Page 76 of Holiday Friend Zones
My voice comes out a whisper.“I don’t want to lose him.”
“Then don’t.”
It’s that simple to her.To me, it feels like stepping off a cliff.But maybe that’s what love is—choosing to fall and trusting someone to catch you.
“I’ll think about it,” I say finally, even though my heart already knows.
Emma sighs exasperated and fond all at once.“Just don’t wait too long.Some people are worth the risk, Ava.He’s one of them.”
When the call ends, I stare at the fire until my eyes blur.My chest is still tangled with fear, but under it, something else flickers…hope.
And for the first time in years, I let myself wonder what it would feel like to stop running from it.
ChapterTwelve
LIAM
The gym smells like pine boughs and cinnamon, the floor polished to a shine beneath strings of white lights.The town’s gone all out for the holiday dance with paper snowflakes hanging from the rafters and strings of white lights twinkling over the dance floor.Couples laugh as they pin contestant numbers to their sweaters, and the band tunes up with a jazzy version of Jingle Bells.
And then there’s Ava.
She looks like she’s been dropped straight out of one of my dreams with full red lips, hair loose around her shoulders, wearing a cranberry-red dress that makes the whole room dim around her.She’s beautiful, yeah.But it’s more than that.She’s sharp in a way that keeps me on my toes, funny in a way that sneaks up on me, and caring in ways she doesn’t even realize.She’s kind down to her bones, stubborn enough to drive me crazy, and strong enough to carry more than anyone should have to.Every time she walks into a room, it feels like it’s hers without her even trying.And God help me, I don’t know if I’ll ever stop being pulled to her like this.
When her eyes find mine, her mouth pinches tight like she’s holding something back.
Like she’s holding me back.
I cross the room to her, each step pulling me closer to the thing I’ve been trying not to want.She’s standing there like she belongs in Vermont, in this room, in my line of sight.
“You look beautiful,” I say, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
Her lips curve, soft and a little shy.“Thank you, Liam.”
“For what?”I ask, half a smile tugging at my mouth.“Telling the truth?”
She shakes her head, a quiet laugh slipping out.“For saying it anyway.”
My chest tightens with this pull to her that I can never shake when I’m around her.Every part of me is strung taut between wanting to keep it light and wanting to tell her the truth—that she’s the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen, and not just tonight.Always.
“Dance with me?”I ask, trying for easy as I hold out my hand.
She takes it, eyes flicking everywhere but me.“The contest is over, Liam.You don’t have to?—”
“Ava, would you please just dance with me?”I say back, my heart beating like it thinks it’s prom night all over again and I finally got her to say yes.
She blinks, but then her hand slips forward, open and waiting and I take it without hesitation and walk us to the centre of the dance floor.
The band plays a waltz of all things as couples drift onto the floor, skirts swirling, shoes scuffing softly against wood.Ava hesitates, shifting her weight, and I see the crack in her armor—the part of her that is scared.
We sway back and forth with my palm resting at her waist, light but steady, her fingers curled against my shoulder.The music swells.We move together, and it’s clumsy at first as her laugh bubbles out when I almost step on her foot…but then we find it.That rhythm we’ve always had, the one that makes everything else drop away.
“Not bad, Carter,” she says, breathless, looking up at me with wide, shining eyes.
“Careful,” I say, squeezing her waist.“Sounds like a compliment.”
Her lips twitch, but then the smile fades.She looks away, over my shoulder, anywhere but at me.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”I ask, my voice low, trying to catch her gaze again.
