Page 63 of The Christmas You Crash

“Hey, gorgeous. These are for you.”

Sparks fly when our fingers brush as I take the flowers from his hand. The zing of electricity from the contact spreads down to my toes. With a quick sniff of the beautiful buds, I step aside and wave him in. “Thank you. Come in. I’ll put these in some water and grab my coat.”

The apartment I share with Sarah is a decent size. It has plenty of room for the two of us, especially since neither of us does much, if any, entertaining here. But the minute Ryder Hanson steps inside—all six-foot-whatever of him—the apartment feels decidedly smaller. He takes up so much space as he walks slowly through my home, his head swinging from one side of his broad shoulders to the other while he takes it all in. Not that there’s much to see.

This place is temporary for both Sarah and me, and it shows. The living room houses a mismatched sofa and loveseat that were given to us secondhand, and our mid-sized television is the only decoration on the wall facing the couches. There’s an Ikea coffee and side table and a couple of ugly lamps Sarah bought at a resale shop. A battered circular dining table fills the space just off the small kitchen, and a narrow hallway sits to the right of it, which leads to our bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The walls are all that bland off-white that comes standard in apartments, and the carpets are a dull beige.

“This is...” Ryder glances back at me. “This is nice.”

I laugh as I brush past him and into the kitchen, where I pull a vase from the cabinet. “My roommate and I don’t spend much time here,” I tell him. “So neither of us has ever really felt the need to do much decorating. It’s not much to look at, I know.”

Ryder’s heat is at my back as I fill the vase. It’s so familiar. The firm expanse of muscle pressing against my backside. The warm spread of his fingers across my hips before they skim over my belly. We’ve known each other for such a short time, and already, this feels familiar. Comforting. A sigh spills from my lips.

“My room is a little moreme,” I tell him as I place the flower stems in the water.

“I’m not sure what I expected,” Ryder admits. His fingers play along my lower belly. “I guess you have such a big personality, I was expecting your apartment to match.”

Spinning so we’re face to face, I lift my fingers to his face and skim the strong line of his jaw, enjoying the scrape of his stubble against my skin. “My roommate and I don’t have much in common. We go to the same school, but that’s about it. We don’t really spend time together, so I guess it’s just easier to keep everything the way it was when we moved in.”

Ryder nods. His gaze drops from my eyes to my lips. “I get that. Aaron did some decorating of our apartment, but I didn’t even bother doing anything to my room until I’d been with the Rogues for a month. It felt like settling in would jinx things, somehow.” His expression shifts from a thoughtful frown to a mischievous smirk. “Speaking of my roommate, he’ll be gone all night. Spend the night with me? I’ll take you out for breakfast tomorrow and bring you home whenever you want.”

Going up on my toes and wrapping my arms around the back of Ryder’s neck, I drag his face down so I can kiss the hell out of him. He tastes like mint, and when I sigh against him, his hands go to my hips. A low groan vibrates through his throat as he pulls my hips into his. He’s rock hard against my lower belly, and I’m tempted to sayscrew itto the party and drag him into my room. But Ryder Hanson has more self-control than I do, apparently,because a minute later, he separates us with another groan. This time, it’s full of regret rather than sex.

“God, Lex. I want nothing more than to bury myself in your tight little pussy right here and now, but I told Maddox and Isla we’d be there.” He rests his forehead against mine. Those beautiful, icy-blue eyes of his spear straight through me. “Go pack an overnight bag, baby. We can pick this up later.”

“I already did,” I admit. My lips twitch when his eyes widen. “It’s waiting by the door.”

Ryder twists around to look, and his face splits into the most stunning smile when he sees the bag. “That’s my girl. You ready to go, then?”

Am I ready? Ready to spend the night with the guy I’m ridiculously infatuated with? Heck, yes. Ready to be surrounded by hockey players who call my dadCoach? Not as much.

As always, Ryder doesn’t miss a thing. He tilts my chin up with the side of his index finger and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Don’t worry, OTG. It’s going to be fun, I promise. And if you really end up hating it, we can leave.”

My lip gloss is the only reason I resist rolling my bottom lip between my teeth. I stare at Ryder for a moment, noting the sincerity in his blue eyes and the soft smile that plays at his lips. He’s not lying. He’ll leave if I ask him to. And I know he’d never make me feel bad about it, either. Realizing that eases some of my worry.

“Let’s go, hot stuff.”

“Hot stuff?” One dark eyebrow lifts.

I make sure he sees my eyes rake down his body before meeting his amused gaze. And then I lick my lips. Sexily. Not weirdly. At least, I hope. “Hot stuff. Because damn, Ryder. You lookreallygood in that suit.”

His pleased laughter follows me out the door.

thirty-one

LEXI

Maddox Graves livesin a ridiculously swanky apartment. It makes sense, I suppose. He’s the captain of the Rogues and the star center. He must make the big bucks, because just the main living area is bigger than my entire apartment.

“Ryder, glad you could make it, man.” Maddox clasps hands with Ryder and pulls him in for one of those bro hugs. He’s a huge guy. Nearly the same height as Ryder, but he’s broad in a way that makes Ryder look almost skinny. Which is ridiculous, because Ryder’s all lean muscle and pure strength. Maddox’s brown eyes find me over Ryder’s shoulder. “Come on in.”

“Thanks, Graves,” Ryder says with a grin. Then he tugs me to his side and wraps his arm around my waist. “This is Lexi. Lexi, this is Maddox.”

The dark-haired man eyes me curiously for only a moment before sticking out his hand and offering me a genuine smile. “Nice to meet you, Lexi. Welcome to our home.” Just then, a beautiful redheaded woman sidles up next to Maddox with a roll of her eyes.

“So sorry. Griffin was bugging me about whether we had the ingredients to make him a Shirley Temple.” She blows out a breath like she’s frustrated, but there’s only humor dancing in her blue eyes. “He claims he’s not drinking tonight, because he made a bet with your sister that he could get through New Year’s entirely sober, but we all know that’s never going to happen.” Her gaze slides to Ryder and then to me. She greets Ryder with a friendly hello before giving me a huge smile. “I’m Isla. I’m dating this giant over here.” She hooks a thumb at Maddox. “Madds told me Ryder might bring a lady friend, but I had no idea he’d bring someone so stunning.”

My cheeks heat. “Thank you. I’m Lexi. Your home is beautiful. Thank you for having us.”

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