Page 64 of The Christmas You Crash

“And so polite too,” she says, smiling wider. “But that makes sense. Ryder always has seemed more polite than any of you.” She bumps hips with her boyfriend, who shakes his head and smiles indulgently at her.

Maddox takes our coats, and Isla leads us farther into the apartment, where Rogues players and a few women are spread out, chatting and laughing together. Everyone seems so comfortable. It only highlights how veryuncomfortable I am.

I feel like, any minute now, they’ll figure out who my dad is, and things will get awkward.

“So…” Isla offers me a flute filled with bubbly champagne, which I accept. Maddox joins us and wraps his arms around her waist. “How did you two meet?”

I freeze. How did we forget to come up with something to tell people when they ask us this question? We can’t very well explain our naked, serial-killer-adjacent meet-cute without revealing why I was at the cabin, too, and therefore who I am. I force a smile and open my mouth. I have no clue what’s about to come out of it, but I’ll come up with something, right?

“Lexi and I actually met over a bottle of wine and a shared interest in serial killers.” Ryder flashes Isla a mega-watt smile while squeezing my hip. “My girl’s obsessed with true crime.”

I stifle my laughter. That’s one way to put it.

Isla clasps her hands in front of her chest. “That’s so cute. It seems like everyone meets through dating apps these days. I love a goodwe met at a barstory.”

A bar. Right.

Neither Ryder nor I say anything about Isla’s bar comment, but Ryder chuckles.

“Yeah, I was just struck by Lexi, you know?”

God, it’s almost impossible to hold in my laughter at that one. Resting my head on Ryder’s shoulder, I grin. “And I thought Ryder had the most killer smile.”

His body shakes with repressed laughter, but Isla doesn’t seem to notice. Thank goodness.

“Well, you two are just too cute together—aren’t they, babe?”

“Yeah,” the big man says with a bemused shake of his head. “So cute.”

Sensing her boyfriend’s amusement, Isla turns and swats him on the chest. He catches her hand and kisses it. Honestly, they’re the cute ones. “Well, please make yourselves at home. There’s plenty of food and drinks in the kitchen. The bathroom is down the hall. If you need anything at all, let us know, okay?” She steps away from Maddox to give me a brief hug. “Will you be coming to games once Ryder’s back in action?”

I shift my weight from one foot to the other. “Oh, uh, I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it.”

“Well, I hope you do. I go with Maddox’s sister Mira, most games. She’s around here somewhere. She’s probably hanging out with Griffin. You’ll love her.”

There’s a knock on the apartment door, drawing Isla’s attention. “Shoot, sorry. Catch up with you in a bit?”

I nod. “Definitely.”

And then she and Maddox are gone. They greet another Rogues player, and I attempt to keep my breathing steady and my heart from racing.

“Breathe, Oscar,” Ryder whispers in my ear. “You’re doing great. It’s just a party. Breathe.”

Just a party. Sure.

But I take his words to heart and gulp down a few deep breaths, holding them for a few seconds before slowly blowing them out. I also take a few gulps of champagne, because deep breathing is great for relaxing, but alcohol might be better.

I can do this. It’s just a party. And I’m here with the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.

“Ready to meet the rest of my teammates?” Ryder asks. His voice is still low, and his warm breath tickles the shell of my ear.

Girding myself, I nod. “Yeah. Yes, I am. Let’s do this.”

His raspy chuckle does funny things to my insides. “That’s my girl.”

“So,she ran in to make sure I wasn’t dying or something and got a full view of my bare ass.” Griffin laughs hysterically, Mira rolls her eyes, and Maddox looks like he’s ready to kill his best friend.

“Ugh. Last time I check on you when it sounds like you’re being murdered.” She shudders. “I didnotneed to see you humping the bed in your sleep.”

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