He’s the brooding goalie who falls right into her cookie display. She’s the sunshine baker who melts his defenses.

Maddie:

I’m up to my ears in gingerbread when a six-foot-plus avalanche of flannel and Viking energy crashes into my Christmas cookie pop-up event.

Turns out, the man who takes out my brioche tray is none other than Noah Becker, the Blue Ridge Buffaloes’ new starting goalie and the mystery muffin tin returner who’s been haunting my Thursdays all season.

When we’re paired for the town’s peppermint bake-off, I brace for awkward silences and a plethora of over-kneaded dough. What do I get? A hot goalkeeper with secret smiles, gentle hands, and a surprising talent for melting my defenses.

He’s quiet, steady, and gorgeous in a way that should be illegal. One bake-off, a few kisses, and a whole lot of flour later, we’re elbow-deep in peppermint and feelings I don’t know what to do with.

But love isn’t always sugar cookies and hot cocoa. With hockey season heating up and my heart on the line, when Christmas ends, will the magic of our instant connection go with it?