Audrey nodded. “Yup, sorry. What we did was a one-time thing. I hope that you keep that to yourself because we do need to live by each other and more than likely this won’t be the last family event we are at together.”
Wow, she was being a bitch. But she couldn’t help it. She was beyond embarrassed, and a little drunk. She also hated that she still wanted to get to know him. Why did he have to be so young and sexy? Couldn’t she pick up a guy her own age? Was she that hopeless that she went for the first guy who hit on her? When she glanced up and her eyes met Blondie’s—oh wait, Tate’s—her heart started to race. He was staring at her with such a wounded look. Did he really think something was going to happen between them?
Audrey watched as his hand moved toward her, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Nice to see you again, Audrey.”
With that, he walked away and her shoulders sank. She wanted to run after him and apologize. She wanted to make him realize that she wasn’t good enough for him. He was too sweet, too innocent … okay, innocent was a long shot. She remembered the things he did in that bed. He was very much a man, but still, she felt bad. Tate deserved a young girl, someone with bright blond hair and blue eyes, so that when they were ready, they could make beautiful little blond-haired, blue-eyed babies. She wasn’t that person. For some reason, her heart hurt. She had this fantasy about Blondie, and now that she knew who he was, her fantasy was gone. He was untouchable.
“Who was that?” Audrey turned to see that Piper had returned.
“That guy I slept with after Fallon’s bridal shower,” Audrey said with a huff before finishing off her ninth glass of champagne.
“Really? Good God, he was beautiful! Why aren’t you trying to do a repeat?” Piper exclaimed.
“Because he is a baby, and my brother-in-law’s best friend, and my neighbor.”
Piper’s eyes went wide. “Wow, A, you sure know how to pick ’em.”
Audrey laughed. “Right?”
Well, that didn’t go well.
Tate was sure that when their eyes met, Audrey would have remembered the moments when they were in bed together. But for some reason, it seemed she hadn’t. She was hot and cold in a matter of minutes. One minute she wanted to know who he was, the next she basically dismissed him! What the hell? So what if he was Lucas’s friend? As soon as he told Lucas that he wanted Audrey, he was pretty sure that Lucas would be supportive. Lucas was a little weird when it came to Audrey, but surely Lucas knew that he was a good guy.
But honestly, what was her deal? She acted like she was better than him or something. They both wanted what happened in that bed. He was the same person then as he was now, so what was the problem? She wanted him with a fierceness that he had never experienced. She basically ate him alive, and boy, did he do the same to her. He still couldn’t stop thinking of her sexy little body touching his. Her soft, beautiful skin hot against his. Man, he was getting hard just thinking of it.
Tate looked through the crowd until he found Audrey standing with Piper. Two beautiful women in one spot didn’t help his hard-on. At one point she’d moved her hand down the crease of her breast and he found he was having a difficult time breathing. Now he watched as she talked, and he loved the way her glossed-up lips moved. The way her eyes widened with each word, or how, when she laughed, she laughed with her whole body. She was bright like the sun, and he was drawn to her light. He craved it. She was radiant and he needed her. All of her.
A guy approached her then, and it was as if her light shut off. Piper looked at him and then at Audrey before looking away. The guy looked like a Jersey Shore reject. He was short, dark featured, and had a weird buzz-cut head. Tate hated him instantly. He watched Audrey’s body tense up when the guy slowly grazed his fingers down her cheek.
“What are you staring at this time? Still Audrey?” Phillip asked. “Dude, just go over and talk to her, she’s really nice.”
Tate shook his head. “She blew me off.”