Page 100 of The Price of Ice

Levy’s throat clicked loudly. “What?”

“You think it can change?” he whispered. He hadn’t meant to, but it felt like a secret. At the meetings, people had talked big about it, like it was just a matter of time. But it didn’t feel like that to Kallen. It felt like even hoping for it was more than he could afford.

“I want it to,” Levy said after a long pause, words stretching like he was having trouble letting them go. “Like, if... itshould. And yeah, fuck it, Kallen,” he added with sudden force. “Itcanchange. It’s already changed a lot in history, so why stop at sports of all things?”

Kallen snorted. “Money?”

“Fuck money,” Levy spat. “Or not, I’ve got money. And I know it’s not as much as the teams have got all together, but... I don’t know, there should be something I can do.”

“Have you heard ofFair Sport?” Kallen asked before he could think better of it. He was scared, but he’d been scared for years now, and heknewLevy meant every word he was saying. And if he didn’t... If Kallen told him about it and he did nothing, then...

“Fair Sport?” Levy said. “No, what’s that?”

“Um, it’s an organisation. Non-profit. To fix the whole... Well, I don’t know if it’s only to change the law or what, but they help omegas who want to go into pro sports or who have in the past.”

“Oh! Wow, I... Of course!” Levy snorted. “It’s so obvious, I feel like an idiot now.”

Kallen knew he was joking, but he still couldn’t let that stand. “You are not. They convinced us it was impossible. Just like they convinced me I had no power. Besides, you told me about lure, so it’s my turn.”

“Okay,” Levy said, softer now. “I didn’t mean it like that... I guess I thought I could just play, you know?”

Kallen let out a short laugh, and it came out more bitter than he meant to. “You tellingme?”

Levy deflated a little. “I know, I know. But I do just want to play,” he added, more determined. “And you should definitely get to play, you not being on the ice is such a fucking waste.”

It was so ridiculously sincere, but Kallen tensed up anyway, scrunching up his duvet on his free hand. It’d been over a month and he still couldn’t think about it. He wondered if it still hurt Taylor, all these years later.

“Sorry,” Levy was already saying. “God, that was such a stupid thing to say. I’m sorry. I’ll—” He stopped talking abruptly.

Kallen let out a whimper and then he was crying against the back of his hand, muffling it as much as he could because he didn’t want his parents to hear.

He couldn’t hack it.No, he didn’t want to hack it. He didn’t want to get to the point where he truly had no choice, where he’d allowed himself to be disrespected to such an extent that he couldn’t look himself in the eye anymore.

It’d been such a close call already.

But he also didn’t want this; his heart getting shredded as he turned away from the path he wasmeantto walk, where he was meant to shine.

Simply because the only way he could be safe was in the shadows.

He let the phone fall on the bed next to him and buried his face in the bedspread to let it all out, the tears and the screams and the growls. He wasn’t just heartbroken, he wasfuriousandexhausted and indignant. He wanted to burn the world down for what it had done to him, and he wanted to hide and never face the world again, so he didn’t have to admit that he’d been hurt and humiliated. That he’dallowedhimself to be hurt and humiliated and manipulated, again and again, and let them pretend it didn’t matter.

Thathedidn’t matter.

By the time he calmed down enough to reach for a tissue and blow out his abused sinuses, his eyes were swollen and he felt like he’d got punched in the face. He reached for his phone to wake up the screen in a daze.

It wasn’t until he saw the call was still connected that he realised he’d been hoping for it.

“Hey,” he said, and fuck, his voice was a wreck.

“Hey!” Levy sounded startled, like he’d been waiting and now was afraid to miss his chance. Except he didn’t say anything else. For a moment, they just breathed together through the line. Kallen’s heart slowing down as their breathing synchronised. “If I was there, I’d get you a cup of tea,” Levy offered. “With lots of honey, you sound rough.”

Despite everything, it made Kallen smile. He could very well imagine it. “In the cup with the kittens?”

“Yeah,” Levy said. “I know you like it.”

Kallen managed to sit up and reach for the glass of water on his bedside table, taking a sip and grimacing. It’d gone stale, and it was definitely not a lovingly made cup of tea with honey, but it allowed him to say, “You are the one whoboughtit.”

“It was a gift,” Levy said.

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