Knowing that Kiki wasn’t there, Taren went by The North Pole Lodge to finalize everything with Liam White before heading back to the fire station. He had already been away long enough. New Year’s Eve was the next day and it was up to him to make sure that everything was right. Although he wasn’t in the mood to party, he owed it to everyone else to make sure that everything went smoothly. He owed Liam a debt, but they had been friends since high school and nothing was going to change that.

High school.

High school made him think of Kiki. He told himself that he wasn’t sure why,...