Chapter 12
SIERRA
“This is impressive,” Nova says as she hangs snowflakes on the far side of the tree. “Ryan cut this down?”
“He almost took me out with it,” I respond.
Nova found a box of ornaments in a closet, and she and I have been decorating the tree Ryan brought in. I pick a little wooden bear out of the box and hang it.
“Sounds like an exciting date.” She smiles as she hangs a wreath on the other side.
“I wouldn’t call it that.”
Except for the part when I sprawled on top of him as though I was experiencing hypothermia and needed his body heat for survival.
That part was definitely date-like.
The smell of cookies drifts from the oven. Gooey chocolate and vanilla. My stomach growls in anticipation, and I consider pausing my current work to ambush the treats.
The guys are looking around in the woods to see if they can find the source of the noises we’ve been hearing all weekend. Secretly, I think they want to have a snow fight.
As for me? I’ve been thinking about that kiss all afternoon.
How it felt to have Ryan’s mouth on mine… The look in his eyes said he’s not letting me off the hook this time.
I’m starting to wonder if I even want to be let off.
“How well do you know Ryan?” I hear myself ask.
“We came to Denver around the same time,” Nova says.
She picks up another ornament, a little bell, sizing up the remaining available branches. “He was Clay’s rookie first year. They’re pretty close. His family usually comes for Christmas whether he’s playing or not, but I didn’t hear about them visiting this year.
“His sisters both play sports too. I remember him going to support their games. One time he wore this T-shirt from their high school to media. It broke the fundraising page.”
Of course he’s kind and funny and reps his sisters’ high school teams.
It’s easy to see Ryan only as a player, but there’s so much more to him.
Not that I’m interested in the “more.”
The fact that I want him so badly is clouding my judgment.
Maybe last year wasn’t a mistake. That’s why I keep thinking about it.
It was unplanned, a surprise. But maybe there’s something to this holiday spirit thing.
We finish up the tree as Brooke calls from the kitchen, “Who wants a cookie?”
“I’ll take two,” Nova says as we both bound to the island where Brooke’s setting out a big plate. Nova eyes the tree critically. “What do you think? Is it done?”
“It’s perfect,” Brooke says.
I bite into my cookie, and it tastes even better than it looks.
I’m still thinking about it the rest of the afternoon and over dinner.
We laugh our way through the gift swap, stealing one another’s draws mercilessly.
The most triumphant person is Brooke, who got Miles to steal for her a little golden bear figurine I found at a flea market and thought would match the guys’ trophy collections.
The moment she saw it, she decided it would be perfect to hang her non-basketball-related jewelry on.
The best prize went to the misshapen mug made by Jay in his pottery class. He claimed it was “art” and signed the bottom accordingly. When Chloe tried drinking out of it, champagne dripped down her chin until we were all cracking up.
I scored a wall calendar featuring squirrels in tiny disco outfits posed like a Studio 54 fever dream.
Ryan nabbed an “Influencer in the Wild” starter pack featuring a ring light keychain, dry shampoo, and a bottle of coconut water (for his “Hot Girl Walk” hydration).
We’re all sprawled around the living room when someone’s phone beeps loudly. Then again.
Chloe leaps up from the chair she’s lying across. “No. No, this can’t be happening.”
“What’s wrong?” Jay’s instantly alert.
She looks up from her phone. “They’ve closed the main road into town. The few inches of snow got upgraded to more than a foot.”
“Meaning…?” Nova asks.
“Meaning the only basketball the Kodiaks are going to be playing tomorrow is here.”
We exchange looks.
I cross to the window and peek outside. The snow is piling up.
“Sure looks pretty from in here,” Nova offers, peering over my shoulder.
“What are we going to do?”
Ryan holds up a hand. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”
He disappears upstairs.
While he’s gone, Chloe starts making calls on her phone.
“And voila!”
Ryan reappears at the top of the stairs, and I blink up at him.
He’s wearing bright red swimming trunks with cars on them and nothing else.
“How is that supposed to solve the road closure?” Chloe sighs, clicking off.
I take in his muscled body in all its glory, greedily drinking him in. Whatever he’s up to, I feel like it would solve a lot of my problems.
“We’ve got a hot tub, and it would be a crime not to use it. Let’s go.”
* * *
Ryan
The hot tub is supposed to fit twelve, but by the time I get outside in my towel and spot Clay, Nova, Jay, and Atlas in there, it’s getting cozy. Probably because three of the bodies are pro athletes the size of trucks.
