Page 3 of Ice Cold, Red Hot (Coldwater Firehawks Hockey #1)

CELES CELESTE TE

I should never have let Nat convince me to come to school for welcome week. It would have been just as well to check in the day before classes began and get to work. I’d find my buildings, meet my professors. It would have been fine.

“You’re wearing that?” Nat burst into my room and immediately began her fashion assessment. “I don’t think ratty cargo pants and that oversized sweatshirt really say, ‘available and fun,’ Celeste.”

“Do they say, ‘stay the fuck away because I need to work?’ Cuz that’s what I’m going for.”

Nat shook her head. “They might, but they do not say, ‘I’m Nat’s awesome wingwoman.’”

Ugh. “Fine. Pick something.” It was probably a mistake, but Nat had great fashion sense and could usually assemble something decent even when she had only my bargain basement wardrobe to work with.

“These,” she said, pulling out a pair of wide leg jeans in a light wash. “And this.” A cropped long-sleeved top that was a little too tight and showed a lot of midriff. “Keep the sneaks.”

I wrinkled my nose at her.

“Trust me.”

I did not want to trust her, but a small part of me also didn’t want to alienate any potential friends or allies by looking like I didn’t care or like I was just plain unapproachable. I changed clothes.

Nat wore a pair of relaxed jeans and a tight tank top with an off the shoulder top over it and her long dark hair pulled high into a top pony that fell over one shoulder in a braid.

“You’re leaving your hair down,” she told me as I began to gather the unruly waves into a loose bun.

“I am, huh?”

“Trust.”

I sighed and slipped the elastic around my wrist. I knew I’d end up putting my hair up at some point.

“We’re off!” she announced, heading for the apartment door.

I’d been overly aware of the sounds in the hallway beyond our apartment, tracking the comings and goings of the hockey players that seemed to surround us at all times.

I did not want to bump into Shepherd in the hallway.

Or anywhere. And I’d become paranoid about just opening the door without looking first.

“Move,” Nat said as I squinted so I could look out the little peephole on the front of the door.

“One sec.”

“There are no rapists in the hallway,” she sighed.

Luckily, there was no one at all in the hallway, though I thought I’d heard Shepherd’s door open and close a few times in the last hour.

God, I hated being so aware of him. Why did he have to be right there? A whole campus, and of course, we’re neighbors.

“You’re still acting weird,” Nat told me, reaching around me to pull the door open.

I sighed. “Sorry.” I didn’t want to tell her what was going on inside me—what was literally eating me.

Shepherd.

It was bad enough that I spent the last month of the summer wondering what the hell I’d done wrong, what I’d said to make him just disappear instead of coming to say goodbye before his family left the resort.

I’d even considered bribing one of the reception staff to look up his family’s contact information, but I’d recovered my pride at the last second.

He didn’t want any lingering connections. I wouldn’t push it.

But this?

Literally pretending he had never seen me before? I couldn’t get my head around it. First I was pissed. Then, hurt. Now? I didn’t even know. I was a mess.

Somehow, a guy who wouldn’t even look at me had accomplished the single thing I’d been planning to avoid this year. He was a HUGE distraction. I couldn’t think straight, I couldn’t focus. I’d need to figure something out before classes started Monday.

I followed Nat out the front door of the apartment building and across the street to campus. It was great having her with me, since she knew the place like the back of her hand, and the campus was surprisingly huge.

“This is the quickest way to get to central campus,” she said, heading up a trail that led through a stand of trees. “It gets muddy in winter and it’s pretty sketchy at night. Don’t come through here by yourself if it’s late.”

I could see why she offered that advice. Even though the sun was still end-of-summer high, here in the mini-forest, it was dark and there was a noticeable drop in temperature. A shiver went through me.

“Tennis center here, athletic training facility there.” Nat pointed things out as we hit the main walk through campus, and I tried to keep up. “That’s the hockey rink,” she said, gesturing at the huge building we were passing on our right. “We’ll have to go to the games for sure. They’re a blast.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said noncommittally. I had no intention of going to hockey games. Especially not if Shepherd was the captain of the team.

Nat rolled her eyes at me and grabbed my arm, tugging me along. “You can keep trying to be a sourpuss, but I’ll win you over. This place is so much fun, and we’re finally together!”

Nat’s enthusiasm was infectious, and as we made our way into the grassy quad between the alumni center and the parking garage for the sports facilities, I let go of some of the angst I’d been carrying around.

So what if Shepherd was here? So what if he was determined to pretend nothing had ever happened between us?

There were plenty of fish in the sea if I felt like casting a line, and I had much more important things to think about.

I squeezed Nat’s arm and silently vowed to enjoy myself at the welcome event she’d insisted we attend.

“The food at this thing is awesome,” she whispered as we made our way between groups of students and faculty standing around chatting and smiling. “Plus, you can say hello to the school bigwigs.”

I didn’t need to do that, but I figured meeting Dr. Gunning in person would be a good thing, since I was going to be working for her this year.

I just hoped I’d recognize her and wouldn’t make a fool of myself.

We’d talked on the phone a couple times, and her steely confidence made me a little bit nervous.

“Meatballs, two o’clock!” Nat announced, calling the attention of several people nearby as she waved for the waiter to bring his tray our way. She happily accepted a napkin and several meatballs with toothpicks sticking out of them, which she loaded into it.

I accepted one too. “Delicious,” I agreed.

