Chapter 20
TWENTY
JUNIPER
I open the door to find a younger, slightly scruffier version of Liam standing there with a duffel slung over his shoulder and absolutely no shame radiating off him.
“Hi,” he says, flashing a grin that could short-circuit small appliances. “You must be Juniper.”
“And you must be Beck,” I say, stepping aside so he can enter my apartment.
Liam is right behind me, greeting his brother with an embrace that is warm yet giving I might kill you while you sleep energy.
Beck drops his bag on the floor like he owns the place, eyes immediately finding the stitches above Liam’s eyebrow.
“Well, look at you,” Beck says, feigning shock. “Usually I’m the one coming home with stitches, not my brilliant older brother. Snowmobile accident, huh? Was this all part of the plan to impress a certain redhead?” He throws me a wink over Liam’s shoulder.
Liam rubs at the area lightly and scowls. “If it was, you showing up just ruined it.”
I try not to laugh at the banter between them. “Is showing up unannounced and expecting a place to stay genetic?” I ask, shooting Liam a look.
Beck grins. “You’re fun.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, Firefly,” Liam cuts in before I can respond. “This isn’t one of your ‘why choose’ novels.”
I raise a brow and smirk, just to mess with him because I’m starting to realize it’s a lot of fun to mess with Liam. “There was this really hot one with two brothers…”
Liam groans. “I’m going to regret letting him sleep here, aren’t I?”
Ignoring our back and forth, Beck starts to tour my apartment.
“Ooh,” Beck says, glancing around. “So this is where the magic happens.”
I arch a brow.
“I meant the advent calendar, obviously,” Beck adds, deadpan.
“What do you know about my advent calendar?” I glance between the brothers, catching Liam’s hard stare in Beck’s direction.
“Just that it’s pink and glittery and filled with surprises.” Beck gives me a once over. “That really could apply to anything in this flat.”
Behind me, Liam lets out a groan and mutters, “Don’t encourage him.”
I motion toward the living room. “You can take the couch. I’ll grab you a blanket and some—”
Liam cuts in. “He can take the guest room.”
I blink. “That’s your room.”
Liam shrugs, unbothered. “Not anymore.”
My stomach does a somersault. “So where do you plan on sleeping?”
His pointed look is both innocent and full of sin. “With you.”
My jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
“I meant—” he holds up both hands, grinning now, “I'll take the floor in your room. Obviously. Unless you’ve got a curtain we can use to divide the space?”
My eyes narrow at his callback to what just happened between us behind the curtain at the hospital.
Beck drops onto the couch with a wide smile, popping a cherry swirl candy from the bowl on the coffee table into his mouth.
“Don’t mind me. I’m just a weary traveler in need of shelter and maybe The Grinch Who Stole Christmas playing softly in the background.
The newer version with Benedict Cumberbatch. Man, I love that one.”
“You’re a menace,” Liam mutters, heading down the hallway.
I watch him go, heart racing as I realize Liam’s going to be in my room tonight.
Our forced proximity living situation just leveled up to only one bed.
If I thought having Liam in the room next to mine was overwhelming, the moment he rolls his suitcase into my bedroom, my stomach flutters with nerves.
“Maybe I’ll sleep on the couch.” I go to leave, but Liam reaches for my hand, pulling me back.
“Hey,” he drops his gaze to mine. “I don’t expect anything to happen here.”
“Good,” I say, my voice bright and brittle. “Because I can’t say it will.”
He nods, but there’s that ghost of a smirk at the corner of his mouth, like he knows exactly how full of shit I am. “Of course.”
When I walk over to my closet, I check my reflection in the full-length mirror to make sure my pants aren’t on fire. You know, since I’m such a fucking liar.
I do want Liam, and I’m sure he knows it.
But this time? He’s going to have to work for it.
I glance back at him standing in my bedroom, looking at home in a way that makes my chest squeeze tight. He’s worth wanting. He’s worth hoping for.
And maybe, just maybe, he’s about to prove he’s worth trusting again, too.
Beck is already holding court at the bar five minutes after our arrival at Stella and Jasper’s engagement dinner. Giving hugs to people he’s never met and complimenting the Christmas tree Liam and I decorated like it’s a guest of honor.
He’s chaotic and charming, making Liam, who I’ve always imagined to be the life of the party, look tame.
“Wow,” he says to no one in particular. “Smells like cookies, cinnamon, and lifelong emotional commitments. I love this place.”
I eye him, trying not to laugh. “You’re laying it on thick.”
“Can’t help it,” Beck says, eyes twinkling as he leans toward me. “I’m in a romantic setting with a beautiful woman. I’m just doing my part to raise the stakes.”
Liam brushes past us with a narrowed look. “Beck. Try behaving for five minutes.”
“I’m charming, not dangerous,” Beck replies, winking at me.
I abandon the jousting Hargrove brothers to see if my mom needs any help.
She asks me to do a final décor check before Jasper and Stella arrive.
It gives me the perfect excuse to focus on the decorations—twinkly lights and garlands wrapped around the wooden barn’s posts, but my eyes keep dragging back to Liam.
