Page 100 of The Christmas You Crash

“Don’t be sorry. I just want you to relax and have fun. I’m excited to get to know your best friend. It’s too bad Adam is out of town. He sounds cool.”

“He is,” Rachel says, looping her arm through my free one. “I’ll bring him to a game the next time you’re in town. How great would it be to have a reason to visit us more often?” she asks me. Her eyes are bright and excited, and I have to admit, it is nice that I have another excuse to visit them. Not that I need an excuse.

“I’ll try to convince her to come to every away game we have here,” Ryder says. “Especially if the two of you make more signs like the ones you made tonight.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “You have no idea how fun it was to watch Chase lose his cool over them.”

“What’s the deal with you two?” Rachel asks. Her curiosity has been piqued, and my best friend loves tea.

“Honestly? I don’t even remember what we were fighting about, but we got into it one night a couple months after my dad died. Chase was being a huge dick, and we ended up beating the shit out of each other. I tried to apologize after, but he wouldn’t hear it.” Ryder’s handsome face contorts into a deep frown. “He was one of my housemates. I considered him a brother. It hurt to lose him after I lost my dad, and now we can’t stand to be near each other.”

“That sucks,” Rachel says. “What a dick.”

Ryder shrugs, but I know how much it hurts him. “Now I get to call these idiots brothers.” He nods in the direction of his teammates. Griffin is trying to convince Logan to give hima piggyback ride, Maddox is scolding Griffin, and Sebastian just watches with a paternal smile. “So, I guess everything turned out all right in the end.”

“Still.” Rachel’s eyes narrow. “I’m going to go to as many games as I can and make Bowen’s life a living hell.”

That has my boyfriend barking out a laugh. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Don’t hurt my girl and you won’t.”

Ryder’s fingers tighten on my hip. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of hurting Lexi.”

“I wishyou were coming to the game tomorrow.” Ryder presses me to his body in a long, sweet hug. “But I’m glad you’re getting time with Rachel. She seems great.”

“She is. And she likes you, so I guess I’ll keep you.”

He laughs at that, but he doesn’t realize how serious I am. If Rachel had hated him, I don’t know what I would have done. “Thank god. Because I’m definitely keeping you.” Leaning down, Ryder slants his mouth over mine in a slow, sweeping kiss. “Have breakfast with me our last morning here? I’ll sneak out of the hotel early and meet you somewhere. There’s no way I’ll be able to wait until we get home to spend time alone with you.”

When I glance at Rachel, she nods. Of course, she’s listening in on our conversation. “Okay,” I tell him. “Let’s do it. I already miss you.”

“You two are disgustingly sweet,” Rachel comments.

Logan grunts next to her. “Aren’t they? I’m getting a cavity from watching this.”

Griffin slaps Logan upside the head, much to Logan’s irritation. “Dude. Shut the fuck up. One day, you’ll fall in love and we’re going to give you so much hell.”

His words make my cheeks heat and butterflies alight in my belly. Ryder and I haven’t said those three little words to each other. Is that what his friends think? That we’re in love? Or did Ryder say something to them? Whatever the case, he doesn’t seem nearly as embarrassed as I am by Griffin’s casual use of the word. Ryder just shakes his head, rolls his eyes, and cups the back of my head to pull me in for another kiss. This one is teasing and playful.

His eyes dance when he pulls away. “You ladies have fun tomorrow.” He lets go of me long enough to give my best friend a hug. “I’m glad we got to hang out, Rachel. We’ll have to do it again.”

“Agreed,” she says.

Ryder turns to give me one last kiss on the forehead. “I’ll text you the name of the restaurant. And you can call me whenever, okay?”

God, he’s adorable. He clearly doesn’t want to leave. Even though I’m desperate for some bestie time, I get it. I don’t want to leave him, either. “I’ll call you, don’t worry. Good luck at tomorrow’s game. I’ll see you the following morning.”

“All right,” Sebastian says when Ryder looks like he’s going to kiss me again. He grabs the back of Ryder’s shirt and gives him a tug. “We need to get back to the hotel, and the ladies need some girl time. It was nice to meet you, Rachel. Lexi, we’ll see you later.”

Everyone exchanges goodbyes, then Rachel and I hail a cab. Ryder watches us drive away until the car makes a left-hand turn and we lose sight of each other.

“Oh girl, you two have it so bad.”

Sighing, I let my head flop back against the headrest. “I know.”

“And don’t think I missed the fact that he didn’t protest when Griffin said you two were in love.”

“I know.” Butterflies take flight in my stomach again.

Rachel studies me. “Is he the one?”

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