Page 73 of Meant for Mayhem

“Weird?”

“Like I have way too much energy.” I looked down at my hands. “I’ve been sitting for three hours. Why do I feel like I need to go run around the block?”

He laughed, and I couldn’t help but notice how different post-game Mikko was. Positive energy radiated off him and it was hard to ignore.

“Adrenaline.”

I arched a brow. “From watching?”

“You must have been really into it.”

I leaned back against the seat, still feeling that restless buzz beneath my skin. “Not that into it. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Again, that deep chuckle. If I wasn’t careful, I could get addicted to the sound of it.

“We should celebrate.”

His eyebrows climbed. “How does my wife celebrate?”

I opened my maps app and scrolled through nearby restaurants that offered to-go until one popped out at me. “Take the next exit.”

He glanced at me, but I held up a hand.

“Don’t start questioning me when you voluntarily skate into grown men for a living. I have never once had to go through concussion protocol. I highly doubt you can say the same.”

He laughed again, and yep. I loved it. I wanted more.

“Next exit it is.”

16

Shannon navigated from the passenger’s seat, her body in near constant motion. Adjusting her feet. Playing with her hair. Chewing on her lip. Checking on Leena. I couldn’t help but notice every little thing she did, enjoying the signs of adrenaline still in her system. No matter what she said about the game, her body was telling a different story.

She hadn’t only watched me play, she’d lived it with me. And I felt the same way.

Every time I came off the ice, my gaze found hers like a magnet.

And every time, she was already looking at me too.

When I’d scored my first goal, she was the first face I looked for in the crowd, pushing aside Logan who practically climbed on my back, he was so excited.

But the second one, Shannon wasn’t only watching. She had Leena on her shoulders, and the girls were dancing around in the seats. As much as I liked winning, I loved this feeling more.

“Here.” Shannon pointed at a strip mall that was mostly dark except for Rocky Mountain Pizza. Red and green lights glowed out over the otherwise quiet street. But this place wasn’t quiet—it had a line wrapped around the building. I pulled into the first parking spot I could find, and Shannon hopped out before the car was even at a full stop.

“Be right back.”

She jogged around the building, bypassing the line for the much shorter Call Ahead line I hadn’t seen until now.

Leena whined in the backseat, and I reached around to give her back the pacifier she’d lost. The moment it was back in her mouth, she settled with a heavy sigh.

I turned back toward the restaurant, watching Shannon. She peered around the crowd at the glass window displays full of pizzas, absentmindedly spinning her wedding band around her finger.

If Leena wasn’t asleep in the car, I would have gotten out with her, holding her hand to ease the post-game jitters, but watching her was its own sort of calm. All the nerves I’d felt going into today were gone, replaced by this giddy excitement with every passing moment I spent with my wife.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

I wasn’t supposed to kiss her outside the locker room. Wasn’t supposed to imagine doing so much more.