Page 111 of The Price of Ice

“You got yourself a deal,” the older omega said and actually reached out to offer a handshake.

It seemed a little silly, all the more when he considered they both came from a world of contracts that felt so unbreakable they’d allowed them to breakthem. But it didn’tfeelsilly to hold onto Taylor’s warm hand and see the pride in his eyes and know they were for him, that he’d committed to something, however small, and it was a good thing.

The art shop was further out than he’d thought, but walking in was the easiest thing he’d done in a while. There was no fearor reluctance here. No need to push himself out of his comfort zone. He’d been reminded once again that he had a right to be happy, and he wanted to share that with someone he loved.

He took the time to interrogate the employee about canvases and brushes and got assured he could return anything that was not right. The bill was higher than he’d expected, but he signed the receipt with a smile.

She was worth it.

HE TOLD ANALISA ABOUTit the next day, since she already knew most of it anyway.

“You want to come too?”

“Of course I do!” she sounded indignant. “You aremyfriend, if anything, I should get preferential treatment here.” She was putting it on, but she seemed to get he was truly surprised because she added, “Kallen, I really want to learn. But like, we can do it on our own, if you want?”

“No!” he said quickly, earning himself a raised eyebrow. “It’s just... Well, I’d rather Taylor was there. I really don’t know what I’m doing, and it’s like, well, there are all those issues of consent and stuff. So...”

She nudged him out of the way of a couple coming in the opposite direction, then paused for Mini to sniff at a bush. “That’s fine. And like, if you really need to keep it to less people at first. I can wait. It’s not like I’m in any trouble.”

He stole a glance at her. “Um, can I ask you something personal?”

“Suuure,” she agreed, dark eyes dancing with amusement. “That’s kind of how friendship works.”

He ignored that. “It’s... Okay, so I’ll tell you what happened to me, and maybe I’m wrong anyway so—”

“It’s cool, seriously.” Analisa took hold of his elbow, squeezing reassuringly. “Just tell me, you got me all atwitter or whatever it’s called.”

“Well, I took the pill. Last month.”

“Okay.”

He couldn’t make himself turn to look at her. “It was only once, because I thought... Because my last heat was so bad. I thought I’d just give myself a break from it.”

She kept walking by his side, not a peep out of her, so he had no reason to delay. “And this month, it was... Heat was really off, like I... I wasn’t quite there. It was awful. I’m— I’m just hoping it will go away because I really don’t want to have to talk to a doctor about it.”

It’d been one thing to go in and ask for a prescription, but surely if he reported side-effects, they’d want to examine him. Doctor Kakar was nice and all, but Kallen still didn’t want the guy touching him anywhere intimate.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, leaning closer until her shoulder bumped his own arm. Even in the platforms she favoured, she was so small.

“Yeah, it was...” He swallowed. “But that’s not...” He huffed, irritated with himself. “I haven’t heard you talk about heats, so I assumed you were taking the pill, and I... I realise it’s none of my business, but—” He stopped himself because there was no possible ‘but’ there that justified anything. Except that he cared. They hadn’t been friends for years, but they were now, and even if she’d only been an acquaintance still, he’d have cared that she wasn’t being hurt.

“Oh.” She straightened, turning his way, her brown eyes and long reddish eyelashes a picture of surprise. “Huh. Didn’t expect that.”

They’d stopped, he noticed when Mini started whining.

He shrugged one shoulder. “You said I could ask?”

“Sure,” she said. “Gimme a minute.” She bent over to collect one of Mini’s offerings, not even pulling one of her dramatic grimaces as she did it, tying the baggie with a distracted air.

By the time she started walking again, he was nearly calm again. Analisa wasn’t the kind to suffer in silence, if she was pissed, she’d have said something at an extreme volume by now.

It was still awkward as fuck, and maybe it’d all been for nothing, but—

“So you’re, what, worried about me taking it?” Her even tone was startlingly off-putting, given how used he was to her being loud and joking about everything.

“Um, yeah.”

She nodded, then laughed a little. It was not a happy sound. “This is... I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, okay? But it’s just... You spent years—” She bit off the words. “No, I’m not gonna go there. I just... You know I don’t think the way omegas in sport are treated is great, and you don’t either. I know we agree on that. So I haven’t asked you anything about it because it felt like rubbing your face on it, you know? And that’d be shitty, you did the best you could and you certainly paid a high price for it.”

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