Page 17 of The Price of Ice

“Sorry about that, boss,” Catwoman told him, cheerily unrepentant. “I’m sure Kallen can help you keep Levy awake, though.”

And with that, she turned and left them to it.

“I can,” Kallen said at once, wincing when it came out too loud and Levy stiffened.Fuck, he was terrible at this. Maybe he should leave...

Andrews gave him a dubious look. “If he stops reacting, it’s bad, go to hospital bad, okay?” He stood up. “I need to piss and grab something to eat. That’s the phone, Doctor Maslow is speed dial 1, I’m speed dial 2. Start with 2, he’s on holiday somewhere with the husband.”

“Kallen?” Levy’s voice was strained, and it took everything in Kallen to keep rubbing at his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

Kallen sighed. “Me? Yeah, dude, you are the one laid out flat.”

Levy made a dissatisfied noise.

“Shush,” Kallen told him. “Just rest for a bit. The painkillers should kick in soon, and Andrews will be back any minute to check your eyes again.”

The groan he got for that let him know it hadn’t been the reassuring statement he’d hoped, but when he got his hand on Levy’s good side and ran his fingers through his hair, his friend sighed softly and pushed a little into his touch.

He was still doing it when the medic returned. Andrews was looking harried, deep bags under his eyes and his black hair limp around his face. Maybe it was for the best that Kallen was around to help.

He had to help him hold Levy’s arm at the right angle for taping. It sucked, and the concussion test that made Levy’s hazel eyes fill with tears was even worse. At least he was still showingno signs of anything but a killer headache, and Andrews said Levy could take a short nap if they hooked him to a heart monitor.

“Seriously?” Levy asked, even though speaking was clearly painful. It seemed extreme, but Kallen was all for the overkill, and what harm was there in having an electrode stuck to his chest anyway?

Andrews also let him stay in the room and monitor Levy, even if he also forced him to down a horrible electrolyte drink to help with post-heat dehydration.

Kallen wasn’t dehydrated, now that he knew Levy wasn’t seriously injured, he was mostly just calm and focused. He had a job to do and he could do it, that’s all that mattered to him. His arse was a little sore, which was normal after getting fucked as hard as heat demanded, but Kallen was a hockey player; he was often sore somewhere.

The team was getting on the bus to the next location after dinner. But when Andrews suggested Kallen was still too worn out from heat to go with them, he readily agreed. He was pretty sure the medic was laughing at him for being so clingy with Levy, but he didn’t even care. Maybe he could have pushed himself to play, but his mind would have been right here anyway, and Levy didn’t have anyone else to be with him.

He had family all over the country, cousins and aunties and people he called aunties but probably wasn’t actually related to. But the only people he could imagine his friend wanting right now were his parents and they were both too far away to make it in any kind of reasonable time.

So, this was on Kallen for now.

Chapter 9

Since they would miss the game, once Levy was cleared to move the next morning, Management decided it was better to fly them straight home. It might have been weird to be on a commercial flight with a teammate, if Kallen could have paid any mind to anything that wasn’t Levy. He was wearing dark sunglasses, since he was still sensitive to light, and he let Kallen guide him towards their seats without a single joke.

“You are sweet,” the omega flight attendant told him when he served them their drinks. Levy’s eyes were closed and he was resting his head on Kallen’s shoulder, and he knew what it must have looked like. But the guy had already moved on to the opposite aisle and what would he have said anyway? He is not mine? It was both true and not. Levy was his alpha, at least as far as he could have one at all, even if they hadn’t... His friend snuggled further into him and Kallen squeezed him close. “Hey,” he whispered. “Drink your ginger tea, it’ll help.”

Levy wasn’t exactly thrilled at the choice of beverage, but he let Kallen hold the cup for him to take a few sips before deciding he was too tired and curling up half on top of his shoulder again.

Going home with Levy wasn’t a decision. They were alone at the airport since Management had stayed with the team, so it was only reasonable to grab a cab to go to their building. Once there, he got Levy settled on the sofa and sorted out some food—the Chinese restaurant in the corner had three types of soup and Kallen opted for that and half their menu just in case.

“Soup?” Levy asked, frowning at the pot. They only had a lamp in the corner on, which they’d determined was as much illumination as he could handle at the moment. “You know I have a headache, right? Nothing wrong with my stomach.”

“Yeah?” Kallen challenged. “You were about to throw up in the plane.”

“Planes move weird,” Levy muttered, but he brought the bowl up and took a slurping drink from it.

“Uh huh,” Kallen agreed, and he was still watching him when his friend put down the bowl and looked at him.

His attempt to raise an eyebrow made him wince, but he still told Kallen, “Eat, man.”

He must have skipped a meal in there somewhere because once he started, he found he couldn’t stop. He was pretty sure he wasn’t dehydrated but he probably needed some supplements or whatever.

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