Empty Net (26 page)

Three more shots later …

“I wanna salsa,” Audrey proclaimed. They had all been watching the dancers on the floor while nursing their respective beers. Tate was feeling great, and Audrey was getting hotter by the second. She looked over at him, her face bright with excitement. “Dance with me, Tate.”

“No way,” he said, then laughed and took a long swig of his beer. There was no way he was going out there in front of the guys.

“I’ll dance with you, Audrey,” Phillip said from Tate’s other side.

“Oooh! Yay!” Audrey gushed, bouncing and ready to go, but before Phillip could even take a step, Tate stopped him with a fistful of his shirt in his hand.

“No, you won’t,” he said sternly.

Phillip looked down at Tate’s fist and then up at his face before he said, “Audrey, I’m sorry, honey, but if I dance with you, I’ll get beat up by this Swedish giant.”

“Ooooodder,” Audrey whined, “if you won’t let him dance with me, then you’ve got to.”

Tate let out a long breath, then set his beer down. “All right, let’s go.”

Taking her hand in his, he led her out onto the floor just as the song changed. He spun her out and then back into his arms, and she looked up at him in surprise.

“Been holding out on me?”

Tate smiled. “Maybe.”

He held her hips in his hands as her hands rested on his biceps and they moved around the floor. He wanted her, bad.

The look on her face told Tate he had surprised her by his skills. He’d grown up being Matilda’s dummy when she needed a dance partner. Matilda had danced since she was three and was amazing. She had won a lot of titles back home, even some in Norway and Finland. Helping her train gave Tate the knowledge and confidence he needed to impress Audrey. He wasn’t a pro, but he knew his way around the dance floor and could tell she liked it.

Taking her hand, he spun her around, before dipping her and bringing her body in close to his. Stopping to glance into each other’s eyes, her hands slid down his sweating back. When her hand stopped right above his ass, he gave her a wide grin before spinning her quickly out then back in. The music was hard hitting, and everyone was dancing quickly around them, but Tate kept up. When Audrey turned in his arm, grinding her gorgeous ass up into his groin, it took everything for him to keep his hands at her waist. Weaving her fingers with his, she moved his arms around her, having him hug her tightly from behind.

Tate loved being this close to her, and he also knew that she could feel every inch of him. He was harder than the two goal posts he stood between during a game, and he was itching to be inside her. He moved in closer, running his nose up her neck. When her hands tightened in his, he smiled against her neck before spinning her out and then back in, moving his body against her just as the song ended. Glancing up at him, Audrey took a few steps away, shaking her head.

“I’m pretty sure friends don’t dance like that.”

“Oh, my bad, must have slipped my mind,” he answered, giving her a playful wink.

“You aren’t making this easy,” she muttered.

“I am done making this easy. It hasn’t been easy for me at all.”

Audrey rolled her eyes before moving away. But she didn’t get far before he took her hand in his while making their way back to the table. Tate heard Erik and Phillip laughing before he even reached them. Erik held up his phone, and a still of Tate spinning Audrey was on the screen. Tate glared.

“Dude, I already uploaded it and tagged you on Facebook. Now the world will know that not only can you turn into ninja goalie, but if your hockey career ends, you could so be on
Dancing with the Stars
.”

Phillip laughed. “Oh my God, that was awesome, play it again, Erik.”

“You are such an ass, Anderson,” Tate spat as he shook his head.

Audrey squeezed his hand, and he looked at her. “Ignore them, and do shots with me, then we’ll go dance some more,” she said. “Also, you owe me a backstory on those mad dance moves.”

She looked so happy, so carefree. Smiling, he said, “Sounds like a great plan, and I’ll tell you later, but I’m curious where your moves are.”

Audrey laughed before smacking his arm. “Oh, the night is young, dear sir!”

Another one bottle and a half later …

“We only have three minutes to get upstairs,” Erik said drunkenly as he leaned against Tate’s arm.

