Overtime(8)

Kacey grinned. “You, crazy? Please.”

Lacey smacked her playfully before turning to mix the potato salad. She looked perfect doing it too, if that were possible. She made being a wife look so damn good, and Kacey hated how jealous she was of her. “I want your life, Lacey.”

Lacey scoffed. “Say what? You have a great life; you’re a gold medalist.”

She nodded. “Oh yeah, I know and it’s awesome, but I want to be the successful wife making potato salad while my kiddo grows inside me.”

“One day, don’t worry,” Lacey said with a wink. “Then I can sit there and tell you what to expect and warn you of the sleepless nights and scare the shit out of you. Man, the team’s wives don’t hold back.”

Kacey laughed. “Um, I bet! Especially with Elli—I’m pretty sure she’s been through everything.”

“She has and, good Lord above, it’s scary.”

Grinning, Kacey nodded. “I bet, but I’ll sit back and watch you. Learn from your mistakes,” she added with a wink and Lacey laughed.

“I’m sure there will be a ton!” she groaned as she added the pickles.

“Doubt it.”

Lacey grinned before she shrugged. “So, no new man in your life?”

Kacey looked up and made a face. “I’ve been dating nothing but idiots for the last year.”

“Eh, not all of them were that bad,” she said with a knowing look.

“Ha. Please.”

“So you haven’t spoken to him?”

They both shared a long look. It didn’t take a genius to know exactly whom her sister-in-law was speaking of. Shaking her head slowly, she picked at a hangnail as she answered. “Not since I walked out of his cabin seven months ago.”

“I’m sorry, Kacey. I really hoped that something could have happened between you two.”

Kacey shrugged, trying to act indifferent about it. She didn’t want Lacey to know how much she was hurting. “Eh, it wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” she said slowly.

Biting her lip, Kacey watched her for a moment and then finally asked what she had wanted to know for months. “Have you spoken to him?”

She knew that Lacey had. Karson and Jordie were best friends to the extreme, basically holding each other’s dicks when the other peed, but still no one had spoken about him in months. Maybe something had changed?

When Lacey shrugged slowly, she reached for the salt and pepper before biting the inside of her cheek. “Yeah, of course, we have.”

“About me?” she urged and Lacey looked away.

“No, Kacey, I wouldn’t do that in front of Karson, and I’ve only seen or talked to Jordie with Karson.”

“Oh,” Kacey said sadly. She wasn’t hoping for a different answer. She should have known better. It wasn’t as if Lacey would betray her and talk about her in front of her brother, but she sort of hoped that Lacey had been able to get Jordie alone. Because she wanted to know something, anything. Maybe that he missed her. Or that he even talked about her. But it seemed that she didn’t matter to him, something she needed to accept. “So he hasn’t asked about me?”

Looking up, Lacey slowly shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I thought maybe he was talking to you on the sly.”

“Nope, nothing.”

“That really sucks,” she said softly. “He could really benefit from having you in his life.”

Her statement sounded really loaded, but before Kacey could ask, Karson strolled into the kitchen. “Hey, people are getting here. You ready, love? Ew, Kacey, you gonna fix your hair or something? The team is starting to show up.”

“Fuck you,” Kacey shot back as she redid her ponytail, looking her brother over. He had gained a little weight over the summer, probably sympathy eating with Lacey, which was just too damn cute. But nonetheless, Karson was basically her male twin. Despite the two-year age gap, they looked so much alike it was scary. Both with caramel eyes and dark hair, tall and broad shouldered with lean, strong bodies. There wasn’t a summer where they didn’t work out or spend the day playing hockey. While Karson was an ass and drove her insane, he was her best friend and she loved him more than words could describe. She knew he loved her more than that and was disgustingly overprotective. Hence why he didn’t know that there had been a relationship between her and Jordie. He thought they’d only slept together once, and he was still very unhappy about that. But despite all the love between the two siblings, they fought like cats and dogs. “I am supposed to be in bed.”

“Then why aren’t you? I told you we were having this party today. You should have come in tomorrow,” he said, coming up behind Lacey and cuddling her close to him.

“I didn’t want to drive on the Fourth of July, and Ma and Dad basically pushed me out the door. Dad wants me to start training with you guys on Monday.”

“True,” he said with a nod. “Well then, go put on your party shoes and drink a few more cups of coffee, ’cause it’s time to party!”

“You’re an idiot,” was her decision as she downed the rest of her cup. “Where is the dee to your dum?”

“What?” he asked confused as Lacey giggled softly.

“Jordie,” she said, acting as if she was bored.