Alyssa Rose Ivy
One snowy Christmas Eve, one mistletoe kiss, one friendship changed forever.
Don’t underestimate the power of mistletoe. It looks innocent enough, but a single branch has the potential to change your life. One mistletoe kiss led to the most embarrassing night of my life, but thankfully by the next Christmas I ended up exactly where I was supposed to be.
“Ice skating and hot cocoa? What are you buttering me up for?” I sat down on the bench and unlaced my skates. The snow was falling a little bit heavier, but the flakes were still light and more pleasant than a nuisance.
“I’m just enjoying an evening with a beautiful woman. I do have a romantic side you know.”
“Romantic?” What was Glen playing at? I’d had a crush on him for years, but things had stayed completely platonic. We were good friends who saw each other once a year, and teased each other through text messages and late night phone calls. That was it.
He didn’t hear me. He was already in line to return our skates. I waited for him to return with my boots, and not for the first time I was glad I’d worn wool socks. It was cold during the day, but the nights were absolutely freezing.
“Here you go, my lady.” He bent down and proceeded to put my foot into my boot.
I pulled away from him. “Knock it off. What’s gotten into you tonight?” As charming as Glen was being something seemed off with him. I wondered if maybe I wasn’t the only one who was upset.
He proceeded to move on to my next boot. “It’s Christmas Eve. Aren’t you Miss Holiday Spirit?”
“Usually.”
“Exactly.” He put on his shoes and tugged on my hand to pull me to standing. “Let’s get those hot chocolates.”
The line at the café on the other side of the rink was nearly out the door, but I was enjoying Glen’s company so much I didn’t mind.
He insisted on buying my hot cocoa for me, and considering he’d already paid for my skate rental, I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Glen had all the money he could ever need, but I wasn’t used to guys buying me anything. My dating experience wasn’t extensive, and it involved boys who were all about going dutch. “I really don’t mind paying.”
“Yeah, but I want to pay. Stop arguing and enjoy yourself.” He lightly bumped his shoulder into mine.
“Well, thanks.”
We walked around the village sipping our hot chocolate and not saying much. After a while we took a seat on a bench. It was underneath a tree, and the pine needles blocked some of the falling snow. I closed my eyes and listened to the chatter of people walking by mixed with the low hum of holiday music.
“You guys need to kiss.”
I opened my eyes and saw a girl staring at us. “You’re sitting under mistletoe. That’s the rules. You’re under mistletoe, you kiss.”
I looked up. Sure enough there was mistletoe hanging over us from the tree. It wasn’t real, it was just the decorative stuff they used, but it had the same unmistakable appearance.
Glen put an arm around me. “I think she’s right, Savy.”
I turned to glare at him. “Don’t even start.”
“Why not? Scared to kiss me?” he teased.
Yes. I was scared. Terrified. This was Glen. Kissing him wasn’t something I was prepared to do casually while sitting on a bench in the snow with a bunch of onlookers. Of course I couldn’t tell him that though. “Why would I be scared?”
I loved the setting of the story.Something about snowboarding in Colorado makes me think Christmas. I’ve never been there but it just seems like the perfect place. Plus I like that it takes place over multiple Christmas breaks, so you skip all the drama during the year in between. Ha ha. I could picture the whole thing, hot chocolate, sleigh rides and snowboarding. I think it helped that I read this when it’s been oddly snowing outside.
Savvy(Savannah) is such a sweet girl and it’s hard not to like her. I felt so angry for her with the stuff that went down with her mom. Then Glen goes and does something super dumb which doesn’t help. She kept saying she wasn’t that close with her dad but it felt like that side her family was tight. I think she didn’t realize how good of a relationship she actually has with him. I loved the way her grandfather and her are close as well.
The interesting thing about the story is that I felt like it’s more heavy on the Glen side. Savvy has her problems but I felt like the majority lay with Glen. He did a dumb thing but he also had a sort of good reason. I’m never a fan of people being concerned about how deserving they are of things. You don’t think you deserve it? Then work for it. I liked Glen a lot though and the things he does for Savvy are adorable.
I loved that Savvy’s dads girlfriends kids (mouthful there) are part of the story. Gives another layer to the family aspect. Plus it seems like there is a possibility it’s not the last we'll hear about Laney. Dalton kind of creeped me out. If he was in my face like that I would have decked him within the first five minutes. He was weirdly pushy.
The whole story was cute and perfect for christmas. I loved the setting and the romancing, the perfect read to curl up with some hot chocolate. I loved that Savannah and Glen have been friends forever and it blossoms into something different. Great holiday read.
