Finn learned a long time ago not to trust Elliot Spencer-Murphy.

Back in high school, Elliot was everything Finn wasn’t: hot, popular, and a star athlete. Finn had spent years crushing on him, so when Elliot kissed him, Finn thought his impossible dream might actually come true.

Then Elliot never spoke to him again.

Years later, Elliot is back in Frostwick Harbor to care for his injured grandmother. When she volunteers him to help Finn organize the town’s annual Gingerbread Festival, Elliot has no choice but to face the man he hurt.

Finn wants nothing to do with him, and Elliot can’t blame him.

Except working together reminds Elliot of everything he liked about Finn in the first place and forces him to confront the truth he’s spent years running from. He’s never stopped thinking about Finn, and the reason that kiss scared him so badly wasn’t because it meant nothing.

It was because it meant everything.

As Christmas approaches, Elliot will have to prove that this time, he’s not going anywhere.

Elliot lobbed a snowball at Finn as he worked to form his next one, but he quickly realized he’d made a mistake by stepping out in the open. Finn hit him with snow again and again.

“Have you forgotten how to do this?” Finn asked.

“Never!” Elliot yelled as he ran at Finn and chased him out from behind the tree.

“No fair!” Finn tossed snow over his shoulder, but his aim was off.

Elliot kept chasing him until Finn hit an icy patch and wiped out, falling face first into the snow.

“Are you okay?” Elliot ran over to him just as Finn sat up and launched a huge snowball right in Elliot’s face.

Elliot sputtered, wiping snow from his eyes. “Damn it! I thought you might actually be hurt.”

Finn laughed. “I’m fine. The snow’s deep enough to provide a good cushion.”

Elliot should have known that, but he couldn’t help but worry about Finn. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Finn.

He was glad he’d bought solid boots at the hardware store. He definitely couldn’t be walking around in sneakers now. Slowly, but surely he was remembering how to deal with winter in Frostwick Harbor.

He held out a hand to Finn. “Come on. We need to actually finish the lights.”

Finn shook himself and snow flew out of his hair and off his shoulders. Then he accepted Elliot’s hand. Elliot knew Finn had to be cold from all the snow, but his hand felt warm through his wet glove.

Their gazes met as he pulled Finn to his feet. For the space of a breath, they looked into each other’s eyes. Neither of them spoke. The night around them seemed to fall silent. It was as if they had the whole world to themselves.

Elliot wanted to kiss Finn. He wanted it so bad, he ached. Even in their bulky winter coats, he knew it would feel so good to pull Finn against him. To warm him up with a deep kiss and… anything that might follow.

“Finn?”

“Yes?” His voice was barely there. His eyes wide. He licked his lips and continued to stare at Elliot.

“I’d like to kiss you.”

Finn nodded.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” he whispered.

Elliot took a step closer. He bent down and carefully brushed his lips against Finn’s. Finn responded by raising up on tiptoe to deepen the kiss, and Elliot pulled him close. It felt so good, like coming home, like holiday magic, like everything he’d been missing for the years he’d focused on nothing but work.

For just a moment, he was absolutely sure this was where he belonged, in Frostwick Harbor in Finn’s arms.

He kissed Finn until he was desperate for air, then they stood there, cheeks pressed together as they held each other. After a few moments, Finn kissed Elliot’s cheek and stepped back.

Suddenly, the sounds of the world came back, the creaking of the boats in the harbor, the voices of kids playing in the snow in the town square, cars going by on Front Street.

Elliot picked up the lights from where they’d dropped them and worked them around his half of the tree. Finn caught them easily when he tossed them, and they kept going until the tree held as many lights as they could fit on it. It was going to be so gorgeous the next night, helping to light the dark harbor promenade along with lanterns and the lights on the boat Santa would arrive in to greet the kids. He’d missed this celebration, but not nearly as much as he’d missed Finn.

Neither of them had mentioned their kiss as they finished the tree. What if they had been somewhere private and warm? Would they have stopped when they did? Elliot had so many questions, but he was afraid to ask them. He didn’t want to mess up whatever was happening between them. If Finn didn’t want to talk about it, that was okay.

But once they were back in the cab of Finn’s truck with the heater blowing out warm air and Elliot’s cold fingers and toes tingling, he glanced over at Finn and saw that Finn was looking at him too. “Should we talk?”

Finn shook his head. “Not now. Not yet.”

But when Elliot laid his hand on the console, Finn reached out and put his hand on top of Elliot’s before starting the short drive to his house.

Website: https://silviaviolet.com/

Newsletter: https://geni.us/lBq4p

Facebook: https://geni.us/YSAGA5X

Reader Group: https://geni.us/qps7RB

Goodreads: https://geni.us/Nhfrz3

Instagram: https://geni.us/aLGCBf

TikTok: https://geni.us/JaUjqA

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QIXVfd

BookBub: https://geni.us/t61Yne7