Chapter 4 Sierra
SIERRA
“How many bedrooms does this cabin have?” Chloe asks.
“Five,” Jay calls.
“How many stairs?” Brooke gripes as she drags her suitcase up the stairs.
Miles swipes for her case even though he has one in his other hand. “Remind me why you need all these clothes, Princess. You know I like you better without ‘em.”
I’m still thinking about Ryan in the kitchen. When I thought about coming up with the team this weekend, I figured I could forget what happened between us last year.
I’ve done a good job of it the past twelve months despite seeing him twice a week. Why should that change now?
Turns out seeing him up close in a cozy cabin is a whole different vibe.
Especially when I feel him at my back heading up the stairs.
“I missed your tongue, Sierra.”
The words echo in my head.
“So, wait…” I’m trying to catch up, trailing the line of bodies up the creaking plank stairs. “Tell me how these sleeping arrangements are supposed to work.”
We make it to the top, my heart thudding a little despite that I spend my days on my feet.
Up here, there’s a long hall with doors leading off it on either side.
“I see four bedrooms. Where’s the fifth?” I ask.
“Uhhh…”
We go hunting for it but can’t find a door to a fifth bedroom.
“You could call Trista,” Miles suggests.
“No!” the other girls chorus.
“We’d never get Ryan back,” Brooke adds. “If she got her tentacles around him, she’d drag him back to her cabin and smother him.”
“Then I guess there’re four,” Ryan says, shrugging. “Two for the guys and two for the girls.”
The hallway erupts.
The loudest protestors are Miles and Brooke, but it’s Clay who cuts through it all with a look.
“This is Nova’s and my room. Anyone got a problem, don’t bring it to me.” He shuts the door after them.
“My dude is onto something,” Miles says, looping an arm around Brooke’s shoulders.
Brooke ducks out to peer in a couple of doorways. “This one has a king bed.”
“It’s ours,” Miles decides.
Ryan’s frowning. “It’s cool. We’ll do a little rebalancing…”
That leaves two rooms with Atlas, Jay, Ryan, Chloe, and me needing beds. I stick my head into a room. “This one has bunks.” Two sets. “This for the guys?”
Chloe glances in the other room. “A king in this one, plus a pullout.”
“My feet are going to hang over the edge,” Atlas complains.
“You’ve had worse,” Jay counters.
We drop our bags, and Chloe squares her shoulders. “I knew I should have taken a day off and gone to the spa instead.”
My lips twitch as I watch her unpack on the king bed. “Why did you come?”
“To keep an eye on them and ensure they get back to Denver in one piece. The game against LA on Christmas is the biggest one of the year. The rivalry is enormous. Fans are pumped. What are you doing?” she asks as I scope out the pullout.
“I figured you’d take the bed and I’d take the couch. You’re on the clock, so you need to get a good sleep.”
“That’s sweet of you. But we can share as long as you’re not aggressive with your feet.”
“No promises.” Still, I’m grateful not to have to risk it on the pullout.
Christmas music drifts down the hallway.
“Let’s go, party people!” Ryan hollers.
A few moments later, we’re all gathered back down in the living room where Ryan has hung a small whiteboard that reads: “KOZY KODIAKS CHRISTMAS.”
“Now,” he begins, uncapping a purple dry erase marker, “the best Christmas ever has a plan.”
“You steal that from Coach?” Miles nods toward the Kodiaks logo in the corner of the whiteboard.
“Pre-Christmas,” Chloe reminds Ryan. “Our asses have to be back at Kodiaks arena in”—she checks her phone—“forty-eight hours.”
“And ready to tear LA a new one,” Jay adds.
“Yeah, yeah.” Ryan writes a list, plus draws diagrams.
My brows lift at his thoroughness and dedication. He’s sorted out meals, games, movies, a gift swap, and karaoke.
“What’s at stake?” Jay asks.
Chloe frowns at him. “It’s not a competition.”
“It should be.”
Ryan huffs. “If this isn’t the best Kodiaks Christmas ever… I’ll buy everyone a new Christmas tree.”
“Nah, too easy. You’ll buy everyone a new tree and do team media for the next month.”
He blinks. “No way.”
“You can’t assign press duties like that,” Chloe agrees.
“Chlo, here’s the thing…” Jay loops an arm around her shoulders, and she raises one brow. “We’re competitive creatures, but we need motivation. Come on, Ryan. You don’t think you can pull this off?”
Ryan’s face screws up. “Fine.”
Cheers go around the room. It almost feels like the rest of the team has already won.
“First up, decorations,” Ryan decides. “We need a tree.”
“How are you going to cut one down?” Jay asks.
“There’s a shed out back. Must have tools.”
The group of us bundle up and head outside.
