“A.A., what happened to your couch again?”
Audrey knew that Aiden didn’t believe the story she told him about why she had a new couch set and bedroom suite, but it didn’t keep her from sticking to it. It had been four days, why would she change her story now?
“I told you, punkin’,” she said, and paused to lick the icing from her fingers. “Those hippogriffs you left here pooped and peed all over my couch! I had to fight them off and then go get a new set!”
Aiden’s giggles filled the room, making Audrey smile.
“You’re so silly, A.A.,” Aiden said, giggling.
She smiled. “And you love me so much.”
“To the moon and back!” he exclaimed with his hands in the air. She laughed and nodded, continuing to put icing in her piping bag. When she had all the icing inside the bag, she squeezed the right amount on each orange cream–flavored cupcake while Aiden leaned on the back of the couch watching her.
“Are you gonna come on over here and pick out all the orange gummy bears from this bag for me?” she asked, cocking her head toward a large bag of gummy bears.
“Sure!”
Aiden ran over to the island, hopped up in the chair, and opened the bag. Audrey continued to frost the cupcakes while he picked out all the orange ones. He was the best helper in the kitchen, plus she just loved being near him. She had been missing him so much lately.
Once she was done, she leaned back, inspecting her work. She had done well with the bright orange buttercream icing she’d made. It matched the cake perfectly, and also the wrapper that Aiden had picked out.
“All done,” he said before hopping off the chair to throw away the packing.
Audrey nodded. “Good work, good sir!”
He laughed while she proceeded to put a gummy bear on the top of each cupcake. When she was finished, she popped one in her mouth and grinned over at him. “You sure Mr. Tate likes orange?”
Aiden nodded quickly, his hair moving with each nod. “Yup! He says he hates purple and hates wearing it at the games.”
Audrey laughed. “I like the purple.”
She had always been a fan of the Assassins’ dark purple jerseys. On the front there was an emblem of a large masked man holding a hockey stick over his head, with the Nashville skyline coming out of his shoulders. The jerseys did it for her; she had two of her own. She thought it made the guys look scrumptious. Something about a manly man in a girlie color turned her on. Call her crazy, but it was hot!
“Me too!” Aiden exclaimed. “Dad got me my own jersey that says Brooks and eleven on the back, since he is twenty-two.”
“How cool! What’s Mommy? Thirty-three?”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “Duh, A.A., she’s number one!”
Audrey laughed. “Dad said that?”
“Yup! Mommy will always be his number one, that’s what he always says.”
Audrey shook her head while she placed each cupcake in a tin. For the past couple of days she had been working on the perfect cupcake to give Tate as a thank-you. When she found a recipe for the orange cream ones online, she was quick to make them. They tasted divine, and she hoped Tate would think so too.
With a shake of her head, as if trying to get rid of the thought of him, she placed the cupcakes in the center of the island. She had promised herself that she was done thinking about Levi and Tate, but she hadn’t had much luck with that. She needed to give up guys completely for a while. It would be for the best.
What she needed was a break. A Guy Break. Maybe having a partner would help. Piper might want to go in on it with her. It wasn’t like Piper had had much luck with guys either lately. She had dated just about the same number of idiots. Plus, she was apparently in love with a guy who didn’t want her. More of a reason to go on a Guy Break.
As Audrey cleaned up her mess, Aiden ran around the house playing with his imaginary friend, Will. It creeped her out a little, but Aiden reassured her that Will was a good guy.