Page 23 of The Christmas You Crash

“Night.” I can’t drag my eyes from Ryder’s big form as he retreats from my room. Even in sweats, I can see his body flexing and rippling with each step. When the door closes behind him, I let out a sigh, and a shiver ripples down my spine. Time to getinto bed and burrow under the covers before all the heat leaches from the room.

My teeth won’t stop chattering.Glancing at my phone, I groan when it only reads two a.m. This is going to be the longest, coldest night of my life. The power’s been out for three hours. Just three hours. And, already, I’m freezing my tits off. Stupid wall of windows.

A soft knock on my door makes me jump.

“Lex?” Ryder’s raspy voice filters through the wood. “I can hear your teeth knocking together all the way in the living room. Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” I croak. Why not? It’s not like I’m sleeping.

Ryder looks adorably sleep-rumpled as he peeks his head around the door before pushing inside. His lips twitch like he’s fighting a grin when he sees me.

I’m cocooned in blankets. The only part of me that’s visible is the top half of my face. Everything below my nose is covered. I’m sure I look ridiculous, but it’s too cold for me to care.

“Hey. Why don’t you come sleep on the couch? It’s a hell of a lot warmer in front of the fire than it is in here. I feel like I’m getting frostbite just from standing on this floor.”

Sleep on the couch with Ryder? I mean, there’s plenty of room for both of us on the L-shaped sectional, so it’s not like we’d be touching, but still. I barely know him. Sleeping in the same room is…intimate. He watches me roll my bottom lip between my teeth but says nothing. And that’s what allows me to make my decision. Because Ryder’s not pushing me to do anything. He’s waiting for me to choose for myself. It’s the same gentle thoughtfulness he’s shown me since he realized I wasn’tbreaking and entering, and I stopped accusing him of being a murderer.

I may not know Ryder Hanson all that well, but I know I’m safe with him.

Blowing out a deep breath, I struggle to untangle myself from my cocoon. He chuckles as he watches me, but when I’m finally free, I climb out of the bed with a shiver. “Okay, yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

“Come on, then.” Ryder helps me gather up the pile of blankets and my pillow, then we tread silently down the dark hallway. He adds a few more logs to the fireplace while I arrange my blankets on the shorter side of the sectional. The movement, combined with the heat of the fire, finally helps my teeth stop chattering. It’s still way too cold to be called comfortable, but I won’t freeze to death.

“You good?” he asks after I’ve tucked the corners of the last blanket under the couch cushions. I don’t want any cold air sneaking under the edges.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

We both burrow under our blankets. Though the wind still howls outside, the cozy crackling of the fire drowns some of it out. Once we’re settled and my eyes are finally drooping, I let out a sigh.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I admit to Ryder with a whisper. “This would have been scary by myself.” And it would have been.

I’m used to being alone. Even grown to like it. But I miss my friends from college. I miss having people to lean on and confide in who aren’t on the other end of a phone. I told myself that I was looking forward to a quiet Christmas with no one else around, but now, I’m not so sure I wasn’t lying to avoid facing how lonely this week would be.

Ryder’s presence has been more comforting than I’d like to acknowledge. But with the power out and the snow piling up allaround us? I can admit that his presence is likely the only thing that’s kept me from absolutely losing my shit.

“I’m glad too,” he answers. “For the company and that you had the foresight to bring groceries when I didn’t.”

I laugh at that. “Yeah. If I hadn’t, we might have had a Donner family Christmas.”

“Jesus,” he chuckles. “You and your murders.”

“You like it,” I tease, a yawn warping the words.

There’s a soft huff of laughter as Ryder shifts on the couch. “Yeah. I really do.”

We lapse into silence after that, and everything grows hazy around the edges. I’m barely clinging to consciousness when I hear Ryder’s soft words.

“Sweet dreams, Lexi.”

And maybe he has some kind of magic because I sleep better than I have in years.

twelve

LEXI

“I’d killfor some coffee right now,” I grumble from beneath several layers of blankets. Ryder kept the fire going all night, and even though it helped, I’m still cold. Plus, I have a headache developing. I really need to cut back on my caffeine consumption, because withdrawal is a bitch. I made it through most of the morning, but it’s hitting now.

Ryder grins at my pissy grumbling like he thinks it’s adorable. Weirdo. I amnotadorable right now. I’m cold, my hair is a tangled mess, and I have the disposition of a bridge troll. He should be running away, screaming.

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