“I know, I should,” he agreed.
It had gotten out of hand lately. But no remedy seemed to work. Every time he was deep in sleep, he would see his parents’ and Matilda’s bodies on the slabs in the morgue back home. It had been a year and a half since the car crash, but the image was still burned in his mind. He hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in months. In a way, he was sort of used to it. He usually slept during the day. It didn’t make sense to him why sleeping then was easier, but it was. The only reason he could come up with was that he had identified the bodies at 11:26 P.M. It was a hot, musty night when he escaped the walls of the morgue to promptly puke his brains out on the sidewalk outside.
It was the worst night of his life.
Not wanting to think of that, he glanced over at Audrey. “I thought of something no one knows.”
She sat up quickly, joy on her face as she bounced. “Oh do tell, good sir!”
Tate laughed, leaning back against the couch, “I have to sing ‘We Are the Champions’ every time I get in goal before the puck drops.”
“The whole song?”
“Yup. I time it perfectly to make sure I get it all in. No one knows that I do it, and they probably think I’m an ass when they tell me good luck and I don’t say anything back because I’m singing in my head.”
Audrey was in a fit of laughter. “That is epic!”
Tate nodded. “It helps. I get in this mind-set that no one can beat me.”
“And they can’t, not the amazing, highest-ranked rookie goalie in the history of professional hockey! You are amazing, from what I have heard and seen,” she gushed, smacking his arm.
Even though he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t help himself. He put on his killer smile, showing all his teeth, even his gap, and asked, “Been doing research on me?”
“Oh hush, and stop flirting with me!” Audrey said, red as a tomato, then looked away and drank her tea.
“Can’t help it. You are gorgeous, baby.”
Still red as ever, she shook her head, looking away. “You really know how to make a girl blush, huh?”
Tate smiled, shifting position to hide his hard-on. When she had that color on her, looking so bashful and playful, he was sure the temperature in the room was a thousand degrees.
“So anyways!” she yelled, laughing while still not making eye contact. “Change the subject, please.”
Tate laughed. “I don’t know if I should. I like this red color on you.”
“Tate! Quit!” Audrey giggled as she got up and cleaned up their mess. “I’m gonna kick you out of here if you don’t quit.”
“Liar,” Tate accused, before helping her. “I think you like it.”
Audrey laughed. “You caught me. Damn!”
He handed her the plates he had picked up. “I knew it.”
“Ha ha,” Audrey said with a cheeky smile. “So, anyways, again.” Tate continued to laugh as she washed dishes, before she went on, saying, “Question.”
They had been doing that all night. She would ask a question and then he would. He had learned that she didn’t like avocados or tomatoes, when that was his favorite thing on a salad. She hated going to the hardware store and could have killed Lucas for making her go. He also hated going, but that was because Lucas looked at everything in the store. She loved cake stands, glitter, and anything pink. They loved the same kind of music, and enjoyed almost all the same movies, except he thought horror movies were stupid while she thought they were amazing.
“Shoot,” he said with a grin, leaning against the island.
Audrey turned from the sink and smiled. “Where do you see yourself in a year?”
“A year?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a short amount of time.”