Break the ice, p.1
Break the Ice, page 1
BREAK THE ICE
LAKESHORE U
L A COTTON
Published by Delesty Books
BREAK THE ICE
Copyright © L. A. Cotton 2023
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes only.
Edited by Kate Newman
Proofread by Sisters Get Lit.erary Author Services
Model Image: Cadwallader Photography
Cover designed by Lianne Cotton
CONTENTS
Lakeshore U
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue
Playlist
Acknowledgments
About the Author
LAKESHORE U
Bite the Ice
A Lakeshore U Prequel Story
Ice Burn
A Lakeshore U Story
Break the Ice
A Lakeshore U Story
On Thin Ice
A Lakeshore U Story
We are all fools in love.
JANE AUSTEN
CHAPTER 1
AURORA
“You can do this, Aurora Vivienne Hart. You will freaking do this.”
You have good sense and a sweet temper, and I am sure you have a grateful heart that could never receive kindness without hoping to return it.
Inhaling a deep, calming breath, I repeated the quote over and over as I hitched the bag up my shoulder and climbed the three steps up to my brother’s house.
It was a warm August day, the streets of Lakeshore—a small coastal town in Ohio—bustling with students returning from their summer break. I’d only been here once before when I visited my brother Austin last year. He’d had a rare weekend off hockey and taken some time out from his busy, important life to show me the sights of the place he now called home. It was the perfect blend of college campus and seaside resort, the stunning views of Lake Erie one of its definite selling points. But I never visited again.
Until now.
A shuddering breath rolled through me as I gave myself one final pep talk and rang the doorbell. Austin was expecting me, but butterflies still swarmed my stomach as I tugged restlessly at my favorite oversized plot twist t-shirt.
I paused, caught like a deer in the headlights at the sound of heavy footsteps beyond the door, the rattle of the lock. It swung open, revealing my big brother in all his six-foot-two bulked-up hockey player glory.
“Rory, you made it.” He pulled me into his arms, hugging the crap out of me.
“Hey, Austin,” I chuckled, melting into his familiar embrace. Things might have been weird between us over the last few years, but he was still my big brother. That bond never truly died.
At least, I hoped it didn’t.
“God, it’s good to see you.” He held me at arm’s length. “Let me get a good look at you.”
“Austin,” I groaned, rolling my eyes as he studied me the way he’d used to when we were kids.
Don’t look too closely. Please, for the love of God, don’t look too closely.
“You look tired.”
“I’m fine.” The well-rehearsed lie rolled off my tongue. “Are you going to invite me in, or will we stand on the porch all day?”
“Come on. The guys aren’t home yet, so we have the place to ourselves.”
Relief flooded me.
Much like my brother, Austin’s hockey friends were a lot to handle. At least from the one time I’d met some of them, I’d concluded they were.
But I guess it came with the territory.
Lakeshore U was a hockey college, and the Lakers were treated like celebrities around campus. Girls and guys alike all wanted a piece of the five-time Frozen Four finalists.
“Let me give you the tour,” he said, taking my bag. “Okay, we’ve got the living room.” He pointed to the first door, and I poked my head inside.
“I love what you’ve done with the place.” Humor laced my words as I scanned the hockey paraphernalia hanging off every available expanse of wall space. I was hardly surprised at the cyan and indigo Lakers jersey hanging in the center with a pair of sticks, gloves, and they even had—
“Puck coasters, really?”
“What?” He shrugged. “Con found them at the dollar store.”
“Of course he did.” I suppressed a laugh. “So long as I don’t have to sleep in a shrine to the Lakers, I’m good.”
No way did I want to spend my nights burrowed underneath a gaudy Lakers blanket.
“You won’t. We keep that bedroom empty for… uh…”
“I swear to God, Austin, if you say hookups, I’m going to turn around and walk right out.”
The girl living in the apartment above the one I was supposed to be moving into right about now, might have flooded the place with her overzealous bath-time routine, causing enough water damage to deem it inhabitable, but I could figure something out.
“Relax, Sis. I was going to say storage. We don’t tend to party here. We have Lakers House for that.” He grinned, and I found myself smiling back.
I’d missed this.
Him.
Even if part of me still resented him.
“It’s really good to see you, Rory. I know things have been weird, but the last couple of years have been intense, and you were—”
“It’s fine.” I smiled. It felt all wrong, but Austin didn’t seem to notice.
As much as it hurt to admit, he never had.
