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Zander looks up. “Huh? Why?”

“For Nina. One for her and one for each of us, and we’ll wear them on Christmas Eve. You know how much she loves all that cheesy holiday stuff.”

“The kind of stuff families do,” Zander says. He isn’t laughing anymore.

Pascal nods, and the three of us share a look. When Zander adds four sets of dog pajamas to his cart and hits the order button, something settles over us that none of us say out loud.

None of us are jealous of each other anymore.

All we’re thinking about now is how to make Nina happy, and how to share that with her together. What started as a casual, almost competitive deal between us has turned into something else entirely. Something better.

CHAPTER 26

NINA

It’s already the seventeenth. Funny how the days seem to be speeding up. I’d planned to skate through this month and then get right back to rebuilding my career. Now I keep wishing everything would slow down.

Tonight, the guys offered to take me back to the Christmas market. They know how much I love anything Christmassy, especially walking around in the snow with a hot drink in my hands. The market is perfect for that, with twinkling lights strung between the booths and the whole town out enjoying the season.

So, of course, I say yes.

“Where are Jarek and Pascal?” I ask as Zander, and I walk out to his car.

“They’ll meet us there. They both had a few things to take care of first.”

When we arrive, the market is just as pretty as I remember. Zander and I grab hot spiced cider and sit on a bench to people-watch while we wait for the other two.

“It’s so nice here,” I say, snuggling against his shoulder.

I play it off like I’m cold, but really, I’m tucking myself into the side of his coat, hoping he’ll put his arm around me. I know I shouldn’t be trying to make this into more than it is. But it’s Christmas. It’s hard not to hope for a little magic.

And he does put his arm around me. For Zander, who told me he wasn’t big on unnecessary relationships, that’s a big deal. He rubs my arm like he’s trying to warm me up. It’s such a small thing. But sitting here, curled against him in the snow, it feels like exactly where I’m supposed to be.

“We shouldn’t stay out too long,” he says. “It’s getting colder, and the last thing any of us needs is to get sick before the gala.”

Snow starts falling again. “I’d stay out here forever if I could. I wish this market never ended.”

“Nothing lasts forever, Nina.” His voice sounds far away, like a man who lost something once and has been afraid to want anything since.

“Want to talk about it?” I ask softly.

“Not really.”

“You know, after I broke up with Reid, I didn’t think I’d ever want to talk to another man again.” I nudge him gently. “Then I came here, and met you three, and that changed.”

His arm tightens around me, just slightly. When I look up, his eyes are heavy.

“My mother left my father and me when I was a kid,” he says. Just like that. No lead-up. “It gutted him. And me. Nothing was the same after that. My father let everything he’d built fall apart. Without her, it was like nothing mattered to him anymore.”

“I’m so sorry.” My chest aches for him. “He must have loved her very much.”

“He did. That’s why I decided, even as a kid, that nobody would ever do to me what she did to him. After she left, I was sure everyone important would eventually leave, too. Losing her turned my father into someone else. It destroyed him. Watching that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Not all love does that,” I say. For a man this powerful to admit something like this to me feels huge. “Sometimes people change you for the better. With the right person, love can make you stronger. Not everyone leaves.”

He turns to look at me, and I can see him fighting the urge to kiss me. We can’t do this in public—the risk is too big. It’s still tempting.

“How are you still this kind after what that asshole did to you?” he asks, our faces nearly touching.