Page 17 of The Merriest Christmas

Toby shrugged."I thought our igloo was good."

"It was," I said with a sigh, "but they really did amazing on that stadium."

"And your mom loves baseball."

"Doesn't everybody here?"

"Good point."Toby took a step closer, and I looked up at him in surprise."Speaking of, when the season starts, would you maybe want to—"

"I don't love baseball," Seaver said, stepping between us.

I shook my head at him."What?"

"I said I don't love baseball," he repeated."Never have.It's too nice.Not enough contact."

"No one asked you."

"Just saying.Hockey's the better sport."

A chorus of boo's followed that statement, and I grinned.

"Seems like you're overruled," I said.

Rose lifted a hand."I like hockey—well, hockey romance.It has everything I want as a reader."

"I would say same"—I shook my head—"but the hockey part kinda kills it for me."

Seaver's brow furrowed."I thought you liked hockey."

"Liked," I said."Emphasis on the past tense."

"When'd that change?"

"I think you know," I said quietly.Then lifting my voice, I added, "Everyone ready for game two?"

"What is it?" Toby asked.

"Feed the Reindeer."I went to the closet, grabbed the set of blow-up antlers, and returned with them in tow."It's an O'Brien family classic."

"The rules are simple," Finn said, taking over."Someone puts on the antlers, and you take these little mints and try to throw as many as you can into the reindeer's mouth.Each one is a point.The one with the most wins."

"Who came up with this?" Rose said as the guys tried to figure out who would be the reindeer.

"Me, Bay and Dex," I said."The game was inspired bySchitt's Creekand that antler ring-toss game."

"Ooh, I loveSchitt's Creek."

"I think anyone with a heart does."

"True," she said.

By the time we turned back around, Toby had been named the reindeer, and the rest of us were forming a line to try our hand at "feeding" him.Unfortunately, Seaver ended up right next to me.

"You hate hockey," he stated.

"Yep," I said, tossing a mint at Toby which went right into his mouth.

"That's funny."

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