Chapter 4

“Good morning, Lex.”

Without meeting his gaze, Alexi poured himself coffee from the coffeepot. Obviously Roach had been out to make the coffee earlier. “Good morning. Sleep well?”

Roach yawned. “Well enough. Pour me one, too, will you?”

He nodded and took out another mug from the cabinet. He hesitated. “Does your…friend want one, too?”

Roach chuckled. “Nah, he’s gone already.”

Alexi swallowed the lump in his throat and poured the coffee. “Listen, later, when you have a free moment?”

“Yeah?”

“We need to talk.”

Roach tilted his head. “Talk? Is there a problem with our bills or something? Am I not paying enough?”

Alexi winced at the reminder he didn’t really pay anything himself. His share of the rent, the bills, all of it, was handled by his father. His parents wanted him to concentrate fully on ice skating and not working. The medals, the championship, were all that mattered to any of them.

“No, no, Roach. It’s not that. It’s…something else.”