Now he was standing, shirtless, in his living room with Audrey gawking at him. He didn’t know what to do. Should he play it cool, ignore her roaming eyes, or let his pants fall and hope for the best? The latter was a Lucas move, and since Audrey was still in the “just friends” category, he decided that was maybe too much.
So he only let his pants drop a little. When he heard the intake of breath, he smiled and pulled them up, slowly, before remembering that girls didn’t want to get naked and comfortable around smelly workout gear. Then Audrey had pointed out that his pants were falling down and asked him to put on a shirt, which he did, grabbing a T-shirt and throwing it on. Now, looking over his shoulder, he saw that she had finally made it inside and was standing beside his couch.
“How’s your head?” he asked, turning to look at her.
Her eyes fell to where his hands were holding up his jeans and then went back to his face. She blinked twice before swallowing loudly. “I think I might have run into another pole and not known it.”
Tate’s mouth picked up on one side as his gaze zeroed on hers. “Why’s that?”
Audrey shook her head. “No comment,” she said, turning to face his couch as he chuckled softly. She wanted him and was fighting it. He would let her fight it, because when she finally gave up, it was going to be glorious acting on all the sexual tension building between them. “What the hell is this?”
“My couch,” he answered, looking over at the hanging couch he had brought from home. It was a beige color and hung from four chains braced to the ceiling. He had four nice plush green pillows that matched the rest of the decor. The couch used to hang in his room in his parents’ house, and he liked being able to put it in his own place. It reminded him of home, and he’d missed it when he lived in Florida.
“That’s a weird couch,” she said, before running her fingers along the back of it. “I’ve never seen one like this.”
“I brought it from home; it is one of my favorite pieces.”
Audrey smiled as she nodded. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah, dinner should be here soon. I ordered from SATCO, the taco place.”
“Awesome, I love tacos,” she said.
“Me too. Oh! I got you something today,” he said, heading to the kitchen. He reached for a pink, sparkly cupcake stand and turned to hand it to her. Audrey’s eyes lit up as she took it and examined it before flashing him a grin.
“Oh, Tate, I love it.”
He smiled. “Good. You said you wanted to collect stuff. I thought cake stands would work.”
“It’s a fantastic idea.”
“And when you open your own cupcake place, I forgot what you called it,” he said, waiting for her to supply the word.
“Cupcakery,” she said with a bright smile.
“Yes, cupcakery,” he said slowly, since the word was hard for him to say, “when you open that, you can display your creations on the stands you’ve collected.”
Audrey nodded. “Thank you, Tate.”
He felt good about his gift. “You are welcome. So, question,” he said, moving around the kitchen, getting out two bottles of water for them.
“Shoot,” she said, reaching for one of the bottles.
“If you did get a cupcakery, what would you call it?”
Audrey smiled shyly, and Tate lost his breath; he loved that smile. She moved her fingers slowly along the label of the water bottle before looking up at him. “It’s so cliché.”
“What?”
“Audrey Jane’s,” she said without looking at him.
Tate smiled fully. “It is perfect.”
She looked up quickly, her cheeks a bright red as she gazed at him like he had just held the Stanley Cup above his head. “You think?”
“Hell yeah, it suits you. I bet the shop would be bright pink with sparkles, huh?”
She smiled as she nodded. “I found these amazing tables that are actually made to look like high-heeled shoes! Amazing, right?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “You really should do it, Audrey. I for one would be there every day.”
She smiled, smacking his arm softly as she rolled her eyes. “It’s a pipe dream.”
“That could be a reality; you’ve just got to believe in yourself.”
Audrey stopped smiling and laid her bottle on the counter. “I do believe in myself.”