Empty Net

by Toni Aleo

  While Audrey still giggled, Tate said, “I like to sleep, a lot.”

  Audrey looked over at him, confused, “Huh?”

  “No one knows that, everyone thinks I’m always ready to go, but really, I could sleep for days.”

  A smile tugged at Audrey’s lips, “Then why don’t you?”

  “I don’t know. I try but sometimes it doesn’t work.”

  “There’s pills for that.”

  He chuckled, while he nodded, “Yeah. I don’t like pills.”

  “Me neither,” Audrey agreed, “I also, love to sleep. I can be found at work passed out on my desk because I hate my job.”

  “Still?” Tate asked.

  Audrey nodded, “Still, I think I’ll always hate it.”

  “Then quit.”

  “Nah, my dad would flip and what would I do afterwards? I know customer service, it’s what I grew up doing,” Audrey said sadly, “I’ll probably be stuck there the rest of my life.”

  Tate’s brow came together, “Why do something you don’t love?”

  Audrey shrugged her shoulders, moving her hands up and down the silky fabric of her tights. “Cause my family loves it. Its kinda weird that I’m the only one who doesn’t love it, maybe I just need to wait it out, see if my love for it comes later.”

  Tate shook his head, “How long have you been there?”

  Audrey smiled shyly, “11 years.”

  Tate scoffed, “If it has not come yet, I do not think it will. You can’t wait around for something to become good, it either is, or isn’t.”

  Well didn’t that just apply to a few things in Audrey’s life at that moment?

  “I know, but I don’t want to disappoint my dad.”

  “I get that, but I doubt he would want you to be unhappy.”

  “You don’t know my dad. It’s his way or the highway,” Audrey said with a shake of her head.

  “Well that is not fair.”

  Audrey shook her head, “Life isn’t fair.”

  Tate smiled, “I guess you are right, but I still think you should do what makes you happy.”

  Audrey smiled, hugging her legs tighter as she watched Tate munch on popcorn. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to tell him everything. Even about the biggest mistake of her life. Was it because then she was sure he would be scared away, or was it because she honestly wanted to tell him?

  “I want to own a cupcakery,” she found herself saying in a small voice.

  Tate looked over at her, “What is a cupcakery? It sounds tasty.”

  Audrey giggled, “It’s like a bakery, but only for cupcakes.”

  “Sounds like the greatest plan ever. You should do that.”

  Audrey smiled, she would do anything for that dream, but until she grew balls to leave the family company, that dream would always be out of reach.

  “That’s a dream, eh?”

  Audrey giggled, “Eh?”

  Tate shyly grinned, looking up towards the ceiling, “Hey, don’t make fun of my accent.”

  “I love it! Do the ‘eh’ more, it makes me giggle.”

  Tate rolled his eyes, “I’m not going to do it ever again. Not around you.”

  Audrey took hold of his arm, laughing as she shook it, “Don’t be like that! I love it….eh?”

  Tate laughed shaking his head as she giggled. She hadn’t giggled, or laughed so much in her life. Being around him, she couldn’t help herself . He just made everything so much funnier.

  “Sorry,” she laughed, moving her fingers under her eyes, to catch her tears, “yes, yes, it’s a dream.”

  Tate shook his head, smiling as he moved his finger up and down the dewy can, “Okay, well, I have a dream.”

  Audrey couldn’t help it, she snorted with laughter.

  ***

  Tate narrowed his eyes, shaking his head.

  Even though he was pretty sure Audrey was laughing at him, he couldn’t stop his grin. Her laugh was infectious, hell, all of her was infectious. Not even hanging out with Lucas, Erik, or Phillip could amount to the good time he was having with Audrey. Her commentary on her favorite show was hilarious. When she would giggle, it was as if her whole body was laughing. She was beautiful and, God, he wanted more.

