“Strike!” Cody yelled, throwing his hands up as the st bowling pin fell over by the impact of the ball.

  I sipped from the bottle of iced water that I was sharing with Non.

  “Seriously,” I said to Ashley, who was giving Cody a thumbs-up, “Mr. Jack-of-all-trades strikes again. Wait, pun not intended. Is there anything your guy doesn’t have a hobby in?”

  She gaped at me. In an instant, her fingers unfurled, and her palm went flying towards my mouth.

  I just narrowly evaded her by ducking my head.

  “Chelsea Arnold!” she whispered. “Are you trying to give me high blood pressure?”

  “You make yourself sound old when you throw around medical terms like that,” Non told her, snickering when she gave him an unimpressed gre.

  “Call him ‘my guy’ again, and I-I-I’ll make you regret it!” Ashley whispered harshly.

  I merely responded with generous amounts of snickering.

  Melissa walked up to me with two cups of chocote mint ice-cream in her hand.

  “Here’s yours,” she asked, thrusting one into my hands.

  “Thanks.” I picked up the small wooden spoon that had been stuck into it and scooped up some.

  Ashley eyed the two of us. “I’m still stuffed from earlier. How can you eat ice-cream now?”

  “Ice-cream is basically liquid,” Melissa informed her. “It’s like drinking water.”

  “What she said,” I said, savoring the refreshing minty taste.

  Non gave me a funny look.

  “Why are you eating ice-cream? Didn’t you just say you were freezing?”

  “Um,” I said. “Your jacket will keep me warm! Right, darling?”

  With a short ugh, he shrugged off his denim jacket and handed it to me. “If you wanted my jacket, all you had to do was ask.”

  I delightedly put my arms through the sleeves. As usual, it was toasty inside his jacket.

  “I did,” I said as I beamed at him, “in my own way.”

  Not five minutes ter, I faced the consequences of my regrettable decision. I tried to pick up the bowling ball, but my fingers were too numb to curl into the holes.

  “Why did I do that?” I wailed.

  Ashley, who was standing beside me, jumped at the abrupt noise.

  “What? What did you do?”

  Whimpering, I set the bowling ball into her arms. “Eat ice-cream. I can’t even feel my fingers. Can you py for me? I think I need to go outside.”

  “I guess,” she said, “but you know I suck at this, right?”

  “It’s just a game,” I said. “I can’t py. My hands are falling off.”

  Non came to stand beside me. He was holding my ice-cream cup for me because it was my turn.

  “I told you so,” he said.

  “Have some sympathy,” I groaned.

  Ashley stepped up to the bowling ne in my pce.

  “I can go out with you,” he said. “I don’t want you alone outside.”

  “Thanks.” I hugged myself.

  “Be back in a few,” Non told Derek as we passed him. “Chelsea needs to thaw out.”

  “Alright.”

  Once we were enveloped in the warmth of the evening air outside, I sighed in relief. We walked a little further down and leaned against the wall of the bowling alley.

  “Do you still want this?”

  Non held up the almost melted remains of my ice-cream. There wasn’t much left; the remnants filled up less than a quarter of the cup.

  I shook my head.

  He began swirling the wooden spoon around in it.

  I could feel my face start to warm up already. Stretching out my hands, I tried to wiggle the numbness out of my fingers. Then I intertwined them and held both hands to my chest.

  “Are you feeling better?” he asked.

  “Way.”

  He gnced over at me, and then he looked away.

  Just as I noticed him moving just the slightest bit towards me, someone called out my name from a distance.

  “Chelsea!”

  Non froze. I searched the crowd for the owner’s voice. It sounded familiar, but I wanted to make sure I was right. Audrey’s excited face emerged from the crowd.

  Surprised to see her, I stared as she approached us. I was pretty sure that she didn’t live here. She brushed her auburn hair away from her face and took quick strides towards me. The tall brown-haired guy next to her caught up easily with her.

  “That’s my cousin Audrey,” I said to Non. “I don’t know the guy beside her.”

  “Oh,” he said.

  “Hey!” she said when she finally came within a few feet of us. “I totally didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “Hi, Audrey!” I waved. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re just on our way to meet our friends.” She lifted the bags she was holding in her left hand to show us. They looked like they were bursting with party stuff like paper cups and ptes. “Oh, Jacob, this is my cousin.”

  “Looks exciting,” I said.

  “Hi.” Jacob smiled at us. His hands were also occupied with bags.

  “What about you guys?” she asked.

  “We’re just thawing out here,” I said, jerking my thumb backwards at the bowling alley. “It’s freezing in there.”

  “Bowling? That’s cool.”

  Her gaze repeatedly flicked towards Non. Audrey’s expression was both friendly and inquisitive.

