The Christmas You Crash (Going Rogue #2)

Chapter 31

thirty-one

LEXI

Maddox Graves lives in a ridiculously swanky apartment. It makes sense, I suppose. He’s the captain of the Rogues and the star center. He must make the big bucks, because just the main living area is bigger than my entire apartment.

“Ryder, glad you could make it, man.” Maddox clasps hands with Ryder and pulls him in for one of those bro hugs. He’s a huge guy. Nearly the same height as Ryder, but he’s broad in a way that makes Ryder look almost skinny. Which is ridiculous, because Ryder’s all lean muscle and pure strength. Maddox’s brown eyes find me over Ryder’s shoulder. “Come on in.”

“Thanks, Graves,” Ryder says with a grin. Then he tugs me to his side and wraps his arm around my waist. “This is Lexi. Lexi, this is Maddox.”

The dark-haired man eyes me curiously for only a moment before sticking out his hand and offering me a genuine smile. “Nice to meet you, Lexi. Welcome to our home.” Just then, a beautiful redheaded woman sidles up next to Maddox with a roll of her eyes.

“So sorry. Griffin was bugging me about whether we had the ingredients to make him a Shirley Temple.” She blows out a breath like she’s frustrated, but there’s only humor dancing in her blue eyes. “He claims he’s not drinking tonight, because he made a bet with your sister that he could get through New Year’s entirely sober, but we all know that’s never going to happen.” Her gaze slides to Ryder and then to me. She greets Ryder with a friendly hello before giving me a huge smile. “I’m Isla. I’m dating this giant over here.” She hooks a thumb at Maddox. “Madds told me Ryder might bring a lady friend, but I had no idea he’d bring someone so stunning.”

My cheeks heat. “Thank you. I’m Lexi. Your home is beautiful. Thank you for having us.”

“And so polite too,” she says, smiling wider. “But that makes sense. Ryder always has seemed more polite than any of you.” She bumps hips with her boyfriend, who shakes his head and smiles indulgently at her.

Maddox takes our coats, and Isla leads us farther into the apartment, where Rogues players and a few women are spread out, chatting and laughing together. Everyone seems so comfortable. It only highlights how very un comfortable I am.

I feel like, any minute now, they’ll figure out who my dad is, and things will get awkward.

“So…” Isla offers me a flute filled with bubbly champagne, which I accept. Maddox joins us and wraps his arms around her waist. “How did you two meet?”

I freeze. How did we forget to come up with something to tell people when they ask us this question? We can’t very well explain our naked, serial-killer-adjacent meet-cute without revealing why I was at the cabin, too, and therefore who I am. I force a smile and open my mouth. I have no clue what’s about to come out of it, but I’ll come up with something, right?

“Lexi and I actually met over a bottle of wine and a shared interest in serial killers.” Ryder flashes Isla a mega-watt smile while squeezing my hip. “My girl’s obsessed with true crime.”

I stifle my laughter. That’s one way to put it.

Isla clasps her hands in front of her chest. “That’s so cute. It seems like everyone meets through dating apps these days. I love a good we met at a bar story.”

A bar. Right.

Neither Ryder nor I say anything about Isla’s bar comment, but Ryder chuckles.

“Yeah, I was just struck by Lexi, you know?”

God, it’s almost impossible to hold in my laughter at that one. Resting my head on Ryder’s shoulder, I grin. “And I thought Ryder had the most killer smile.”

His body shakes with repressed laughter, but Isla doesn’t seem to notice. Thank goodness.

“Well, you two are just too cute together—aren’t they, babe?”

“Yeah,” the big man says with a bemused shake of his head. “So cute.”

Sensing her boyfriend’s amusement, Isla turns and swats him on the chest. He catches her hand and kisses it. Honestly, they’re the cute ones. “Well, please make yourselves at home. There’s plenty of food and drinks in the kitchen. The bathroom is down the hall. If you need anything at all, let us know, okay?” She steps away from Maddox to give me a brief hug. “Will you be coming to games once Ryder’s back in action?”

I shift my weight from one foot to the other. “Oh, uh, I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it.”

“Well, I hope you do. I go with Maddox’s sister Mira, most games. She’s around here somewhere. She’s probably hanging out with Griffin. You’ll love her.”

There’s a knock on the apartment door, drawing Isla’s attention. “Shoot, sorry. Catch up with you in a bit?”

