The Christmas You Crash (Going Rogue #2)

Epilogue

THE FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS

RYDER

“Are you sure everything is all set?” I ask Sebastian for the tenth time.

His chuckle filters through the phone at my ear. “I promise. It’s all exactly as you specified, and we’ll be waiting in the bedrooms.”

“What about the cars? If she sees them, the whole thing could be ruined.”

“Relax, brother.” Bash laughs again. “We all crammed into two vehicles, and they’re parked off the side of the garage. She won’t notice them.”

“Okay. Yeah, of course. Sorry, I’m just nervous.” Despite the frigid winter temperatures, there’s sweat on my brow. I wipe it away with the sleeve of my coat. “Shit, she’s coming out of the gas station. We’ll be there in half an hour.”

“Got it. Take some deep breaths. Relax. You’ve got this.”

Navarro’s pep talk almost works. “I’ve got this. Thanks again, man. See you guys soon.”

I hang up just as Lexi makes it to the car. She shivers as she climbs in and wiggles her perfect ass against the heated leather seat. “All good?”

“Yeah.” Her nose wrinkles. “That bathroom was gross, though.”

I chuckle as I pull out of the gas station and back onto the road. “All gas station bathrooms are.” Reaching for her hand, I link our fingers. I need to touch her. She’s the only thing that can calm me down. “Are you ready for a weekend away?”

“Yes.” Lexi leans across the armrest and lets her head fall to my shoulder. “God, am I ready.”

After everything happened with her dad, Lexi never fully escaped the attention and gawking of her peers at school. So, she took extra classes and finished a semester early. She thinks we’re heading up to the cabin to celebrate that. And we are, but that’s not all we’re celebrating.

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Handsome.”

“I, uh, I got some news today.”

Lexi sits up and turns those emerald eyes of hers my way. “You did? Is it good news?”

We didn’t win the Cup last season, but we did make it through three rounds of the playoffs. After Cross was fired and Coach Fry took his place, we had a couple of fumbled games, but we ended the season better than we started it. And with Lexi in the family box, cheering me on every game she could, my playing got better and better. Now, I almost have as many fans as Maddox, Griffin, Logan, and Bash. Almost. Which is why my agent was pretty confident he could get me a sweet extension offer. But you never know with these kinds of things.

“I heard from John.”

Lexi’s hand grips mine. “Did they extend your contract?”

I want to tease her. I want to give her sad puppy dog eyes and make her wonder. But I’m too excited, and I can’t banish the smile that curves my lips.

“Ohmygod, they did, didn’t they?” She’s bouncing up and down in her seat. She’s so damned adorable. And mine. All mine. God, I’m a lucky bastard.

“Yeah, baby, they did. Five years. And it’s huge. So many zeros that I don’t know how to wrap my mind around it.”

“Hell, yeah!” Lexi shouts. She’s so loud and enthusiastic, I’m sure they can hear her from the next town over. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Ryder. So proud.”

The thing I love about Alexis Cross? She’d be just as proud of me if it was only a one-year extension for chump change. She doesn’t care about the money or the notoriety. She only cares that I’m happy. And I am.

I’m hoping I’ll be even happier by the time the night is over.

“Thanks, Oscar. I’m just glad I don’t have to try to convince you to move with me because I got traded.”

She waves her free hand in the air in a flippant gesture. “You wouldn’t have to convince me. I’d go wherever you go.”

So easily. She says it so easily. As if it would be no big deal to uproot her life and follow me to who-knows-where. Of course, I’d do the same for her. If, one day, she finds her dream job in Chicago or California, or hell, even Alaska, I’ll happily pack my bags and follow her there. Because Lexi’s not only my biggest fan. I’m hers too.

Gravel crunches beneath our tires as I pull up to the cabin. Our cabin. Lexi’s mom and Jeff bought Arthur out shortly after he was fired. Lexi doesn’t know it yet, but Kelly and Jeff plan to present us with the deed as a wedding present.

The cabin is lit by that one single exterior light. The guys, Mira, and Isla are all hiding in the back rooms of the house with the blinds closed, so it looks like the place is empty.

“I love you, Alexis Cross. You know I’d go wherever you go, too, right?”

She offers me a blinding smile. “Of course.”

Sometimes, every once in a blue moon, I still think about Arthur Cross. And when I do, I feel sorry for him. Not because he’s miserable and alone, and the only job he could get coaching hockey was a high school team out in the middle-of-nowhere South Dakota, but because he willingly gave up the love of a woman who offers her loyalty so freely and completely that she’s utterly ruined me for anyone else.

But I won’t make that mistake. I pat the outline of the box in my pocket for the hundredth time since we left our apartment. No, I’m never giving Lexi up. Not for anyone or anything. I’m making her mine.

“Can you believe it’s been a year since we were last here?” she asks as the car comes to a stop in front of the cabin.

