Tate shrugged his shoulders, not making eye contact.

  “You have!” Lucas accused. When Tate looked up, Lucas’ eyes were dancing with mischief and he was pointing his finger at Tate, laughing.

  “Maybe.”

  “Who is she? Have you gotten her back in bed again?”

  “I don’t want to tell you and no, we are friends.”

  Lucas’ laughter stopped and his hand dropped to his side. “I don’t know what I am more hurt by, the fact that you don’t want to tell me or that you guys are friends and you aren’t hitting it.”

  “You shouldn’t be hurt by either, I’ll tell you when the time is right and I would rather be friends with her than not have the chance to be around her at all,” Tate explained.

  “I am so appalled right now,” Lucas said, his hand on his chest, acting as if his heart was breaking but it soon went away, and an evil grin replaced his hurt expression. “If she has you this hung up, she must have been amazing, and you need to hit that again.”

  Oh, if only he knew he was talking about his beloved sister-in-law, Tate thought with a grin.

  “I want to go slow. No matter how much I want to jump in bed with her, I want her to know I’m in this for the long haul.”

  Lucas shook his head, “You’re too young for this. When I was your age-”

  “You had met Fallon and fell hard for her,” Tate supplied.

  “Well yeah, but when we broke up, I slept with anything that had legs and tits,” Lucas said with the cockiness of a man who had been around the block a time or two.

  “And I bet you regret your selfish antics,” Tate accused. Lucas’ expression showed that he didn’t like hearing that. It didn’t stop Tate from going on though, “Lucas, I don’t want to be like the other guys, meeting girls, having sex with them and moving on to the next. It wasn’t the way I was raised. My dad met my mom, fell in love, married, and had me by the time he was 21. I am a little behind.”

  “It isn’t like it was back then, Tate. Especially here in the United States. But it’s whatever, I feel weird trying to make you sleep with all kinds of females when I am married and will never touch another but mine for the rest of my life. You do you, I’ll stay out of it, but I’m here if you need me.”