Page 137 of The Price of Ice

“Um, hope so, but I didn’t go.”

“Oh?”

“I went to see the water house. Feather Downs, actually, that’s what it’s called.”

Levy snorted. “Typical! Was it nice? Don’t keep me waiting!”

“It was... amazing,” Kallen said, it felt almost like a confession. “I thought the photos had to be well-taken and all that, but actually, it’s better.”

“Seriously?” Levy laughed, this time in open joy. “And... So you wanna?”

It was such a simple question, with no consideration to practicalities or timings. Just if Kallen wanted it. “Yes.”

“Okay, then, tell them we want it.”

“But you haven’t seen it...”

Levy tsked. “Ihave, and I don’t need to visit it. I trust you.”

Kallen swallowed with some difficulty. “I don’t know why, I have never rented a house before. It could... There could be all sorts of things I didn’t think to ask.”

“We can wait until I get there if you want,” Levy offered, just as easy. “Even though I have no idea what to check either.”

“Mmm... I could ask my dad if he’d come with me. If you are really sure you don’t mind not seeing it ahead of time?”

“Darling,” Levy said, fond and caressing, and Kallen’s heart seized for a moment before redoubling its beat. “As long as you are in it, it will be perfect.”

HIS FATHER READILYagreed, but the realtor couldn’t accommodate them the next day, so in the end it made more sense to postpone it until the sixteenth, when Levy would land in Terali.

This of course meant that Levy would get to see the house and meet Kallen’s father on the same day, but his boyfriend immediately saw the upside to the situation. “At least he won’t be focused on me, you know?”

Kallen would have given almost anything to have his mother along, but she had an appointment she couldn’t miss. He drove to Feather Downs a little too early with his father, who started circling the place like he was planning how to rebuild it or something—not that his father knew all that much about that sort of thing. But he was an adult and house maintenance of the structural kind was traditionally the domain of alphas. He most certainly had to know more than Kallen. Or Levy, for that matter.

There was still half an hour left to their appointment when he heard the rumble of an engine approaching. He turned to seea sedan—the very same model Levy owned, but this one red—sliding neatly next to his own truck.

He was running before he knew it and Levy didn’t manage to close his door before Kallen was on him, seizing his upper arms a little too hard, grinning up at him so hard his face hurt. “You are here.”

Levy looked worn, but he was also smiling. “I am.”

Kallen let go of his arm to touch his cheek instead, marvelling at the rasp of his beard. He couldn’t seem to look away from Levy’s hazel eyes. It could have been him who leaned closer, or Levy who pulled him into the kiss by tugging at his waist, but he couldn’t have said. They were just kissing, as naturally as he breathed, slow and languid at first and wetter and more desperate soon enough, like a spark had been lit.

“Kallen?” His father’s voice startled them both into separating. But when he turned, Kallen couldn’t see him anywhere. He took a moment to adjust himself in his trousers, which got him a pout from Levy that promised great things in his future.

“Coming!” he shouted back. He swallowed, then looked back at Levy. “Ready?”

Levy laughed, nervous. “No, it just occurred to me that maybe it wasn’t the best plan to meet him in the middle of the woods.” He waved a hand around and closed his car door. “Lots of places to hide a body.”

“The realtor will be here in...” He checked his watch. “Twenty minutes.” His heart was racing, but offered his hand anyway, and Levy snatched it out of the air like he thought the offer had an expiration date.

It wasn’t just Levy who was nervous, Kallen’s heart was hammering like he was double-shifting and his muscles required more oxygen right this second. As soon as they came around the cottage and found his dad, Kallen saw him twitch minutely.

“Oh, hello.”

“Hello, sir,” Levy said back, fingers stiffening in Kallen’s.

It hadn’t been that bad after that, a little awkward sure. Kallen’s dad knew for certain they had slept together given their history as teammates. But he seemed willing to give Levy a chance to prove himself, asking questions about the trip and the new job.

“Oh, I forgot,” Levy said, turning to Kallen. “They called me right after I landed, they want me.”

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