  Tate wanted to have her wrapped up in his arms, her body shaking his with her laughter. He wanted to stop her laughter with deep seeking kisses. Tate wanted to calmly lay her back against the couch and just lay on her. Feel her heat against his. He wanted to fall asleep and wake up to that beautiful glowing round face. Of course, he wanted to get her naked, but this was more than that.

  What it was, he wasn’t sure, but it was more.

  Looking over at a hysterical Audrey, he tried to scowl at her, but a grin tugged at his lips. Audrey held up her hand, still laughing with the occasional snort.

  Damn, she was cute.

  “Oh my God! I am not laughing at you, oh my God!” Audrey said. When she finally stopped, her eyes were dripping with tears, “No, have you seen Tangled? There is a part when they are like, ‘I have a dream! I have a dream!’ But at the beginning of the song, this guy goes, ‘I had a dream once.’ It’s me and Aiden’s favorite Disney movie, you reminded me of that. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to laugh so hard.”

  Tate shrugged his shoulder, “No, it is fine. I just won’t tell you since you will laugh.”

  Audrey’s mouth opened in a little ‘o’ as she took a hold of his wrist, her head shaking quickly, “I would never laugh at it! I’m sorry!”

  Tate smiled as she looked up at him with those big caramel eyes. They were dusty with happy tears. He liked them that way. “Alright, hockey is my dream, I love it, but if it didn’t work out for me, I would want to be on a stage playing music for people.”

  Audrey nodded, her lips curving in a sweet smile, “You are super good, I listen to you all the time.”

  “Really?” Tate asked, surprised. “How?”

  Audrey looked away, pulling her knees up in her arms again. He loved the view the yellow shorts she wore gave him, if only she didn’t have those blue tights on. He would have enjoyed a little peek of her tan skin but just being this close to her without her being standoffish was enough. His plan of being friends before moving on to what he really wanted was working. Audrey just needed a little time, and he would give it to her. Not much, but enough for her to realize he could be the guy for her.

  “From my closet. I lean against the wall and listen. You’re amazing, Tate. Really,” she said shyly. Her cheeks were pink and she wouldn’t look at him, which was probably for the best. He would probably kiss her if she did. He liked that she appreciated his talent.

  “Thank you,” he said, keeping his mouth busy with his beer while still watching her. It was hard not to watch her. She captivated him.

  “So I got a question.”

  She looked over at him, and he nodded, “Okay?”

  “How long were you with your ex-fiancé?”

  Tate leaned back, taking in a long breath as he moved his hand up and down his neck, “Um, we dated about six months before I asked her, then we were engaged for a year before she broke it off.”

  Audrey nodded, “So you knew you wanted to be married to her?”

  “I thought I did, but I guess I was wrong because I don’t cry over her, or miss her. I haven’t talked to her in almost a year and a half,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “How did y’all meet?”

  Tate smiled, “In the hospital, I had broken my arm while trying to play without my pads. Stupid move on my part.”

  “Wow, that was kinda stupid there, guy,” Audrey laughed, “so was she hurt too or something?”

  Tate shook his head, “No, she was my doctor.”

  Audrey’s laughter completely stopped. She sat up, her eyes wide as she asked, “Excuse me?”

  Tate didn’t understand, “What? She was my doctor; she did the surgery on my arm and basically took care of me through the whole recovery.”

  Audrey blinked a fe
w times and then said, “Was she a child prodigy or something?”

  “Huh?” Tate asked confused.

  “How old is she?” Audrey asked her eyes still wide and locked with his. When she looked at him like that, he really didn’t want to be discussing Elsa.

  “She would be 33 now; she was 12 years older than me.”

  Audrey sat there with her mouth hanging open as she gazed up at him. Tate didn’t understand her stunned looked but ignored it as he went on. “A lot of people had issues with it, but we didn’t care. My parents loved her, my sister hated her, and all my friends thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care. I thought I loved her.”

  “Wow, that’s nuts,” Audrey finally said, “12 years?”

  “It really wasn’t a big deal,” he said before grinning over at her, “I have a thing for older girls, I guess.”

  Audrey laughed, “Oh, is that right?”

