It’s Mother-Pucking Christmas!

13. Dakota

13

DAKOTA

I sat down next to Ryder on the wooden swinging chair near the bonfire. “I’m sorry my family was such pieces of shit.”

He draped an arm around my shoulder, one muscular leg gently rocking the swing. “No,” he said, pulling me toward him. “Your family is great.”

“You’re too nice for your own good, Boy Scout.”

“Both members of a couple can’t be belligerent hotheads.” He smiled against my hair. “How’s your nose by the way?” He tipped up my chin.

“Violet had it coming.”

Ryder leaned down to press a featherlight kiss to my bandaged nose. We sat there for a long moment in warm, comfortable silence, then he stood up.

“Where are you going? The party’s just getting started!” my dad begged. “I told you not to run him off, Dakota!”

“Dad, seriously? You were calling Ryder a traitor and talking shit about him with Uncle Bic not even two hours ago.”

My dad was hurt and offended. “You mean my son, my beloved child?” He pulled Ryder down protectively to his chest. “I would never. How could you, Dakota? Lies and propaganda. Slander!” He kissed Ryder noisily on the both cheeks, making the hockey player huff out a laugh.

“He’s our favorite person in the world, Dakota!” My dad’s brothers joined into the group hug with Ryder in the middle while I shook my head, incredulous.

“I have to get up early tomorrow to work out, guys.” Ryder finally disentangled himself.

“Think about the strategy. Watch the videos of Nate in goal. He used to be the goalie for the Arctic Avengers. He’s the ringer. You gotta get those pucks in the net. It’s all mental.” Uncle Bic patted the side of Ryder’s head affectionately.

“He can take Nate,” Hudson called. “Easy.”

Ryder grinned.

I loved his smile. It was genuine, a little dopey, and made his blue eyes soft like a husky puppy’s.

“Thanks for inviting me, ma’am,” Ryder said when my mother came up. He held out his hand.

My mom ignored it and wrapped him in a hug and kissed his forehead.

“You’re family, Ryder. You are welcome here anytime. Let me know if Dakota’s giving you a hard time. She’s hard on men. You can’t be so hard on them, Dakota. And you’re such a nice boy.” My mom handed Ryder a paper sack packed with food. “I don’t want you to starve. I know Dakota’s not feeding you enough. Just come over here for dinner if you miss it because of practice. No, no, I don’t want to hear it. I’ll keep a plate in the fridge for you and make sure these guys don’t take your food. They eat too much anyway, especially since all they do is watch TV.”

“Thank you,” Ryder said as she hugged him again.

“I’m saying goodbye from thirty feet away!” Granny Murray hollered while Hudson sighed and gave Ryder a salute.

“Oh my god,” I said when we were on the quiet, snowy street, snow falling softly around us. “I am so sorry about that. They are… They are a lot . That was a lot to dump you into the first time.”

But instead of showing annoyance, he brought his arms around me, pulling me close to him.

“That was, no lie, the best night of my life, Dakota.”

I wrinkled my nose. “You’re going to go complain to all your Icebreakers teammates that Arctic Avengers fans were awful to you, and the girl you were with just abandoned you with them, and she sucks for that.”

He leaned in. Hesitated. “No, I really like you, Dakota.” Then his lips brushed mine, gently then more insistent.

I sank into him as he kissed me like I was the princess he’d been searching for on an epic quest. It was a perfect Hallmark kiss in the snow under the warm glow of Christmas lights.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered. “You’re what I’ve been searching for my entire life.” His eyes were brilliant like starlight.

“I am?”

Ryder leaned in to kiss me again, heavier this time.

I wanted to say “fuck,” but his tongue was in my mouth, and I didn’t want him to complain about curse words. I wanted him to keep kissing me like that.

Steam clouded around us. He cupped my face, peppering me with kisses, nuzzling my neck, his large hands squeezing my waist, drifting down to my hips while I wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting to feel him everywhere.

“I take it,” I whispered against his mouth, “you’re not going to not-so-subtly ask me if we can fuck in the back seat of your car.”

“I don’t”—he tipped my head back to deepen the kiss before continuing—“sleep with girls on the second date.”

“Too bad.” I felt cold and bereft when he released me—and mad I’d pushed too much.

I wrapped my arms around myself as his knees bent slightly so he could pick up the bag of food.

He cupped my chin and leaned in for one more panty-melting kiss. “But,” he said, taking a step back, “I’ll definitely bend you over and take you after the third date.”

“You—I—” I gaped at him there in the cold.

He winked over his shoulder, swinging the paper sack and whistling “Happy Holidays” as he headed down the sidewalk, one hand in his pocket.

Cocky bastard.

Gracie was in the kitchen, eating mac ’n’ cheese and hiding from family members wanting to know when she was going to start popping out babies because she wasn’t getting any younger.

“Oh!” Gracie almost dropped the fork. “I thought you were Granny Murray.”

“Just ignore her if she tells you to stick anything up your vagina. It’s a trap.” I sat down in the banquette next to her and grabbed a spoon.

“I stuck it under the broiler,” she said as I dug into the lobster mac ’n’ cheese.

“I fucking love cheese,” I mumbled around the hot pasta.

“I figured you’d have something nicer to put in your mouth than this,” my cousin teased.

I swallowed. “He left.”

“Oh no. Ryder’s not mad, is he?” Gracie asked anxiously. “Hudson said he looked upset earlier because of our family.”

“Fuckers. No, thank god.”

“Then why…” Gracie hesitated. “I figured you’d be with him, is all. Your mom thought so too. She already told Aunt Stacy she could sleep off all the eggnog in your room.”

“Ryder doesn’t sleep with girls on the second date, apparently.”

“Oh!”

“He’s such a Boy Scout.” I couldn’t stop the affection in my voice. “He did say”—I swallowed a mouthful of gooey cheese—“he was going to fuck me on the third date.”

“Yummy!”

I sighed. “I bet it’s amazing. He’s amazing.”

“You really like this guy.”

“I don’t. I mean. I guess. He’s nice, right?”

“He’s great,” Gracie assured me. “Humble, handsome, volunteers, cares about his community. He’s a good man. Even with the bad start in childhood, it seems like he’s got his life together. And he has all his teeth.” She laughed at the joke.

“He’s got the best smile.” All I could see was that grin over his shoulder.

The wink.

The way I felt safe and cherished in his arms.

“Yeah,” I said wistfully. “He is pretty awesome.”

“So this is love!”

I elbowed Gracie. “You are good at a lot of things. Singing is not one of them.”

I couldn’t stop humming the song to myself, though, as I helped put away the food. Then I thought, What the hell? This isn’t love.

It better not be because this relationship was supposed to be fake.