Empty Net

by Toni Aleo

  Tate reached over tapping Lucas on the shin with his stick, “I know.”

  “Cool, now come on. I will score on you,” Lucas said before he skated over to his stick.

  “Bring it, Brooks,” Tate said dropping his helmet.

  Even though Lucas didn’t understand Tate’s reasoning for wanting to settle down, Tate still knew it was for the best and that Lucas supported him. He wanted that person: the person his father had in his mother. Tate wanted what Lucas had in Fallon minus the anger. He wanted a loving, willing woman who would love him for his dorky, gap tooth, wounded self. He wanted his forever kind of girl.

  And Tate had a feeling he had one within reach.

  ***

  Audrey was having a horrible morning.

  It was one of those mornings where she wished she could go back to bed and try again the next day. After spending all of Sunday in bed crying and receiving text messages from Levi, Audrey wasn’t sure why she even got out of bed the next morning. Saying goodbye to Aiden was harder than she thought it was going to be. She knew she could see him whenever she wanted, but it was nice having the little guy around. Her house was so big and lonely now. Missing Aiden while dealing with Levi was hard and took a toll on her heart. She should have just stayed in and hoped that all thoughts of Levi’s request would go away.

  It didn’t.

  All she could see was the number of texts that asked the same thing.

  Come see me.

  I promise, she doesn’t mean anything.

  I just want to see you, I want to explain.

  Stop being like this, we have fun don’t we?

  I need my Xbox back, come drop it off.

  With tears filling her eyes, Audrey sat in the parking lot of Luther Arena trying to figure out if she should go inside and see Fallon or go to work. Even though, she rather sell all her shoes then go to work, dealing with what Fallon was going to have to say was probably worse. With a frustrated yell, Audrey pushed the car door open and headed towards the large arena. Fallon was usually at the office but since she had been away from the cellar for so long, she was there to check on things.

  Entering the Luther Arena, Audrey found herself staring up at large posters of Shea Adler, Alex Welch, the Assassins’ leading forward, Lucas, and then Tate. The first smile in a 24 hour span tugged at Audrey lips as she found herself memorizing everything about Tate’s face. He looked so cute with his helmet resting on top of his head. His eyes glowing as his mouth curved in a devilish looking smile while still hiding her favorite part about his mouth from the world. Audrey felt special to know that she was always able to see Tate’s gap, since he was always grinning for her. Thinking of his wide smile made her smile but it vanished just as quick as it came.

  She liked him more than she should. Blah.

  Wanting to jump into the trashcan and live there for the rest of her life, she made her way to Fallon’s Cellar. Audrey wasn’t sure if it was she or Lucas who was more excited when Fallon told them the name of the cellar. Audrey was sure she was going to name it after the family’s business, Rocky Top Wines, but thank God, she didn’t. In just a few short months, Fallon had turned her cellar into something magnificent. People would line up to buy wine from her, and Audrey couldn’t have been more proud.

  Stepping inside the cellar, Audrey took in the beauty that her sister had created. Along the walls, in light color wood cabinets, was every single bottle of wine that Rocky Top made. Pictures of the Assassins’ players each holding his favorite bottle hung where the cabinets were not. In the middle of the cellar was an island with wine glasses, fresh grapes, crackers and cheese, along with the bottle-of-the-day. Audrey went around the island to the counter where Fallon stood. She was engrossed in paperwork, not paying attention that someone had just walked in.

  Audrey took in the beauty of the counter that was also done in a lightwood. The cool thing about the counter was that Fallon had used old hockey sticks as the top. The whole Assassins’ team had come in and signed each stick and it was really neat to look at while waiting to check out. Above the counter in big black script was ‘Fallon’s Cellar’ and then below it was a picture of Fallon, Lucas, and Aiden from their engagement shoot. It was beautiful.

  “Hey you,” Audrey said, throwing her purse on the counter.

  Fallon jumped a little in surprise before making eye contact with Audrey and smiling. “You scared the crap out of me!”

