Page 30 of Meant for Mayhem

The puck hit the ice, and every single kid charged me.

Beckett stood at the half line, a broad grin on his face as chaos ensued. I couldn’t help laughing.

Maybe it was because none of them looked intimidated.

Maybe it was because they all wanted the chance to say they’d deke’d an NHL player.

Whatever the reason, they came at me with everything they had.

Jace attacked first with quick hands and good edges. Much smoother than the last time I skated with him. He tried to slip the puck through my skates, and I knocked it away with the toe of my stick.

“Rude,” he muttered as he chased it into the corner.

“You’ll have to do better than that.”

Molly stole it from him before he even got there. I expected it, but I was impressed that she didn’t hesitate. Head up. Weight forward. Confident. She pushed forehand before dragging it backhand around me.

Nice move.

I let her think she’d beaten me until the last second, when I reached behind me with one hand and swept the puck away.

Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, come on.”

“You almost had him,” Ty called.

“I did have him!”

I skated backward with the puck, unable to stop smiling when I passed it to Ty, playing keep away from the kids.

“Again.”

That was all it took.

For the next fifteen minutes, they forgot I played in the NHL. I wasn’t Mikko Laaksonen. I was another obstacle standing between them and the net.

Smash tried to run me over but bounced off my chest instead. “Ow.”

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He rubbed his chest. “You’re really Finnish.”

“What does that mean?” Jace asked as he raced by, accepting a pass from Beckett.

“Fuckin’ huge!” Smash shouted back, charging me yet again.

Everyone burst into laughter as Ty and Beckett both scolded him for his language.

The next rush came three-on-two. Molly carried the puck in before slipping a pass across to Jace. He one-touched it toward Smash, somehow getting it past Ty.

I got my stick there in time, and the puck deflected harmlessly into the corner.

“Better!” I called. “Again!”

They reset.

Again.

Again.