Ahhhh why had he agreed to this? Well, to tell the truth, he hadn’t really. At all. His cousin had sent him an owl telling him that he was alone with his nose stuck in a book too often, and he needed to get out and meet some women, so she had signed him up for matchmaking.

Yikes.

Okay, so maybe Bear was always reading instead of talking to people. So what? Books are nice! He liked books! And it’s not that he didn’t have an interest in women (because boy oh boy, he sure did), but dating had just never been too high up on his priority list. Sure, he’d had a couple of girlfriends at Hogwarts, and a somewhat serious one through university, but he had never felt like he really needed to be in a relationship. (Come to think of it, that attitude was probably why his college girlfriend had dumped him...) Once he and Rachel had broken up, he hadn’t gone looking for someone to take her place. That was six years ago, and he’d been pretty happy since then, actually.

So. Why had he shown up to this date when clearly this wasn’t his idea and he wasn’t particularly looking for a relationship? Well, because he wasn’t a jerk, that’s why. He didn’t want to stand someone up who was genuinely trying to find love. That just seemed mean. And who knew, maybe he actually would hit it off with this Laila girl. As long as she didn’t mind a bit of nerdiness, at least they’d get along as friends if nothing else, he was sure.

It was a bit chilly, and he pulled his coat tighter around himself as he made his way to the designated spot — a pop-up skating rink. (Which frankly made him kind of nervous.) His hands were shoved deep in the pockets of his black coat, and a gray beanie sat atop his dark hair. He wondered briefly if he should have worn something other than jeans, thinking that when he inevitably fell on the ice, they would end up getting wet, and wet jeans were the worst feeling ever. But anyway, too late now.

There was only one person around when he got there, so he figured it had to be her. She was pretty. That was a plus. He wasn’t totally convinced that any pretty people would need a matchmaker, you know? ”Hey,” he threw up a hand to wave as he approached. ”Laila? I’m Bear. Nice to meet you.” He extended a hand to shake hers, realizing too late that it would probably feel like she was shaking a popsicle. Oops. Oh well. ”Just to warn you... I’m an absolutely awful ice skater. Truly horrendous. Maybe the worst you’ve ever seen.” A smile crossed his face, letting her know that he was just kidding. Or at least half kidding...