  “My bad, how’s everything going? Did your helper do her job?”

  Fallon nodded, looking back down at her paperwork, “Yup, things look great, I’m happy.”

  “Good, so I’m here like your text commanded.”

  Fallon laughed, laying her pen down before pinning Audrey with a look, “You know why I asked you here, so spill it, what happened while I was gone?”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders, “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Same ole, same ole.”

  “As in?”

  Audrey took in a deep frustrating breath. If she didn’t tell Fallon, she was going to bother her until she did, so Audrey said in a rush, “I slept with Levi again.”

  “Ugh! Why on earth would you do that?!”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders again, looking down at the ground, “ ‘Cause I’m dumb?”

  “Ugh yeah. So what happened? Are y’all back together?”

  “We were never together to be back together, we were just fucking around, you know that.”

  Fallon shook her head, “No, I don’t know. I do know that he’s bad news,” Fallon expressed, “Look I’ll prove it to you.”

  “How?” Audrey laughed as Fallon moved to her dry easer board.

  “Easy. LEVI,” Fallon said as she wrote out his name, “is spelled like this, if you move the letters around,” she did so while talking, “It spells EVIL. He’s evil Audrey, stay away from him. He’ll suck your soul right on out of you.”

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

  “No I’m not. I’m serious.”

  “Well this has been a blast, but I gotta-”

  Fallon stopped Audrey by taking ahold of her purse, so that Audrey couldn’t move. “I just want you to be happy Audrey. I don’t like when you are sad and you know I hate when you cry. Damn it, I want you to be like me. I am blissfully happy except when I think of you being hurt by this dick. You deserve better, Audrey. Way better.”

  Audrey looked down at where Fallon’s hands laid upon hers, “I know.”

  “Then stay away from him. Why chase after someone who isn’t chasing you? He is just messing with your head. He doesn’t love you, and he doesn’t deserve to be loved by such an amazing woman. Stay away.”

  “I am.”

  “No you’re not, I can see it all over your face. You’re a glutton for punishment. You love his crap because you think it’s attention. It’s not the right attention, please, listen to me.”

  “I am.” Audrey stressed moving her bag from out of Fallon’s hand, “I love you.”

  Audrey was half out the door before she head Fallon say, “I love you too.”

  Fallon pissed Audrey off, and she knew she pissed Fallon off also, but they loved each other no matter what. Audrey also knew that Fallon was right. She always had known. But being a Parker came at a hefty expense. They were all extremely hard headed and thought they knew best. Audrey loved Levi, but she had to let him go. She would send him a check for his Xbox and she would never see him again. She had to, or she was never going to be happy. She was always going to hope for a relationship that would never work because he didn’t want her.

  Audrey reached for the door just as it opened and before she knew it, she was on the ground, her butt aching more than her heart. She looked up into the eyes of her gorgeous neighbor and was at a loss for words while worry crossed Tate’s face.

  “Audrey! Are you okay, I’m so sorry,” Tate said helping her up.

  “Ow, my butt,” she complained as she rubbed her butt softly.
“I think you broke it,” she joked pulling her purse up on her shoulder.

  “Please be joking,” Tate said and when Audrey looked up to his worried face, she laughed.

  “Yes, I’m only joking.”

  Tate let out a long breath as his shoulders slumped, “Good, you had me nervous for a minute there.”

  Audrey continued to laugh and soon Tate joined in.

  “You should watch where you’re going,” Audrey teased, “Being so big, you could have squished little ole me.”

  Tate smiled, his eyes running up and down her body before looking back into her eyes, “I don’t know if I’m sorry that I ran into you, Ms. Parker.”

  He was flirting.

  Damn it, he was flirting and Audrey liked it. It took her mind off everything that was breaking her heart and made her focus on something good. Someone good.

  Audrey couldn’t help it, a grin turned up on her face and she flirted right back, “Is that right?”

