Page 97 of The Price of Ice

“And he did it. He helped me. He didn’t...” He took a drink, then could barely get it down his throat. “He didn’t—” He had to scrunch his eyes shut to get the words out, “have sex with me.” He stopped, just breathing, and she didn’t say a word. “He...” Kallen started again, then had to drink from the complimentary glass of water to be able to continue, “He stayed and he held me, and he looked after me.” He exhaled slowly, heart heavy with longing. Soon, he’d have another heat, and it wouldn’t be the terrifying lottery of which three alphas he’d get, but it wouldn’t have any of that sweetness he craved either.

Maybe that was what it was so difficult to give up on Levy. If they hadn’t met as teammates, he’d have been absolutely perfect for Kallen. For anyone, really. It wasn’t like Kallen didn’t know that he didn’t have a lot to offer a partner.

And Levy didn’t have to wait for Kallen to sort out the mess that was his life, he could meet a nice omega anywhere.

“Mmm... he sounds like a good guy,” Analisa allowed. She looked reluctantly impressed. “Okay, so he tells you about lure, and what, you justdo it? What did you do exactly?”

Oh, fuck, he thought when he realised he couldn’t tell the story without revealing way more than he’d intended. But she must have seen it on his face. “Oh, no, youdidn’t.”

“He suggested it!” he argued. “He said to try to get his attention and then faced away from me. So I...” He shrugged a shoulder, feeling oddly shy. It’d all been as consensual as possible and by that point, he and Levy had been aware the other was interested. “I did. I got his attention.”

“Bet that’s not all you got,” Analisa said, shooting and scoring.

Kallen thought about retelling it in detail, the way Levy had paused over him, openly snared but still resisting in case Kallen didn’t mean it like that. Or how good it’d felt to finally give into the desire that had been pulling between them for months.

But that wasn’t for her. Whatever happened with Levy in the future, that moment was theirs and theirs alone.

He straightened and smirked at her. “That’s for me to know and you to wonder.”

She gave an indignant squawk that soon turned into a laugh loud enough to get other patrons looking their way.

HE DIDN’T GET A CHANCEto tell her any more about lure before it was time for them to head across the road for the meeting. Taylor had promised he wouldn’t bring any of it up again, and that if people did, he’d say he was trying to get an expert to come for a demonstration.

And he was, but it seemed that such people were extremely rare and the costs of getting them to Terali were not anywhere near the organisation’s budget. Hearing that, something twisting inside him. He’d set up some charitable donations when he’d started getting the ridiculous salary he received as an athlete, but he’d just done generic stuff. Now he wished he’d know about Fair Sport sooner. And of course, given he was planning to become unemployed soon, this was the worst possible time to think about helping that way.

The meetings didn’t often have a theme. This time they ended up listening to an omega man who’d been offered a contract he was terrified to accept. Kallen stayed silent, since all he could have possibly said was to warn him off it. Taylor was much better at asking guiding questions, and even hot-headed Suri managed to tone themselves down enough to offer helpful scenarios.

Oddly, it was Analisa who seemed to break the dilemma. “But is it enough for you to play in the league you play now?”

While professional teams had retained their ‘right’ to abusive contracts, the lower leagues had been forced to give up on them decades ago. Of course, they also either didn’t pay or paid less than any other full-time job.

Rohan paused, and Kallen looked away, imagining that it’d have felt like to have the attention of the whole room on him. “I... I guess it is. Enough. I just want more. And I— Well, I could use the money. My mum’s not doing so hot, she’s going to need care soon. It’d make all the difference, to know I can help her.”

“I get that,” Analisa told him, softer than Kallen had ever heard her. “That you want her to be safe. But... Well, she’d want thatfor you, right?”

Rohan inhaled sharply, lips pressed together and blinking fast enough he was obviously trying not to cry.

“Actually,” Taylor cut in. “If that’s why you are thinking of doing it, maybe there is another way. We can talk about it after the meeting, yeah?”

Chapter 34

His lawyer called him early the next day.

"Guin," Mr Evans's voice was flat. "I have some news."

Notgoodnews, he noted at once, but just made a noise of assent. It’d been a long shot, the guy had been straight with him about that much, and at least he’d tried. He wouldn’t the first or the last omega to—

"They found it. The footage."

It felt like getting bowled over by sixteen stones of solid muscle and getting squashed against the stands as an excruciating follow up. His stomach was cramping violently enough he curled forward, pressing his lips together, fearing he'd throw up.

"I'm sorry," the lawyer told him, of all things.

For a long moment, breathing—ragged, too fast—was all he could manage. Then he asked, "Did you...?"

"No,” Mr Evans said. “But the police sent a report."

He shuddered, because that meant someone had seen. Watched him sitting there and taking it, not even trying—

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