Page 99 of Cold As Ice

“Coach pulled me into the office yesterday.”

“Mase mentioned something.”

Of course, he had. Fucking bunch of girls.

“The Canucks are interested. Their second goalie is having problems, and my name came up.”

“The Canucks, wow. That’s… a long way away.”

“Yeah, I know. But it isn’t like I have offers lined up.”

“You’re considering it?” His brow arched in that accusatory way of his.

“You don’t think I should?”

“It’s not my decision to make. But Vancouver, Austin? That’s… a big step when we’ll all still be local.”

“It’s the NHL, though.”

“Yeah, it is. So long as you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” Everything inside me tightened.

“So long as you’re not… running.”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” I glanced away from him, trying to get my emotions locked down.

Connor didn’t know; nobody did. Because I’d spent years,yearsshoving down all those feelings from my childhood, my teenage years.

But when I finally gave in and looked at him again, I saw it.

He knew.

Somehow, Connor knew. And I suspected it was because the loveable, lighthearted joker of our group saw far more than we realized.

“You’ve been different ever since Rory came to Lakeshore.”

“Yeah, well, watching one of your best friends fall in love with your sister—”

“This isn’t about Noah. It’s about you.”

“I don’t know what you think you know, but you’re wrong.” I barged past him, heading for the hall.

“Austin, come on. It’s me, you don’t have—”

“Do us both a favor, yeah?” I cut him with an icy stare. “Stay out of it.”

And then I got the fuck out of there.

* * *

I headed to the gym to burn off some steam but barely managed twenty minutes before my cell started blowing up.

Muttering to myself about my overbearing friends, I snatched my cell off the bench and paused, my stomach curdling at the sight of my mother’s name.

For a second, I contemplated ignoring her. She never called unless she needed something. And after she’d sent Rory a box of weight loss pills and supplements, I’d made damn sure to give her a piece of my mind.

That had been months ago, and apart from a couple of calls I’d ignored, I hadn’t spoken to her since.

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