  “Yeah,” he said, his grin growing, “I wanted to ask if you would want to go out tonight, as friends of course.”

  Audrey looked away, knowing damn well he wasn’t thinking of them being friends at all. Fortunately for her, she had plans. “I got plans tonight. I have a date with my DVR tonight, maybe some popcorn and a beer will join us.”

  Tate chuckled, “Can I be included in the guest list?”

  “As a friend of course,” Audrey supplied.

  Tate raised his hands, his palms up as his grin remained on his face. “Of course. Plus, I can bring ice cream to make up for hurting your bum.”

  Audrey eyed him for a moment, biting down on her lip. He was closer than before. His body only inches from hers. Had she moved or had he? Why was it every time she was around him, her body was pulled to his? It was the weirdest thing.

  Looking up at him, she said, “That’s true, my poor bum would like some ice cream so that it can build more cushion.”

  Tate took in a deep breath, his eyes getting darker as his voice dropped to a husky male voice of yumminess, “I think your bum has the perfect amount of cushion.”

  “Do you now?” Audrey found herself asking while her finger twirled a stray piece of hair.

  “Oh yeah.”

  Nothing was said as heat burned between them. She wanted nothing more than to lean up as far as she could and hope that he would meet her for a hot lusty kiss. Her lips begged for his and with the way he was looking at her mouth, she was sure he was wanting the same thing.

  But they were just friends!

  Friends!

  “We’re friends,” Audrey said, taking a step back, “baby,” she said pointing to him, then she pointed to herself, “old hag, I’ll see you tonight, Tate Ooooodder.”

  She walked away then, reaching for the door just as he said, “We’re friends but when I look at you, I don’t see old hag, Audrey.”

  Sparing him one last glance, Audrey saw the heat in his eyes. Seeing his want, made her body catch on fire and her girlie parts wet with want. But then reality set in and all her hot feelings went away. Tate may not see an Old Hag, but little did he know, Audrey basically was one.

  ~*~

  Audrey’s day didn’t get better.

  Worse was more like it.

  The only thing keeping her from killing her employees with her stapler was knowing that she would be in front of her TV with a beer and popcorn and hopefully some ice cream, if Tate came. She wanted to be excited for seeing Tate too, but knowing that nothing could ever happen between them, made being around him hard. She wanted him, bad. But it didn’t matter. For his sake and hers, they were better as friends. She couldn’t ruin his life by being selfish; he deserved to find a woman who could give him everything he wanted. Audrey wasn’t that person.

  With consumer reports and expense spread sheets by her side, Audrey sat clicking away on Facebook. She should have been working, but she hated this place. Hated the color of the orange that adorned the walls, hated the employees, hated everything. She was not made for customer service. What she was made to do was beyond her, but she knew it wasn’t a freaking desk job.

  Audrey leaned on her hand, looking at her friend’s statuses when a knock came at the door causing Audrey to look up.

  “Come in,” she said, shutting the page down in case it was someone important. Like her father.

  It wasn’t though.

  Taking in a deep trouble breath, Audrey looked up in the face of the last person she wanted to see right now.

  Levi shut the door behind him, smiling down at her as he leaned against the door. Of course, he was looking gorgeous as ever in a dark blue button up shirt and khaki pants. His light grey tie hung loosely around his neck as his eyes stayed pinned to hers.

  “Hey there, Cupcake,” he said in a low voice, “you’ve been ignoring me.”

  Clearing her throat, Audrey asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you. Like I said, you’ve been ignoring me.”

  “Well, there is a reason. You were quiet the ass the other morning,” Audrey said, not moving as Levi rocked back on his heels, his hands in his pockets as if he was nervous. Audrey knew better, but it still tugged at her heart to see some kind of emotion from him.

  “You know I’m not the best person to deal with in the morning.”

  Levi then took a step forward towards her desk, and Audrey didn’t move, even though she knew she should have. She stayed behind her desk, watching as he came around the desk, pulling her chair out so that she faced him. He gave her another lazy smile before squatting down and looking up at her.

