“Just a feeling,” Anna said, happy to have Kimmie here to gossip with. Anna was still wrestling with thoughts of Vronsky and she wasn’t happy about it. She wasn’t single like Kimmie, so she knew it was trouble to start daydreaming of boys that weren’t her boyfriend.

Kimmie sipped her hot chocolate. “I met him at your brother’s New Year’s Eve party, and I’ve only seen him a few times since then.”

“Oh, is this Dustin? Steven’s old friend?” Anna asked innocently. “Your sister mentioned something about him last night. I hear MIT practically begged him to go there.”

Kimmie frowned at the mention of Dustin’s name and shook her head. “Not him. I mean, Dustin’s sweet and may have a crush on me. But I like someone else, though I’m not sure he likes me back.”

Anna found Kimmie’s sudden shyness quite darling. “Of course he likes you back! Any guy would. Tell me! Who’s this mystery man?”

“His name is Alex. Alex Vronsky, though you may have heard of him by his silly nickname Count Vronsky.”

Anna’s eyes went wide, but she quickly checked herself. “How odd, I met him for the first time last night. I rode the train in with his mother and he was there to pick her up at Grand Central.”

Kimmie was thrilled. Vronsky didn’t come visit her at the rink last night because he was with his mother, not because he was losing interest like she feared. She was so happy to hear the news she didn’t notice that Anna’s mood had changed slightly. “What was his mother like? Alex hasn’t told me much, but I can tell they’re close.” Kimmie was thrilled to finally have a girl she could talk to about Vronsky. Lolly was always so judgy when it came to boys and kept warning her Vronsky was famous for being a huge flirt and a total playboy.

“She’s incredible, so beautiful and elegant. She mainly spoke of her two sons. Alexia is clearly her favorite.” Anna hoped Kimmie didn’t catch her slip of the tongue calling Alexia by his mother’s pet name, and continued, “She seems very involved in his life.”

Kimmie was interested in Vronsky’s mom of course, but she most wanted to hear Anna’s opinion of Alex himself. “Don’t you find him crazy hot? He’s, like, movie star good-looking.”

“He is handsome.” Anna nodded, knowing it’d be strange for her to deny such an obvious truth. “You two would make such a good-looking couple.” She knew Kimmie would love to hear about Vronsky’s heroic actions with the homeless man’s dog, but she purposefully withheld it. Vronsky rushing off to find the second dog was somehow tied to her, though she hadn’t spent any time yet contemplating why.