Page 8 of Ice Cold Heart

Bitterness coated my tongue, but he wasn’t wrong. I’d tried to do things my way the first two times, and all it had gotten me was two Ws on my transcript. Luckily, withdrawals didn’t count against my GPA, but I needed the class to graduate.

Grandpa’s face flashed into my mind from when I told him I was going to TU for school. Laugh lines crinkled at the edges of his eyes, brimming with pride in the bright morning light. He’d clapped a hand on my shoulder, thick with calluses from working the farm every day, and told me it didn’t matter where I got my degree as long as I didn’t give up.

Was I willing to bomb the class because I was too stubborn to try every option?

Fuck, I might be. Unacceptable. Grandpa would keel over on his tractor if I tried to explain it to him. Not to mention the rest of my family.

I unclenched my jaw and nodded at Coach. “Okay, but I don’t want to work with the tutoring staff.”

“That’s fine. I assumed you’d want more of a private situation after the last time.”

Shit. I’d forgotten Coach knew about Lyssa. She’d spent two sessions with me painstakingly sounding out words in a children’s book, then posted a picture on the TU social media app of our heads close together. With the dim lighting and creative angle, the scene looked intimate. She’d included a helpful little caption to make it clear she’d snagged herself a hockey hottie. Her words.

For a dumb jock who could barely read, I made out that much. Lyssa was surprised when her announcement of a relationship didn’t magically produce the boyfriend she wanted. I was surprised she thought her messed-up plan would work. Not a great endorsement for the intelligence of the tutoring staff.

I wanted to know who’d taken the picture, but the truth wasn’t worth engaging with Lyssa again. After I blocked her on the app, I’d stopped coming and never looked back. Two years had passed, and the memory still pissed me off.

Coach kept talking as if I weren’t reliving a personal hell. “I want you to work with my daughter. She just transferred to TU, but she’s done some tutoring before. Prickly as hell, but brilliant. Don’t let her scare you off.”

I hadn’t known Coach had a daughter. His family never came to our games, not even the one specifically for friends and family. My mind conjured an image of a sulky freshman with braids and Coach’s green eyes giving me the same disappointed look he liked to save for Reece.

“Why would she help me?”

“Because I’m asking her to. I’m hoping you can help her come out of her shell a little.” Coach stared over my shoulder at the door, and I suspected there was more to his deal than he was telling me.

My brows flew up. “You want me to befriend your daughter in exchange for help?”

Coach shook his head, looking none too pleased himself. “I don’t want you to lie to her or anything. She’s…” He huffed out a breath. “I don’t know her anymore, and she won’t talk to me. We’re not close. I’m not sure she lets anyone close, but I don’t want her regretting her decision to come here. She’s had a hard time, and she deserves more than I gave her.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, but even with his explanation, the idea didn’t sit right with me. Coach had never strung so many sentences together in my hearing, and he’d certainly never revealed anything about regrets and his daughter. As if he sensed my confusion, he cleared his throat and his expression returned to the gruffness I was used to.

“You could make friends with a pet rock, Cole, and I trust you to take care of her. I don’t want her getting involved with the rest of the team though, which includes your troublemaking roommate.”

I mentally shrugged, pushing aside the slimy feeling of faking my way into a friendship. How hard could it be to spend some time with his prickly, introverted daughter? Maybe I could get her to help me without talking about my struggles. At least I trusted she wouldn’t use me to boost her own rep. Surely if she were looking for fame, she’d have used her dad’s name before now. He’d played in the NHL and still held several records in Boston.

Still, I wouldn’t lead her on. If we got along, I’d be happy to hang and keep an eye on her. Reece had a certain reputation, but even he’d never go for Coach’s daughter.

“Can I meet her before I agree?”

Coach let out a sharp laugh. “You don’t have many other options if you won’t use the athletic tutors. I thought you’d want to get started now while you have downtime, so she’ll be here any minute.”

I sat up straighter in my chair and frowned. “Thanks for the warning.”

His gaze slipped past me again, and I caught the same sound he must have heard—the click of heels on the hardwood floor. A shiver went up my spine, and some sixth sense tightened into a ball in my chest. I twisted toward the door in time to catch the scowl on my favorite pair of red lips before she realized she wasn’t alone with Coach and smoothed her expression.

Every drop of spit in my mouth dried up. Coach didn’t need to worry about the team coming after her—she could take care of herself—but I was fucked. My dream girl was Coach’s daughter, and I’d kissed her in the library with half the student body as witnesses. I hoped like hell no one mentioned it to the team.

Avery stepped into the room, not bothering to close the door. Her gaze flitted over me before landing on Coach. “What did you need, Dad?”

“Remember the conversation we had about the summer writing program?” he asked her.

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

“I could use a favor. Cole needs help with his English class.”

“You want me to tutor one of your players.”

I tried not to take offense at the way she brushed aside the fact that we knew each other. She’d come walking in here already prepped for a showdown. What had she texted? Family matters.

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