The Jock Who Stole The Nerd's Christmas (Seasonal Firsts #2)

Here's Evan Barnes's "The Jock Who Stole The Nerd's Christmas." It's the second novella in the Seasonal Firsts series, which are all novellas surrounded around seasonal celebrations.

["All I wanted was one perfect Christmas. Instead, I got the King of the Ice.

Planning Ashford College’s Christmas party is my one chance to reclaim the holiday joy my family forgot long ago. Twinkling lights, hot chocolate, an ice rink... I had it all planned out.

Then he got involved.

Raiden Blackwell is a scarred, six-foot-three enforcer on the hockey team.

We should be invisible to each other. Instead, he's made my life a misery of shoulder checks and mocking smiles.

But when I snap and challenge him in front of the entire college, the game changes.

Now he's my partner in organizing the party he seemed determined to ruin. And he was supposed to mock my festive spirit.

Instead, he's cornering me everywhere, turning our arguments into breathless, stolen moments in the dark. And when a saboteur begins to tear my plans apart, my sworn enemy is the only one who seems to know how to fight back.

Is he the monster who wants to steal my Christmas, or the dark protector sent to save it?

With every stolen touch and furious kiss, I'm less and less sure. This holiday season, I'm finding out that the greatest danger and the greatest desire come wrapped in a package I never expected."]

Listen, I know bully-romances are toxic. I know that romanticizing bullying and mistreatment of others is horrible. But it's up there in the dark romance sub-genre that's just so oddly satisfying. I don't know if it's the redemption arc or the possessive/obsessive thing or the "I'm the only one who hurts you" trope. It's just all so satisfying.  

And this one had a little hurt/comfort. Some moments of sweetness followed by disbelief (of the fluff, of deserving the fluff, of the real intentions of the fluff). It was a little chaotic, but it was still that obsessive and protective emotional thriller. 

Trigger Warnings: violence, threats, stalking, bullying, kidnapping, and more.

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