“Too good to be true?”

“Yes.”

Carolina leaned over and squeezed her hand. “It’s not. It’s the happiness you deserve. The life you deserve, and the man you deserve.”

Stella inhaled on a shaky breath. For so long she’d held the potential for happiness at arm’s length, too afraid of hoping for it to believe it could ever come true.

But now, as she stared over the apartment, at all these people she lived with, worked with, and called friends, she was starting to believe that this happiness was real. That she did deserve it.

When Carolina wandered off to find Drew, she did her own wandering, stopping to talk to Lawrence. She was shocked to discover they had a lot in common. His parents had never wanted him to dance, and he’d struggled for years to find his footing and even longer to find success. When he finally achieved his goals, he swore he’d pay it forward, which was why he enjoyed being a choreographer now. For most of his life, dance had been the only thing that kept him going—until he’d fallen in love with Jonathan. She spent a good hour realizing that Lawrence worked his dancers hard not because he was an asshole, but because he wanted them all to be successful.

She had a new appreciation for her boss, who, it turned out, was a very kind man once you got him away from rehearsals. And Jonathan was adorable, and it was very clear the two of them were very much in love.

As she wound her way through the partygoers, she met up with her sister, and hugged her.

“Are you having a good time?”

Greta grinned and wrapped her arms around Stella. “This is going to be one of the best holidays ever. Thank you for letting me stay with you.”

“I can’t even imagine not having you here.”

“You won’t have me long.”

Stella smiled. “Excited about your new apartment?”

“Ridiculously. It’s like a whole new chapter of my life. New job, new apartment. New friends. I’m excited, Stell.”

“I’m excited for you.”

“And maybe a new guy,” Greta smiled. “So if you don’t mind, I think Avery is giving me that look.”

Stella had noticed that her sister and Avery had been spending time together.

“Go ahead. And have some fun.”

Greta gave her a wink. “I intend to.”

A few hours later, the party wound down. They said their good-byes, and Greta informed her that she was going to go out with Avery for a while and may or may not be back later.

Which left her and Trick alone.

Trick was seeing the last of the guests out, so Stella stood at the window, marveling at how beautiful the city looked. The snow flurries had turned to actual snow now.

When she felt a warm set of arms surrounding her, she leaned against Trick’s chest.

“It’s going to be a white Christmas,” she said.

“I guess that means we’ll have to stay in tomorrow.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure out that whole ‘cooking a turkey’ thing.”

He turned her around to face him, then tipped her chin up with his fingers. “Babe, I’m a master at that turkey thing.”

“Yet something else I love about you.”

“What? My cooking skills?”

She wound her arms around his neck. “No. The fact you don’t panic about being snowbound on Christmas Day.”

“Well, I think your sister might end up snowbound with Avery, which means we’ll be snowbound alone together.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Trick kissed her, and it was as if the whole world fell away, and only she and Trick existed.

When he broke the kiss, he looked up at the clock on the wall. “Merry Christmas, Stella.”

Her lips curved. “Merry Christmas, Trick.”

“I have a gift for you.”

She cocked a brow. “Is that right?”

“Yes. It’ll require us to get naked.”

She looped her arm in his as they headed to the bedroom. “Is this gift something I’ve seen before?”

“Well . . . maybe. But this gift can always be used in new and unique ways.”

She tilted her head back and laughed. “Best. Gift. Ever.”