Page 36 of Offside for Christmas
"It's one night," Mac said, all innocence. "You're both professionals. I'm sure you can handle sharing a room without it being weird."
Cole was very carefully not looking at anyone. "I can take the floor."
"Don't be ridiculous." Coach Davis appeared in the doorway, arms crossed. "You just had shoulder surgery. You're not sleeping on the floor. You're both adults. It's not a big deal."
Cole met her eyes across the room. "We can make it work."
Ellie swallowed hard. "Yeah. Sure. We're adults."
Adults who definitely don't notice how good the other person smells or how their stupid blue eyes do that crinkly thing whenthey almost-smile. Super normal adult behavior. This is fine. Everything is fine. Why did I drink so much eggnog?
"Very adult," Mac agreed, not even trying to hide his amusement. "Super mature. Totally professional."
"MacKenzie, I will end you," Ellie muttered.
Two hours later, after board games and more eggnog and Mac insisting they all watch the first thirty minutes ofElf,people started drifting off to their rooms. Outside, the wind had picked up, howling around the cabin walls, and snow was falling so thick you couldn't see more than a few feet past the windows.
Ellie and Cole stood in the hallway outside the third bedroom like they were facing an execution.
"So," Ellie said. "This is happening."
"Apparently."
"We can handle one night in a room together."
"Absolutely. We're professionals." Cole reached for the doorknob. "How bad could it be?"
He opened the door.
One bed. Queen-sized. No couch. No armchair. Nowhere else to sleep except the floor, which—given the draft coming from under the window and the way the storm was rattling the glass—would probably result in hypothermia.
Snow was piling up against the windowpane, and the wind made the old cabin creak and groan.
"Fuck," Ellie said.
"Agreed," Cole said.
From down the hall, they could hear Mac's muffled laughter, barely audible over the howl of the blizzard.
Ellie closed her eyes. "I'm going to kill him."
"Get in line." But when she opened her eyes, Cole was looking at the bed with an expression she couldn't quite read. "Ellie, we don't have to—I can sleep on the floor—"
"Don't be ridiculous. It's freezing." She grabbed her bag and headed for the attached bathroom. "I'll change in here. We're adults. We can share a bed for one night without making it weird."
"Right. Not weird."
"Totally normal."
"Completely professional."
They were both lying, and they both knew it.
Ellie locked herself in the bathroom and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was flushed—from the eggnog, definitely from the eggnog, and not at all from the thought of spending the night in a bed with Cole Hansen.
She changed into her pajamas—thank god she'd packed the nice ones, plaid flannel pants and a soft long-sleeve shirt, nothing too revealing but not frumpy either. She brushed her teeth. Washed her face. Gave herself a stern talking to about being professional and mature.
Then she opened the door.
