Christmas Break

Chapter 23

Sterling

Back in Olly's loft, Sterling was haphazardly throwing everything he owned into his old, tattered duffel bag. It wasn't taking long as he didn't have much. That was how he liked it. It made it much easier to pick up and leave whenever he needed to.

He had already changed out of the clothes Olly had loaned him. He left them carefully laid out on the edge of Olly's guest bed. The clothes had been nice, but Sterling was thankful to be out of them. They hadn't suited him—they had been too fancy for someone like him. Wearing them had felt like he was pretending to be someone he wasn't and he'd been doing too much of that lately—pretending. None of this—the charming town, the festive celebrations, the cutesy dates, the inkling of hope—was him.

Especially not the hope.

That had been his biggest mistake of all, letting himself hope.

Now finished, Sterling yanked the zipper of his duffel into place and slung it over his shoulder. He looked around Olly's apartment. It was surprisingly nice, considering the rough-edged bar below. Olly's white-flocked Christmas tree was still plugged in, glinting softly in the corner. Olly had left the garish decorations down in his bar; up here, it was still over the top, but much more stylish, everything carefully arranged in silver and white. Outside his big loft windows, the snow was falling harder. It wasn't the best weather to drive in, but Sterling had no other choice.

He couldn't stay here for another minute.

This was it—his last goodbye to the town of Winter Grove.

He thought of leaving a note for Olly, but that would only slow him down. He had his number. He'd text when he got there, wherever there was, to let him know he was safe. Sterling took one last look and turned to leave, locking the door behind him. He trudged down the steps back into the bar... Then he staggered to a stop.

Olly was there, waiting for him. His nice clothes were damp, slicked with snow and sweat. His face was bright red, contrasting against his bright white hair, and his chest was heaving like he had just run all the way here.

"What in St. Frick do you think you're doing?" he growled at the sight of Sterling with his bag.

"I told you, I'm leaving," Sterling said, shifting the duffel on his shoulder. "You said you needed me for the Christmas season, well, now the season's over so, I've got to be on my way."

"That's such crap!" Olly snapped back. "You said you'd stay for Christmas. You told me and Alicia you were staying. You told Celeste you were staying. What changed?"

"Things don't always go according to plan," Sterling said with a hollow laugh. "And it doesn't matter because I don't think Celeste is coming to your Christmas morning festivities, anyway."

"What?" Olly said, his brow tensing up with confusion. "Why not?"

"Because she's getting back with Jared, just like she wanted. So she'll be spending Christmas with him."