Page 62 of Cold As Ice

“Sounds like my idea of hell.” She chuckled. “I’ve never really understood the whole Greek life thing.”

“It’s not my idea of fun either. But it comes with being a Laker.” I drained my soda and motioned for the server to bring me another. “You know, I’m surprised you agreed to meet with me.”

“So am I.” A hesitant smile played on her lips. “But I knew you weren’t going to let it go, and I had no plans tonight.” She shrugged.

“Your parents have Immy for the night?” I asked.

“Yeah, they want to spend some time with her before they leave for their vacation.”

“Are they going anywhere nice?”

“A three-and-a-half-week cruise around the Caribbean.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, her expression dropping.

“You’re not happy about it?”

“It isn’t that.” Frustration coated her words, and I saw the torment in her eyes. “They deserve a break, and their friends are paying for the whole thing. But it was last minute, so it didn’t leave me much time to make childcare arrangements.”

“I take it they help you out a lot.”

She nodded. “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

“Must be nice to be close to your parents.”

“Oh, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.” Her lips pursed. “They’re great with Imogen and absolutely adore her. But things between me and my mom are complicated.”

“I know a thing or two about difficult mothers.”

I didn’t talk to people about this stuff with anyone, but it came easy with Madison.

“You said before you have a sister,” she said.

“Yeah, just the one.”

“Are the two of you close?”

My chest squeezed. For as easy as it was to talk to her, that was a whole can of worms I wasn’t ready to open. “It’s complicated.”

Madison lifted her milkshake in a toast. “To complicated families then.” I clinked my glass against her with a smile, and she added, “So winter break is over soon, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have to practice a lot?”

“We have daily practice on the ice, then there’s training and conditioning off the ice. We play two games a week, Thursdays and Fridays, and we stand a real chance at making it to the Frozen Four this year. If we do, that means extra games.”

“Sounds intense.”

“It is. But it’s all I know.”

It wasn’t the grueling schedule I dreaded; it was standing still. Being left with too much time to think. Reflect.

Regret.

“Bet it doesn’t leave much time for a social life.” Something sparked in her eyes, and I wanted to believe that she meant her.

---