  “I have nothing to say to you, Levi,” she said so softly she wasn’t sure he heard her. Levi moved his hands up the back of her legs and Audrey froze. She knew she needed to make him stop but with the way he was looking at her, like he cared, like he might love her, had her frozen in place.

  What if he did love her and all this stuff they had been dealing with was over. He wanted to come home! He wanted to be with her! Maybe she could get him to adopt!

  “Don’t be like that, Cupcake, talk to me. Don’t you miss me?”

  Audrey’s heart skipped a beat at the name he had for her. He used to always call her his little Cupcake when she would be busy in the kitchen, working hard to make something good for him. That was when baking was most fun, when she had someone to bake for. Levi didn’t eat sweets much but when he did, they would have a blast stuffing their faces. Those were the early days, when she mattered and when he was just with her, well, as far as she knew, anyways.

  Moving away, she folded her arms across her chest, “Even if I do, it ain’t like you miss me. I saw you with her, Levi, y’all looked really happy.”

  Levi shook his head, moving on his knees to get closer to her, “I don’t want her. It’s a convenience, Cupcake. You’re the one I think of all the time.”

  “No I’m not,” Audrey scoffed.

  Levi gave her a sweet shy smile, his eyes bright as he slid his hands down the back of her calves to the 5 inch coral suede Jimmy Choo heels that were killing her feet. He slowly slid her left shoe off, taking her aching feet in his hands. Moving his skilled fingers along her aching arches, Audrey was basically in heaven with the devil knocking on her heart.

  “Remember how good I make you feel, Cupcake? Remember?” he whispered against her bare knee. Closing her eyes, and letting her head fall in the plush backing of her chair, she let out a long breath as he continued to move his fingers in just the right way to have her putty in his hands.

  “Yes, but there are also times, I can very vividly remember you being a huge ass to me too.”

  “But there are more good times than bad, you know that,” he whispered.

  Levi was right, there were more good times and they were great, but the bad times were worse. Opening her eyes, she sat up, removing her foot from his grasp. She couldn’t think straight when he was doing that. Looking him in his deep brown eyes, she shook her head.

  “You hurt me, Levi, count
less times.”

  Levi moved up on his knees, leaning over to cup her face softly. He skimmed his thumb along her bottom lip, while still holding her gaze with his. “I want our good times.”

  The next thing she knew, their mouths were connected and his hands were in her hair, pulling her closer. His lips were thin, but efficient. As his tongue sweep inside her mouth, she felt her heart stop. She had missed his lips and his kisses so much. She found herself drowning in them when she knew she shouldn’t. But it seemed that no matter how far away she was from him, she could always feel him near. She wanted nothing more than to drown in his love, and be his forever, but she knew this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He was just ready to get laid again.

  “No you don’t,” she said moving away, “you want to have sex with me, that’s all.”

  “Well yeah, but, Audrey, that’s not all. I miss your laugh, and I’ve never missed someone’s laugh before.”

  Audrey shook her head, “Levi, I want more, and you know that.”

  He rolled his eyes, “I can’t give you the husband, kids, and white picket fence, but I can give you a good time and maybe in the future, I’ll change my mind, but damn it, Audrey, I’ve missed you. You’re my number one girl.”

  “Out of how many,” she said in disgust, moving away more. There needed to be distance between them. She was doing a good job withstanding him, she couldn’t stop. Not now.

  “Don’t be like that, Cupcake,” he said pulling her close to him. She didn’t know how he did it again, but she found herself in his arms, looking deep into his eyes. “Let’s start over. Let’s not jump into a domestic relationship where you cook, clean, and take care of me. Lets just try to be friends, that, you know, fool around.”

  “So you want me to be a convenience fuck? I’m not her,” Audrey said referring to Janet.

  Levi laughed, “Jeez, Audrey, no. I want you to be my friend with benefits.”