Leaning back onto the hot sand, Tate looked up at the cloud free sky. He wondered if his parents and Matilda were up there, looking down at him. He wondered if his dad was proud of him, and if his mom was upset that he hadn’t been playing as much as he wanted. He had been so busy and it was hard to take a guitar with him when he was on the road. He hoped that Matilda was happy, and safe. Most of all, he wondered if they missed him as much as he missed them.

Closing his eyes to keep the tears from falling, Tate took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. He needed to get it to together, he was supposed to go out with the guys later and if he kept thinking about things that he couldn’t change, he wouldn’t be in the mood to go. When his phone signaled a text message, Tate opened his eyes and raised his phone above his face so he could read what it said.

Would it be totally creepy if I was standing behind you, watching you lay on the beach?

Tate laughed as he typed back quickly to Audrey, she was so funny. It wasn’t creepy at all, and he wished like hell she was, but he knew she wouldn’t be. She had work, and Aiden stuff. She was busy, too busy to come and hang out with him.

A little.

Shit, then don’t turn around….

Tate sat up quickly, turning around to see Audrey standing with her phone by her side while waving awkwardly at him. She stood with big black glasses on her face and a bright yellow sun hat on her head. She had a short yellow skirt on, with a black and white see-through top covering a black tank top. She even wore a pair of impractical black spiked heels, but it didn’t matter.

Because she was there.

“Holy shit,” he muttered before getting up, and closing the distance between them. Ignoring the awkwardness, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. His grin grew when she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him just as tight. He pulled back slightly to see her bright face, but not to let her go, “What are you doing here?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I was bored, so I decided to play hooky in Miami. I happened to be walking down this beach when I saw you lying there.”

Tate chuckled, “Liar.”

“Ah, so you caught me. You’re not creeped out are you?” She asked with a worried expression.

“Creeped out? No, not at all. I’m really glad to see you. ”

Her face brightened as she moved out of his arms. “Good, so whatcha doing?”

“Sitting, thinking.”

“Sounds, like fun,” she said before walking towards the ocean, “Man, it’s beautiful out here.”

“It really is,” he agreed following close to her, “how long can you stay?”

“Just a couple days, I gotta be back Friday night for Aiden’s game.”

Tate nodded, so he had two days with her. It wasn’t near enough but it would hold him over until he got home on Saturday. He watched as she sat down, crossing her legs before sliding her heels off and dumping the sand out of them. He chuckled as he sat down beside her, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

“So from what the owner told me today, you’ve been killing in goal lately,” she said looking over at him with a bright smile.

Tate laughed before pinning her with a lusty grin, “I would love to ask more about what she said about me, but what I really would like to know is how I came into the conversation.”

For once he wasn’t worried about what the owner thought, he was more worried about what Audrey thought. When Audrey’s cheeks reddened, he knew that she had brought him up. “Talking about me, I see?”

“Oh hush, I was just trying to tell you Elli is really happy with you.”

Tate nodded, his eyes never leaving her face as he said, “Good, thanks for checking on me.” When she glanced up at him, he winked before pressing his tongue against his teeth. Audrey smiled before shaking her head and looking out towards the ocean.

“Anyways,” she said causing him to chuckle, “I ran into Phillip in the lobby, he’s the one who directed me to you. In parting, he said that y’all are hitting the hotel club.”

“We are. The club is having a Salsa night. Erik and Phillip are looking forward to the Latin women, apparently.”

Audrey giggled, “I bet you are too. Maybe I’ll stay in. I don’t want to rain on your Latin parade.”

Tate shook his head, “Actually, I’m not and you won’t. I want you there.”

Audrey eyed him before grinning happily at him. “Oh, alright, if you insist,” she joked before digging her toes in the sand.

They sat for a long time, talking about her trip and the ride to the hotel. They fell back into their rhythm as if they hadn’t been apart for almost a week. She was animated as always, and seemed really happy to be there. He couldn’t help but wonder why she came. Was this her way of trying to move things forward? Did she want to move things forward?

Shit!

“Okay,” he said, cutting off her story about the bellboy who told her she was a sexy piece of southern ass. Not only was it pissing him off, but he had to know or he was going to drive himself mad.

“Whoa, was I boring you?” she asked, and he could tell he offended her.

“No, not at all, but big question,” he said looking up at her. He hated that she was hiding her eyes, so reaching out; he slowly took the glasses from her face. When her wide gorgeous, caramel eyes, locked with his eyes, he flashed her a shy grin.

“Well hurry because I am trying to tell you how I got a bellboy fired and that we might need to watch our backs for the Latin Mob.”