“Back off, Phillip,” Erik warned.
Phillip looked at him and then at Tate, “No way. You with her?”
Before Tate could say anything, Audrey came back to the table, a bottle of Patrón in one hand and four shot glasses in the other. “Y’all ready to party?”
Phillip laughed, while Erik nodded. “Pour them up, baby girl,” he said.
Four shots later …
Audrey pointed at Erik, her eyes a little glazed as she said, “I don’t think I like you.”
Erik laughed before pointing to himself. “Me? What did I do?”
Audrey let out a girlie burp that was rewarded by a high-five from Phillip before she said, “My best friend likes you, but you don’t like her!”
Tate laughed. “Man, Piper is going to kill you, Audrey.”
Audrey glanced over at him, and then back at Erik. “Probably.”
“Piper? My brother’s sister-in-law?”
“That’s the one! She is beautiful, gorgeous, and would rock your world!” Audrey proclaimed, and all Tate could do was shake his head. Even in his buzzed state, he knew Piper was going to flip.
Erik, looking shocked, shook his head. “I don’t even look at her like that. She’s family.”
“You look at Reese like that and she’s a bitch!”
Tate continued to shake his head while Philip laughed. “Shit, she called that one.”
Erik smacked Phillip’s arm before pinning Audrey with a look. “Reese is a goddess of sexiness, Piper is just small. Beautiful, but little.”
“She is amazing! And you are just intimidated by her awesomeness.”
Erik laughed. “Is that right?”
“Yup!” Audrey said, crossing her arms on her chest as she pouted. Tate glanced over at Erik and saw that he was looking off to the side. It was obvious he was thinking about what Audrey said. Shaking his head, Tate leaned against her to pour another shot.
He whispered in her ear, “Bottoms up, baby.”
Three more shots later …
“I wanna salsa,” Audrey proclaimed. They had all been watching the dancers on the floor while nursing their respective beers. Tate was feeling great, and Audrey was getting hotter by the second. She looked over at him, her face bright with excitement. “Dance with me, Tate.”
“No way,” he said, then laughed and took a long swig of his beer. There was no way he was going out there in front of the guys.
“I’ll dance with you, Audrey,” Phillip said from Tate’s other side.
“Oooh! Yay!” Audrey gushed, bouncing and ready to go, but before Phillip could even take a step, Tate stopped him with a fistful of his shirt in his hand.
“No, you won’t,” he said sternly.
Phillip looked down at Tate’s fist and then up at his face before he said, “Audrey, I’m sorry, honey, but if I dance with you, I’ll get beat up by this Swedish giant.”
“Ooooodder,” Audrey whined, “if you won’t let him dance with me, then you’ve got to.”
Tate let out a long breath, then set his beer down. “All right, let’s go.”
Taking her hand in his, he led her out onto the floor just as the song changed. He spun her out and then back into his arms, and she looked up at him in surprise.
“Been holding out on me?”
Tate smiled. “Maybe.”
He held her hips in his hands as her hands rested on his biceps and they moved around the floor. He wanted her, bad.