Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) (18 page)

“Good, because I want that too.”

“So do you want to go to Hub 51?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he agreed. “Seven?”

“Sounds good. I’ll be there.”

“Awesome,” he said, his heart warming as he glanced at the time. He needed to finish getting dressed before heading to the media room for some promotional crap. “All right, baby, I gotta go. I’ll see you tonight. Text me if you get bored.”

“Okay, I will,” she said softly in the phone, making it hard to hang up.

“Will you be at the game this afternoon?”

She paused. “Maybe.”

“Maybe I’ll look for you.”

“Maybe I’ll like that.”

He smiled. “All right, talk to you later.”

“Bye, Karson.”

Before he could say, “I love you,” he said, “Bye, baby,” then quickly hung up. He didn’t want to say something that would scare her off, but he was pretty sure she knew he was still completely in love with her. So really, he should have just said it and hoped that she said it back. Rolling his eyes as he thought he was acting like a lovesick fool, he finished getting ready before heading to the media room with a little more pep to his step than normal. It was to be expected though; he was on the road to having his love back.

He was almost to the room when he heard, “Hey, King.”

He stopped and turned back to see the captain of the Assassins coming toward him. Shea Adler took up most of the room wherever he stood, being bigger than Karson. Most of the guys feared him, but thankfully, Karson had gotten in good with the captain and stayed on his good side. There wasn’t a Sunday during the off-season when he wasn’t at the Adler home, enjoying a home-cooked meal by Mrs. Adler and playing with the many Adler kiddos.

“Adler, what’s up?”

“Hey, I don’t know if Elli told you, but they are asking all of us about the new jerseys and shit. Make sure you say you like them.”

Karson was a little confused. The jerseys had come out during the summer and were a hit with the fans. He was partial to the new one, thought the logo of the Assassin with the Nashville Skyline surrounding him instead of coming out of his arms was a little more believable and way more badass. More like the Assassin was protecting the city from the other hockey teams that came to steal their chances at the Cup. At least, that’s the way he thought. They were still the signature purple and black, so he really didn’t see a problem.

Nodding his head to reassure his captain, he said, “I do like them.”

Shea paused. “Oh, good, then say that.”

Karson laughed. “Will do.”

“Good, and you’re not flying to St. Louis with us?”

He shook his head. “Nope, I have some business to take care of here.”

“Cool,” he said with a nod. “Can I ask what? It’s not your sister, right?”

Karson nodded with a grin growing on his face. Shea was that kind of guy, always making sure his people were good. Karson liked that. “Yeah, my sister isn’t here right now. She is back in Wisconsin, training for the Olympics.”

“Oh, cool, so why are you flying on your own?”

“I met up with an old friend. Wanted to spend some time with her.”

Shea smiled. “Good enough reason, I’d say.”

“The best, I think.”

“Awesome, you did good this morning. Way better than yesterday.”

No clue why
, he thought with a grin.

“Thanks. Got my head on straight last night.”

And he hoped it stayed that way.

“Old friend?”

Karson laughed. “Yup.”

“Well, God bless her and keep her around. I want to win tonight,” he said before clapping him on the shoulder.

“That’s the plan.”

With a nod, he asked, “Are you coming to lunch with us?”

Karson shrugged. He hadn’t planned to, but he was always hungry. “Sure.”

“Good, I’ll text you the address.”

“Thanks, see you in a bit,” Karson said as Shea walked away.

Walking the rest of the way to the media room, he thought about calling Lacey and seeing if she wanted to go to lunch, but she probably had to work or something, and it was tradition to eat with the guys. Reaching the door, he went to open it, but before he could, it opened and before him stood over two hundred pounds of anger.

“Grady,” he said, meeting the gaze of his ex-best friend and Lacey’s big brother.

Grady was his right-hand man when they were younger. Karson could sail the puck up the ice, and Grady would be there to get it before scoring perfectly. They were the dynamic duo, as Coach had called them, but that ended quickly when he started dating Grady’s baby sister. Grady didn’t want anything to do with Karson as soon as that happened, and since Karson decided that Lacey was more important than his friendship with her brother, he didn’t mourn the loss. He figured if Grady really was his friend, he would have supported them, but he did the opposite and that was fine. What wasn’t fine was the fact that he’d kept Lacey from him, and because of that, there was no love lost between the two.

“Fuck off, King.”

Karson nodded as he stepped out of the way for him. “Nice to see you too.”

He glared back at him before heading down the hall. If Lacey and he did get back together, it wasn’t going to be easy, not with him being the center of her brother’s and father’s hatred. He knew how much her family meant to her. That’s why he’d never told her the real reason he left her all those years ago. But tonight he would have to; he had promised her he would.

And he would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared out of his mind.

“Y
ou’re a dick, dude.”

Karson laughed as he looked over at JT. “Why is that?” he asked as they headed toward the restaurant that Shea had texted him. He’d had a great interview and felt good about his response about the jersey. He hoped Mrs. Adler was happy with him. Always wanted to stay in her good graces.

Happy owner, not a goner, was his motto.

