Page 64 of It's Mother-Pucking Christmas!

The final buzzer sounded.

Timmy groaned. “I lost so much money.”

“Are they taking toes yet?” I asked him, standing up to watch the Icebreakers celebrate their insane win.

“I saw the writing on the wall and took out another bet,” he said miserably. “But, Dakota,” he said, begging, “Ryderhasto lose the next game against the Arctic Avengers. He has to. I’m, like, eighty thousand deep. I’m your little brother.Please!”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, following the crush of people down to the rink.

Ryder was at the edge of the ice, cameras in his face.

“How did you do it?” One sportscaster was gushing. “That was amazing.”

“Historic!”

“Did you make a deal with the devil?”

“No, ma’am,” Ryder said. “I owe it all to Coach Kowalski and the Icebreakers management for giving me a chance. I’m just grateful to be here. And grateful for my wonderful girlfriend, who came to support me.” His eyes lit up when he saw me.

I was shuffled through crowd of onlookers, then suddenly I was on the other side of the barrier from Ryder. He scooped me up in his arms, hugging me and kissing me in front of everyone.

“There it is!” One of the reporters whooped. “Now we know the secret ingredient.”

“I love you,” Ryder whispered against my mouth and kissed me thankfully, so I didn’t have a chance to respond. “Be in my hotel room in an hour and a half.” He pressed something sharp in my hand.

I left the rink and peered down at it.

“Ooh!” Gracie said, the blue glitter under her eyes sparkling in the lights from the parking lot. “Now we know why he was so eager to finish that game!”

Ryder loved me.

This was bad.

No, it was good. It was good for Timmy.

Bad for me. And devastating for Ryder.

“Don’t worry.” My cousin winked at me. “I’ll keep them all preoccupied. Go celebrate that win!”

I love you.

Had I misheard him?

Maybe it was just that he was hyped up on the win. Yeah, that was it.

Even if it was for my brother, I didn’t want to break Ryder’s heart. That was beyond naughty-list territory. That was go-kart-to-hell territory.

“Uncle Nate knows the recruiters,” I reminded myself. “Ryder will get a really good position somewhere else. Somewhere far away from Maplewood Falls.”

Or he could go to New York City and play for one of their NHL teams. I could run into him in the subway randomly on a Tuesday. Or in a restaurant. Basically, I’d feel horribly guilty for the rest of my miserable life.

“Let’s get off that ledge,” I whispered to myself as I rode the elevator up in his hotel. “Ryder doesn’t really love me, right? He said girls dump him all the time because he falls too fast. His friends will help him get over it.”

I should do it now. Shouldn’t sleep with him again. Didn’t know why I was going to the hotel room except that my entire body craved him, was aching to know what it was like to fuck him after he was high off a win.

And besides, I was already dressed for it.

The door handle to his hotel room eased under my hand when I swiped the key card.

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