I don’t really know what to answer. What’s a polite way to say “I’m totally down to try your vegan bubble tea place, but just checking, you mean as friends, right?” I’m still working on the wording when Alfie and Rose pass us, and Edmund calls out to them. “Don’t you think Danni’s doing a great job?” he asks, squeezing both of my hands. “She’s a natural.”

Rose widens her eyes. “Well, I would say that given she’s not skated in—what is it now, Danni, ten years—she’s doing a marvelous job.”

I shoot her a look that she conveniently misses.

“She says she mostly skis and snowboards,” Edmund tells her. “She’s from somewhere that snows even more than here. Colorado,” he adds.

Rose turns to me with mock interest. “Are you from Colorado?” she asks. “I can’t believe it. I’ve known you almost six months now, and you’ve never once mentioned any of this information to me. I’m learning so much, thank you, Edmund.”

She lays on the sarcasm so thick that even bubbly Edmund can’t miss it. He smiles, but it’s a hesitant one.

“Don’t worry about Rose,” I say. “Her sense of humor is an acquired taste.”

To my surprise, Rose looks a little hurt. I guess it’s easier for her to take things personally than normal while she’s watching me get led around the ice by my almost-definitely-date.

Alfie laughs nervously. “I’ve been tossing up whether to show off my double Salchow,” he says to Rose, tugging at her to leave us alone. “If I nail it, it’ll be on camera. If I fall, it’ll be on camera.”

“I see the dilemma,” Rose says, skating off with him and leaving me alone with Edmund again. I watch them, my heart tugging.

Edmund follows my gaze. “Do you … know Alfie well?” he asks.

“Not really, why?”

He seems surprised by my answer. “Oh. Just wondering. It’s just, when he found out I thought you were hot, he suggested I come and meet you today. But if there’s any history there or anything…”

I try to process what he said, but there’s a lot to it. He thinks I’m into Alfie? Why the hell would he think that? And he finds me hot? I mean, that’s flattering, I guess, but kind of random that Alfie would choose him to come along today when he knows I’m not exactly a viable option for his friend, isn’t it?

I’m so distracted, I lose track of my feet, and my blades collide together with a clang. It sends me backward, hard—too hard for Edmund to keep his hold on me—and my head smacks against the ice.