I nod. “Definitely.”

And then she and Maddox are gone. They greet another Rogues player, and I attempt to keep my breathing steady and my heart from racing.

“Breathe, Oscar,” Ryder whispers in my ear. “You’re doing great. It’s just a party. Breathe.”

Just a party. Sure.

But I take his words to heart and gulp down a few deep breaths, holding them for a few seconds before slowly blowing them out. I also take a few gulps of champagne, because deep breathing is great for relaxing, but alcohol might be better.

I can do this. It’s just a party. And I’m here with the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.

“Ready to meet the rest of my teammates?” Ryder asks. His voice is still low, and his warm breath tickles the shell of my ear.

Girding myself, I nod. “Yeah. Yes, I am. Let’s do this.”

His raspy chuckle does funny things to my insides. “That’s my girl.”

“So, she ran in to make sure I wasn’t dying or something and got a full view of my bare ass.” Griffin laughs hysterically, Mira rolls her eyes, and Maddox looks like he’s ready to kill his best friend.

“Ugh. Last time I check on you when it sounds like you’re being murdered.” She shudders. “I did not need to see you humping the bed in your sleep.”

Griffin laughs again. “I can’t help it if my wet dream moans sound like murder moans.”

“Dude,” Maddox says with deep scowl. “I told you not to be gross around my sister. It was a condition of me letting her be your roommate. Do I have to kick your ass?”

“Excuse me?” Mira crosses her arms over her chest and levels her older brother with a glare that would shrivel a lesser man’s balls. “ Let me ? In case you’ve forgotten, you have no say in how I live my life, Maddy-poo.”

“Yeah, but I do get to tell my best friend I’ll shove a foot up his bare ass if he continues to sleep naked while you’re living in the same apartment.”

“Come on, man.” Griffin leans forward, pleading. “You know the boys need to breathe at night. It’s not my fault your sister walked in on me getting some dream lovin’.”

Isla wrinkles her nose. “Ew.”

“You guys are ridiculous. Help me out, Lexi. You don’t think I’m in the wrong, here, right? I was asleep, for crying out loud.” Griffin turns his pleading eyes on me, and so does everyone else.

I giggle nervously. “Uh, yeah. I’m not sure what to say about any of this. But you know that cotton is breathable, right? I’m sure your balls would get plenty of oxygen if you slept in some boxers.”

Griffin grips his chest dramatically. “Et tu, Brute? Damn. And I thought you seemed cool.” He winks to make it clear he’s kidding.

“Don’t ask my girl about your balls, Wright. Boundaries,” Ryder says. Though he’s trying to hide his laughter.

The night is going surprisingly well. Everyone is kind and welcoming, and I’m wondering if judging all hockey players based on my dad and Garrett was a mistake. Would I have met Ryder sooner if I hadn’t? Maybe sitting around, laughing my ass off until my stomach aches, could have been a regular occurrence at this point in my life, rather than an experience I’m enjoying for the first time. It’s pointless to play the what-if game, but it’s difficult not to consider it.

Ryder hasn’t left my side. He’s got an arm around me or a hand on my thigh or massaging the back of my neck at all times. He doesn’t seem to notice the covert smirks his teammates are sharing about it, but I do. They’re the good-natured looks people give one another when their friend is being sappy and cute. They’re happy for him. For us. And it makes me feel all squishy inside.

The Rogues players ask me about myself, and I answer honestly, though I do evade questions that would require me to reveal my status as their coach’s daughter. But even that has been less stressful than I worried it would be. All the other wives and girlfriends I meet are kind and funny, and soon, I’m not even thinking about the fact that these guys are hockey players. Or that they play for my dad.

Pressed against Ryder’s side on the couch, I can’t help grinning. I was so worried about how things would go once Ryder and I left the cabin and took our relationship into the real world. We were so good together in the quiet seclusion of Two Harbors, but there was always the possibility that we’d discover our chemistry was simply proximity and not a genuine connection. But with the way every single one of Ryder’s touches fan the flame in my lower belly, and the easy conversation that flows between us, I’m now confident that’s not the case.

As the evening goes on, my worries dissipate until I’m simply enjoying our night out together. This could work. We could pull this off. My smile grows, and Ryder matches it as I lean in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

Then the doorbell rings.