“You coming in?” Jay calls from the far side. The shortest of us at six foot, the water reaches most of the way up his chest.
“Fuck yeah. I’m shrinking every second I’m out here.”
Nova shifts into Clay’s lap to make more room, which he doesn’t look at all upset by.
I hang my towel on a hook with a pile of them as I hear the door at my back. Miles and Brooke appear in their robes.
“You seen Chloe and Sierra?” I ask.
“Think they’re still upstairs. Maybe talking,” Miles says, helping his girl as they ditch their robes and climb into the hot tub.
The storm hit worse than anticipated. With the road back to town is closed, Chloe’s freaking out over how to get us back.
The fact is we’re stranded here for the moment.
I get that it’s a big deal if we’re not in Denver for the Christmas game, but I’m selfishly hoping they’re talking about the fact that I kissed Sierra this afternoon.
That’s sure as hell what I’ve been thinking about every second since.
“Nice shorts,” Brooke calls from behind me.
“Thanks.” I glance at the red fabric with race cars on it.
Going back inside to check on the girls seems too obvious. Resigned, I rub my hands together for warmth and take the stairs up to the tub.
The water is hot and delicious.
I take a seat on the edge closest to the stairs, letting my legs adjust to the temperature.
Laughter at my back makes me turn.
Chloe’s first, carrying her e-reader and bag.
“Where’s your phone?” Jay teases.
“Ran out of battery. It’s charging in the living room.” She frowns.
Neither of them is wearing a robe, not that my teammate seems to mind from the way he’s looking at his ex-girlfriend.
I can’t focus on that because I’m watching Sierra in a black two-piece. The suit hugs her hips and breasts. I get a long look at the soft curve of her stomach, the indent of her back, her toned thighs from hours spent on her feet.
“Shit, it’s cold!” she exclaims, wrapping her arms around herself.
She’s got ink all kinds of places, mostly black like her hair. I want to know every tattoo on her body. To learn why she got each one.
Warm water splashes the back of my head.
“Be chivalrous, man,” Atlas goads.
I hold out a hand to help Chloe up into the hot tub. She climbs in, eyeing the space to find a spot.
“Need somewhere to sit, Chlo?” Jay asks. “There’s room over here.”
She reluctantly wedges in on the far side, holding her tablet carefully out of the water.
“I’ll wait,” Sierra says, wrapping her arms around her.
Protests go up around the tub.
“No way. Get in.”
She takes my hand. If there was any doubt about the chemistry between us, it’s gone now. Her eyes lock with mine, and it all comes back in a rush.
Learning her tattoos can wait. I want her against me. Every damned inch of her skin on every inch of mine. I’ll wrap her around me twice.
“See? There’s no room,” she’s saying.
“Here.” I try to shift sideways so she’s on one side of my calves. Sierra shifts to the edge of the seat.
My knees move automatically to either side of her. Suddenly, there’s room for her to sit back between my legs. It’s not as close as Nova in Clay’s lap or Brooke in Miles’s, but it’s still cozy.
Sierra’s eyes find mine as she twists to look over her shoulder. “You aren’t in the hot tub,” she points out.
Fuck cozy. It’s as if she’s on her knees in front of me. Only a visual I’ve had a thousand times over the past year.
“It’s fine,” I grit out. “Nice suit.”
“Thanks. It was lucky this was wedged in a pocket of my suitcase from whenever my last trip was, or I would’ve been skinny dipping.”
Well, there’s an idea that has my dick paying attention.
Be cool.
“Tell me you’re not getting weather updates on that,” Miles calls to Chloe.
“I’m reading a book.”
“What book?”
“A romance.”
Nova leans in. “Oooh, say more.”
“The couple has a one-night stand, then he comes back into her life way later.”
Sierra tenses between my legs, her shoulders brushing my thighs.
“You got a matching race car bed to go with those shorts?” Sierra whispers.
I lean toward her, close enough that I catch her floral scent over the chlorine of the hot tub.
“You keep talking about my bed,” I say under my breath, my hands resting lightly on her shoulders, “I’m gonna have to give you a tour.”
Her skin is soft. I can’t resist stroking the back of her shoulders with my thumbs.
She arches a little, a small adjustment only I notice.
“That a promise?” she murmurs.
Her lips part as I release her, but it’s my turn to be left speechless.