  “Oh,” I said, waving at Non. “This is Non, my …”

  It suddenly struck me that I didn’t know what to say.

  Boyfriend? What was she going to think? Audrey had never met Non in person before. All she knew was that I had a boyfriend. It would have been fine if she’d met him a couple of years ago, because at least we wouldn’t look so far apart in age.

  But now …

  Was she going to think that I was a really gross person for going out with someone who looked like a teenager? Was she thinking that the age difference between us was so great that it was impossible for us to be dating, just like those two girls back home did? Was she wondering what my retionship with him was? What was going through her mind right now?

  “My…” The word ‘boyfriend’ refused to form on my tongue.

  Audrey quirked an eyebrow and turned to Non. The curiosity on her face shifted into confusion.

  Panic roiled in my stomach and built itself up into a tornado, whipping through my entire being. I forced my mouth open.

  Say it. Say it now before—before what? Before Audrey becomes suspicious? Before Non gets hurt by my hesitance?

  “He’s my …” I tried again, pushing through my impossibly tight throat.

  “Friend,” Non cut in, smiling at Audrey as if we were talking about the weather. “We’re here with our friends too. The others are inside.”

  The blood racing through my veins turned to ice. What was he saying? I couldn’t feel my heart beating.

  Coolly, he leaned back against the brick wall. My attempt to make eye contact with him failed because he was looking at Audrey.

  “Whoa,” she said. “It must be really cold in there. Is that ice-cream?”

  “It’s Chelsea’s,” Non said, finally looking at me. “She was compining about the cold while eating it.”

  An amused smile curved his lips. Non looked perfectly normal.

  She ughed. “That’s so like you.”

  I forced myself to roll my eyes and smile. “Whatever. At least it tasted good.”

  “Hey, I hope this doesn’t come off as too weird,” Jacob said, focusing his attention on my face, “but I think you’re pretty. Do you think I could get your number? No problem if you aren’t interested, though.”

  He gave off an air of confidence as he spoke, giving me the impression that he was very good with girls. I’d semi-consciously registered his conventionally attractive face and figure, but if he hadn’t just said what he did, I wouldn’t have really noticed.

  Judging from the face Audrey pulled at him, it was pusible that he did this very often.

  “I have a boyfriend,” I said immediately. “I love him a lot, and I would never be interested in anyone else.”

  Maybe it was too much, but the least I could do was mitigate the damage I’d already caused. Non was standing right here beside me after all. I was too ashamed to look at him.

  Jacob seemed slightly taken aback by the vehemence in my reply. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

  Even Audrey’s eyes had grown wide.

  “No offense,” I said. “I just wanted to make it clear.”

  Audrey faced him and tutted.

  “That’s what you get for hitting on every girl you meet!” she scolded as she pulled her phone out with her free hand. “Sorry, Chelsea. This guy is a hopeless flirt.”

  I smiled awkwardly.

  She moved aside to take a call. After a brief awkward gnce back at us, Jacob trailed after her. Within seconds, Audrey was back to pull me into a one-armed hug.

  “I’ve got to go now,” she said, “It was great to see you! Let’s catch up soon, okay?”

  “Sure,” I said, returning her hug. “I’ll text you.”

  “Hope you guys have a great night! Bye, Non!”

  Non gave her a bnd smile. “Thanks. Bye.”

  Right after waving at us, she bounded off with Jacob into the crowd again.

  It was just us now.

  The atmosphere between us was so thick that inhaling felt difficult. The back of my eyes began to burn. My vision rapidly blurred. I couldn’t make out the outline of my shoes.

  “Non.” I gave it my best effort to stabilize my shaky voice. “Just now … I-I … I’m sorry, I—”

  “I’m gd you love your boyfriend a lot,” he said softly. “That’s more than enough for me.”

  “I do. I really love him—you, I really love you. I’m sorry I—”

  “Don’t say it.”

  I couldn’t see what he was doing. I wiped the tears off my eyes with the back of my hand and sniffled.

  He was staring grimly down at my cup of leftover ice-cream.

  He spoke again, “I understand. You don’t need to say it.”

  What did he understand? That I was afraid of being seen in public with him? That I was afraid to admit that we were in a retionship?

  “I’m sor—”

  “Don’t apologize.” Non’s green eyes locked on mine as he stepped closer. “I don’t want you to apologize. I love you too.”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  “Tell me when you’re feeling warmer.”

  It was my fault he wasn’t reaching for my hand right now. It was my fault he wouldn’t press a gentle kiss to my forehead in public anymore. It was my fault he was deliberately hanging back a few inches away from me, not closing the distance between us to hold me like he always did.

  It was all my fault.

  The searing shame coursing through me invaded every inch of my body, making it impossible to feel cold any longer.

  “I think I’m ready to go back in now.”