Page 129 of Cold As Ice

Of my reaction to seeing Austin with Rory—when I thought she’d been someone other than his sister.

“Did you know Austin has a sister?” I asked.

“Above knowing he’s the Lakers goalie, I don’t really know much about him. Hockey, as you know, isn’t my thing.”

“So last night was what exactly?” She’d been all over Leon Banks until he’d found the trio of puck bunnies to keep himself entertained.

“What?” She shrugged. “He was cute.”

“Rory is his sister.”

“No shit. I thought they had a similar look. But for real, they’re related?”

“Yep.”

“I’m guessing you found this out tonight?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Means he isn’t hung up on his teammate’s girlfriend.”

“I didn’t know, Fawn. We hung out with her all night, and I didn’t… I guess it was really just sex, after all.”

“Babe, don’t do this. It was sex, remember? Casual, no-strings, get-you-back-on-the-horse sex. You weren’t supposed to catch feelings.”

“Too late.” I gave her a sad, self-deprecating smile.

“Yeah, I figured as much when he walked in. You’ve got it bad.”

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“No.” She let out a soft chuckle, pulling a fluffy cushion onto her lap. “Because you’re human.”

“I felt something with him, Fawn. Something that scared me.”

“You wanted to trust him.”

“Yeah, I think I did.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, inhaling a shaky breath, trying to shut down the emotions whirring inside me. “But it isn’t fair of me to act hurt. We didn’t make any promises to each other. And I have a daughter, that’s—”

“Will you stop with that, already. You make it sound like being a single mom is synonymous with having a contagious disease. The right guy will never see Immy as anything less than she deserves. Both of you deserve.”

“You think?”

“Babe, I know. There are good guys out there—guys who would be lucky to have you and Imogen in their life. So the first guy you trust isn’t the one. They’ll be others.”

“You’re right.”

Two words I hadn’t been able to believe for a long time. Not after how badly Warren hurt me.

And she was right. Maybe Austin wasn’t the one, but he had healed something inside me.

He’d brought me out of the cold and lit a fire inside me again.

But most of all, he had shown me that I could let someone in again.

I would always be grateful for that.

CHAPTER23

---