Page 1 of Cold As Ice

CHAPTER1

AUSTIN

My cell phonevibrated for the fifth time since I arrived at the bar. But just like the four times before, I ignored it.

“Rough night?” the bartender asked, sliding another beer toward me.

“You could say that.” I dragged a hand down my face and let out a weary sigh.

It was senior year, my last season with the Lakeshore U Lakers. My final year before I graduated, and shit got real. And I was sitting alone in some bar, nursing my fourth beer of the night while one of my best friends lay in the hospital.

I’d left Connor a couple of hours ago, and I should have done the sensible thing and gone home. But instead, I’d found myself here. Drinking away my sorrows like I was the one who had gotten injured.

Something about seeing him go down on the ice, watching himnotget back up, had rattled me.

Hockey could be brutal. Anyone who loved the game knew that. Just like anyone who played knew the risks. But witnessing him being stretchered off the ice, seeing him lying in the hospital bed, pain etched into his features, was a stark reminder of how quickly everything could go to shit.

Connor had a family who cared though. He had his girl, Ella, and plans for the future that didn’t involve hockey. Sure, it would devastate him to lose out when he was so close to realizing his dreams of going pro, but he’d get over it eventually because he had people.

People who loved him.

People who would be there no matter what.

Hockey was it for me.

Without it, I had nothing.

No one.

Fuck, I was a selfish bastard sitting here, moping about my life, when Con was laid up in the hospital, not knowing whether he’d play again this season. But I wasn’t exactly known for my positive mental attitude off the ice.

My cell went off again, and instead of answering it, I switched the damn thing off.

I didn’t want to talk to Fallon.

There was nothing to say.

We’d had fun together, but it was done.

Over.

She wanted more, and I didn’t.

Watching all my friends fall in love over the last few months, the highs and lows that followed had only cemented in my mind that I wasn’t cut out for a relationship.

I liked sex as much as the next guy, sure. But I wanted my sex to come with no strings attached and zero drama included.

Being the Lakers goalie meant I had my fair share of offers. But even the promise of a good time with a puck bunny wasn’t doing it for me tonight.

I was restless. Wound tighter than a spring. And the fact I couldn’t really put my finger on why—beyond Connor’s unexpected injury—had me feeling all kinds of uneasy.

The truth was, nothing had been right since my little sister Aurora had turned up on my doorstep at the beginning of my senior year and flipped my world upside down.

I loved her; she was family—the only family I cared about. But we had too much-unresolved shit between us to just slip into the familial roles of brother and sister. Unresolved shit I couldn’t escape now she went to Lakeshore U. Now she was dating one of my teammates, who also happened to be one of my best friends.

Fuck. I hadn’t seen that coming.

Noah Holden didn’t date. And he sure as fuck didn’t date shy, book-smart girls like Rory.

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