Page 31 of Ice Cold, Red Hot
My father. Celeste.
Mostly Celeste.
I’d successfully walked away. I’d pushed her out of my life. The only place I needed to see her now was one hour on Fridays, and if I did my best not to look at her while she taught, then I could get through that with a minimum of effort. Maybe.
I knew what I needed to do. Why was it so fucking hard?
“I need to study.”
“You need to loosen the fuck up. What is this, Ren? It’s like you’re under a cloud all the time this year, like you’re two steps away from exploding. It’s freaking the guys out.”
“The guys? Or you?”
“Everyone,” Griff said. He moved into my room, plopped himself down on the end of my bed, sending my books bouncing around. “If we were the kind of guys who had heartfelt talks, I’d be offering to have one now. I’m kinda worried about you.”
“That’s sweet,” I said, deadpan.
“Just come out. It’s Friday night. Show the guys you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Prove it with beers.”
Shit. He wasn’t going to let me mope, and I knew it was probably better for me to escape these four walls anyway, and get some air. Too much time alone with my thoughts wasn’t a good thing.
“Fine.”
An hour later, we were at McDougals, and I’d had a few. Most of my teammates were there, and it kind of felt like our bar for the moment. We were playing darts, a couple pitchers on the high tops around the pool table, and I finally felt like I was relaxing. There were even moments when I realized I hadn’t thought about her for a while.
It had all the makings of a good night—good music, my friends, enough of a buzz to have that liquid warm feeling.
And then Ethan Calloway strode in with a couple of his preppy friends and sat down around one of the high tops next to us. His smug face and even more smug voice threatened to break my chill, but I wasn’t going to let it.
I turned my back on them, but unfortunately, they did not have a volume adjustment ,and Ethan’s voice caught my attention. Especially when he mentioned Celeste’s name.
“You think she’ll accept?” One of Ethan’s douchebag friends asked.
I turned halfway to hear better. Accept what?
“I’m sure she will. It’s an opportunity she literally can’t pass up. Especially as a first year,” Ethan said.
“And your plan is to get her working under you so you can get her, ah… working under you?” One of Ethan’s friends said this, and they all laughed their snooty, guffawing laughs as my hand tightened around my glass.
I downed what was left of my beer as Ethan’s voice clarified. “Between me and that hockey player? Celeste’s too smart for some meathead fling. I’m gonna be working with her on the daily. It’s just a matter of time before…”
At this point, I’d turned all the way around, and was staring at the group talking about Celeste like a conquest, totally oblivious to how loudly their voices carried across the noisy bar.
“Shepherd? Oh shit. What—” Griff was at my side, and he followed my gaze to Ethan’s table. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” I said, and even I heard the danger in my tone.
“That the grad student Celeste is dating?” Griff asked.
Hearing him phrase it that way only made my chest tighten more, my blood pound through me like a battle drum. I didn’t answer him—just put my glass down with a thud and started moving.
“Shit, Ren, don’t do it.” But Griff was behind me now.
“Not worth it man,” Burns said, grabbing my arm. I shook him off, making my way to Ethan’s table. I leaned down, bracing my forearms on the tabletop.