In front of the cabin is the parking area and a few trees between us and the road. Behind the building is the hot tub with a pile of wood at one side. There’s a clearing with a small shed, plus a path that leads into the woods.
“It’s locked,” Jay says when we get to the shed.
Ryan curses, yanking on the padlock. “There was nothing up at the cabin.”
“Your girlfriend didn’t leave you a key?”
I think of the woman who swooped in and plastered herself all over him earlier.
Ryan could do better—not that he’s looking for a serious relationship or given me an indication he is, but that’s my hot take as someone who makes a living not just pouring drinks but listening to people.
“What about skating?” Nova suggests. “Trista said there was a pond here. Maybe if there is, there are skates around somewhere too.”
We follow the directions she left us to the rink. We start down the path, and it’s not long before we break through a stand of trees.
“Look!” Nova cries, delighted.
The little pond is iced over. It’s pristine and pretty, and even I can’t deny its charm.
Nova trips out onto the surface, slipping and laughing with glee. Brooke follows, running and sliding until she collides with her friend, grabbing her hands. They both go down in a giggling pile.
Jay’s next, his sister demanding he help her up. Soon everyone’s out there, running and sliding.
Not everyone’s on the ice. I glance over to see Ryan leaning against a tree, hands stuffed in his pockets and a serious expression on his face.
Okay, so I’m the Christmas grinch. I shouldn’t kick a puppy when he’s down, but I can’t help it.
I sidle up to him. “Guess the tree wasn’t meant to be.”
“Oh, we’re getting a tree.” His gaze locks with mine, and I see he’s determined, not sad. “No way that’s getting in the way of the perfect Christmas.”
Surprise has me snorting. “You’re that worried about losing and having to do media?”
“Reporters are out for blood come January.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
He lifts a brow. “We’re world champions. I say something stupid, next thing you know, it’s all over social media. Every sports program in the world.”
“That is pretty bad,” I concede. “But you can’t know exactly what sportscasters are going to say, so you’ll do better if you just roll with it.”
He folds his arms. His gaze flicks down me and back up. “Roll with it, huh?”
I’m suspicious but too late. He grabs my hands and tugs me toward the ice where the rest of the crew is laughing and shouting as they run and slide on the slick surface.
“Me and ice are not a good combination,” I warn, digging in my heels.
It’s as if I didn’t put up any resistance at all. He’s still tugging, and I’m tripping as he steps onto the ice first.
“You were the one who said we had to roll with it,” he reminds me. He slides backward, graceful even without skates.
“You. You have to roll with it.” My voice lifts at the end. I size up the slippery surface, wishing I’d worn grippier boots.
“Ahh. And you get to stay stuck in your ways?”
My foot makes contact with the ice, and I slide into him, grabbing at him to avoid falling.
I find his forearms, my fingers digging into corded muscle. “We’re not talking about me,” I grit out.
“You’re good at listening to everyone else’s problems,” Ryan murmurs. “Who listens to you, bartender?”
His eyes lock with mine. Awareness starts in my chest, sends tingles that ripple outward.
“LOOK OUT!”
A mass of limbs collides with me in the form of Nova and Brooke. We collapse in a pile of mittens and earmuffs and combat boots, and I’m saved having to answer.
* * *
After some time on the ice, Ryan’s spirits are high once again.
“Dinner?” Atlas comments.
“You’re always hungry,” Jay counters.
“Course I am. How else you think I stay big enough to block the guys who come at you, huh?” He beats his chest.
We trudge through the woods back toward the cabin.
“All I’m saying is I was promised a feast.”
“And a feast you’ll have, big guy,” Ryan proclaims. He’s still wearing his Santa hat. “But satisfy yourself on my epic hot chocolate first. Anyone says it’s not the best they’ve ever had, I’ll fight them.”
He’s being completely ridiculous, but I can’t resist smiling.
The forest is actually beautiful and quiet in a way the city never is. Snow feathers across branches and drifts lazily when the wind picks up. The sun sets and we pause to watch it.
“That’s really pretty. Better than the view from our place,” Nova says.
“Sounds like a vote for the perfect Christmas,” Ryan starts.
Clay holds up a hand. “Not yet.”
Brooke looks between them. “What’s the big deal? You can’t admit he did something right?”
“First, he’s not responsible for the setting sun, no matter how much he’d like you to think so. Second—” Jay spins around. “What’s that sound?”
We all go quiet.
It’s Chloe who speaks next. “I didn’t hear—"
This time there’s a crack.
“It was a mile away at least,” Jay decides. “It’s quiet up here, so everything sounds closer.”
“It was closer than that.” Atlas cranes his neck to look. Being the closest to the sky, he probably has the best chance of catching sight of anything.
“Let’s go back and make dinner,” Ryan says.