Page 25 of The Price of Ice

But he got there before Levy could answer. His friend was standing by his mirror, wearing what looked like suit pants. He also had on a dress shirt, which was fully open, framing his chest like a work of art.

Kallen jerked his eyes away, feeling his face warm up. God, it’d been weeks, how could he still be such a creep?

“Can you help me with the buttons?” Levy asked, spreading his hands away from his body as if to indicate the problem.

He nodded, stepping closer. “Why are you dressing up?” he asked, mostly to havesomethingbesides his hands inches from Levy’s stomach to think about as he started on the tiny buttons. He no longer smelled of sweat, but he still smelled ofLevy. It was a stupid thing to notice, especially when he was this close and Levy might be able to smellhim. Not that... It wouldn’t matter, as long as Kallen wasn’t in heat, his scent wouldn’t give anything away.

“You’re taking me somewhere nice,” Levy explained, and he was speaking very quietly as if he too was very aware of how close they were. “Least I can do.”

“Who says I’m taking you somewhere nice?” Kallen asked, and it came out a little flat but hey, they were keeping up forms here, and his hands were over Levy’s heart by now. He wasn’t trying to sense how fast it was going—it would have been a lost cause to try and hear it over his own anyway.

Levy’s snort sounded a little breathy. “You saying we are not going out for steak?” he challenged.

Kallen paused and made the mistake of glancing up.Fuck, he thought, gulping hard. Levy was watching him with eyes gone dark, all Kallen would need to do—

He took a stumbling step back, cutting his gaze down. “You are right,” he said. “I should...”

His friend hadn’t called him out on the way he’d fled to the Johnson’s to retrieve his own formal wear and when he’d got back, they’d gone back to normal, chatting about a film they wanted to see and then getting into a good-natured argument about the best steak restaurants in the city.

Kallen had refused to tell him where they were going, intent on keeping him interested in the outing as long as possible, and he’d been pleasantly surprised Levy hadn’t known La Posta.

It’d been a lovely night, with some ribbing but mostly a lot of praise for the steaks and different cuts of meat they were brought to the table.

“Oh god, why didn’t you tell me not to eat today?” Levy had asked at one point, groaning a little.

It’d made Kallen laugh aloud. “My bad, next time I’ll starve you for a couple of days beforehand.”

“Starve me?” Levy asked with a raised eyebrow. “Getting a big head about your skills, are you, mate?”

He wasn’t really, though he was damn proud of what he’d learned. It was difficult not to be with the way Levy looked when he tried his food. And he liked that it was a way to cheer Levy up when he was struggling when little else seemed to help.

That was all.

Kallen shrugged. “Well, I have a good teacher.”

Chapter 11

Because Kallen’s life was utterly ridiculous, he was going into heat in a week and he was lying with his head on the lap of the one alpha that he wanted to spend it with. And wouldn’t. He’d received his heat rota that morning, but he hadn’t opened the message. It just seemed like borrowing trouble. Today Levy had got a good report from the physio, who hoped he might be ready for light training the next week, and Kallen had figured out a new angle to shoot from he couldn’t wait to use in their game the next day. It was an away game, they had a set of four, the longest road trip in a while.

Being away would be a good thing, or he was trying to make himself believe it was. He'd either go into heat the day of game three or the day after, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

There was nothing Levy could do about it either, and, at least if he was home, he wouldn’t have to know exactly when it was happening.

Kallen turned his head a little into the gentle massage of Levy’s fingers, pressing his lips together to keep back a sound of pleasure. They were technically watching television, but he’d already forgotten what teams were playing. He was full of good food—a ‘simple’ roast lamb Levy had instructed him into marinating over three days—comfortable and now getting an impromptu head massage. One-handed, since Levy was being absolutely fanatical about resting his recovering elbow even now that he had regained full use of it without pain.

There was pretty much nothing else in the world Kallen wanted right now. Except for that hand everywhere else on his body. But it was more of a blurry fantasy than anything real, his neck was softening as if Levy was unlocking some connecting muscles, and the heat of the alpha’s thigh through his jeans was beginning to lull him into sleep.

“Hey,” Levy said gently. Kallen grunted, but didn’t open his eyes. “I want to ask you for a favour.”

This was enough to get him to blink his eyes open. Levy was bent a little towards him, face over his own but upside down. He still looked soft and caring and absurdly handsome.

“Ask,” Kallen said easily. The formality made him a little nervous, but he wasn’t really worried, all Levy ever asked of him was for his own good.

And when Kallen couldn’t give it to him, he didn’t even get angry. At least for this last month, Kallen had been able to give a little back by looking after him.

The fingers in his hair stopped moving, resting lightly against his scalp. “I—” And then they were gone, Levy’s body going tense under him. “Can you sit up for this, please?”

Kallen did, feeling a little cold. It was fine, he reminded himself. Levy wasn’t going to hurt him, favours weren’t threats.

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