Karson’s head snapped up and he said, “I’m here, Coach.”

“My office, now!”

Oh shit.

“Ha, you’re in trouble,” JT teased as he laced up his skates.

“Fuck off, Thomas,” he said as he followed his coach into his office, his stomach churning with nerves. What did he do? Elli said he was good until today. Was he not? Fuck!

Shutting the door behind him, he fell into a chair in front of his coach’s desk as Coach Baxter filled his cup with coffee. “Have a nice vacation?”

Karson squirmed in his seat. “Wasn’t really a vacation. I got married.”

“Oh,” he said with a nod. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Looking over at Karson, he said, “You can’t take off for four days and expect me to play you the minutes I was.”

“I wouldn’t think it, sir. I know I have to earn my spot back.”

“Good, tear that ice up this morning, show the guys that you deserve it,” he said sternly as he dropped his weight into his chair, it squeaking from his size. “I don’t like not playing one of my star defensemen.”

Compliments didn’t come from Coach Baxter so that surprised Karson and caused a grin to come across his lips.

“Yes, sir,” Karson agreed with a nod, and then started to get up but stopped when Coach continued.

“Now, the reason I called you in here,” he said slowly and Karson’s heart dropped. He thought they were done. Slowly lowering himself back in the chair, he met his coach’s gaze as he asked, “Why the fuck is Nate Martin telling me to bench you?”

You’ve got to be kidding me, Karson thought as he let out a long breath.

“I married his daughter,” he said simply. “In Vegas, and he’s never really liked me.”

“You married Lacey? Wow, shit, she’s a good girl,” Coach said with a nod.

“That’s why I married her,” Karson said, his grin back.

Coach laughed. “Yeah, well, now you’ve pissed off Nate Martin, and he’s probably the craziest mother-trucker I know.”

“Yeah, not the ideal father–in-law.”

“Not in the least,” Coach scoffed. “Okay, well, I told him to shove it. You are my best defenseman aside from Shea, so he can kiss it. But watch yourself. That asshole will try to ruin you.”

Karson took the warning with a grin. “Yeah, but the only way he can do that is taking Lacey away.”

Coach’s brows shot up as he shook his head. “Newlyweds make me gag. Get the hell out of my office and go do your laps.”

Karson laughed as he did what his coach told him and went to finish getting ready. As he laced up his skates, his mind was flooded with thoughts of what Coach said.

That asshole will try to ruin you.

Yeah, he will, but Karson wouldn’t give him the chance. He had it good here in Nashville, and now that Lacey was with him, nothing could touch him. He felt invincible.

“So I guess you are moving out then?” JT asked from beside him as he taped up his stick.

“Yeah, I’m gonna call a Realtor today.”

“Sucks I’m losing my roommate.”

“I’m sure you’ll be okay with all that extra space to lay it down.”

JT grinned as he nodded. “Yeah, true.”

He grinned back as he stood to put on his shoulder pads. Looking over at Karson, JT asked, “You two are staying in the apartment until you move though?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we?” Karson asked, his brows furrowing.

JT laughed. “Does Lacey know I live there?”

“Um, I think so. I don’t know, but thanks for leaving your shit out. She saw it.”

Shaking his head, JT laughed some more as Karson stood there, confused. How was this funny?

“Dude, she is going to be pissed,” he finally said.

“No, she was fine. I told her I’d clean it when I get back.”

“No, I mean about me living there too. I don’t know many women that want to share a place with her husband and his best friend.”

Karson thought for a moment. Had he told Lacey that JT was his roommate? Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “I’m sure it will be fine, and it’s temporary. No big deal.”

Right?

Lacey’s husband was a slob times two.

Instead of taking the nap she so desperately needed, she had spent the last three hours cleaning her new home. The things she found, smelled, and cleaned would forever be burned in her mind. She and Karson were going to have to have a long, long conversation about cleaning and his masturbation habits.

The tissues…the tissues.

Ugh, she thought as she shuddered with disgust while she washed her hands for the billionth time. Leaning against the sink, she took in her work. She had done really well. It looked like a brand-new apartment, and she was sure her hubby would be pleased with her work. Going to his—well, their—room, she undressed and then took a long shower to clean off all the germs she had collected. Even with the cleaning session from hell, she was still grinning.

She was in Nashville. With her husband. It was pretty freaking awesome, in her opinion. Her heart still hurt from the rejection of her family, especially Rachel’s, but she wouldn’t let that bother her. She was excited. Change sucked, it did; she knew this. When she lost her mom, it sucked. When she got cancer, it sucked even more. When she started college and was a mess, it sucked but it was bearable. When Karson left her, it sucked badly. Then she left for Nashville with her husband, and her family hated him and didn’t support them, and Lacey decided that that sucked the most.