In the picturesque town of Winter Grove, broken-hearted college student Celeste has to team up with lone wolf Sterling for a fake relationship in hopes of making her ex-boyfriend jealous and saving her Christmas.
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Overachieving college student Ce...
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Sterling
Sterling strode through the festival, a small, squat tree perched on his shoulder. After just purchasing it, he was now carrying it home for Celeste. Celeste chased after him, weaving in and out of the stream of people he left in his wake.
"We're just going to leave?" Celeste panted as she caught up to him.
"I just bought a tree," Sterling said. "Did you think I was just going to carry it around the festival all night?"
"But... But..." Celeste sputtered, trying to keep up with him. He always had been a fast walker, especially if he had somewhere to be. She dropped her voice, "What about Jared?"
Sterling gave a quick scan of the crowd, and a few people around him had to duck to dodge the swinging tree. Even though he couldn't see them, he knew Jared—and his perky little date—was somewhere out there in the swarm of people. And he was sure that if Jared could see them, he would be watching.
The guy was still fixated on Celeste, Sterling was sure of it. Earlier, Jared looked like he wanted to punch him. Sterling chuckled. He would like to see him try.
"He's already seen you," Sterling said, turning forward again. "And sometimes, it's best to leave things to the imagination."
"Imagination?" Celeste echoed as she dashed along beside him.
"Imagine he sees us leaving early," Sterling said. "Imagine he sees us heading back to your place, all alone. Imagine what he'd think we were going to do for the rest of the evening...."
"Oh," Celeste said. Her cheeks turned pink. "Oh."
"Exactly," Sterling said, chuckling at the idea of Jared losing his mind as his imagination got the better of him. "So, let him stew in his imagination for tonight and forget about him. We're going to do something more fun, anyway."
"Like what?" Celeste said, her voice wobbling a little. Her face was still pink.
Sterling grinned. They had now made it through the Festival entrance, where the crowd had thinned out. "You'll see."
🎄
Back in Celeste's apartment, every time Sterling moved, needles from the tree rained down around him. He decided to stay as still as possible to avoid making a mess of Celeste's place.
"Where do you want to put it?" he asked from his spot in the middle of Celeste's living room.
"I was thinking by the mantle," Celeste said, squeezing past him to run over to the corner of the boarded-up fireplace. A window on the other side overlooked the main street, and you could see the big tree from there.
Sterling walked over and set the tree down on its stump. More needles fell. "Here?"
"Yes, perfect," Celeste said, and then her face fell. "Oh, dammit. I just realized—I don't have a stand."
