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A hummed rendition of “We Are the Champions” reached my ears, and I whipped around in faux outrage. I slid up to him and boxed his shoulder. If I were a two-hundred-pound defenseman during a game, Kingston would have dropped his glove and gone at me. Now, he just raised his hands in surrender as my shoving sent him gliding backward on his skates.
“Oh, it is on, Your Majesty,” I said then went to the net and retrieved my glove and blocker. I held them out to him and taunted, “Whatchu got?”
He chuckled deeply and skated up to me. “Okay, Warren. Let’s do it.” He put on the glove and blocker and grabbed my stick but forwent the mask—it was too small for him.
I grabbed some pucks from center ice and got intoposition.
“You ready?” I asked, smiling across the ice at him.
“Just don’t break my face, Warren. It’s all I’ve got going for me.” He matched my grin and pushed back and forth off his skates, getting ready for me. His form wasGod-awful.
I skated up to him at a moderate speed, my leg pads bogging down my movements. I didn’t bother with fancy tricks, knowing the puck would fly off to the side if I tried.
I deked to the left, and he lunged. I slipped it through his five-hole, taking advantage of his lack of pads. I sang my own version of “We Are the Champions” as I circled around the net. I turned to skate backward toward the pile of pucks as Kingston whirled around, his face incredulous.
I winked at him.Not so easy now, was it?
He squinted his eyes at me, a smile twitching the scar on his lips, and settled back into position. He jerked the stick at me, his message clear.Bring it.
We played around until the kidsshowed up.
Chapter 6
“Could you believe that Xavier kid?” I asked Kingston and flung my bag into the back of his truck with a grunt. Hosting a practice while trying to wrangle a bunch of children was just as brutal as any practice in the NHL. Pee-wee coaches deserved a raise.
Most of the kids in the program were already pretty good, but Xavier, at just twelve years old, was miles ahead of everyone else. Unfortunately, he knew it. I had never seen a kid so damn sure of himself and so … completely unliked. The team must have been together for a while because no one was surprised by Xavier’s brashness, but I had to give the kid props, he knew when to shut up and listen to his superiors. That might be his saving grace.
Kingston heaved his bags in. “He could go pro one day. If his mouth doesn’t get him into trouble before then.”
I chuckled. “He remindsme of me.”
“Oh? So, you were always a smart ass?”
“Since the day I was born.” I was a menace, but I was usually able to back up mycockiness.
We hopped into the car, and Kingston drove us out of the rink’s parking lot.
“Please tell me you’re as hungry as I am,” Kingston said.
Oh, thank you.“Hell, yes.”
“Good. I don’t think my stomach would have survived dropping you off before I got something to eat. Are you in the mood for anything in particular?”
I looked around in thought at the vaguely familiar area then pointed to the stoplight a few yards ahead. “Take a left.”
Kingston shrugged and followed my directions until we pulled up to a small diner ten minutes later.
“The Green UFO,” he read the sign as we hopped out ofthe truck.
“Oh yeah. This place is awesome. You’lllove it.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
Kingston held the door open for me and the smell of burgers and fries wafted to me. The diner was just like I remembered it—hella cheesy. The place had been around since the 50s and looked like a restaurant out of time. Except, instead of the classic red and white color scheme of most retro diners, this was green and white … and covered in alien memorabilia.
“Wow,” Kingston muttered under his breath, looking around at the tacky decor.
“I know,” I whispered back with an uncontrollable smile on my face.
