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.