Page 120 of My Husband Problem

“What are the costumes like?” Zeke Landry asks.

“They’re basically Halloween costumes.” Sutton sighs. “Very light and they’ll fit over your uniforms.”

Zeke nods.

“We figured out a way to wrap your hockey sticks to kind of make them look like jousting lances.”

She continues explaining other little details, and Alex reaches out and grabs the back of Lawson's uniform, then the collar of Beckett’s, and drags them a few feet away from the rest of the group. He motions with his head for me to join them.

“I thought things were better between the two of you,” he says, his voice low so as not to interrupt Sutton.

“I’ve been trying,” Lawson says. “But I’m not going to let him treat Sutton like shit.”

“She’s my sister,” Beckett hisses. “She’s the most important person to me. I don’t treat her like shit.”

“You ignore her and don’t listen to her. That’s shitty,” Lawson says.

“She would tell me if she thought I was treating her badly,” Beckett insists.

Lawson shakes his head. “I don’t think she would. She doesn’t stick up for herself. And that makes me fucking crazy. You need to know that.”

Beckett squares up with him. “You need to watch that shit. You know she has a thing for you.”

Lawson puts his hands up like he is surrendering. “I’ve already told you, nothing’s gonna happen with Sutton and me.”

“Fine, but when you do that shit, or you act like you’re coming to her rescue, that just makes her think you’re this amazing guy and makes her crush worse.”

“That’s not why I did it,” Lawson says. “But I’m also not gonna not stand up for her. So if you don’t want me being Sutton’s hero and making her crush worse, then you need to treat her better.”

Beckett starts to lean in, but Alex braces his hand on his chest. “Just listen, Beck. Think about what he’s saying. Just tell him that you’ll be more careful. It doesn’t hurt any of us to becalled out once in a while and to give our words and behavior more thought.”

I look at my brother-in-law, impressed.

He notices. “Shut up.”

I chuckle. Then I focus on the two hockey players who are glaring at each other. “Caring about a great woman like Sutton seems like a pretty great thing to have in common,” I tell them. “Maybe you can just be grateful that she has another guy looking out for her.”

“As long as that guy never fucking touches her.” Beckett is staring at Lawson.

“Trust me, man,” Lawson says. “I have no intention of ever touching Sutton, for any reason.”

We all hear the little squeak and turn at once.

Sutton is standing behind her brother. And she clearly just heard what Lawson said.

“Fuck,” Lawson matters.

“Sutton—” Beckett starts. But then he stops and sighs. “No, go ahead and hate him. That’s great, actually.”

“I need you all over here so that we can practice the dance to “You’re the One That I Want.” She pauses. Her cheeks get red. Then she turns and skates off before anyone can say anything else.

“Well,” Alex says. “That was awkward as fuck.”

“The least we can do is go over and nail this routine,” Lawson says.

We practice that song, and two others, including the dance the team will have to do if two kids who are brought down in the second period manage to shoot two or more dragons—little plastic things attached to the pucks by some magic Sutton and Nora have come up with—into the goals. They will, of course, accomplish this since the players will not be trying to stop them.

At the end of the session, the players file out, and I skate over to hold Sutton back.