He’s helping my aunt and cousin set platters on the buffet.
He’s wearing that dark green sweater I love.
The one that hugs his arms. The one that makes my heart do silly, fluttery things.
And then there’s Beck, at my side again, offering me a glass of champagne with a low, “Wouldn’t want you to drink alone.”
“You’re very committed to this bit,” I laugh.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he says with a grin, “this isn’t a bit. But I do like watching Liam’s eye twitch when I get too close to you.”
From across the room, Liam shoots Beck a sharp look while I take a sip of champagne.
Stella and Jasper arrive and seeing their surprised and grateful expressions makes my chest squeeze. Watching them together reminds me of how far they’ve come. From childhood rivals at each other’s throats to falling in love last Christmas and now engaged.
But Jasper always knew. He wanted Stella and was willing to rearrange his entire life to make sure he didn’t lose her again. He moved his whole company to New York before she even knew how he felt. That’s the kind of certainty I crave. Someone who picks me, out loud, without hesitation.
Jasper clinks the edge of his glass to get the table’s attention.
“First of all, thank you all for being here tonight to celebrate me and Stell. No matter where I’ve lived or traveled, Cedar Hollow has always been home. Getting to celebrate something this big, at this time of year, with all of you—it means everything.”
He looks at Stella, eyes soft.
“Stella has always had my heart. Since that first day in second grade. I just didn’t know what it was then.
And while it took us twenty years to get here, I wouldn’t change a moment of it.
She challenges me. She makes me better. And I can’t wait for a lifetime of being outwitted, outmatched, and thoroughly humiliated at Skee-Ball. ”
Laughter erupts around the table.
“But really, a year ago, I moved my whole life across the country because sometimes you don’t wait for the right moment, you just pick the person and make every moment count.”
He lifts his glass.
“To Stella…Sparky…my North Star. And to all of you, may you find the person who feels like home and never be afraid to build your life around them.”
My eyes fall on Liam.
He says I’m not just a for now thing and he means it; I can feel it in the way he looks at me like he’d burn the world down to keep me close.
But what does that actually look like? He lives in New York.
I’m here. He’s Jasper’s best friend and business partner.
He’s always been the guy who keeps things tidy and unmessy. Except, I guess, when it comes to me.
Do we do long distance? Do I uproot my life? Does he uproot his?
Or do we get caught up in this Christmas snow globe and pretend it’ll all work itself out when the decorations come down?
I don’t know.
But I know I’m not ready to look away.
Beck, seated beside me, clears his throat and leans in. “So, Juniper, if Jasper and Stella are the blueprint, do you think that means we’re next?”
I blink. “I think I’d need your middle name first.”
He grins. “Trouble. Beck Trouble Hargrove.”
Across the table, Liam raises an eyebrow. His wineglass pauses midair. “Pretty sure it’s Everett.”
Beck shrugs. “Everett is what’s on my driver’s license. Trouble is more of a lifestyle.”
He nudges my shoulder. “Right, Juni?”
I laugh, because it’s ridiculous. Because Beck is charming in the way younger siblings of heartbreakers always are: unbothered, bold, and just chaotic enough to make things interesting.
But when I glance across the table again, I nearly choke on my sip of wine.
Liam’s jaw is tight. His knuckles are white around his fork. His eyes—those dark, stormy, steady eyes—are locked on me with a look that could melt fresh snow.
Beck leans closer, stage-whispering in my ear. “He’s going to throw a dinner roll at me.”
I snort.
Liam doesn’t throw a dinner roll.
But he does lean forward slightly, resting his elbows on the table, and says in a deceptively casual tone, “You always go for the ones who hide behind jokes?”
Beck grins. “She used to.”
Liam’s eyes never leave mine. “That so?”
My cheeks heat, but I hold his gaze. “Beck’s just entertaining me.”
Liam lifts his glass. “Well, let me know when you’re ready to be done with the warm-up act.”
Beck clutches his chest. “Wounded.”
I smile into my wineglass. Because I can feel the fire now crackling between us, consuming all the space between right now and the night ahead.
I glance across the table again, and Liam’s still watching me.
Not just watching—claiming. Quietly, steadily, like he already knows how this ends and he’s just waiting for me to realize it, too.
And something about it—the tension, the hunger, the fact that I’m no longer the only one feeling all of it—sends a pulse of heat through me so sharp I have to shift in my seat.
Last year at this time, I was trying not to cry into my cocoa while Cassie kept the snacks and romcoms flowing.
Liam had crushed me.
Now?
He’s watching me like he wants to ruin me—in the best way.
And I’m enjoying it.
The control. The flirtation. The fact that I’m not the only one caught in this web anymore.
This is my revenge arc. My holiday rom-com power play. And the best part?
Liam has no idea I’m just getting started.
I tuck my hair behind my ear and lean toward Beck slightly—just enough to make Liam’s eye twitch—and whisper, “So what’s your stance on mistletoe?”
Across the table, Liam’s fork clinks against his plate like a warning bell.
And for the first time in a year, I feel like I’m the one in control.