Silent Knight by Beth Bolden

Of all the things Murphy Clark loves about Christmas Falls, there’s always been one he loves a little more than the rest:

His childhood best friend, Jem Knight.
Doesn’t matter that Jem’s barely been home in years, or that he’s busy conquering football fields instead of hanging out at Jolly Java or admiring Murphy’s carved wooden gnomes. Murphy’s always loved him anyway.

But now Jem’s finally returned to Christmas Falls to be the honorary figurehead of the biggest holiday festival in the Midwest.
Murphy’s hoping to rekindle their friendship but he didn’t count on Jem not recognizing him. Or flirting with him. Or re-igniting the hopeless crush he’s always had for his best friend.

He definitely didn’t expect for his crush to no longer be hopeless at all.
Or for both of them to realize that all they want for Christmas this year is each other.