In the picturesque town of Winter Grove, the tenacious Alicia Whittaker faces off against her best friend's snobbish brother, Zeke Brighton, when his disapproval of his sister's boyfriend threatens to upend their Christmas.
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Tenacious college stud...
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Zeke
"Oh, h-hey Alicia!" Jared said. His hair was all askew, and dark circles lurked under his eyes. It appeared finals hadn't been kind to him.
Alicia just stared at him.
"I'm so sorry!" he continued. "I was running late, I didn't see you there—"
"Whatever," Alicia snapped, waving off his apology. A chill had settled over her expression, all her warmth gone. Even her blush had faded. "Don't worry about it."
"I really am sorry," he continued before his eyes sliding to the guy beside her. His eyes went wide.
"Zeke?"
"Hey, Jared!" Zeke said cheerily. "Long time no see."
Alicia shot him a horrified look.
What? Zeke wondered, frowning back at her. Did she not think I knew Jared?
Jared had been Celeste's boyfriend for two years. Of course, he knew him. Jared tagged along for a few weeks when Celeste returned home for the summer, and they ended up getting along great.
He actually liked Jared and had always thought he was an excellent match for Celeste. He came from a good family, got good grades, had ambition... Jared was the kind of guy that was going somewhere. Zeke had to admit that he had been disappointed to hear that he and Celeste had broken up. At least it hadn't been anything dramatic.
Zeke offered his hand to Jared.
Jared eagerly took it and leaned forward to give him a bro-hug. Alicia looked on, her horror only growing. Zeke wanted to roll his eyes at her dramatics. Did she hate him just because he was Celeste's ex? That seemed childish. But he guessed he shouldn't be surprised...
"What have you been up to?" Jared asked as he pulled away. "Last I heard, your company got a big fat round of funding. That must be exciting!"
"Y-Yeah," Zeke replied, his smile faltering. "About that..."
One of the reasons they'd bonded so well was that Jared had taken an interest in his company. If Zeke still had that company, he would've hired Jared right out of school.
When he figured out his next project, he still might.
"It's not actually 'my' company anymore. I took a buyout."
Jared's mouth fell open in shock. "Really? That company was your baby..."
Zeke fought off a wince, keeping his smile in place. "Yeah, well, now I'm onto new things."
"Whatever that is, I'm sure you'll succeed at it," Jared said. "Any ideas of what you'll do next?"
"Not yet," Zeke said, eager to change the subject. "What about you? What have you been up to?"