  Tate nodded, his eyes grazing her beautiful body putting a stop to her laughter. “Oh, yeah.”

  Audrey shook her head, looking away, “So anyways.”

  It was Tate’s turn to laugh. He loved making her blush, and the color wasn’t only on her cheeks but her neck. He could see a vein along her neck pulsating quickly, and was screaming to be kissed. Biting down on his lip, he forced himself to look away. Tate was starting not to trust his control when he was around Audrey. There was something about her that made his hands itch to be on her.

  Damn.

  “How long were you and asshat together?” Tate said, trying to get his mind off his need to touch her.

  Audrey giggled as she glanced over to him, “Right at 8 months.”

  Tate could only nod.

  “Yeah, so anyways, I don’t want to talk about him,” Audrey said, sitting up and grabbing her phone. “Have you played Temple Run? I am obsessed.”

  “Huh?” Tate asked.

  “Amazingly awesome game. Watch,” she said as she brought her phone out to where both of them could see the screen. She tapped on an app and scooted closer, playing the game. Basically she was a guy running from monkeys or something. It seemed easy, but when she handed it to him so he could try, those damn monkeys got him every time!

  “What the hell!” he yelled in frustration as he restarted the game.

  “Told you it’s hard, but isn’t it awesome!?” Audrey gushed beside him.

  “Yes, even if it is pissing me off,” Tate laughed.

  Audrey’s giggles shook her body, and also vibrated his. It distracted him. Taking his eyes from the game to her breast caused him to lose. Again. Ignoring the desire to throw the phone across the room for the plum satisfaction of watching it break into billions of pieces, he hit restart again with only a small curse. Audrey was in a fit of giggles beside him. He was bound and determined to advance a level, so they sat laughing and cussing until, after an hour, he finally passed the first level.

  When he threw his arms in the air in victory, Audrey let out a shriek, bouncing beside him.

  “Thank God! I was about to break your phone!” Tate laughed.

  Audrey laughed along with him, taking the phone from him, “You’ll need to get your own Temple Run since you have phone breaking tendencies.”

  Tate laughed, “Hey, I break things, and you burn them, what a pair we are, huh?”

  Audrey smiled as she glanced over at him, holding his gaze with hers. Tate stopped laughing mostly because he couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were so bright and happy. Her face glowing as her smile grew. She blinked twice before running her tongue along her bottom lip. He watched her do it again, and he couldn’t take ‘no’ anymore. All his patience and control went out the window as he leaned towards her, testing the waters and space between them. When she didn’t move away, he placed his mouth on hers.

  She let out a little meep, but that didn’t stop him. Tate moved his hands up into her hair, pulling her closer as her hands wrapped around his wrist. He had forgotten how much he liked to kiss her. He knew he had kept her mouth busy during their time together and this time was no different. He craved her lips, the taste of her mouth, and the feel of the heat of her body running waves over him. He never wanted to stop, but when he went to deepen the kiss, she pulled back.

  “Tate,” she whispered against his lips.

  Tate shook his head, reconnecting their lips with desperate need, but just as he went to deepen the kiss again, she pulled back once more.

  “Tate, please stop,” she whispered again. His body was on fire, the last thing he wanted to do was stop but he wouldn’t force her into anything. He pulled back, letting her go as he tried to catch his breath. She was breathing just as hard as she ran her hands down her face. When she glanced over at him, his heart stopped. Her face was flushed, her lips were swollen a deep shade of red and, man, she was beyond sexy. Forcing himself to turn away, he took in a deep breath.

  “I’m not going to apologize, Audrey. I want you. It’s not a secret,” he said quietly.

  She paused before she said, “I kissed Levi today, Tate. I can’t kiss you after I kissed him. That’s wrong, and I threw my slut card away, remember?”

  The air rushed out of Tate as he tried to process the information she was giving him. Why was she with him? He glanced back at her over his shoulder, “I thought you were done with him.”

