Audrey smiled and waved as she said, “Oh, thanks. Wow, you really know how to cheer a girl up, doncha.”
“Get out of that car, now,” he said, and made his way toward her. Audrey met him halfway, and he enveloped her in a tight, fierce hug. She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her nose in his chest, holding him just as tight. He placed a kiss on top of her head, then nuzzled his nose in her hair. They stood in each other’s arms like that for what seemed hours though it was only minutes. He loved the feel of her and felt that she needed this.
That she needed him.
“I want to kiss you, Audrey,” he whispered into her hair. “Look at me.” When she looked up at him, he saw her eyes were pooled with tears. “Whoa, what’s wrong?”
Shaking her head, Audrey bit down on her lip and looked down at his chest.
“Audrey, love, tell me.”
“I saw Levi today.”
“What?” he said as she moved out of his arms, leaving him feeling empty. He had a bad feeling growing in his chest and no clue what it was.
“I told him it was really over. He’s been texting and calling and stuff, but I told him to leave me alone.”
Tate nodded. “Good.”
“But he said some really awful things to me, and Tate, it still hurts.”
“What did he say? I doubt anything that asshole said was true, he was just trying to hurt you.”
“Well he succeeded,” she said sadly.
At the crunch of gravel, they both turned to see Piper pulling into the driveway. Turning back to Audrey, Tate said, “Tell me what you need me to do.”
She paused, then said, “I need you to be my friend.”
It felt like she had kicked him in the gut. “Your friend?”
“Hey!” Piper yelled as she made her way toward them, “Hey, Tate,” she said, but he couldn’t speak. He stood there unable to catch a breath, sensing that a wall had come up between them again.
And like before, he’d run dead into it.
Tate didn’t say a word to Audrey through dinner. He hadn’t even given her the flowers he bought. All he did was sit there and eat. It wasn’t like she was talking to him, though, she just picked at her food, basically ignoring everyone. Phillip and Piper were in a full conversation, with Erik adding in his part here and there. Tate noticed that Erik had been talking a lot more to Piper, and if Audrey hadn’t been in a pissy mood, he would have pointed that out.
Glancing over at her, he hated how even though he was mad, and hurt, he couldn’t help but think she was gorgeous. Her hair was down along her shoulders, hiding the open back of her lace black dress. It was frilly and girlie as hell, and man, she looked good in it. It came to her knees, and she wore lace black high heels with diamond-encrusted heels. Her makeup was soft this time, and she looked so damn vulnerable. Despite being upset, he just wanted to make everything better.
He just didn’t know how.
After dinner they all rode in Phillip’s big truck to Wanna B’s. Audrey and Piper were stuck in the back with Tate, and she was pressed to his side. He wanted to wrap his arm around her, tell her everything was okay and that what ass-hat had said wasn’t true. But instead he sat there, waiting for the night to be over. Once parked, everyone piled out of the truck and headed into the nightclub. When Phillip stopped him, he held back as everyone walked past them. “Everything okay with you and Audrey?”
Tate nodded. “Fine,” he lied before moving away and heading to the bar. Glancing back to where Audrey and Piper sat talking, he downed a beer and ordered another one.
“You sure?” Phillip asked from beside him.
“She fucking friend-zoned me again,” Tate said, pointing to Audrey with his beer. “And I want to kill the guy who is fucking with her.”
“Wow, I haven’t heard you cuss that much off the ice. You must be angry,” Phillip said, leaning beside Tate, drinking his own beer. “If you need help with the body, Erik and I got you.”
Tate nodded. “Thanks.”