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 looked shocked as he 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, “Reece 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 and she crossed her arms across 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 chuckled before leaning against her to pour another shot.

He then leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “Bottom’s 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. Audrey looked over at him, her face bright with excitement, “Dance with me, Tate.”

“No way,” Tate laughed, taking 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.

“Ooo! Yay!” Audrey gushed, bouncing and ready to go, but before Phillip could even take a step, Tate stopped him with a fist full of his shirt in his hand.

“No, you won’t,” he said sternly.

Phillip looked down at Tate’s fist full of his shirt, and then up at Tate’s face before he said, “Audrey, I’m sorry honey, but if I dance with you, I might get laid out here 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, and then laid his beer down. “Alright, let’s go.”

Taking her hand in his, he led her out onto the floor just as the song changed. Spinning her out, and then back into his arms, she looked up at him surprised.

“Been holding out on me?”

Tate smiled, “Maybe.”

Tate began to move, holding her hips in his hands as her hands rested on his biceps while they moved around the floor. His body was humming in awareness of her; his hands were almost shaking against her skin.

He wanted her, bad.

The look on her face told Tate he had surprised her by his skills. Tate grew up being Matilda’s dummy when she needed a dance partner. Matilda had danced since she was 3, and was amazing. She had won a lot of titles back home, even some in Norway and Finland. Helping her train gave Tate the knowledge and confidence he needed to impress Audrey. He wasn’t a pro, but he knew his way around the dance floor and he could tell she liked it.

Taking Audrey’s hand, he spun her around, before dipping her, and bringing her body in close to his. Stopping to glance into each other’s eyes, her hands slid down his rapidly sweating back. When her hand ended right above his ass, he gave her a wide grin before spinning her quickly out then back in. The music was hard hitting, and everyone was dancing quickly around them, but Tate kept up pretty well. When Audrey turned in his arm, running her gorgeous ass up into his groin, it took everything for Tate to keep his hands at her waist. Weaving her fingers with his, she moved his arms around her, having him hug her tightly from behind.

Tate loved being his close to her, and he also knew that she could feel every inch of him. He was harder than the two goal posts he stood between during a game, and he was itching to be inside her. Tate moved in closer, running his nose up her neck. When her hands tightened in his, he smiled against her neck, before spinning her out, and then back in, moving his body against her just as the song ended. Glancing up at him, Audrey took a few steps away, shaking her head.

“I’m pretty sure, friends don’t dance like that.”

“Oh, my bad, must have slipped my mind,” he answered giving her a playful wink.

“You aren’t making this easy,” she muttered.

“I am done making this easy, it hasn’t been easy for me at all.”

Audrey rolled her eyes before moving away. But she didn’t get far before he took her hand in his, while making their way back to the table. Tate heard Erik and Phillip laughing before he even reached the table. When Erik held up his phone, and a still of Tate spinning Audrey was on the screen, Tate glared.

“Dude, I already uploaded it and tagged you on Facebook. Now the world will know that not only can you turn into ninja goalie but if your hockey career ends, you could so be on Dancing with the Stars.” Phillip laughed, “Oh my God, that was awesome, play it again, Erik.”

“You are such an ass, Anderson,” Tate spat as he shook his head.

Audrey squeezed his hand causing him to look down at her, “Ignore them, and do shots with me, then we’ll go dance some more. Also, you own me a back story on those mad dance moves.”

She looked so happy, so carefree. Smiling Tate said, “Sounds like a great plan, and I’ll tell you later, but I’m curious where your moves are.”