In the picturesque town of Winter Grove, the tenacious Alicia Whittaker faces off against her best friend's snobbish brother, Zeke Brighton, when his disapproval of his sister's boyfriend threatens to upend their Christmas.
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Tenacious college stud...
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Alicia
Snow blustered in after Alicia as she stepped into the lobby of her apartment. Shaking off the snow, she shuddered and blew on her frozen fingers. She had hung back a bit to give Sterling and Celeste a chance to talk, but she couldn't wait out in the cold any longer.
Rubbing her hands together, she headed up the stairs. As she reached her door, she paused, her hand hovering over the knob, while she debated whether she should go in.
She heard voices on the other side.
"—I would've warned you about him if I had known he was coming," Celeste said, her voice muffled by the door. "You're not mad are you?"
"No, of course I'm not mad," Sterling said, "but I can't say I'm happy."
"I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve that."
"You don't have to keep apologizing. This was all him. It's not on you."
Alicia heard Celeste sigh.
"He just doesn't know you like I do."
Sterling chuckled. "No one does."
Things went quiet, and Alicia took it as her cue to enter. She twisted the knob and pushed open the door—
But as Alicia stepped inside, she realized she made a mistake.
The lull in conversation had been because Celeste and Sterling were locked in a passionate kiss.
They pulled apart at the sound of her entrance.
Alicia's face began to burn. "I'm sorry, I'll go—"
"No, stay," Sterling said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not going to chase you out of your own apartment."
Celeste nodded, going over to Alicia's side. "Oh, Alicia, I'm so sorry you had to witness all that. My brother being a jerk I mean, not..." Her cheeks flushed pink.
"It's okay," Alicia said. "It's not your fault. Though I am proud of you for standing up to your jerk of a brother."
Celeste's face fell, her shoulders sinking.
"I-I don't know what got into him," Celeste muttered, her head down. "He's usually not like this. We've butted heads before over his 'high standards' but to speak to Sterling like that? It's so unlike him. He's really changed since he moved out to San Francisco..."
Alicia felt a flare of heat on her neck as she thought of Zeke's words. "Is it though? He was a real jerk, and that doesn't come out of nowhere."
Celeste flinched at Alicia's insult against Zeke. Despite everything that had just gone down, he was still her brother. But she couldn't argue.
Sterling came over and wrapped his arm around Celeste's shoulders. He gave it a heartening squeeze. "Hungry? I was thinking that since dinner was a bust, I could go pick up some pizza."
