Page 116 of The Price of Ice

Levy’s thumb traced his knuckles. “You can, if you need to. I volunteer to sit on you until you calm back down.”

And he was absolutely serious, but Kallen’s cheeks flushed with the image.

He didn’t say anything, but his friend’s eyes widened and he chuckled. “Wow, dirty mind much?”

Kallen shot him a mock glare, but he couldn’t quite hold back his own smile.

“I just... I wish I could just quit, you know? So, I don’t have to keep thinking about what they might offer me to go back. About how much I can bend without—" He cut himself off. “You wouldn’t be there.”

“Um, no.”

“I mean, it’s stupid, but I just thought about it and... It would really suck without you. Even if they could offer me anything that wasn’t...”

They wouldn’t. He knew they wouldn’t offer anything that wasn’t abusive, to even imagine they might went well beyond a fantasy straight into the terrain of delusion.

“Yeah,” Levy said gently. “That’s what I meant; without you there, pretty much everything sucked. Like, the hockey was still okay, but...” He shrugged. “We didn’t feel like a team. Notbecause of all the soul of the team bullshit, but because if we’d done something like that to you and then just forgotten you, then what was the point of trying to win a cup? Who for? The fans?”

“They,” Kallen corrected, and finally pulled at his hand, dropping the spoon so he could put his hand over Levy’s instead. “You never forgot about me.”

Levy glanced down at the movement, and then, flickering a quick glance up at Kallen, turned his wrist until they were holding each other’s hands.

It was primary school stuff, but it didn’t feel that way. His heart was going too fast and he was flushing again, something simmering between them.

Levy offered a half smile, dimpling. “Well, you are pretty unforgettable.”

He shrugged, eyes falling onto their entangled hands. They’d done pretty much everything with their bodies they could think of, even if Kallen didn’t remember some of it, and yet, here they were, on the edge of something new.

It was fizzling between them, not quite ready to emerge.

He didn’t want to lose it.

“What’s this interview? Like, do you have an in with the Crocodiles?”

They’d been eliminated early enough that they could well be interviewing, they’d certainly be lucky to have Levy.

“It’s not with a team,” Levy said, eyes flickering to Kallen’s and away. “Or it is, but not a pro team. It’s to work with... Well, five to eight-year-olds. There’s this woman who runs a training camp, she is keen to have everyone play, no matter their phenotype.” Kallen squeezed his hand, too breathless to speak, and Levy met his gaze. “I thought it sounded good. Better. Right.”

Kallen nodded, and said, a little wonderingly, “It does.”

He half wanted to ask if Levy was sure about this.

“Yeah,” his friend said. “But I mean, all I’ve got is my volunteering experience, so... When she asked me to come over, I thought I should hurry.”

“And this camp it’s here? In Terali?”

Levy gave a slow nod, not looking away.

Kallen had to, though. It was too much. Was Levy trying to...? What was he trying to do? Looking for a job in Kallen’s hometown?

The grip on his hand loosened, and his own hand tightened instinctively. He didn’t know what the hell was happening, but he did know he didn’t want Levy’s skin any further away than it was.

Closer would have been great too, if at all possible.

“Ouch,” Levy said and Kallen let go at once.

“Grown some claws, have you?” Levy teased, laughing a little.

Kallen grimaced. “Sorry.”

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