Nodding slowly, she bit into her lip and met his gaze. “Give me a few minutes with the kids and then I’ll be ready.”

“I’m ready when you are. Take as much time as you need,” he said, threading his fingers in the back of her hair.

When a tear leaked out of her eye, he caught it, wiping it away before kissing the spot he had just rubbed. “Thank you.”

“Always,” he whispered before kissing her forehead. “Now go on.”

She sent him a weak grin before turning and heading to where her nephews sat. As he watched her, he knew this was a huge risk for her. Leaving her family, her business, and starting over somewhere new. He just hoped when she remembered this time, all the pain and heartache caused by choosing him, she would think it was all worth it.

That he wasn’t a mistake.

It felt good to be home.

With his hand locked with Lacey’s, they made their way through the Nashville airport with ease. It was an earlier flight, so it wasn’t that busy, thankfully. Karson needed to get Lacey back to his apartment because he had to hit the ice with the Assassins by seven a.m., which meant he had an hour. Having hired a car service, Karson helped Lacey in before getting in himself. He was dragging ass a little. He had spent most the night making sure she slept well. After leaving Rachel and Grady’s, Lacey was a mess. She cried the whole way home and it killed Karson.

He just couldn’t grasp what the fuck the Martins’ problem was. Didn’t they realize how much they were hurting her? And if they did, what assholes! Who hurts someone whom they allegedly love? It was insane and drove him up the wall with irritation, but he couldn’t change it. He couldn’t make it better, and that left him feeling lost.

Once they got back to her apartment last night, she cried for a little longer and then finally fell asleep. As he watched her tear-streaked face as she slept, guilt ate away at him. Maybe this was a bad idea? He was uprooting her from her home, everything she knew, and taking her somewhere brand-spanking-new. What if she got to Nashville and hated it? It petrified him to the core, but that morning when she woke with a bright smile, he figured maybe it would be okay. He wasn’t going to let her family ruin her homecoming. He was going to make this the best he could. Or die trying. He wouldn’t see his wife cry anymore. He refused to.

Sitting back in the car, he smiled over at her. “Isn’t that cold here, huh?”

“No, it’s bearable,” she said with a big grin. Ever since they’d landed in Nashville, her grin could light a room and it warmed him to the soul. The excitement was coming off her in waves, and he couldn’t wait to show her the city, to make this city her home. He just wished he could get rid of the guilt.

“So where are we going?” she asked, lacing her fingers with his.

“My apartment.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah, then I have to go to morning practice. Sorry to leave you when we just got here.”

“It’s fine,” she said, waving him off. “I think I’m going to take a nap. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Yeah, how are you feeling?”

She shrugged. “Tired but excited. This is a new start.”

“A great one.”

“For sure. So you go to practice, I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.”

“Awesome. I’ll be back before you know it. You won’t even miss me,” he said, kissing her temple.

Looking up at him, she gave him a sneaky grin. “Of course I will.”

He kissed her lips then, basking in the feel of her sweet lips against his before snuggling her close. The ride to his apartment was short, and when they arrived, he hurried her inside after paying the driver. Throwing the door open, he carried their bags to his room, tossing them down on the ground. The movers would be there later that afternoon, and he wasn’t sure where he was going to put all her things, but they would figure all that out later. He only had thirty minutes to get to the rink and get ready. He hated to leave her, but he really had no choice. He had to go.

Coming back into the living room, he found her wide-eyed as she looked around his dump of an apartment. It was nice when it was clean, but, unfortunately, clean was the last word to describe his little apartment at the moment.

“In my defense, if I had known before I left to go to Chicago that I would find the love of my life, marry her, and then bring her home, I would have cleaned.”

She laughed nervously. “This is disgusting, Karson.”

He looked around at all the takeout containers, pizza boxes, and beer cans. Along with that, there was equipment everywhere, and yeah, it looked like a bachelor pad for sure. There were even Playboys sitting on the table with a bottle of lotion and a box of tissues. There was also a smell. When her eyes settled on the tools of male masturbation, his face turned red.

“I promise I’ll clean when I get back. My room is clean.”

She laughed. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “The sheets are clean and everything. I usually sleep on the couch.”

“Okay,” she said, slowly shaking her head, her eyes still grazing all over the room and then the kitchen, which was ten times worse. Fuck him, why didn’t he call JT to clean or something? Oh, he was too busy getting married and having lots of mind-blowing sex.

When another nervous giggle came from his bride, he looked up as she said, “My hands are twitching. I want to clean.”