“I’m just grateful to you and the guys for letting me stay here. The woman at student housing said it shouldn’t take too long to fix the water damage.”
“There’s no rush. Between practice and classes, we won’t be around all that much, and you have the entire third floor to yourself, so you’ll have plenty of space.”
“I’ll stay out of your way, I promise. I wouldn’t want to cramp anyone’s style.”
“Rory, come on, it isn’t even like that. You’re my sister. And some of the guys have girlfriends, so you shouldn’t feel like a spare part.”
A sinking feeling went through me. “Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I mean.” Austin laughed. “We’re not the sex-crazed, party animals you think we are.” I raised a brow at that, and his laughter intensified. “Fine. We’re mostly not like that. Holden can be a bit of a handful. But Connor is in deep with Ella.”
Ah, yes, Noah Holden. Lakeshore U’s resident playboy and star right-winger. He was the definite downside to moving in with my brother for a little bit. But it was either here or one of the girls’ dorms on campus, and that really was a last resort.
As in, never going to happen.
I liked my space and needed it after everything that had gone down senior year.
“You’ll love Ella. She’s good people. Pretty sure Connor is going to pop the question soon,” Austin went on as he gave me the tour. “Dude waited like two years for his shot with her. Two fucking years, I don’t get it personally.” he shrugged. “But they seem happy enough.”
“Still relationship-phobic?” I asked. He’d always been a player in high school, going through girls like the world was ending.
“Have you seen me?” He flashed me a cocky grin, sweeping a hand down his body. “I’m far too pretty to settle down.”
“Too pretty and vain, apparently.”
“You call it vain. I call it confident.”
“I see some things never change,” I murmured as I ducked past him to check out the kitchen.
It was impressive—a big open-plan space that had bi-fold doors leading to a deck only dreams were made of.
“Pretty neat, right?”
“It’s gorgeous.” I moved closer to the doors, taking in the huge sectional sheltered under a wooden gazebo complete with fairy lights and a fire pit.
I could imagine snuggling up out there with a cup of hot milk and one of my favorite books.
“Feel free to use it whenever you want. The guys and I want you to feel at home here.”
“Thanks, but I plan to lay low. I know it must suck having your little sister come to stay.”
It was a joke. I was joking. Except, the second the words landed between us, Austin’s hazel eyes turned cloudy with regret.
“Rory—”
“I’m joking.” I smiled.
&n
God, it wasn’t supposed to be this hard. But things weren’t the same between us anymore. Austin had left Syracuse three years ago and never looked back. Too much had happened since to just forget.
“Have you spoken to Mom lately?” I asked him, deflecting the conversation.
“No, why?”
“She landed a new deal with a local jewelry store. Anyone would think it was a deal with Gucci or Chanel.”
“She still doing the Botox?”
The Botox… I snorted.
“Yep. And eating clean and working out like a hamster on crack.”
Austin frowned. “Whatever happened to aging gracefully?”
“It’s a foreign concept to Mom.” I shrugged.
Susannah Hart put more work into her appearance than she’d ever put into raising Austin and me. But I’d stopped dwelling on it a long time ago.
She was everything I wasn’t. Tall, slim, with delicate curves most women envied—a perfect complexion with a pearly white smile that brought out the flecks of emerald in her sparkling eyes.
She barely looked a day over thirty despite being in her late forties and the concoction of drugs she pumped into her body to stay young, beautiful, and functioning. But I didn’t bring that up.
I was all hips and ass and boobs. Much to my mother’s never-ending disappointment.
“Rory?” Austin nudged me with his shoulder. “Where’d you go just now?”
“Nowhere.” I smiled up at him. “The journey tired me out. Mind if I go rest for a bit?”
“You don’t need to ask. You live here now.” He grinned again, but there was a shadow in his eyes. “Now, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.”
“Aus—”
“Relax, I’m only messing with you. Head on up. There’s only one bedroom on the third floor; you can’t miss it. There are clean sheets on the bed, and we got you some girly shit for the bathroom.”
“Thanks. And Austin,” I hesitated, overcome with warring emotions, “I really appreciate you letting me stay here.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Rory. I’m glad you’re here. Perhaps later, I can give you the grand tour and introduce you to everyone.”
Panic tightened my chest, but I managed to force out, “Uh, sure. Sounds good.”
But it didn’t sound good at all.
It sounded like my worst nightmare come true.
