Page 23 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

“Are you sure I wouldn’t be imposing?”

Vince shook his head. “Not at all.”

I really wanted more details. Who else was coming? How long would we stay? I couldn’t be rude though, especially with my parents watching us. “Okay, thanks.”

He smiled and nodded.

After we finished eating and cleaned up, Vince stopped next to me. “Do you want to go now?”

I nodded. I had nothing else to do. We walked out to the foyer and slipped into our coats. “Bye, guys.” I called out hoping someone heard but got no response. “Oh well.”

He laughed and opened the door for me.

When we arrived at the rink, I waited for him to tell me someone else was meeting us. We rented our skates and found an empty bench to put them on. I looked around, still expecting to see someone walking toward us.

“Is anyone else coming?”

He finished tying his skate before looking at me. “No, why?”

“You were just going to come down here by yourself?”

He shook his head. “No, I asked you to come.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You made it sound like I would be tagging along with you. Like you already had plans to be here.”

He was silent for a moment while I finished tying my skates. I sat up and looked at him, and he finally smiled.

“I wasn’t sure how to ask you to come in front of your family without making it sound like a casual, group thing.”

Huh?

“You wanted it to just be me and you?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

I was getting more confused by the moment. He stood and offered his hand before leading me onto the ice.

“I wanted to spend time with you.”

“We’ve been together every day since I got home.”

He smiled. “Not alone.”

What did this mean? We were on a date? Was he interested in me or was he just taking his little sister out?

I looked down to our hands. Siblings don’t hold hands.

We did a lap in silence. I couldn’t take it anymore though. I needed to clear this up.

“Vince?”

He looked at me with a content smile. “Yeah?”

I took a deep breath. “Is this a date?”

He turned away, guiding us around again. He couldn’t ignore that question. It’s not like he could escape either. He was my ride.