Tate nodded, swallowing his food before he said, “Things are good.”

“Good, I’m glad. You guys seemed really happy at dinner the other night.”

Tate nodded again, remembering the dinner they had with Fallon, Lucas, and Aiden. He had been nervous, but once he got there, it was as if nothing had changed, except that he was glued to Audrey’s side and wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

“We are. We’re good. Great even.” Lucas nodded before going back to his lunch. “Fallon is coming tonight, right?”

Lucas laughed, “Of course she is. You’re bringing Audrey right?”

“Yeah,” Tate nodded, “I wanted to make sure someone she knew was there.”

“Yeah, we’ll both be there.”

Tate nodded before going back to his salad. He wanted to ask Lucas something but he felt stupid asking. It wasn’t that he thought Lucas would make fun of him. It was that Tate should know the answer. Tate looked up, staring at the top of Lucas’ hat-covered head, trying to decide what to do. When Lucas looked up, and narrowed his eyes, Tate laughed.

“What the hell are you staring at?”

“That ugly ass hat,” Tate teased.

“Hey, shut up,” Lucas retorted as Tate laughed.

“No, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay,” Lucas said and Tate could tell he was a little annoyed. Oh well, he would be okay, his hat was ugly. Who wore a hat with a duck on it?

“When did know you loved Fallon?”

Lucas looked up and smiled. “I think I knew that first night. She walked in with a short ass skirt on. I mean her ass was practically hanging out,” he closed his eyes as he shook his head, a contented smile still resting on his lips, “She also had a low cut shirt and I almost didn’t try hitting on her because she was small chested but then she looked at me and I couldn’t breathe. Her wide eyes were to die for and when she talked, man, I was a goner. We spent the night together and I asked her not to leave, to tour the world with me. She did, and it was the best summer of my life. She made my life worth living when I didn’t want to live at all. I have been totally devoted to her since.”

Tate smiled, nodding his head, “That is how I feel about Audrey. I think I love her.”

Lucas smiled, “Have you told her?”

“No, not yet. I want it to be special.”

“Tell her during sex, girls dig that.”

Tate let out a booming laugh as he shook his head, “They do not!”

“No, really, Fallon goes nuts for it. Audrey’s her sister, so I am pretty sure it will work.”

“You are an idiot, dude,” Tate laughed, holding his gut as he laughed, “No, I’m going to wait for the right moment. Maybe Christmas morning?”

“That’s cheesy dude.”

“Hey, it is not.”

“Yes it is, what are you going to do, put it in a present?”

Actually, he was thinking of that.

“Shut up.”

Lucas laughed, shaking his head. “All joking aside, even though I think it is cheesy, Audrey will eat it up. She wants this Cinderella-with-her-fairy-godmother’s-magical-carriage type love. She wants to lose the glass slipper and have the man look through the kingdom for her, just to give it back to her and then sweep her off her feet into the sunset. She is a complete romantic. So doing the whole under-the-mistletoe-I-love-you shit, would work with her. Fallon, on the other hand, dude, I had to fight for that chick because of our past. You’re lucky. You guys have a clean slate; no hurt, no regret, just you two. I know for a fact that Audrey is completely in love with you.”

Tate eyed him, his lips tugging at a smile at the thought of Audrey loving him, “How do you know?”

“By the way she looks at you. It’s the way Fallon looks at me.”

Lucas was a hardass but moments like these, Tate knew he had a soft heart. And that heart belongs to Fallon. “Even if I wanted to do it on Christmas, I couldn’t. We are coming to your house and her family is going to be there.”

“So? She’ll love it if you do it in front of everyone.”

Tate nodded, but something didn’t seem right. “Maybe.”

He didn’t know if it was the idea of saying it in front of everyone, or because for the first time, he would be meeting Audrey’s family, but the idea of it made him nervous. He wasn’t worried about her mother, but picturing her father had Tate sweating bullets. It was going to be tough, but thankfully Audrey would be by his side. With her there, Tate could face an army with no fear at all.

“Enough with all that, here is the real question.”

Tate looked up questioningly, “What?”

Lucas was grinning fully at him, “Are we going to get a repeat of your amazing dancing skills tonight? I need to see that in person. Facebook didn’t do it justice.”

Why did Tate like this guy?

***

Audrey slid into her black Christian Louboutin pointed toe, steel heel pumps and stood up. Looking in the mirror, she viewed herself, admiring the loose curls that were brought back in an elegant chignon. Her makeup was very soft, hardly there, only dark on the bottom of her eyes while her lips were glossed to perfection. Her dress was stunning: a strapless, heart-shaped bodice covered in black lace over pink silk, with a big black bow as a sash. The skirt of the dress was her favorite. It was a big, puffy pink tutu, and it was totally to die for. She looked amazing, and was proud of herself because even her legs were starting to look good.