Page 30 of The Price of Ice

Benny nodded slowly. "Makes sense, we're there to help you, right?"

They were, or at least they were meant to be. “Yeah, exactly.”

Now Kallen really needed to look at that email and find out who the other two alphas were.

READING THEIR NAMESdidn't actually help much. O'Malley was loud in the locker room, always joking, and he was a solid left-winger on the ice. But other than the obligatory rookie-teasing, Kallen hadn't spoken to him much. On the ice, they got on fine on the rare occasions when Kallen was asked to centre the line. O'Malley had a girlfriend but wasn't bonded, he'd been groaning about his days of freedom coming to an end now that she'd caught a bouquet at a wedding.

It wasn't exactly promising, but the last thing he needed was to get any ideas. At least O'Malley was getting some on the regular, he supposed.

The other man on his list was Kennington, who’d won the Cup in his rookie season and therefore was already a champion at twenty-two. He was always holding other alphas' gazes a bit too long, as if trying to start shit, which Kallen honestly thought was insecure as fuck. The veterans just rolled their eyes at his antics, at most gave him a noogie.

But what would O'Malley do?Kallen couldn't see who'd thought this heat rota full of young and inexperienced guys made sense.

At the same time, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it now, except get off the plane and head straight to the arena for warm-up.

THEIR GAME WENT ONforever, dragging into overtime and nearly into a second one when it seemed like the Cats would even the score. They hadn't, and Kallen had tried not to feel guilty at the mix of disappointment and relief. He was exhausted after playing more minutes than he ever had in a single game and although he wasn't the best scorer in the team, he mighthave been called up to shoot if they had gone into another overtime just to give him the chance to experience the pressure.

The combination of the journey and the loss also meant they all headed back to the hotel, no question of going out to a club or even a restaurant. The Ice Cap had given them a short speech in the locker room, insisting that they'd beenso closeand he wanted the same energy but more for the upcoming games. It wasn't poetry, but it did the trick.

Kallen just wanted a hot shower and some room service and— To call Levy, he realised.

By the time he dropped down on the bed and called for food, he'd gone back and forth half a dozen times with himself about whether it was okay to reach out.Next timehad been echoing in his head, but the more he thought about it, the less sure he was that he knew what it meant. They'd had sex, or well, Levy had sucked him off and later they'd rubbed off together in the bed. And then they'd slept tangled together, and Levy had—

There were already thirteen messages on his phone. Eleven were from Levy, who'd apparently watched the game and messaged Kallen every thought that had crossed his mind as he did. He laughed as he read, mostly agreeing, except for how Levy hadn't seen the size of the defender that had made Kallen swerve a little too far and lose the puck halfway through the game. He didn't regret having kept all his limbs.

And then the final text just made him smile.

[Tough game, but beautiful assist & you never gave up STRENGTH EMOJI <3 STRENGTH EMOJI]

He reacted to it with a heart of his own, then nearly took it back before deciding that there could be nothing wrong in responding with the very same symbol.

Levy started writing a message at once, like he'd been waiting.

[You back in your room?]

It sent Kallen's mind straight to the gutter, but he just replied, [Yeah, waiting for food.]

[You got time for an appetizer? EGGPLANT EMOJI]

He laughed aloud, covering his face and trying to resist the urge to— Except why the fuck did he need to resist? He hit the camera button, and it felt a little magical when nearly at once Levy's face formed on the tiny screen.

"This way you can't use emojis," Kallen said instead of a greeting.

Levy snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Wanna bet I can do worse?"

"No," Kallen told him, because he was sensible and he knew how easy it was to send an alpha into suicidal territory with a bet. "I want my appetizer."

The humour washed out of Levy's face, replaced with an intensity that he could feel even at a distance.

Kallen swallowed, suddenly nervous, like he’d accidentally wandered into a room with a tiger. A beautiful specimen of nature he couldn’t look away from, and who could have him for dinner.

But Levy’s smile softened a little, still teasing but no longer dangerous. “Take off your clothes?” It was genuinely a question, too. “I didn’t get to look at you properly last time,” Levy went on, apparently completely unembarrassed. “Like, it feels like I have spent monthsnotlooking,” he admitted.

Kallen laughed, knowing exactly how he felt. In a surge of boldness, he propped the phone on the bedside table and stood up, dropping both his dress trousers and boxers to the floor. Levy had definitely seen that much when he’d blown him, but he still whistled appreciatively. Kallen kept his attention on his shirt buttons until he was done, then shifted his shoulders and let it slide down his back to join the rest of it, standing completely bare in front of the screen.

Levy was staring, mouth half open. Except he wasn’t still, not quite. He was still dressed, or at least he was wearing a shirt. The way Levy had placed the phone, he could only see his top half.

“Are you touching yourself?” Kallen guessed.

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