Page 60 of Cold Ignition

Keanu exhaled. “I expected ... I don’t know.”

“Regret?” Alexios asked.

Keanu’s gaze snapped to his. “Fuck no.”

Immediate. Certain.

Alexios held his gaze, then gave a small nod. “Good.”

Rangi’s grin sharpened. “Because that would’ve been awkward.”

Keanu huffed—almost a laugh.

“I don’t regret it,” he said again, quieter. “Any of it. Hell, it was the best fucking night of my life.”

Alexios believed him. “Same.”

Rangi shifted closer, arm tightening around Alexios’s waist. “For me too,” he said lightly. “So, we good?”

Alexios looked at Keanu.

Keanu met it. Held. Then nodded. “We’re good.”

Something in Alexios settled. Not fully. But enough.

“Then that will work,” he said. “For now.”

Rangi snorted. “Always a condition.”

“Always.”

Keanu’s mouth twitched, like he was starting to understand the rhythm between them.

Good.

Alexios shifted, pushing himself up slightly. Pain flared.

Rangi’s hand pressed to his side immediately. “Easy.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“I’m functional.”

“That’s not the same.”

“It’s sufficient.”

Rangi exhaled. “Stubborn.”

“Stoic in the very least.”

Keanu watched them, something softer in his expression now.

There was an understanding there, and something else. He wasn’t quite ready to mane it, but Alexios noted it and left it alone. For now.

“We need to talk about what comes next,” he said.