Page 36 of The Price of Ice

When he looked up, Kallen was already frowning. “Why wouldn’t it?”

Levy looked shifty. “Well, you didn’t know how to do it before the other day, right? And who was it? Or don’t tell me, but like, if they weren’t— It depends on who it was.”

He was pretty sure that hadn’t made any kind of sense and it wasn’t just his exhausted brain. “Can we go to bed?” he asked. It made no sense after a single night, but he craved it already.

His friend’s grin was response enough. “Want a shower first?”

Kallen laughed. “You meanyouwant me to shower off the plane smell before I get into bed with you?”

“Well, yeah,” Levy admitted. “But you’ll feel better for it, too.”

“How’s your elbow?” he checked, already pulling his t-shirt over his head as he headed towards the bathroom.

“Better,” came the response but there was something off in the tone that made him turn around. Levy’s eyes skittered awayfrom him at once like he’d been caught looking in the changing room or something.

Kallen glanced down at himself. There were a couple bruises from game two where an enforcer had got him... and on his hips, scratches and bruising from fingers digging in.Oh, he thought, stomach dropping and hands coming up to hug the shirt to his chest.

That was probably not the kind of thing you wanted to see on your... lover? Was that what they were? Because it’d sounded that way to him, what with the promise of a next time and theactualnext times they’d shared virtually. But maybe Levy hadn’t thought it through, what it meant, who and what Kallen was.

“I can go,” he said, his own voice rough.

“What?” Levy took a step towards him. “I— Why?”

Shrugging a shoulder was as much as he could manage right then; his throat was tight and he was clenching his teeth. He didn’t know what would come out if he opened his mouth. It made no sense, but he wasn’t just disappointed, he was actuallyangry. And wasn’t that insane? If Levy wasn’t into this, if he couldn’t accept...

The hand on his elbow made him jerk in place, but he still didn’t look up. “I don’t want you to go,” his friend said very slowly. His thumb was tracing the bone there, a very small caress that had Kallen’s whole body aching for more.

“But I’m all...” He gestured at his body, the marks all over him indisputable proof of what he’d been up to.

“Does it hurt?” Levy asked.

And Kallen looked up. “What?”

His friend shrugged. “I dunno, man. I won’t touch you—” He let go of Kallen’s arm.

“No!” Kallen cut in, so sharp he saw Levy startle. “That’s... It doesn’t hurt, but I thought... It might be weird.”

“It’s fine,” Levy said, but his voice was too rough.

“You don’t mean that,” Kallen muttered between his teeth. He still couldn’t look up, so all he saw was Levy’s throat work as he swallowed.

“I wanna mean it,” his friend explained. “I just— I missed you, and... well, maybe you didn’t.”

Kallen’s head snapped up. “What?” he demanded, uncomprehending.

“It’s fine—” Levy started to say, but Kallen cut him off.

“Bullshit!” It was loud enough to make Levy take a step back. And even that was a loss that made his heart contract, but he wasn’t about to shut up to keep this. Hecouldn’t. He had to shut up way too much already, every single day, just to keep hockey. “What do you mean maybe I didn’t? I called you, didn’t? We—” His throat was back to playing games, but Kallen refused to give in. “We had phone sex, or video or whatever.”

Levy was blinking at him, his hazel eyes wide and surprised. “So, you missed me,” he said after a couple of beats, his smile was a little unsure, but it was there.

Kallen raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you think?”

Now the smile was back in full, bright and blinding. Kallen couldn’t quite look away anyway. “I think you probably wrote me a poem, or maybe a song.”

And it was impossible not to laugh at the absurdity of it. Afterwards, he found himself yawning as Levy led him to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet while he got the shower going. “Maybe I should get in with you,” he suggested with a smile that promised a lot of fun in Kallen’s future. “Make sure you don’t fall.”

Kallen faltered. Hewasthat tired, but then he dropped his trousers and boxers and gave Levy a look. “Sure, I could fall.”

---