The third-floor bedroom spanned the entire length of the house. With its own bathroom and walk-in closet, it was the perfect space to retreat. But my absolute favorite feature had to be the curved window seat overlooking the yard, a stunning view of Lake Erie far off in the distance.
After leaving Austin downstairs, I headed up here and unpacked a few essentials. Since my stay was only temporary, I didn’t see any point in filling the closet and dresser with all my clothes. I’d only have to repack them again when the call came through to say my apartment was ready.
Then I climbed into the freshly made bed and slept.
For three freaking hours.
But moving to Lakeshore was a big deal for me. Bigger than Austin would ever know.
It was my fresh start. A chance to leave the past behind. To find myself again.
The rumble of male laughter drifted into the room, and a trickle of unease went through me. But I forced myself to take a deep breath. They were Austin’s friends. His teammates. Even if my track record with hockey players wasn’t good, I could handle the likes of Noah Holden and Connor Morgan.
What other choice did I have?
Slipping into the bathroom, I cleaned up the best I could before changing into a clean t-shirt; this one had get lit printed across my chest with a stack of books underneath. Then I pulled my hair into a messy high ponytail and checked my reflection. My gaze instantly went to my chest, following the exaggerated curves of my body. But I didn’t linger, I couldn’t, or I’d never muster up the courage to go downstairs and meet them.
Blood roared in my ears as I left the guest room, my heart pounding inside my chest like a drum. I could hear them distinctly now. The deep timbre of one of Austin’s friends and the gravelly laughter of another.
Breathe, Aurora. Just. Breathe.
They were Austin’s friends—his best friends. His teammates and housemates. And Austin was my family.
Everything was going to be fine.
Except when I hit the bottom step of the first floor, their conversation stopped, and three pairs of eyes all landed on me.
“Hi.” I lifted my hand in a small, awkward wave. “I’m Aurora.”
“Connor,” the taller of the two said with a genuine smile. “We met when you visited last year. And this asshole is Noah.” He thumbed to the other guy.
“Hey.” Noah gave me a cursory glance that made me bristle.
So much for not having to worry.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I added, trying to lighten the sudden tension.
“Did they give you a date for your apartment yet?”
Wow, okay.
My cheeks flamed. I’d known coming to stay with Austin was pretty last minute, but he’d said the guys were good with it.
“Holden, dude. Not cool.” Austin shot him a scathing look.
“Shit, I didn’t mean… Sorry, Aurora, that sounded worse than it was. I just meant—”
“Seriously, bro, quit while you’re ahead,” Connor chuckled, laughing off the awkwardness of the situation. “Don’t pay Holden here any attention, Aurora. He’s a sure thing on the ice but seriously lacking in the brains department.”
“Fuck you, man. I aced freshman year.”
“You barely scraped by.”
Noah flipped him off, and Connor grabbed him in a headlock, the two of them falling onto the couch as they fought.
“Are they always like this?” I asked, chewing the end of my thumb.
“Don’t mind them,” Austin said. “Hey, you hungry? We could head to The Penalty Box. They do the best chili dogs in town.”
“Did somebody say chili dogs?” Connor released Noah, giving him a playful shove.
“Figured we could introduce Aurora to the rest of the team, and it beats ordering in.”
“I could cook,” I offered.
“You’d actually have to have food in the house to do that. We tend to live on more of a liquid and takeout diet.”
“Don’t you have to follow a strict meal plan during the season?” I frowned.
“Try telling Connor that.” Austin nodded toward his friend.
“Hey, I burn it all off on the ice.” He ran a hand down his stomach.
“You mean you burn it all off between the sheets with Ella.” Noah smirked.
“Seriously, you went there, motherfucker? Because the last time you—”
“Relax, man. I’m joking.”
“Seriously, guys. Can we not do this now? I’m starving, and Aurora is wondering what the hell she’s gotten herself into with you two going at it like an old married couple.”
“Sorry, Aurora.” Connor smiled. “Holden, you coming with? Or has Sam finally convinced you to take her out?”
“Fuck off, asshole. There’s nothing going on between Sam and me.”
“Try telling her that. I told you not to stick it in her—”
“Dude, sister present.” Austin ran a hand over his jaw, casting me an apologetic glance.
Did he already regret agreeing to let me stay? Because part of me already regretted saying yes.
“Sorry, Aurora. But Holden here has a little puck bunny issue.”
“Don’t sweat it,” I murmured. “I’m going to grab my purse before we leave.”