“Nope. It feels like just yesterday when you chucked a wineglass at my head and flashed me those perfect tits of yours.” I chuckle when she whacks my arm with the back of her hand before climbing out of the car. Almost the very moment she does, massive, fluffy snowflakes begin to drift down from the sky.

“Oh my god, it’s snowing.” Lexi looks over at me with big, excited eyes before tilting her head back and catching a snowflake on her tongue. I take a mental picture, because this moment is one I want to remember.

“Just like when we met.”

“Well.” She chuckles. “Hopefully we won’t get a blizzard this time.”

“Hopefully not,” I agree. My stomach twists itself into a pretzel and my heart hammers in my chest. I extend a hand for the woman I’m in love with. “Come on. Let’s get inside and get you warmed up.”

She takes my hand with such trust. There’s no hesitation. Even after a year of being with her, I still marvel at that. At being the one she trusts implicitly. I leave our bags in the car. We won’t need them just yet. My hand shakes as I try to slot the key into the lock.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who needs to warm up.” Lexi wraps her arms around my left bicep and presses in close to me. “Come on, Handsome. Let’s get inside and get naked.”

Chuckling, I finally manage to unlock the door. We’ll definitely get naked, but not yet. “After you,” I say, pushing the door open. The moment Lexi steps inside the cabin, it lights up like the North Pole. There’s a massive tree in the same spot where we put it last year. It’s meticulously decorated, and I know I have Isla and Mira to thank for that. Fairy lights twinkle and shine from every available ledge, doorway, and surface. The fireplace is lit and crackling, and candles line the mantel. It’s perfect. Exactly as I hoped it would look.

“Ryder,” Lexi says with a shaky breath. “Oh my god. Look at this place. It’s beautiful.” She takes a few more steps inside, and I close the door behind us. Her eyes glitter as they absorb it all. Curious fingers trail across fresh evergreen garlands and linger on glass baubles. She takes in everything with so much wonder and focus, she doesn’t notice me drop to one knee. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I can think of one thing more beautiful,” I say. My voice is rough with all the emotions clawing up my throat.

“Oh, yeah?” she says, her voice light and teasing. She spins around. “And what’s tha?—”

Lexi’s words die on her tongue, and she stands there, silent, mouth open. Tears brim in her eyes, making them look impossibly greener. “Ryder?”

“The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I say after clearing my throat, “isn’t a place or an object. It’s not the lights in this room or the snow falling outside. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen is the woman standing in front of me. I thought so from the moment your naked, crazy ass threw a wineglass at my head.”

Watery laughter bubbles out of her throat as she takes a step toward me.

“But your beauty is so much more than skin deep, Alexis. It permeates everything you say and do. It’s in the way you laugh, your loyalty, your love. It’s your heart and your mind and every little quirk and habit that makes you you .” With a shaking hand, I pull the black velvet box out of my pocket and flip it open.

Lexi gasps, tears dripping down her face. “Oh my god.”

“I fell in love with you in this cabin, Lexi. I know that sounds crazy, because we barely knew each other and you were determined to fight the thing between us, but it’s true. I fell in love with you here, and I’ve never stopped loving you. Will never stop loving you. I’ll love you through sickness, I’ll love you through hardships and triumphs and joys. I’ll love you through the quiet moments and the ones the whole world sees. If you let me, I’ll love you forever.”

Lexi’s hands cover her mouth. She’s shaking like a leaf. I hold the ring box up to her, and her gaze pings between the massive cushion-cut diamond and my face.

“Alexis Genevieve Cross, I’m already yours. I have been since the moment you accused me of being an axe murderer. And I want nothing more than for you to be mine. Would you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes,” Lexi sobs, throwing herself into my waiting arms. “Hell, yes, I will. I love you so much, Ryder. I’m all yours. I’ve always been yours.”

Our lips crash together, and we get so lost in each other, I don’t even notice our friends spilling into the room until they start clapping and cheering. Lexi startles, but then she’s laughing against my lips between kisses.

“Congratulations, lovebirds,” Griffin shouts.

“Let’s see the ring,” Isla says.

When Lexi and I stare at each other, we both start laughing. We went straight to making out, and I didn’t even slip the ring on her finger.

“May I?”

She holds her left hand out to me while she wipes tears away with her right. “Please.”

It’s a perfect fit. I made sure of it. The massive diamond glitters and sparkles under the fairy lights.

“It’s beautiful, Ryder.”

I hook a finger under her chin. My fiancée’s eyes meet mine.

Fiancée.

“ It’s nothing compared to you.”

The room erupts into a chorus of awww . Lexi giggles, and I kiss her silly. She’s breathless when I pull away, and I have to help her stand because her knees wobble. Turning to face our friends—the people who’ve become our family over the past year—I’m hit with a deep sense of love and belonging.

This is everything I’ve ever wanted. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted. And I’m never—not ever—letting her go.