“Excuse me.” I turned and saw a guy in a business suit, standing behind me, looking aggrieved. There was lots of space to walk around us on the sidewalk, but he seemed to want to walk just where we were. Cary and I both took a step off to the side, his hand on my elbow so lightly, just guiding me a little, and like before, the touch sent a zing through me all the way to my toes.

“And then when I saw Stevie,” he continued, once we were out of the way of people who wanted to pass by on the street, “it reminded me—”

“Wait, when did you see Stevie?”

“She came by the building,” he said. “She finally got the keys and got into Mallory’s apartment.”

“Oh,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief. “That’s great.”

“So,” he said, looking away and running a hand through his hair again. “This might be a little awkward, but…” He took a breath and looked at me expectantly, and suddenly I realized why he was here, and it wasn’t to pick up where we’d left off in the dance studio.

“Oh,” I said, reaching into my pocket. “You want your money back! God, of course. I’m so sorry…”

“No!” Cary said, his face flushing red. “That’s not why I came, Kat. I didn’t need the money back. In fact…” His brow furrowed, like he was trying to get his head around something. Then he shrugged. “Never mind. That’s—a long story. It’s been kind of a crazy night.”

I burst out laughing at that as everything that had happened tonight flashed through my head, a highlight reel of subway separations, pay phone riddles and scooter rides, hot dogs and dancing in the dark, of plays and realizations, movie stars and taxis. And that it had ended up with me, here, talking to a cute boy on the doorstep of Grand Central while snow swirled around us. “You can say that again.”

He took a step closer to me and I looked directly into his dark eyes. “But the best part of it all was—I got to meet you.”

“Oh,” I said, my smile taking over my whole face.

“And, um,” he said, looking down at the sidewalk for a second, taking a breath. “I know that you live in Connecticut, and I’m here, but they’re not that far away, and—”

I didn’t let him finish. I gathered all my courage, and stepped forward, and kissed him.

I broke away, and he looked at me, then smiled and took a step closer, tracing his hand over my jawline, letting it linger there for just a moment. And then he was leaning toward me and I was leaning toward him, and then we were kissing for real.

And oh my god.