Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
LIAM
Liam was still replaying the conversation with Cassidy after lunch as she sat beside him, curled up on the couch watching a Christmas movie, Muff at their feet.
They’d decided to hold off on the board games for now and just relax before lunch.
Liam watched as a log popped and cracked in the fireplace.
In the corner, the tree glowed softly. The miniature multicolored lights reflected off the glass bulbs, creating a kaleidoscope of colors on the walls.
The scent of cinnamon and citrus from the simmering pot on the stove drifted into the living room, mixing with the woodsmoke from the fire, making the farmhouse feel even cozier.
Liam felt like he was in high school again on winter break, all his friends piled into the living room, everyone finding a spot on the floor or the couch while a giant bowl of buttery popcorn made its way around.
Even Jackson had joined them. He’d come down from the loft for lunch; his usual guarded expression was loosening as Zoe handed him a mug of cider and teased him about his favorite band.
When they moved to the living room, for a few minutes Jackson stayed, leaning against the wall near the fireplace as Zoe chatted about her plans for her flower shop’s light-up event and how she’d love his help moving a delivery.
Liam caught the way Jackson’s shoulders eased, the lines around his eyes softening in the warm glow of the fire, as if Zoe’s gentle energy made it easier for him to be there.
Cassidy looked perfectly at home, too. She was wearing a pair of his sister’s sweatpants and his old high school sweatshirt—the faded blue one with the hawk mascot and stretched-out collar.
The sweatshirt swallowed her whole, the hem coming down to her knees and the sleeves past her knuckles, but she seemed to love it, wrapping her arms around herself like it was her favorite blanket.
She shifted slightly, the edge of her knee brushing his thigh.
It wasn’t intentional—she was just reaching for the blanket—but Liam felt it.
It was like a slow, steady pull in his core.
He wanted to lean in, rest his arm around her shoulders, pull her just a little closer, but he didn’t.
The scene from the barn flashed before his eyes.
Yeah, he wanted to pull her closer and then some.
Cassidy kept glancing over at him. Liam thought she was checking to see how he was handling all the holiday cheer, if he was doing okay. But truth be told, he wasn’t really thinking about the movie.
No, he was thinking about how she’d told him—pretty bluntly and boldly, with some serious holiday innuendo—just how attracted she was to him. And yet, instead of acting on that attraction, she wanted to take it slow.
That should’ve been a relief. It should’ve made things easier. Safer.
But it didn’t.
Because now Liam knew two things for sure: One, Cassidy wanted him. And two, she wasn’t in it for a fling.
And the problem? Neither was he.
That realization scared the hell out of him.
He tried to walk it back. Tried to convince himself he wasn’t looking for anything serious. That she was just a distraction. That she was new. That there was just something about her soft blonde hair and maybe that magical hot cocoa of hers that had thrown him off.
But that was a lie.
He’d been running from anything serious for four years, and now he was caught in an aching space between desire and fear.
He wanted to know her, all of her secrets and her quirks and her stories from Paris, her memories of the small town nearby where she’d grown up.
And he wanted to kiss her again. Not just a taste.
Not fast and manic, pressed in the corner of the barn.
No, he wanted to go slow. Find what made her shiver with desire.
What made her sigh and moan and melt into him.
He wanted to feel her body quake around him, to hear the way she said his name when she shattered.
To lose himself in the rhythm of her body, find something real and vulnerable, both of them cracked wide open. Something he thought he’d lost for good.
After, he’d want to hold her. He’d pull her against his chest, wrap the blanket around them both, and press a kiss to her temple. He’d feel her breath slow, her body soften, and he’d tuck her even closer like he could shield her from the world.
That wasn’t a fling, it was real, and it was big. And that scared him.
If he had any sense, he’d say something tonight.
Draw a line. Tell her that they shouldn’t just take things slow; they should stop altogether.
He could even picture himself doing it. They’d walk out into the snow, and he’d tell her how great he thought she was, but that he didn’t want to wreck their friendship.
He knew that’s what he should do. Park her in the friend zone and never look back.
It was safer that way.
He had loved a girl before, deeply and completely. He’d brought that girl home for Christmas once. Or, he almost had.
Avery had been going to spend a week of their break at his house.
He’d planned out all the things they’d do around Maple Falls—the hot cocoa crawl, making gingerbread houses at the bakery, throwing an epic snowball fight at the city park, sledding down the big hill outside of the library.
Liam had always been a kid at heart, and once upon a time, Christmas had brought it out of him one hundred percent.
He’d wanted to give Avery a Christmas to remember.
Then, black ice, a highway pileup, a split second of fate that destroyed everything Liam had imagined for their future. The grief had swallowed him whole. He didn’t go to the cocoa crawl that year. Didn’t step foot in town or open a single present.
And ever since, the holidays had felt dimmer, shadowed. He’d faked his way through them, praying December would fly by as quickly as November had.
So yeah, romance at Christmas was never going to be his thing, and part of him knew what he should do. Protect himself, protect Cassidy.
Not just in the holidays, but always. Because getting close to someone, letting them in, meant risking everything again. Nothing was promised in this life. And Liam wasn’t sure he had it in him to survive another loss like that.
But then Cassidy looked over at him, questioningly, and nuzzled a little closer. “This okay?” she asked.
His heart stopped. He should’ve said no.
But he couldn’t. Not when every cell in his body was screaming yes.
So instead of pushing her away, he responded with a casual, “Yeah,” and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer.
At that moment, there was nothing, not the ghosts of his past, not the fear of what might come, not even the voice in his head that was warning him to be careful.
There was only Cassidy.
Warm, steady, real.
Liam closed his eyes. For the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to believe that maybe he hadn’t lost every part of himself on that cold December night four years ago.
That perhaps, beneath the layers he’d built to keep the world at bay, something had survived. Something waiting to be found.
And somehow, Cassidy had found it.
With her clear blue eyes that saw more than he wanted to admit, the easy confidence in the way she carried herself, the quiet strength behind her warmth. She was light and laughter and a fierce determination he couldn’t look away from.
And whether he was ready or not, Liam was already falling—deep, hard, and headfirst—for the girl who he hadn’t seen coming.