Page 17 of Drop Pass

I stared at her as she shivered. “Just take it.”

I pushed it into her arms and walked back to the van to get my bag to pull on my gear. When I was ready and had my skates on, I walked to the lake, took a test step before taking off my blade protectors and skated out onto the frozen lake. I took a cautious route in front of the net before looking back for the rest of the guys. Elena was watching me closely, looking much warmer wrapped up in my coat. I almost smiled at how tiny she looked, but shook the thought. She was a distraction. I couldn’t have those.

“Hey Kozlov, is it okay?” Murray called from the rocks.

“Yes. It’s fine.” Skating on a lake reminded me of my childhood. I’d learned to skate on a pond near my house. Once I proved to Mama I was ready, she signed me up for skating lessons then a hockey team. I’d never looked back.

It had been years since I’d played on a lake. There was something freeing about it. No walls to confine you. No arena of people watching. Just a couple of friends, some ice and a net.

The rest of the guys joined me and they took a few minutes adjusting before Chloe called out that they were starting to film.

Murray called out the two teams. Him, Fisher, and Malkin versus Brassard, McCann and me. Derrek stood in the net cutting in the ice.

He dropped the puck between him and Brassard and we started playing. Fisher took a spill three seconds in and rolled onto his butt laughing. “This is harder than I thought.”

I chuckled and helped him up. “You’re spoiled.”

He nodded. “Dang right I am.”

Murray reset and we tried again. This time we were able to play for about forty seconds before an errant shot sent the puck slid across the ice and toward the center of the lake.

I looked to McCann who shrugged in response. “It’s not my fault.”

Malkin laughed. “Of course, it is. You hit it.”

McCann ignored him and went back to our unofficial center to wait for the next puck drop. I looked to Chloe as she tossed another onto the ice. Fisher passed it to Murray and we started again.

If this had been for any purpose other than a few video clips I would have lost my patience. We lost five more pucks since none of us were willing to chase them down, and Chloe assured us they would send out a crew to retrieve them. My team scored once but it didn’t matter we were struggling to skate a few steps without falling or catching an edge.

“When we get back, I’m giving Mike the Zamboni man a hug.” Brassard accounced and we all agreed.

“My skates are going to be trash if we keep going.” McCann lifted his foot to check for damage.

They were right. We were used to humidity and temperature controlled ice that was cut and refinished to perfection. Lakes didn’t freeze evenly and the water was full of tiny debris. As grateful as I was for my humble beginnings, I wanted to get back to the arena now.

“We’re just going to do a few interviews then we can all head home,” Chloe called.

Elena stood at the edge of the lake with a mic in her hands, her nose and cheeks looking much less red.

“Why don’t you step out, Elena. It will look great with you on the lake.” The tiny woman standing next to the cameraman directed her.

I wasn’t sure that was a great idea and judging by the expression on Elena’s face, she agreed. I looked down at her feet and cringed. She was wearing high heels. The worst thing she could have on.

I hurried forward and offered her my hand. “I’ll help you.”

She smiled and took it. “Thank you.”

With small, wobbly steps she moved about two feet onto the ice then turned to face the camera. “Is this okay?”

“Just a bit further.” The small woman waved her hand directing Elena.

She cringed and took a few more steps back before the woman told her to stop.

Elena sighed. “Good.” She said it just loud enough for me to hear.

“Let’s start with Brassard. You can give the details of the food drive,” Chloe called and I retreated so Colin could replace me.

I joined the rest of the guys, waiting for our turn so we could get back to the arena and maybe get a real workout in.