He chuckled as she rolled her eyes, looking back out to the ocean. He looked out toward it too, still confused, but glad that she was finally doing something that made her happy.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the cupcakery and what you said,” she said, still gazing at the ocean. He nodded as he waited for her to go on. When she didn’t, he glanced over to ask what she had been thinking about as she whispered, “Question.”
Her eyes were on her fingers, which she ran along her green sparkly toes. “Yeah?”
“Have you ever wanted something so much and felt like it was within reach but you couldn’t grasp it?”
When she looked up, he nodded. “Yup.”
“What did you do?”
Tate thought for a moment, then said, “I continue to be there.”
Audrey looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”
“It’s pretty simple, Audrey. I’m here, and I hope that one day you’ll look me in the eyes and decide that you are done with this charade of being friends and that I can be your man. I want you to see that I can be there to help with your dreams. That I’m not some punk kid out to get some from you. I’m a decent guy, Audrey. If you would let me, I could be your guy.” He said it all in one breath. He had been waiting forever to say that, and it felt great to finally get it out.
Her eyes went wide before she looked back down at her toes. He waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, he let out a long breath. She was the most frustrating woman in the world, but for some reason he kept coming back. He knew the reason, but damn it, couldn’t she make it a little easier on him?
“I don’t want to lead you on, Tate. I am still trying to figure things out,” she whispered. He almost didn’t hear her over the roar of the waves.
“You are not leading me on, Audrey. You have clearly pointed out that we are only friends, that you don’t want the things I want.”
She looked at him and shook her head. “That’s not true. I do want those things, Tate, it’s just difficult and you don’t have all the facts. You don’t really know me.”
“I know you, and I like you, what other facts could there be?” he asked. “You confuse the hell out of me, you know that?”
“I know, and I need to explain, but I just don’t know how without sounding like a psycho.”
“Audrey, just say it. I would never judge you, I care about you,” he said. They sat staring into each other’s eyes, her mouth moving but words not leaving her lips as they shared a long heated look. He wanted nothing more than to close the gap by pressing his wanting lips to hers, but then his phone rang and he knew the moment was gone.
Looking away, she said, “Answer your phone, Tate.”
Fuck!
Glancing down, he saw that it was Erik. “What, dude?” he answered rudely.
“Well shit, bad timing?”
“Something like that.”
“My bad.” Erik laughed, and Tate knew he didn’t care at all that he had interrupted anything. “We still on for tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, well come on, let’s get ready. I know there is some hot mamacita who wants my body. Let’s go! Vamonos!”
“I’m pretty sure it’s against the law for a Russian to speak Spanish. That was horrible,” Tate said dryly with a roll of his eyes.
“Shut up and come on,” Erik said, then hung up.
“Are they ready?” Audrey asked without looking at him.
“Yeah, let’s go,” he said. He stood and helped her up, and when she tried to walk away, stopped her by gripping her wrist and bringing her close so he could whisper, “This conversation isn’t over.”
Audrey’s sad eyes met his. He hated that look. He wanted her to be happy, and a part of him was second-guessing his harshness, but she needed to know how he felt.
She nodded and said, “I know.”