Page 26 of Ice Cold, Red Hot
To the right of the doors, he stood stiff as a rail, facing two adults who I recognized from the resort this summer. His parents. Looking like they’d stepped right off the pagesof conservative rich folk magazine. Was that a magazine? If it was, they didn’t sell it where I grew up.
He didn’t see me. I stepped slightly sideways, into the shade of the building, pretending to fiddle with my coffee cup lid, listening.
“You look like hell, Son.” Shepherd’s dad. Real nice, I thought.
Shepherd stiffened even further, if that was possible. God, he looked so uncomfortable. Unhappy. I wished it didn’t bother me, but it did. No matter what did or didn’t happen between us, I cared about him.
“Thanks,” Shepherd bit out, not making eye contact with his father. He glanced toward the parking lot, but not in my direction.
“You need to get your head on straight, Shepherd. The scouts are watching, and I’m hearing things I don’t like at all.”
Shepherd’s gaze snapped up. “What do you mean? Hearing things. What things?”
Mr. Renshaw blew out a breath as Shepherd’s mom—Evelyn?—gazed down at her nails like she was bored. “Let’s see. That you’re slipping. That your attitude is becoming an issue. That you’re distracted.”
Distracted. That was the word Shepherd had used the night before when he’d been trying to tell me why we couldn’t be together. He didn’t need the distraction. His dad’s word, I guessed. Of course there were other reasons I knew more about, but I didn’t like this one at all, not if it had come from Darren Renshaw.
“I know about your little grad student. I hear things. Remember, we practically own this school, Shepherd.”
Shock shot up my spine. Me? He was talking about me?
“You’re spying on me?”
“I keep track of my investments.”
I nearly dropped my coffee. Investments? Shepherd just stood there, listening, but in my book Darren Renshaw had just struck his son. Sure, it was verbal, but to call your kid an “investment”? Like he meant nothing more to you than a monetary payout down the line?
I felt sick. I wanted to interrupt, but I was way out of my depth. I stood still, frozen to the spot, praying Shepherd wouldn’t see me.
Shepherd still said nothing, but his gaze was on the ground at his feet, and I could almost see the fury and hurt rolling off him. Was this why he’d exploded on the ice during that game? You couldn’t just stand there and take this kind of thing—at some point it would have to come out.
“Let’s be clear, Shepherd. You don’t have time for some plaything, some…girl, who doesn’t understand what’s at stake here.”
Shepherd’s fists clenched at his side and his chin rose as he looked at his father. “You don’t get to talk about her.”
Darren Renshaw smiled, and it turned my stomach. “I’ll talk about whatever I need to—especially if it’s affecting your future.”
Shepherd’s mother finally looked up, stepping near and putting a hand on his elbow. “Shepherd, be reasonable. A year from now, none of this will matter. You’ll be in the NHL like your brother, and this girl will be… well, who even knows? It won’t matter.”
My grip on my coffee cup was like a vise. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stand still.
“Say what you mean, Mom.” There was a low threat in Shepherd’s tone.
“I’m just saying… it sounds like you’re from different worlds. These things rarely work out, honey. She’d be unable to relate to the issues you’re facing, and you wouldn’t understand hers. It’s just… I know it’s not fair, but that’s how the world is.”
Shepherd shook his head, about to speak when his mother spoke again.
“Look, your dad did some digging. We know a lot about her. Girls like that—ambitious, hardworking, but without real connections or means? They get left behind.”
My mouth dropped open and I felt the blood rush to my face. How dare these people judge me? How dare they presume to toy with my future or doom me to being… what? Left behind?
Just then, Shepherd’s gaze shifted, collided with mine. I couldn’t read what I saw there, just those unfathomable dark eyes.
His father jumped in. “Get your head in the game, Shepherd. You know what happens to guys who lose focus…”
And then, Shepherd’s parents walked away, leaving him standing there. That was their idea of a family visit? To come here, tear him down, threaten him, and then just leave?
Shepherd’s eyes were still locked with mine. We stared at each other for a long beat, and I realized I needed to go before I did something stupid. I tore my eyes from his, and Ileft. Walking to campus with that damning condemnation ringing in my ears.
