Page 19 of You Can't Ruin Christmas

Chapter Nine

I was surprised when Sven didn’t drive to our normal gym close to home. Instead, he took us to a fancy gym in Beverly Hills. Like, asuperfancy gym. I purchased his plane ticket while he drove. I am glad he’s coming along with me, because I wasn’t ready to leave him either.

His first appointment at the gym was with his cousin, Klaus. A handsome orthopedic surgeon from Sweden who was only in town for a medical conference, andveryannoyed that we were late. To my surprise, Sven wasn’t there to trainhim—it was the other way around. Klaus had Sven perform a series of exercises to examine his knee injury.

“I really think you could play hockey again very soon,” Klaus is saying. “It’s healing up very well.”

“How long until I can get back on the ice?” Sven asks.

Klaus shakes his head. “Not yet, man. At least another month. I know it feels like a long time, but if you tear it again, you’ll just need another surgery and lose more time.”

Sven nods sadly. “Okay. I understand.”

“Have you ever seen him play?” Klaus asks, turning to me. “He’s like lightning on the ice. Sebastian could never hold a candle to him, back home. I think that’s why he was always so jealous of our Sven, here.”

“Really?” I say with a smile.

“Sven was one of the most sought-after players in Sweden,” Klaus says proudly, patting his cousin on the back.

It’s crazy how much they resemble each other. They look more like twins than Sven does with his actual twin. Let me just say that this family hasverygood genes. Staring at the two of them makes me feel like I’ve been flipping through the pages of a stylish men’s magazine.

“Klaus is just exaggerating,” Sven says modestly.

“Is your name really Klaus?” I ask him. “Like Santa Claus?”

He laughs. “You are at least the fifth American woman to ask me that since I’ve been here. It’s pronounced Kl-ow-se, not Claws.”

“Like Cloyster, the Pokémon?” The most sexual, vagina-shaped Pokémon of all time.

“Not exactly,” he explains. “It’s a shortened version of the name Nikolaus.”

“Oh. Like Saint Nicholas. Jolly ol’ Saint Nick. Santa Klaus.”

“I guess so,” he answers with a sigh.

Sven laughs. “Don’t worry, he’s used to being teased about that. His American colleagues have nicknamed him Dr. Christmas. They had a mug made for him, and now it’s catching on back home. His secretary put a sign up outside his practice that saysDr. Christmas.”

“She also put up a few dozen Christmas trees, and covered the place in decorations to the point you would think I was a pediatrician and not an orthopedist,” Klaus explains. “It’s embarrassing.”

“He loves it,” Sven jokes.

“So,” Klaus says, fixing his eyes on me with scrutiny. “I hear you finally grew to see Sebastian for the scumbag he is?”

The question makes me a little uncomfortable. “I didn’t really see it coming.”

“No one believed me about Seb,” Klaus says. “I was the first one in the family to stop speaking to him, back when I was in med school and he tried to steal my wife. Just to prove he could. He didn’t even like Lilly. Luckily, she was the wisest, most intelligent woman I’ve ever known, and she wouldn’t fall for his bullshit for one second.”

“Yeah,” I say weakly. “I wasn’t that wise or intelligent.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean—” Klaus begins.

“No, it’s fine. So how long have you been with your wife?” I ask him. “Do you have any kids?”

His expression suddenly darkens, and his eyes are lowered.

Sven puts a hand on his cousin’s shoulder. “Lilly passed away two years ago,” he explains.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” I say quickly, tripping over my words.

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