Page 120 of The Christmas You Crash

My eyes pool with tears. This time, they’re happy ones. Mostly. “Yeah, Mom. I will.”

“I love you, Alexis.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Isla and Mira watch me as I hang up the phone and shove it in my pocket. But not before silencing it. I’m sure it’s about to blow up, and I know Rach will want to talk to me about everything, but I’m not in the mood. I need some time to decompress. For all of this to scab over a bit so I’m not poking at an open wound.

“We’re really sorry this happened,” Mira says, resting her hand on mine. “This didn’t turn out to be the fun game we hoped it would be. I feel like this is our fault for pushing you to come.”

“You didn’t,” I say with a shake of my head. “I wanted to come. And, honestly, this was a long time coming. I knew my dad didn’t really love me, but I was holding on to this stupid hope, you know? Now I can move on.”

I’m done with my dad. I’ve given him so many chances. He’s shown me who he is, and it’s time I believe him. The ache in my chest is intense, but there’s also this underlying relief. I don’t have to put myself out there anymore, only to be rejected again and again and again. My conscience is clear. I doubt my dad can say the same.

Then again, I’m not sure he has one to begin with.

Footsteps sound in the hall outside of the family room, and the door opens to reveal Ryder and the rest of the guys who participated in the post-game press conference. He doesn’t say aword, just strides across the room and pulls me into a crushing hug.

“Baby. Hey. How’re you doing?”

“Better now that you’re here.”

“Fuck. I hated having to leave you.” Ryder presses a kiss to my temple. “What do you want to do now? Are you up for going to Maddox’s house, or do you need to go home? Tell me what you need, Lexi.”

I love that he keeps checking in with me. I love him. “Let’s go. It’ll help distract me.”

“We can definitely be distracting,” Griffin agrees with a waggle of his eyebrows. Mira snorts.

“All right, then. Let’s roll.”

We’rean hour into our night and lots of food has been eaten, wine has been drunk, and the ice cream is about to come out. I’m still shattered by everything my dad said, but being here with Ryder and our friends soothes that ache. For the first time since moving back from Chicago, I truly feel like I’m not alone. The man who loves me has his arm wrapped around me, the women I can’t wait to get to know better are giggling about something Griffin said, and the guys go out of their way to include me in their conversations and easy banter.

It’s nice. Really nice.

Isla has just taken ice cream orders when Ryder’s phone rings. I can feel it vibrating in his pocket.

“Whoever it is can call back,” he tells me when he catches me looking. The vibrating cuts off, only to start up again immediately. Ryder frowns but ignores it. When the phone ringsfor the third time, he sighs and digs it out of his pocket. An unfamiliar name flashes across the screen.

“Shit,” he says, a frown marring his forehead. “It’s my agent. I should probably take this.”

The room falls silent as Ryder accepts the call.

“Hey, John.”

Knots twist my stomach so brutally that I worry I may be sick. I watch every expression that flits across Ryder’s face. I’m not the only one. He’s got the full attention of the room.

“Sure. Yes, I understand. No, that won’t be necessary. Right. Yep. Sounds good.” Ryder runs his hand through his hair but flashes me a reassuring smile when he notices me staring at him and chewing on my lower lip so hard I’m probably drawing blood. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll be there. Thanks, John. Talk to you soon.”

The air is so thick with tension, you could almost choke on it. Ryder hangs up the phone, blows out a stuttering breath between closed lips, and looks at the guys.

“The bigwigs want to talk to me about what happened tonight. You guys’ll probably get similar calls from your agents. Sounds like they’re opening up some kind of inquiry into Coach’s behavior. Apparently, public reaction has been swift and almost universal.” Ryder turns to look at me. “Everyone wants him fired. Especially the female fans. The hashtagTeamAlexisis trending. You’ve already got fan sites.”

Shocked, all I can manage is a watery laugh. Fan sites? That’s ridiculous. I didn’t do anything. I’m not some celebrity or hero.

“We also have a ship name, I guess? It’s pretty terrible. Rylexis.” Ryder chuckles.

“Ooooh,” Griffin claps his hands gleefully. “Rylexis. I love it.” He pulls out his phone and begins typing away. Not a minute later, he’s laughing hysterically. “Oh my god, they’re already making AI mashups of your faces to see what your babies wouldlook like. For the record, they’re terrifying. Most of them look like that horrible CGI baby in theTwilightmovies.”

My watery laugh turns into a full-blown belly laugh. “No, they are not.” Where would they even find a picture of me? My socials are all set to private. Though, I guess they could have pulled my profile picture and used that.

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