Page 103 of The Last Inch Of Ice
Kai reads them over and over. Evidence of everything he’s trying to protect Nazar from. This isn’t just physical, isn’t just convenient. That Nazar cares enough to risk everything.
He deletes them one by one. Each deletion feels like cutting off a piece of himself.
For the first time in years, he hasn’t brought Bonifazio with him on a road trip. The room is too quiet without the cat’s demanding presence.
For the first time in his life, he’s terrified to read the press. To rewatch the game footage. To see the look on Nazar’s face — that noble, stupid bastard who just destroyed his own reputation to defend someone like Kai.
The quiet concern in those texts is everything Kai ever dreamed of. And now he has to kill it.
* * *
Kai finds Rey at a VIP table in the back of the club, surrounded by an entourage of beautiful people who all look like they’re trying very hard to seem casual.
Rey Tinnery. Country singer turned pop crossover artist. Voice like honey over gravel. Recently publicized coming-out story that made him an LGBTQ icon and somehow made him even more famous. They’ve been friends since they met at some charity gala three years ago.
“Kai!” Rey stands, pulling Kai into a hug. “Been a minute, gorgeous. You look like shit.”
“Thanks. Your honesty is why we’re friends.”
“Sit. Drink. Tell Uncle Rey what’s wrong.” Rey dismisses his entourage with a wave, and they scatter obediently.
Kai sits. A waitress appears immediately with something colorful and probably lethal. He ignores it.
“I need your help,” he says, cutting straight to the chase. No time for pleasantries. No energy for performance.
“For you, anything. You know that.” Rey’s expression shifts from playful to serious in an instant. “What do you need?”
Kai takes a breath. “I need you to fake a relationship with me. A very public, very affectionate one. A very gay one. Instagram posts. Paparazzi shots. The whole performance.”
Rey’s perfectly sculpted eyebrow rises. “Okay…”
“And then, in two weeks, I need you to dump me. Spectacularly. Messily. Make me look like the bad guy. Cheating allegations, emotional unavailability, whatever sells the story.”
Rey leans back, studying him. “Dude. You’re in the FHL. Like, theFHL. Are you sure you want to…”
“It doesn’t matter.” Kai’s voice is flat. “It just has to look real. Convincing enough that no one questions it.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to protect someone. And this is the only way I know how.”
Rey is quiet for a long moment, the bass thumping around them, lights strobing across his face.
“This someone. They know about this plan?”
“No. And they can’t. That’s the point.”
“Kai—”
“Please, Rey. I’m asking as a friend. I wouldn’t if it wasn’t important.”
Another pause. Then Rey sighs, running a hand through his artfully messy hair. “Okay. Yeah. I’ll do it. But you owe me one hell of an explanation eventually.”
“Thank you.” The relief is short-lived, immediately replaced by the reality of what comes next.
They start that night.
A selfie at the club, Rey’s arm around Kai’s shoulders. Posted to Instagram with a cryptic caption about “new adventures.”Within an hour, it has fifty thousand likes and the speculation begins.