But Elli was pretty great to work for, if you called playing hockey work. She was very supportive and everyone loved her; it was hard not to. Burrowing tighter in his jacket, he took in a deep breath before letting it out, a little cloud forming around his mouth. The air was frigid, but it was expected since it was the beginning of winter in Chicago.

Throwing his hands up, JT exclaimed, “You just left last night. I had to take two girls back to the room to make sure you got one, and then you weren’t even there? What happened to you?”

Karson scoffed. “I bet that was such a hardship. Thanks for taking one for the team,” he said, but JT must have not heard the sarcasm dripping from his words.

“No problem, anytime,” he said with a grin. “But really, what happened? You came to practice in the same clothes you wore out last night, which meant you slept somewhere else, but I thought you didn’t sleep with anyone in this town because of that Laney chick.”

“Lacey, and I don’t.”

“Then who were you with?”

His grin grew. “Lacey.”

JT stopped, his brows coming in as he stroked his long beard. “You slept with the same girl who has had you fucked up for the last nine years?”

Karson nodded. “Yeah.”

“’Cause that is normal. How the hell did that happen?”

Karson laughed. “I got in the cab and she was there.”

“So you slept with her?”

“Not there, but I kissed her and she took me back to her place.”

“Holy fuck, it wasn’t weird?”

He shook his head. “Hell no, it was great. It was like we hadn’t been apart for the last nine years. She was mine again.”

“That’s so bizarre,” JT said with a shake of his head. “That doesn’t happen, you know? It’s like a fluke. I hope you aren’t thinking it’s for real. It was probably just a final bang-out.”

Karson was shaking his head before JT even finished talking. “It is real. We’re meeting again tonight.”

“So that’s why you aren’t flying with us,” he said and Karson nodded.

“I have to see where this goes. We have to discuss some shit and see if we can make it work. I want her, JT, like seriously. She is my one regret. I can’t let her go.”

“Why is she your regret though? You could have gone after her.”

Karson thought it over for a second and then said, “I let my fear of her dad and the unknown fog my belief in our love. It’s completely my fault. I believed more in the fear than our love, and I’ve paid for that the last nine years. But no more.”

JT laughed. “So you think this is it? You’re not scared anymore? You believe again?”

Karson glared. JT was such a cynic, didn’t believe in shit but falling cock-first in any willing female. He wasn’t one to judge though, he’d done the same thing since walking away from Lacey, but at least he believed in love. JT didn’t.

“I never stopped believing, asshole.”

“You should, like a pussy,” he said, deadpan. “So I guess my partner in crime is done for? You’re going to marry the girl, have little Karsons, and forget all about me, huh?”

Karson grinned. “Jealous much?”

“Not at all. I just know the truth and know how much this chick means to you. You’ve done nothing but say, ‘She’s the one I let go, and when I see her again, I won’t let her go. I’ll marry her and make her mine.’”

He did say that a lot, especially when he was drunk or in Chicago.

Scoffing, JT said, “I am kissing our relationship goodbye now. We should probably start spending less time together.”

“You’re an asshole,” Karson said with a shake of his head.

“Whatever, you know I’m right. You might as well go into that Tiffany’s and get the girl a ring. You know you want to,” he said, pointing to the Tiffany store that was across the street from the restaurant Shea and some of the guys were waiting at.

“You’re fucking nuts,” he laughed.

It wasn’t that the thought hadn’t passed through his brain. It would be so easy to ask her to marry him and be his. It would be a blessing, but how could he expect that? They didn’t even know each other now. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true; he knew he still loved her, so that was enough, but there was no way he was asking her to marry him. That was insane.

Right?

JT laughed. “Oh, lookie here, maybe it isn’t real. Maybe you are just in it for the pussy.”

Karson’s blood went hot. Taking a step toward JT, he sneered, “Fuck you, dude. I love her.”

JT’s hand shot up in defense. “Prove it. Put your money where your mouth is. You’ve been talking about this chick since I met you. She is ‘the one,’ so do what you know you want to and stop being a pussy.”

Rolling his eyes, Karson took a step back and reached for the door. Looking back at him, he said, “Why do you even care? You obviously don’t believe in this shit.”

JT shrugged, his fingers threading in the woodsman beard of his. “I want my friends to be happy, and contrary to your belief, you are the only best friend I got. Apparently, I come off as an asshole.”

“You do.”

“Yeah, so I know what makes you happy, and nothing has for the last three years I’ve known you. But when you talk about that girl, you’re happy. Don’t lose that, dude, or you’ll end up alone.”

He’d never expected JT to say that and couldn’t help but think he was speaking from experience, not that JT would ever tell him if he had. JT was a private kind of guy, didn’t let anyone in, and it was surprising that he considered Karson a best friend. But maybe he was right. Looking down at the ground, he took in a deep breath and let it out.

“She probably doesn’t even love me anymore. I would be dumb to assume she would marry me.”

“You’d be dumb to assume she wouldn’t. She obviously loves you. Girls like her don’t sleep around for the hell of it. You forget that we’ve been drunk a lot together, and I know yours and her story.”

He did know. He knew everything, the cancer, the whirlwind romance, and the soul-deep connection. Lacey was—
is
—his everything. Looking past JT to the Tiffany’s, he let out another breath.

Maybe he was right.

Or maybe he was a complete idiot.