Page 113 of The Price of Ice

“Kallen?” Analisa startled him out of his circling thoughts.

He blinked, seeing the form he’d been filling for the car and then turning her way. “What?”

She sighed, shooting him an exasperated look, but her question was soft, “Do you need me to do anything in there? Like, do you want a safe word if it gets too much?”

“Oh, no!” It was easy to say because it was true. Had he really made her think he might need rescuing?

His friend shrugged. “Okay. Just wanted you to know I got your back.”

It was ridiculously sweet coming from her, tough and no-nonsense as she was. But of course she wasn’t like that, any more than he was a guy who could be a team omega without it destroying him. It was a front they needed to get by in the world. Not that it was a complete fabrication; he was sure she’d kick arse in court one day. But she was also the girl who’d nearly bitten his head off for questioning her use of medication she knew was harming her. And the friend offering to hold his hand as he took yet another step out of his comfort zone.

“I know,” he told her. “Me too.”

HE HADN’T DARED TOpush things with Brad since he’d left because sure, the guy had seen him naked, but that wasn’t the same as wanting to open up to Kallen himself. But after that first class with the others, he thought he had a solid enough reason. Something any omega would want to know.

Texting first was just good manners, so it was only when Brad called him only a few minutes later that he realised how it’d come across. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah!” Kallen hurried to reassure him. “Um, it’s not... urgent, or anything.”

Brad tsked at him. “Okay, let me get a beer and kick off my shoes then.”

Instead of walking into the house, Kallen circled it to get to the back garden and dropped himself down on the grass. It was chilly in the late afternoon, but the grass hadn’t been cut in a while—he ought to offer—and sitting there felt a bit like being ina jungle, a space somehow separate from the every day world he inhabited.

“So what happened?” Brad asked into his ear.

“What? I can only want to talk if something happened?” Kallen asked, contrary.

Brad snorted. “Based on past evidence, yep.”

“Well, you didn’t callme,” he pointed out. Sure, he was shy about making new friends, but Brad was anything but.

Brad sighed. “Wasn’t sure you wanted me to. Thought maybe you’d just needed a hand and a friendly ear.”

“Oh.” So they’d both been trying to be respectful of each other’s space. Only Kallen hadn’t wanted to be respected, he’d wanted to beasked, but of course he could hardly complain. He laughed a little instead. “Doesn’t sound like something you’d do.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m very tactful,” Brad informed him. “And excellent boundaries. I met you when you needed a lot of help, Kal. You didn’t have a choice about that, so I was trying to let you set the pace.”

It was unexpectedly thoughtful of him. Except of course for how it was very much in line with the kindness Brad had showed him from the moment they’d met. He’d been tough with Kallen when he’d needed it, of course, but never selfish or harsh.

“Well, keep your tact for your patients. In future, just call me if you wanna talk, okay?”

“Gotcha,” Brad said, smile audible. “So what’s going on?”

“I did something cool,” he admitted, and just like that it was all spilling out. How easy lure came to him, and how it somehow translated into being able to show other people how to do it. The way Kami, who’d been one of the omegas in the class, had laughed maniacally when he’d managed to get Analisa to stand up.

“That isbeyondcool,” Brad told him when he finished. “You probably need a superhero name, Kal. I don’t think you can go around saving people like that without a secret identity.”

That startled a laugh out of Kallen, though he’d been grinning so hard already it wasn’t much of a stretch. “God, you are such a weirdo.”

Chapter 38

Maybe karma did exist because the next morning he got a surprise call from Levy. He blinked at his screen in confusion because it had to be crazy early back in Jiro, and then accepted it because that meant there had to be a good reason for the call.

“Hey,” he said, tentative.

“Hey!” Levy sounded happy. Unduly excited, but happy. So it was probably not about Kallen’s car disappearing and the White Cats coming for him with legal pitchforks. “You good to talk?”

“Sure. Kinda early for you.”

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