“Shit, let’s go,” Tate said, looking at Audrey, who was basically asleep on the table.

They were all drunk. Very, very drunk.

Tate reached for Audrey’s hand to lead her out of the club. How he did it, he had no clue. All he knew was that he was following behind Phillip and hoping for the best. Before they could reach the elevator, Audrey tripped, falling to the ground, laughing her ass off.

“Audrey, shit, baby, get up,” Tate said, looking down at her flushed face and bright grin.

“No! Go on without me! I’m done! I’ll sleep it off here.” She laughed, curling back onto the carpet.

Erik and Phillip were by Tate’s side in a flash, all three men looking down at her. Erik pointed to Audrey and said, “No man left behind! Pick her up, Goldie!
Vamonos!
”

Tate nodded as if what Erik had said made sense. Picking Audrey up, he threw her over his shoulder. She let out a loud shriek before she dissolved in a fit of giggles. Tate shook his head, holding her by her thighs, waiting for someone to do something.

“Let’s go!” Phillip yelled and then took off. Tate followed behind with Erik bringing up the rear. They made it to their floor just as Adler came out of his room for roundup. Pointing at Adler, Phillip yelled, “Fuck! He’s going to get us!”

Erik and Phillip started laughing before they disappeared into their room. Audrey was
still giggling, and Tate was getting dizzy as he dug out his room key. Putting it in the slot, he pushed the door open and kicked it shut.

“Is this my room?” Audrey asked, her arms smacking his ass with every step he took.

“No, it’s mine.”

“You don’t have a roommate?”

“Not on this trip. Lucas is rooming with another rookie to keep him on the straight and narrow.” Tate groaned before falling into bed, landing across Audrey’s midsection.

The nightly knock came, and Tate yelled out, “Sleeping!”

Audrey giggled as she kicked off her heels, then moved her hand into Tate’s hair. Her dress was scratchy against his face, but he was too drunk to move. What really blew his mind was that, even in his drunken state, his body was burning for hers. The whole night was a tease, with her rubbing and touching him all over. With each shot of the potent liquid, both their hands had started to wander. Taking in a deep breath of her scent, Tate let out a groan before snuggling closer into her stomach.

“Shit, I want you so bad,” he muttered. “I’m hard as a rock, and there is no way I can move right now.”

Audrey giggled. “Good, ’cause I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t say no.”

“Because you are drunk, huh?”

“No, ’cause I want you too.”

Tate had to smile at that.

Audrey didn’t stir until she felt the bed move. She was afraid that if she opened her eyes, the night before would have been a dream. She had never had so much fun in her life. Erik and Phillip were hoots and Tate was magnificent. She never wanted it to end, but she knew it had to. Her body was still tingling in the spots Tate had touched her, and she was pretty sure she was still wet from the night before. There was something about a man moving his hips to sexy drumbeats that made her slick with want. She had never been so turned on in her life.

Opening one eye, she saw Tate lying beside her with his eyes closed. She remembered him falling asleep on her, not beside her, and he’d been wearing a shirt then. Opening her other eye, she took in his statuesque body. Lord, he was beautiful. On his gorgeous chest she saw names written under each black bird that flew across his chest. She hadn’t noticed that before; sitting up, she read them.

Papa, Mama, Matilda
.

She smiled as she looked at his swoonworthy face. Before she could ask him about the names, Tate opened his eyes and said, “I managed to get to practice, but I’m surprised I made it through.”

Audrey giggled. “Was it rough?”

“Yeah. No more drinking with you when I’ve got practices or games.”

Still giggling, she lay back. “Told you I party hard.”

“Uh, yeah, but that wasn’t the worst part.”

Audrey glanced over. “What was?”

Tate shook his head. “When I came out on the ice, the guys had sombreros and maracas and were shaking them and screaming ‘Olé!’ ”

She laughed, and Tate glared at her.

“It was not funny, Audrey.”

“Whatever, that is epically awesome!”

