Very Merry Married (Kringle Family Christmas)

“It would be awkward if you didn’t,” I said. “Because I love you so fucking much.”

Our kiss felt brand new. Because, in a way, we were brand new. It was fun falling in love with my husband, clearing the path for our unlikely life together. Changing the way I felt about myself because of the way he felt about me. It was a miracle. He was a miracle.

My Christmas Miracle.

I really hope you enjoyed Very Merry Married! Are you ready for more grumpy hockey player? I thought so - keep reading for Matt and Jasmine’s story.

Grab the rest of the series here!

The Grump Who Stole Christmas

Jingle Bell Beard

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Jasmine

Seventeen years ago

Once upon a time, I broke a boy’s heart.

I did it the week before Christmas, when there was snow on the ground outside our high school and decorations lined the halls. The semester was about to break for the holidays, and everyone was in a good mood. Everyone except me.

I’d asked the boy to meet me in the hallway behind the gym between periods, a move that was deliberate so we wouldn’t have much time. I needed to do this quickly. If I gave myself time to think about it, I’d back out.

I smoothed down my cheerleading uniform and fidgeted as I waited for him. I had just left our final practice of the semester, and I was going to skip our last class so I could change and go home. Matt wasn’t going to skip class, of course. He took school much more seriously than I did.

I should probably have been more like him. More serious, more ambitious, more smart. But I wasn’t.

My heart skipped a beat when he came around the corner. For a second I thought it was apprehension, and then I realized it was joy. This is a bad idea, a voice in the back of my mind said. But I hadn’t been listening to that voice all day, and I wasn’t going to start now.

“Hey,” Matt said as he came closer. He was smiling, something he did rarely—only around me. He looked as happy to see me as I was to see him.

This is a bad idea.

No. I was going to go through with it.

Matt didn’t touch me, didn’t kiss me, though I could tell he wanted to. And I wanted him to. He was a hockey player, and he was huge—bigger than the other boys in school, even the football players. He had a mop of dark hair and a serious face. He didn’t talk much, except to me. He didn’t have any friends, except for me. He didn’t like anyone in school, except for me.

He wasn’t exactly popular with girls, most of whom worshipped the football team. But I liked it when he touched me. I liked the feel of his big hands and I liked the way his muscles bunched in his shoulders when I put my arms around him. We hadn’t gone all the way, even though we’d been dating for months now. Matt was a gentleman, and he was waiting for me to tell him it was okay.

We stared at each other, and then we both spoke at the same time.

Matt said, “Listen, I was going to ask you—”

I said, “We’re not dating anymore.”

A stunned silence fell between us. Around the corner and down the hall, someone laughed. Someone else slammed a locker door.

“What?” Matt said.

I couldn’t say anything for a second. I couldn’t breathe. My chest was seized with pain. Why was I in so much pain? It was me who had said the words, not him.

“We’re not dating anymore.” The words came out of my numb lips, the script I’d written in my head and rehearsed.

Matt blinked, those dark eyes of his bewildered. “Why not?”

“It isn’t working.” Yes. This was what I had repeated to myself at the mirror in the girls’ bathroom. It had sounded very rational when I had said it then. “You and me. We’re too different.”

“What do you mean?” His words were kind of choked, like someone had kicked him in the stomach. Like I had kicked him in the stomach.

“Come on, Matt.” I waved at the space between us. “We don’t fit at all. We’re opposites. You’re good at school, and I’m not. You like to read books, and I only watch TV. I’m the head cheerleader for the football team, and you play hockey.” In fact, Matt was the only hockey player at Salt Springs High, which was a football school through and through. We didn’t have a hockey team. Matt played in a local league and trained at an arena on the outskirts of town. “You haven’t made it to a single one of my games this season.”

“You haven’t made it to any of mine, either. You don’t even know the rules of hockey.” The words popped out of Matt’s mouth, and then he shook his head. “It isn’t a big deal. Our schedules didn’t line up.”