Page 109 of Offside for Christmas
"I'm twenty-seven years old! He doesn't need permission!"
"We know." Jake grinned. "But he asked anyway. Very respectful. We like him."
"Though we did tell him that if he hurts you, we have a cousin network that spans three states," Ryan added cheerfully.
"Ryan!"
"What? Uncle Thomas said it first. Something about bakery ovens."
Ellie looked at her father, who shrugged unapologetically. "I might have mentioned that the bakery ovens get very hot. Just as a point of information."
"You threatened him?"
"I established boundaries." Thomas kissed her forehead. "Now go rescue your boyfriend. He looks like he needs you."
Ellie found Cole in the living room, accepting a glass of wine from her mother, looking slightly overwhelmed.
"Survived?" she asked quietly.
"Your family is very—welcoming," he said.
"They threatened you, didn't they?"
"Your dad said something about industrial ovens. Your cousins described their 'network' across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Jake might have casually mentioned he knows a guy with a wood chipper." Cole took a long drink of wine. "But also they were really nice? We talked about hockey and cooking and your dad told embarrassing stories about you as a kid. It was... nice. Terrifying, but nice."
Ellie laughed. "Welcome to the Winters family."
"Do I want to know what Jake meant about the wood chipper?"
"Absolutely not."
Cole pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Worth it. All of it. Even the death threats."
"They weren't actual death threats—"
"Ryan described a cousin network like it was the mafia."
"Okay, that does sound kind of threatening."
Dinner was exactly the kind of loud, chaotic, joyful event that Ellie's family dinners always were.
Twenty people crammed around the table, passing dishes and talking over each other and laughing at jokes that only made sense if you'd been coming to these dinners for thirty years. Cole was seated next to Ellie, across from Amber, who kept making faces at them that made Ellie kick her under the table.
"So Cole," Aunt Marie asked, leaning forward with interest. "How did you two meet?"
"She threatened to kill me in a physical therapy session," Cole said, and Ellie could hear the smile in his voice.
"I did not—"
"You absolutely did. Well at least the second time we met," Cole turned to look at her, eyes dancing. "Remember, when you showed up at my apartment at eight AM and pounded on my door like you were the police serving a warrant."
"You missed your session!"
"I overslept."
"You were being difficult."
"I was being me."