“Traitor,” he sneered, then poked her in the ribs. She jumped and moved away, but before she could get far he was on top of her, tickling her to death.

“Ahh! Tate, quit!” she screamed as their laughter filled the room. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she cried out, “Okay, okay! It wasn’t funny!” while happy tears streamed down her cheeks.

“That is what I thought,” he said, sitting up but still pinning her hips down with his.

She glanced up at him, then down to where he only wore a pair of sheer shorts. “Um, you gonna get off me?”

“No,” he said with a lusty grin. Oh no, she knew that grin, and she knew it was hard to resist.

“Why?” she asked cautiously.

“Because you owe me a kiss.”

Audrey raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“I took you out last night, and you didn’t give me a good-night kiss.”

Ah, so he felt like it was a date too. That was good to know, since the whole time they were together, she couldn’t stop thinking it was.

It was one of the best dates she’d ever had.

“I thought we just went out as friends,” she supplied.

Tate smiled and slowly shook his head. “You and I both knew it was a date the moment you stepped out of that room with this dress and those heels on. You were trying to impress me.”

Audrey eyed him as his smile widened. He wasn’t wrong, she had wanted to impress him, and she knew she had by the way his eyes stay glued to her the whole night. “Maybe I was.”

“It’s the truth.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe.”

Tate smiled, then brought his lip between his teeth while giving her a long, heated look. He moved his hands beside her head, dropping his face to be closer to hers. “Kiss me, Audrey.”

“No way,” she said, shaking her head, “not in this bed.”

“Why not?” he asked with a not so innocent grin.

“Because we both know it won’t stop at a kiss.” When he didn’t disagree, she laughed as she pushed him off her. He landed beside her and smiled, stretching his long arms. “Maybe if you are a gentleman and walk me to my room, I might reward you with one.”

He looked at her and said, “You ready to go?”

Laughing, Audrey said, “Yeah, I need a shower, and I’m pretty sure my breath stinks.”

“Not too bad,” he said with a smile.

Audrey returned the smile before rolling out of bed and sliding into her heels. Before thinking, she had run her mouth, and now she was nervous and second-guessing herself, like this was going to be their first kiss or something.

Not looking at him, she pulled her dress down and fixed the top. By then Tate was standing by the door, pulling his shirt over his head.

She made her way to him and lifted the shirt up over his chest, exposing his tattoo. When he didn’t stop her, she laughed. “Sheesh, I could take advantage of you and you would let me,
huh?”

“Oh yeah, are you doing that now?” he asked playfully.

She shook her head, running her fingers along the birds, feeling his hard chest. “No, silly. What are these? Names?”

In an instant Tate’s playful smile was gone, his mouth a tight line as he pulled his shirt down. “Yeah, my mom, dad, and sister.”

“Aw, wow! That’s awesome. I love that tattoo, it’s beautiful.”

He glanced away and nodded. “Thank you. Come on, let’s get you to your room.”

It was clear as they walked down the hall that Tate’s mood had changed. She didn’t know what happened but had a feeling it was about the tattoos. In the elevator, she asked, “Did I make you mad?”

Tate looked up at her and shook his head. “No, love, not at all.”

The door dinged, and Tate led her out with his hand on her lower back. It felt so nice to have someone hold her there, but that wasn’t what made her smile. It was the “love.” She had never been called that before. Sexy, baby, babe, cupcake, you name it, she’d been called it, but never love. It was sweet, and it made her belly do flip flops, especially when hearing it in his accent. It truly made her heart skip a beat.

Making their way down the hall to her room her heart beat faster. He was going to kiss her, and she couldn’t wait. Wasn’t that supposed to be bad? Because at the moment she wasn’t thinking it was. Eek! What the hell was wrong with her? Was she doing the right thing? Ah, there was her door. Reaching into her bra, she pulled out her room key. Tate chuckled beside her.

“That’s been in your bra?”

She flashed him a grin. “Yeah, I have lipstick in there too, and my bank cards.”