Page 101 of Cold As Ice

It was on the tip of my tongue to argue, but I didn’t have it in me. Something about talking to her again sucked the life right out of me.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to make it work. Sorry.” I hung up, frustration coming off me in angry waves.

How dare she.

How fucking dare she act like I owed her a visit.

Dropping down onto the bench, I inhaled a shuddering breath, trying to rein in the tumultuous emotions raging inside me. I wanted to rage, to scream and lash out. But I wasn’t that guy now.

I controlled my emotions—they no longer controlled me.

As far as I was concerned, moving to Lakeshore had been a one-way ticket.

And until Rory showed up, I’d made my peace with putting my childhood behind me.

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I slammed my fist down on the bench, reveling in the shock of pain skittering up my arm.

Everything had been fine until I opened my door and found Rory standing there. And slowly, day by day, week by week, her presence—the truths that came to light—unraveled my carefully constructed world.

Rory and I had talked shit over. We’d done the heart-to-heart, awkward as fuck conversation where I apologized for my sins, but nothing changed.

If anything, the truth—learning about her eating disorder and the years of trauma at the hands of our mother—broke something inside me.

Something that had festered and grown and leeched the last shreds of decency from my soul.

Rory might have forgiven me, but I would never forgive myself for abandoning her.

The vibration of my cell phone startled me, and I read the incoming text, hardly surprised to see my sister’s name.

Rory: You really can’t find a couple of days to come home with me?

Austin: I’d rather swallow glass.

Rory: Austin, don’t say that. You haven’t been back in so long and she sounded kind of… desperate.

Austin: There is nothing that woman could say to me to fix the last ten years.

Rory: For me, then? Please.

Fuck. How could I deny her when I owed her so much. But I’d vowed I would never set foot in that godforsaken place again.

Rory: It doesn’t matter. Noah will come with me.

Ouch. I knew she didn’t mean it maliciously, but it cut deep all the same. I’d let my sister down, and now she’d found solace—found comfort—in my teammate. One of my best friends.

She didn’t need me anymore.

And it was a fitting punishment for how badly I’d let her down.

But part of me couldn’t let it go. Maybe I never would.

My fingers flew furiously over the screen, and I hit send.

Austin: I’ll go with you.

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