Page 78 of Ice Rebel

“It is!” My smile quickly faded seeing the look in her eyes.

“But we both know nothing will come of it.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do. Go knock them dead, Cole. I don’t really know you, of course, but I can tell how well liked you are as a hockey player. You’re good. Very good.”

“Maybe you can come to a game sometime.”

“I don’t know if that would be the best idea.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. Just something to think about.”

While she nodded, I had a feeling she wouldn’t show. Hell, maybe if I played well, she’d rethink that.

“Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems as if you’re beating yourself up for being a shifter. Plus, you’re trying to prove you’re just as good as your brothers if not better, which only adds to the pressure. Just remember to be true to you and everything you want no matter how difficult in getting there or how many times you question what you’re doing. That’s something my favorite teacher used to say. I need to practice.” While she smiled, she was already walking away.

“For the record,” I told her, hoping she really heard me. “You’re a very talented dancer. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

I clenched my hand into a fist and forced it to my side. She’d known me for a few days, learning few details about my life and only by secondhand methods, yet she’d captured the fury that never left me. Damn it, I liked the girl more than I should. More than I had anyone.

In seeing her disappear on the other side of the curtains, the fact the ache in my gut had increased meant one thing.

She was someone special in my life.

How in the hell was I supposed to let her go?

CHAPTER 17

Cole

“What’s wrong, son?”

I could see the bus from where I was parked and I was running late. The wind had been sucked out of me, replaced by a longing to be someone else, anyone else but a shifter. While I doubted there was anyone on this planet who hadn’t wished the same thing if only once in their lives.

Today, I was having a crisis of conscience. At least I knew why.

One sexy, opinionated, intelligent ginger-haired woman who’d cut through my bullshit as if warm butter.

“I don’t know, Dad. Just having doubts.” I couldn’t remember when I’d last sought my father’s advice. A long time. He used to be my sounding board, which the dudes I considered my friends in high school had thought was blasphemy. Only they didn’t know my dad.

Not only was he an amazing father and businessman, but he was also an incredible pack leader. He’d seen it all through the years, every difficulty a young wolf could handle. The advice he offered wasn’t always what someone wanted to hear, but he was almost never wrong.

“About hockey or about Chelsea Black?”

And I should have known Samantha was unable to keep her mouth shut. There were no secrets in the family. Not one. “Maybe both. What did Sam tell you?”

“Only that you’d likely be calling. I read the short article. I’ve seen worse. But apparently, you like this girl, yet there are a few… complications?”

“Try from every angle. Her brother is sharing the captain’s position with me and we can’t stand each other. She’s Samantha’s roommate. She hates hockey players. And she had no idea I was a shifter. And I’m not sure I want to play hockey any longer.”

“Well, that’s a lot to unpack, son.”

“Tell me about it. The way Chelsea found out about being a fucking creature was terrible. I could kill that reporter.”

I could hear his heavy sigh. “Let’s not do that. Besides, he didn’t say anything that was untrue. Did he?”

Just as I opened my mouth to retort, I thought about the two paragraphs. In truth, he’d talked about seeing my passion for once. And he wouldn’t be wrong. I’d felt it all during practice.