Page 102 of The Christmas You Crash

The Blizzard won in a hard-fought sudden-death overtime.

It was disappointing as hell, but at least my boys and I kept Chase from scoring any goals. I’ll take my wins wherever I can. Coach, though?

“Yeah. Coach was pissed. I swear, the man had literal steam coming out of his ears.”

Lexi winces again. “Yeah. I’ve seen him like that more than a few times. It’s not pretty.”

Did he yell at her and her mom the way he yells at us? “But he only acted like that toward his team, right? You’ve seen him yell at his players?”

She shrugs. “For the most part.”

“Jesus, OTG. I’m sorry he’s such a dick.” Pulling her closer to me, I wrap her in a protective hug and kiss her forehead before resting my cheek on her hair. I hate the idea of Coach yelling at Lex. Which is why I suggest the thing I’ve been thinking about for a couple of weeks now. “I’m going to talk to your dad. Alone. Tell him we’re together.”

Lexi sucks in a breath, pulls away from me, and looks up at me with wide eyes. “What? No, Ryder. You can’t do that.”

“I don’t want to hide this anymore, baby. I’m proud to be dating you. Hell, I’m the luckiest bastard on the planet. And your dad may be my boss, but he doesn’t have any right to tell me who I can and can’t see. But I also know just how much of a hothead he is, and I don’t want you there when I tell him. If he’s going to blow up, I can take it.”

“I can’t let you do that.” She worries at her lower lip, but I see the embers of hope in her eyes. She’s been worried about this. If I can convince her I’ll be fine telling him alone, maybe that will ease her fears. Still, her face crumples into a frown. “He could mess with your career.”

She’s right. He could. But crazy as it sounds, I’ve realized that, as much as I love hockey, it would quickly lose its luster without her in my life. I need to tell her. Lexi needs to understand that I love the hell out of her. And if I’m forced to make a choice between hockey and her? I know which one I’m choosing.

“Baby, you don’t need to worry about that. Lexi, I?—”

“All right, dears, here we are.” Smiling brightly and completely unaware that she has, once again, interrupted my attempt to tell Lexi I’m in love with her, our server sets our breakfast and coffee down in front of us. “Can I get you anything else?”

Yeah. You can rewind time and not choose the exact moment I’m about to spill my guts to drop off our food.

“No, thank you,” Lexi replies. She smiles warmly at our server, who cheerily offers to come back and refill our coffees in a bit, then tells us to enjoy our breakfast. When Lexi takes a bite of her French toast and hums her enjoyment, I know the moment is lost. Hopefully, another one will present itself before we part ways this morning. Now that I’ve decided to tell her how I feel, I don’t want to wait.

I also know I’ll have to keep working on Lexi to get her to agree with my plan to talk to her dad alone. She’s worried about his reaction and what it might mean for my job, but she’s an adult. It’s not like he can command me to stop seeing his daughter. I’ll earn his trust. And not that I need his blessing or whatever other old-fashioned bullshit thing, but I also don’t want to drive a deeper wedge between them.

Coach is a hard-ass, and a bastard at times, but he’s her dad. I know what it’s like to lose a father. That’s the last thing I want for her. Hell, my goal is to encourage him to repair the rift between them. Things with her mom are better than they were. I’m hopeful her dad will want to fix things too.

“How was your day with Rachel yesterday?”

That brings a vibrant smile to Lexi’s face. “So good. We went out, walked around the Art Institute before lunch, like we always did during college, did some shopping…” She lets out a soft puff of air, her eyes growing wistful. “I miss her.”

“Would she ever move to Minneapolis?”

“No.” Lexi shakes her head. “She loves it here. And she’s trying to get this job with the firm she’s interning at. I’ve tried to convince her to move a bunch of times, but she never takes the bait.” A lock of hair shifts, getting in Lexi’s way. I brush it away, tuck it behind her ear, and let my fingers linger. Any excuse to touch her.

“Well, then, you’ll just have to come with me to all of our Chicago games.”

“Yeah,” she says, huffing out a laugh. “My dad wouldlovethat.”

“Not really up to him, is it?” I place a quick kiss on her lips before taking a bite of my breakfast.

“Can we talk about anything other than my dad?”

“Course, baby.” We need to figure this stuff out, but I get why she doesn’t want to talk about him right now. And if it comes right down to it, I can talk to Coach and beg her forgiveness after. “The guys invited us to hang out with them at Maddox’s next week. I guess Isla and Mira have been bugging them to have us over. They want to get to know you better.”

That banishes the clouds that have begun to hover over Lexi’s head. She grins. “I’d like that. They seem really cool.”

Warmth fills my chest. When I started with the Rogues, I was in a pretty low place. I’d realized one of my lifelong dreams but had no one to share my excitement with. I was alone, and I hated it. Now, I’ve got growing friendships with my teammates and a woman I’m falling for. I have people to call when things go to shit and people who celebrate me when things go right.

It’s why I’m determined to find a way to tell Coach about my relationship with his daughter. Because nothing in life is guaranteed, and I’ll be damned if I let fear hold me back from being with the woman of my dreams. I’ve been alone long enough. And so has Lexi. But neither of us needs to be alone any longer.

My mind is swirling with plans as we finish eating. I don’t want to say goodbye to my girlfriend, even though I’ll see her tonight because she’s agreed to spend the night at my place. When she insists on walking back to the hotel with me, I know I’m not alone in that. She doesn’t want to say goodbye, either.

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