Page 47 of Booked for the Holidays
I open my mouth, then close it. My lips tingle. I can still feel it.Feel him.
“Okay, don’t freak out,” I say—which is exactly the kind of sentence that makes Cassie drop everything she’s holding.
“Oh my god. You kissed Liam.”
“No! I mean…technically, he kissed me. But only to steal candy from my mouth. So, it doesn’t count. Except…it kind of does.” I groan. “It was?—”
“Hot.” Cassie finishes for me, a wicked grin pulling at the corners of her mouth.
“Yes,” I whisper, glancing around like the Christmas tree décor aisle might be bugged. “Ridiculously hot. Like, I forgot what year it was. My knees went soft. And then I kissed him back. To steal it back.”
“You kissed him back?” she practically shrieks.
“No, I kissed him. Like, leaned in, full mouth, took the candy, maybe moaned a little. God, it was insanely hot.” My lips twitch. “He looked wrecked.”
Seeing the absolute torture on his face took some of the sting out of what happened a year ago. If there was a scorecard, I’ve got a fresh tick next to my name.
I fan my face. My skin still burns.
Cassie drops the tree skirt in the cart. “Juni. You minx.”
“Don’t give me that look. It wasn’t supposed to happen. I was just being flirty. I mean it was petty revenge-flirty. And then he kissed me like I was something he’d been dying to taste again.”
Cassie’s eyes go wide. “Did you kiss forreal-real?”
I exhale. “It felt real. Which is the problem.”
Because now every cell in my body hums when he’s near. I woke up this morning with my lips still swollen, my heart thudding too hard every time I thought about how his fingers slid along my jaw. How close he’d gotten. How I almost forgot everything I’m supposed to protect when it comes to Liam. Like my barely mended heart.
And then, the kicker.
“This morning,” I say, voice dropping. “There were cherry swirl candies in my advent calendar.”
Cassie blinks. “Like the candy he stole from your mouth?”
I nod. “Exact same kind. And I didn’t put them there. You didn’t either, right?”
“Unless I blacked out during our Christmas movie marathon last week.” She arches a brow. “You think it was him? Like, he’s been sneak-gifting you?”
“I don’t know. But it feels like too much of a coincidence.”
What I don’t say: If Liam is behind the advent calendar, then maybe he didn’t just walk away last year. Maybe he’s been here the whole time. Wanting. Regretting. Taking action now.
But if I let myself believe that, and I’m wrong? It’ll wreck me.
“I just—” I stop. “If it’s him, what does it mean? Is it a game? Does he regret rejecting me? Or is it just fun?”
Cassie wraps her arm around my shoulders. “Do you want it to mean something?”
That’s the thing. I’m not sure. But my stupid heart already does.
“I—”
“A little advice from someone who’s weathered the Liam Hargrove crush and all its aftermath with you?” Cassie says, voice soft but fierce. “Don’t overthink it.”
I blink. “That’s your advice?”
Cassie nods solemnly. “Yes. Because I’ve seen you spiral. And that’s not what we’re doing this year.