  “He came to the office today and tried to get me back,” she whispered.

  “So you are with him?” Tate asked, his heart jack hammering against his chest.

  “No.”

  “Then what’s the problem, Audrey?” Tate said turning to look at her.

  “We are friends, Tate, remember? It doesn’t matter how much I want you or you want me, we can’t do this. It isn’t right.”

  Tate’s face scrunched up, he didn’t understand, “Why? It feels right to me.”

  “Because I’m not the girl for you, believe me. We have a great time together, we do, and yes, I am very much attracted to you, Tate. Just take my word on this; I’m not the girl for you.”

  Tate shook his head, “I don’t agree with you.”

  Audrey’s shoulders slumped and she brought her legs back up to her chest. “I can only be friends with you, Tate. I’m sorry. I care about you too much to be anything more.”

  How in the world did that make sense?

  They sat in silence for what seemed like hours, when it was only minutes. He didn’t know what to say to change her mind. He wanted her to agree with him, to feel what he felt. She could forget this asshat and be with him. What was he doing wrong? How could she not see that they were made for each other? They had a blast together. Maybe she needed more time, but how could he be around her and not kiss her? Could he give her the time she needed?

  Looking back over his shoulder at her, he knew his answer.

  “Okay,” he said folding his hands above his head, “I would rather be friends, then nothing.”

  “Tate, that’s not fair to you,” she said sadly.

  “Didn’t you just say ‘Life isn’t fair’? I’ll deal and hope that one day, you will come around. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her face softened and she looked down at her knees, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, “Someone will come along, Tate, you are a super great guy.”

  And she was the girl for him.

  “I’m not going to stop, Audrey. If I see a chance to snatch you up and make you mine, I will.”

  She looked over at him and smiled, “There won’t be a chance.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he said standing up, “so are we still on for tomorrow?”

  She stood up too, moving her hands down the front of her shorts, nodding slowly, “Swamp People marathon, same time, I’ll cook dinner.”

  “Awesome, I have practice early, so I have to go.”

  “Alright,” she said, following him towards the door. He put his jacket and hat over his arm, before looking over at her. He reached out with one arm, wrapping it around her shoulders to bring her close to his chest. She wrap
ped her arms around his stomach, hugging him tight. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she pulled back, not looking up at him.

  “See you,” he said as he went out the door to his condo. He reached into his jeans and pulled out his keys to open his door. When he glanced over to where Audrey stood watching him, he smiled.

  “Night, Audrey.”

  A small smile came across her face as she leaned against the door, “Night, Tate. I’m really sorry.”

  Tate nodded, “Everything is going to work out.”

  Walking into his condo, he shut the door behind him and threw his stuff onto the couch before going to the fridge for another beer. Popping the top, he leaned against his fridge and gulped down the cold refreshing brew. Tate wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t going to stop trying. She may think there wouldn’t be a chance, but there would be. There was always a chance to score. After tonight, Tate knew that there would never be anyone like Audrey. He had to have her, and would treat his conquest of her as he would when he was in goal.

  Nothing would stand in his way.

  Nothing was getting past him.

  And then he would protect her heart, like he did his goal.

  Chapter 12

  “I want you, Audrey, so much.”

  Audrey lengthened her neck, giving him more access as her hands moved across his back to his bottom. She pressed herself against him, using her hands to press him harder into her. His impressive, hard length made Audrey gasp as she tightened her grip into his bottom. He moved one hand into her hair, kissing her deeply while the other slid slowly into her panties. Dipping his finger inside her, she gasped into his mouth as she arched her body towards his hand. She was dripping with want, and the smile against her lips told her that he loved it.

  “You are so hot, Audrey, so hot,” he whispered against her lips.

  “Oh God,” she gasped as his fingers moved in just the right way to make her squirm. His lips advanced along her jaw line, the coarse hair from his chin tickling her skin as he licked the length of her neck causing her to moan appreciatively.

  “Come for me, baby, come,” he demanded against her neck, “I want you to come.”