Page 100 of Cold As Ice

Fuck her. I dropped my cell like a hot potato.

Nothing good could come from talking to her right now.

But she didn’t give up, and the shrill of my ringtone echoed around the empty gym.

“Fuck’s sake,” I grumbled, grabbing it again and bringing it to my ear. “Yeah?”

“Really, Austin. Is that any way to greet your mother?”

“You called. I answered.”

She scoffed, the line thick with tension. “We haven’t spoken in weeks. I thought—”

“Yeah, well you thought wrong.”

“Rory said—”

“Rory is a fool for giving you even a second of her time after the bullshit you pulled last year.”

“Aurora and I can work through our differences like adults, Austin. Unlike you and your man-sized tantrum. Really, it’s quite ridiculous.”

Go to hell, I wanted to scream. But despite being a selfish bitch Susannah Hart was still my mother, and there was part of me that was still a young boy desperate for his mother’s attention.

God, I hated her for that.

For ruining me just enough to be able to cut her off, but deep down, I still craved her attention.

Talk about Mommy issues.

Unlike Rory, I’d never talked to a shrink about my issues. I’d pushed them down and down, right down enough until I could tell myself that I was okay.

That it didn’t matter that my dad left and then my mom spent years acting like it was somehow my fault.

I reminded her of him, and she made sure to remind me in turn that while he might have walked away from her, he didn’t care enough about me and Rory to stick around, either.

“I’m going to hang up now,” I said with a weary sigh.

I didn’t have time for her bullshit.

“Wait, Austin, please—”

I hesitated.

Fuck.

Even now, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fully slam the door in her face.

“What?” I practically snarled the word, unsure if I was more pissed at her or myself.

“I know I haven’t always made things easy.”Understatement of the fucking century.“But I’d like for me, you, and Aurora to get together. There’s something I wish to discuss with you both.”

“So tell me now.”

“No, this needs to be done in person.”

“I’ve got a busy few weeks coming up. The team has a real shot at going into the playoffs. I won’t be able to get to Syracuse any time soon.”

“Not even a couple of days? You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

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