Page 39 of The Price of Ice

He wasn’t in any danger, and he didn’t need to make his teammate do anything. But an oasis was, of course, a place of safety. Just like an omega was meant to be for his teammates.

It had never made any sense until this moment, he’d never even wanted to be, except with Levy. But somehow seeing Benny’s fear had taken him there, right in the middle of the darkened street.

He didn’t actually know what he was doing, but Benny mumbled his agreement and led them to a pub nearby. Most of the food wasn’t in their meal plan, so they got steak. Benny ordered himself a side salad and Kallen, in a fit of rebellion, got chips. He’d let go of a lot in his life, and a lot of it he didn’t even miss anymore, but the meal plan wasn’t written in stone.

“You wanna go halves on that salad?” he asked when their food arrived.

Benny looked up from the beer he wasn’t drinking and smiled a little. “Yeah, thanks.”

They didn’t talk about it, not Benny’s brothers nor the way he clearly didn’t want Kallen to touch him. Instead, they watched the people about them, sharing smiles when the guy next to them bombed it with his date and leaning over to pet a woman’s dog in her handbag.

“I really want a dog,” Benny admitted. “But, you know...”

“Not home enough?” Kallen guessed.

“Yeah, and—” He was probably thinking of his brothers. “Yeah.”

“Maybe one day,” Kallen told him. “Listen, I’m gonna call a cab. You want me to drop you off?”

Benny had accepted, and he’d given the driver a different address than the one he’d texted Kallen that morning. Kallen had kept his mouth shut, slapping his back when they got there and keeping his eyes away from the building in the corner.

At least Benny would be somewhere safe.

Chapter 15

Monday morning, he rushed through getting changed and packed everything he’d brought over into his bag. He couldn’t see Levy yet since his family wasn’t leaving until mid-morning. But nothing was stopping him from going to the arena and skating a little before practice, maybe someone else would be there he could have lunch with.

The usual chaos was unfolding around the house as he made his way to the door, but Merle caught his eye. “Morning, stranger.”

“Good morning, Merle,” he said, politely, forcing a smile. “Heading out now.”

“Have a good day,” she replied, catching little Tilly as she sped by, only one shoe on.

At least Johnson was still busy somewhere else in the house when Kallen got out.

HE DIDN’T SEE LEVYuntil practice itself, where he did his best to hide his own smile as his friend patted his back with his usual unbounded enthusiasm. “Hey, man!”

“Hey,” Kallen allowed, then tilted his head towards where Coach was clapping his hands to get their attention.

Practice went well. Kallen even forgot he’d been itching to get home all weekend in the rush of skating. This was why it was worth it, he reminded himself, grinning widely.

“You brought your car?” Levy asked when they got to the parking lot.

“Well, yeah, I didn’t know if you were free.”

Levy shot him an incredulous look. “Really? Like I’m ever not free for you.”

For a moment, Kallen didn’t know what to say. Then he just looked away. He knew there was no reason to feel hurt that Levy had had his family over. It wasn’t like Kallen had wanted an introduction. He’d just missed him, and the whole thing with Johnson was making his home life weird.

It was just bad timing.

“Whatever,” he replied. “Race you home?”

“No way!” Levy said. “You think I haven’t seen you drive? Last thing I need is to encourage you to speed.”

HE HADN’T BEEN TRYINGto win, since they weren’t competing, but he’d still entered the building garage ahead of Levy. His smile when his friend got out of his car and gave him a look could have been about that. Then he went to get the grocery bags they’d packed into his more generous boot.

“I found my present,” Levy told him in the lift, and Kallen turned to look at him. “I love it.”

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