“By the way your eyes haven’t left a certain someone, I’m pretty sure you do,” Rachel said in hushed tones.

Lacey looked over to meet Rachel’s knowing gaze and shrugged. “Actually, I don’t.”

Rachel glared, seeing right through her lie. “You do, and I know you just lied to your dad.”

“Leave it alone, Rachel,” Lacey warned as she kissed Flynn again, her eyes back on Karson. She should have known better than to even try to lie to Rachel. She could see through her like she was a pane of glass. It was disconcerting how good she was at it, and one would think Lacey would remember that, but she hadn’t. The thing was, she just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Rachel would freak out and tell her how bad of an idea it was to get involved with Karson.

Which she had every right to. She was there when Lacey would cry herself to sleep or when her skin would prune from where she sat in the shower crying till all she did was heave for breath. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and she knew that Rachel would only think that she was heading straight for that outcome again, but Lacey knew it wouldn’t happen.

She trusted Karson.

She loved him.

“Flynn, Zander, come on, let’s go to the pro shop before the game starts,” her father said, and Flynn was out of her lap before her father was even done with his sentence.

“Don’t spend all your grandfather’s money,” Rachel called out, but Lacey didn’t think anyone heard her as the door shut, leaving them alone.

Leaning on the edge of her chair, Lacey watched as Karson shot hard at the net, getting it through the goalie’s legs. He had a breathtaking grin on his face as he backed away, skating to the boards where bottles of water sat. Grabbing for his bottle, he squirted some water in his mouth as he looked around the arena. She was sure he couldn’t see her, and she wished she could stand up and wave her arms in the air, but that would sure set Rachel off, blowing her charade of trying to hide the fact that she was seeing Karson again.

“Looks like he is looking for you. Might want to wave,” she said and Lacey closed her eyes.

Well, she guessed the charade wasn’t really a charade.

“Leave it alone.”

“You’re back with him,” she accused and Lacey shook her head.

“No, I’m not,” she said, still not looking at her.

“Lacey, look at me!” Rachel demanded, causing Lacey to let out a long breath. Turning, she leaned on her hand to meet her best friend’s gaze.

“What?”

“Are you back with him?”

Lacey shook her head again. “No…not yet, at least.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sakes, Lacey, that is such a bad idea! When did you see him? Did he call you?”

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head on the edge of her palm and took in a deep breath. “Can’t we leave this alone until I figure out what’s going on?”

“After you answer my questions, yes. He is bad news. He left you!”

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I stopped loving him,” she said, sitting up and meeting Rachel’s stunned gaze. “I’ve spent the last nine years in complete hell without him, trying to find something to fill the hole he left. It didn’t work. I can’t stop what I feel for him. I jumped into a cab last night, and he was there, Rachel. Nine years I haven’t seen or heard from him, I get in a cab and he is there. It’s fate. It’s meant to be.”

“Are you kidding me?” she asked with a shake of her head. “If it were fate or meant to be, it would have happened a year after he left. It’s been almost ten years. No one stays in love that long with someone they don’t see or hear from. It’s preposterous!”

Lacey glared. “Then I guess I am preposterous because I love him, and I am hoping to God something happens between us. He makes me happy, Rachel. Shouldn’t you want me to be happy?”

Rachel’s face was full of shock, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. “I am speechless right now. Do you not remember what happened? Do you not remember the way I held you as you cried and begged the heavens for him to come back? ’Cause I do, and I refuse to stand here and let it happen again!”

“Then don’t. You don’t need to worry about me; I got this,” she said, and that must have stunned Rachel more. She fell back in the chair as if Lacey had hit her, her eyes widening even more.

“Are you fucking serious right now?” She didn’t yell it, she almost whispered it, but even so, Lacey knew she meant business.

Nodding slowly, her eyes locked with Rachel’s, she said, “I love him, Rachel. We are meeting for drinks after the game, and then after that, I don’t know what is going to happen, but I love him and I have to follow my heart. I mean, I have another chance with him. I would be stupid not to take it. Not to take ahold of my happiness and never let go.”

Slowly shaking her head, Rachel closed her eyes as she let out a long breath before meeting Lacey’s gaze again. “Did he tell you why he left? Or is he sticking with the same lame excuse?”

Lacey looked away. “We haven’t talked about that yet.”

“Holy shit, Lacey, what did y’all talk about?”

Biting into her lip, she said, “Not much. More doing than talking, if you know what I mean.”

When she glanced over at Rachel shyly, she saw her trying to hold in her laughter, but soon they both dissolved in giggles. Leave it to them to laugh through a tense situation.