After a year of second guessing and wanting, my literal dream girl is picking up what I’m putting down.
Fuck. It’s on.
Will it make me a bad host if I grab her and carry her out of the hot tub and up to my room this second?
Might be worth it.
“You guys had the best meeting story,” Chloe’s saying to Nova as I try to focus.
“Did you ever tell me?” Sierra asks.
“It was on a plane.” Nova smiles, exchanging a look with Clay.
“I was coming for my sister’s wedding. She booked me in first class.
I was already nervous and the flight was running late, and this massive guy with tattoos and headphones and ‘fuck off’ energy comes and sits next to me.
They were holding the plane for him, and I had no idea.
” Everyone’s cracking up, and even Sierra’s shoulders are rocking. “He was a total dick.”
“I wasn’t a dick.” Clay brushes Nova’s hair off her shoulder, rubbing her neck.
“It fucked him up every bit as much,” Jay says. “The next day, I could tell something was wrong.”
“How about you guys?” Sierra asks Brooke.
“We don’t need to hear this,” Jay protests. “That’s my little sister. She was in college.”
Brooke and Miles exchange a look.
“I’m going to throw this at your head, man,” Jay promises on a groan, reaching for Chloe’s tablet.
“It’s not yours.” She resists, wrenching it back.
“What about you two?” I hear myself ask.
Jay and Chloe freeze, both caught out like deer in headlights.
“You used to date. Everyone knows it,” I say.
“It was a full moon,” Chloe says at last. “I needed a save. He gave me one. Even blew off a game to do it.”
“Jay blew off a game?” Miles chortles.
“She made me do a lot of things that weren’t me,” he says with a half smile.
Chloe’s gaze lingers on Jay.
“But you guys split. How is it not awkward?” I ask.
“We work together. We’ve both moved on.”
“So, what went wrong?” Sierra asks, and it’s not unkind.
“We need the secret to lasting relationships,” Nova adds.
Chloe holds up her tablet. “If I find out, I’ll let you know.” We all laugh. “You seeing anyone, Sierra?”
My muscles tense. I hadn’t thought about the possibility that she was. Just because she came up here with us doesn’t mean she couldn’t be dating some other guy.
“No,” she says. “I’m better off as a lone wolf.”
When she says the words, I can breathe again. Except now I’m thinking about how fucking good it would feel to be the guy in her life.
To see her in the morning. To make her coffee. To pick her up after a long shift. To look up at the box during a game and see her in my jersey. To strip it off her late at night.
“You only think that because you haven’t found someone worth sticking around for.” I hear myself say it.
Sierra’s hand on my ankle tightens. “Oh? Because the only possible reason to not be in a relationship is failing to find the right person?”
My friends and teammates exchange surprised looks.
“No, but when you find the right person, your reasons might start to look more like excuses. I’ve heard,” I add, aware of everyone watching us.
She shifts away from me—only a few inches, but enough that I notice.
Nova lets out a little squeak. “I’m going to fall asleep if I stay in here any longer.”
Clay helps her up, and she heads for the stairs.
When they make their way toward the steps, I’m still turning over what just went down and how I managed to fuck this up.
A thumping on the door makes us all jump.
I cross to it and pull it wide.
“Ryan! Oh my God, are you guys okay?”
Trista is there with another woman, both knee-deep in snow with curls sticking out from under fluffy hats.
“Uhh, yeah. I could ask you the same.”
I step back to let them in. Everyone clusters around us.
“Our power went out for a few minutes, but it’s back on.” Trista’s friend brushes snow off her hat.
Trista nods, stomping off her furry boots. “We wanted to check in with you and make sure you have what you need for the storm.”
“Thanks. I think we’re fine.”
“Good. There were sounds in the woods on the way over.”
“You shouldn’t walk back alone,” Nova says.
The guys look at one another. “Who wants to—"
“You should go with them, Rookie.”
I cut a look back at Sierra standing on the steps.
My heart sinks.
“Great idea!” Trista cooes, already grabbing my arm in both her hands.
I’m screwed.
“You want company?” Miles offers.
“No, it’s fine. You relax.”
“Be careful out there. Who knows what those noises are.”
My feet feel weighted to the ground as I go change and tug on my jacket. As I stomp out into the snow with the women, their perky voices filling the night, I’m still thinking of Sierra and how she volunteered me for Kodashian duty.
I’m spending the next hour at least with two women who clearly enjoy my company.
Noises are the least of my worries.