Lucas shrugged. “Then I have nothing else to say. This is all on you.”
Tate watched as Lucas walked off, and didn’t move until little flakes of snow started to fall. Walking to his truck, he had the familiar feeling and his heart began beating in overtime. His palms were sweaty, and even in the cold, he was starting to sweat along his back. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but it wasn’t working. He sat in his truck for a long time, not only because he was scared to put the key in the ignition, but also because he was thinking about his whole day. He had spent the morning with Audrey, wrapped up in her warmth, their legs tangled and their bodies touching in the most delectable places. She had made him breakfast and then he had to go. He had never been as sure about anyone in his life as he made his way to the arena. He knew he was going to be with Audrey forever. He even planned to tell her he loved her that night, but then Elli walked in pregnant and he realized that was a dream he wasn’t going to be able to achieve.
What the hell was going on? Like Phillip had said, he could adopt, he had even told Audrey that, and it wasn’t as if he was against it. He just wanted to be with Audrey, forever.
“Man, I am an idiot,” he muttered, shaking his head.
Why did he even say anything to the guys? He knew his answer. He knew what he wanted, so why was he second-guessing himself? He never did this. He was always confident about his decisions, and his decision was to be with Audrey.
Children or no children.
It was her and him to the end.
He knew that nothing would change that either.
With a satisfied grin on his face, he started the truck on the third try and then drove back to his condo. Audrey had said that morning she was making some cupcakes and she needed him to test them. He had no problem with that. This was the life he wanted. He didn’t need anything more, just Audrey and her cupcakes. One day, after they had been married and enjoyed life with each other, they would see if she could have kids. If not, then they would adopt.
He had made a big deal out of something that didn’t need to be a big deal. He was such an idiot.
Shaking his head, he pulled into his driveway and grabbed his bag. He headed to his door, opened it and threw the bag inside. That was the only reason he’d come to his place. Then he shut the door and turned to Audrey’s. He opened her door with his key and went inside.
“Lucy, I’m home,” he said in a horrible Desi Arnaz accent. They had been watching a lot of old I Love Lucy reruns. That Lucy was a hoot, and hearing Audrey’s commentary on the show was even better.
When he passed the couch, he saw her at the counter with the phone in her hand. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She had been crying, her nose red and her eyes swollen. He knew right away that the conversation at lunch had made its way back to her.
“You told Lucas about me not being able to have kids?”
Fuck.
Chapter 23
All Tate could think was that he had really fucked up.
Panic stirred in his chest, his palms started to sweat all over again, and his heart rate tripled. The way he was feeling at that moment was different from anything else he had ever felt. Of all the anxiety attacks he ever had, it never felt like the world was closing in on him, but now it did. He didn’t know if it was because he wasn’t sure how he would fix this or because he could see the hurt in Audrey’s eyes and knew things were about to get really bad. He never meant for her to find out, and he definitely never meant to hurt her.
“You told Lucas, Tate? Lucas! Didn’t you know that he would tell Fallon? I just had to explain my whole situation to her! Do you know how hard that was?!” she yelled. Tears streaked down her face as her lip quivered. Not looking up at him, she whispered, “She said that you were questioning the guys about me.”
“Audrey, it’s not what you think,” Tate said, even though he knew it was probably everything she thought.