“How?” Owen laughed.

“We don’t cheat,” Evan said, shaking his head. “Y’all just slow.”

“Oh my God, they sound like Elli,” Karson said to Shea and he laughed.

“They are their mother made over,” Shea muttered as Karson looked down at the cute little guys.

“You cheated using your super twin mind-powers on me and your dad. It’s not fair.”

Owen sputtered with laughter as Evan rolled his eyes. “Again, y’all just slow and we are beast mode, like my dad.”

“Yeah, you slowed our dad down,” Owen said, placing his hands on his hips. “Might need to trade him, Dad.”

Shea laughed. “Talk to your momma about that.”

“Wow, thanks, Cap!” Karson complained, feigning hurt, but they all laughed at him.

“Anytime. Now go on inside, boys. Wash up for dinner. Momma should be done soon.”

The boys fist-bumped Karson before running out the door, and once it slammed, Shea looked over at Karson and asked, “Want a beer?”

“I don’t say no to beer,” Karson said with a grin before Shea put one in his hand. They said cheers before taking long pulls.

“Get that shit taken care of with Lacey?”

He nodded before saying, “Yeah, my lawyer got it taken down, thankfully. I have a private investigator searching to see who put it up.”

Shea met his gaze. “Don’t want to let it go?”

Karson shook his head. “I need her to believe me. Her dad is up to no good.”

With JT being gone and Karson still mad at him about not only sleeping with his sister but also wanting to do it again, he hadn’t had anyone to talk to. So his captain was now the person he talked to besides Lacey and his mom, of course.

“I get that, but you two have fought enough about this. Let it go, move on,” Shea urged, and he was more than likely right, but Karson wanted that validation.

“I just feel like she thinks I’m a liar and hiding shit and stuff,” Karson pointed out, but Shea still shook his head.

“I know, but if she’s over it, you should be too,” he said and Karson slowly nodded.

“You’re right. I’ll call it off.”

“Good, don’t keep kicking a dead horse, you know? Just let it go.”

Shea was completely right. What would he win if he were proven right? Nothing. It would cause more problems for Lacey, and he didn’t want that. The best thing to do would be to just forget it all and hope that Nate Martin left them the hell alone. They had so much more to fight about in the future, and the quicker he learned how to let go, the better. He wouldn’t always be right and neither would she, but he had to learn that sometimes it was better to bite your tongue. He knew the truth, and maybe one day it would come out. Until then, he would love and support her with everything inside him.

When Owen called them in for dinner, Karson followed in behind Shea as they discussed the upcoming game against the Blues. Playing on Shea’s line was as easy as breathing now. They had a connection on the ice, and he liked the way they played. He missed playing with JT, but then again, he knew he was becoming a better player playing with Shea.

When they entered the living room, he froze in the doorway midsentence as his gaze settled on Lacey. She sat on the floor, Quinn in her lap, his arms and legs wrapped around her tightly as she painted the girls’ toenails. Evan sat beside her, reading something off his iPad, while Owen’s head lay on her thigh. Karson’s heart stopped, coming up into his throat. He had always imagined her like this, surrounded by kids and loving them with every fiber of her being. And man, did she look good doing it.

Looking over at him, he grinned as Shea said, “Yeah, the kids love her. That’s all I’ve been hearing about lately. Mrs. Lacey this, Mrs. Lacey that. Kind of annoying.”

But Karson didn’t think it was annoying at all.

He thought it was perfect.

And he wanted to see his own children climb on her.

Soon.

Holding Lacey’s hand, Karson kissed the back of it as he turned onto their road. They’d had a wonderful night, full of fun and love. After a home-cooked meal of fried chicken and potatoes, they all hung out with the kids. Every second that passed, the harder Karson fell for Lacey. He was already insanely in love with her, but seeing her with Quinn, watching her wipe his nose and holding him when he started to cry, honestly pulled at every single one of Karson’s heartstrings.

He wanted to watch her with a child of their own.

A little girl with long dark hair and her green eyes, or even a little boy, tough like his daddy. He didn’t care; he just wanted to watch her grow their child, bring it into the world, and then love it with every single ounce of herself. She would make a great mother, and he knew he would make a great father.

He’d always wanted kids.

When Kacey was younger, before he turned into an asshole to her, he used to nurture her and looked out for her to the extreme. His mom would always joke that wherever Kacey was, Karson was right there beside her, making sure she was safe. He still did that a little now, but when they were younger, it was different. She was his baby sister. He had a duty to love and protect her. But then they got older and she turned really annoying, so he decided to beat her up most of the time. He smiled at the memories of tying her up to a tree or breaking her hockey sticks, or even sucking all the gas out of her car because he had run out of gas in his car. He was almost demonlike to her, but he loved her.