“Aw, crap,” Nat breathed. “Can’t keep out the riff raff, I guess.”

I followed her gaze to the far side of the gathering, and my heart dropped like a kettlebell inside me when I locked eyes with someone looking this way.

Shepherd.

He was surrounded by Griff and the other hockey players I’d seen the day we moved in, but he was staring at me.

It was a little unsettling, but I thought for a second, he was just remembering me—finally.

Of course, as soon as I’d had the thought, his cold gaze slid away, and he turned his back to me.

“Go say hi?” Nat suggested .

“Definitely not.” I looked around, hoping to see Professor Gunning so I could say hello and get something productive done here despite my fervent wish to be anywhere else.

We grabbed a few more of the passed snacks, and found our way to the table where soft drinks were on offer, when Nat gave me a broad smile and whispered, “oh, CeeCee, he’s here.”

“Who?” My mind jumped to Shepherd, but she couldn’t be talking about him. His loud laugh was echoing around the quad, deep and irritating. I tried to tune it out. “Who’s here?”

“My three-year crush,” she sighed. “Evan Lopez. Soccer player. Senior. So, so hot.”

“Go talk to him,” I suggested.

“I barely know him. What would I say?”

I’d never seen Nat act nervous around guys. I frowned at her. “Since when are you at a loss when it comes to flirting?”

She shrugged. “This is different. He’s just…” A dreamy smile crossed her face as I spotted Dr. Gunning standing near Nat’s dream man.

“Well, come say hello to the professor I’m working for this year. It’ll get you within striking distance, at least.”

Nat followed me to where Professor Gunning was standing with a few other faculty members dressed in conservative attire.

“Hello, Professor Gunning? I’m Celeste Moreno.”

Dr. Gunning’s pretty face broke into a wide smile as she reached her arms wide and gave me a hug.

“I’m so happy to meet you in person, Celeste.

I’m really looking forward to our work together this year.

” She turned to the two men at her side.

“This is Ethan Calloway. He’s a PhD candidate in the department.

You two will likely cross paths at some point as the year progresses. ”

“I sure hope so,” Ethan said with a friendly smile as he shook my hand. “Dr. Gunning can’t stop talking about how impressive you are.”

I was glad he’d added that second part, because I was about to be put off by the first statement he’d made. “Thanks,” I said, shaking his hand.

“And this is Dr. Pietz,” Dr. Gunning said, indicating a short man with curly gray hair and a bow tie.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said. “This is Natalie Wheeler. She’s in exercise science.”

Nat gave the professors a perfunctory hello and then returned to staring at Evan Lopez.

I talked with Dr. Gunning for a few more minutes, mostly about the drive from Ohio and the weather, and when I turned back to Nat, I was happy to see her standing with Evan, chatting away.

Maybe that was my cue to leave, I figured. I stepped close to Nat and leaned in. “You okay here? I think I’m gonna head back.”

She whipped her head around. “Already? We just got here!”

The wind picked up at that moment and napkins and tablecloths flew in all directions.

“I actually think it might rain,” I told her. “I’m just gonna go now.”

“Okay,” she said. “But it looks like they’re moving it inside.” She pointed to where a group of people were beginning to move the tables inside the alumni center as the sky continued to darken and an ominous rumble sounded above us.

“That’s okay. I’ve got some things I want to take care of back at home,” I said. “If you’re sure you’re good.”

She smiled at me. “I’m good. See you at home. Don’t go through the woods, remember?” Nat turned back to the group of people she’d been talking to, and I watched as Evan put a light hand on her arm as he told her something.

I was happy for my friend.

I turned on my heel to head out, only to find Shepherd standing directly behind me, blocking my path.

“Um. Hi.” I did not want to talk to him. And I did not want my body to be reacting to his proximity the way it was. But even if I tried to forget, my body seemed to remember.

“Hello again.”

“Oh, you remember me this time?”

“I met you yesterday. Outside the apartment building.” He crossed his arms, looking down at me with a smirk. “See? I have a good memory.”

“No, you met me this summer. So your memory actually seems to suck.”

“I met you yesterday.”

I forced myself to look up at him, to meet his eyes.

They were dark and cold, nothing like the warm gaze I’d fallen into so many times this summer.

I blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know what game you’re playing or why, but if you’re going to insist we’ve never met, let’s just keep it that way.

I don’t have time for this bullshit. I don’t have time for…

you.” The last part was delivered too fast, and I st umbled over my words, giving away how much I cared even when I was trying to prove I didn’t care at all.

“Sounds like a plan,” he said, his voice hard and unaffected.

I glanced into his flat gaze once more, my heart wincing inside me, and then I wrenched my body away and hurried out of the event, weaving through people and tables and finally finding myself on the main campus walk, headed for home.

It was darker now than it had been when we’d arrived—partially thanks to evening falling, but mostly because the sky had clouded over and ominous flashes of lightning now accompanied the threatening rumble of thunder that seemed almost constant.

I didn’t want to get caught in the storm, and as I approached the shortcut through the woods, I didn’t want to go in there, either.

“Shit.” I detoured around them, heading for the main road around the campus loop, which would get me back to the apartments, but would probably add fifteen minutes to the walk. As I turned onto the sidewalk, the first fat raindrop smacked my nose, trailing down my upper lip.

“Fucking fantastic.” A second later, I was in an all-out downpour. “Perfect.”