Chapter 23 Mackenzie #2
Reed, Grayson, and Parker shared a look.
And, suddenly, the teams didn’t seem so fair.
When the game restarted the boys attacked with a vengeance.
They were so quick across the ice and skillful with the puck, and it was like they could read each other’s minds.
They were constantly moving and swapping positions; it felt as though we were playing against ten of them.
Every pass connected with its intended target and every shot hit the small wooden goals.
Maybe they did deserve their nickname, after all.
“You do have one extra player,” Cammie pointed out after the three boys combined for yet another goal. “It’s kind of an unfair advantage.”
“Unfair advantage?” Reed scoffed. “You told us to take Paige.”
“Yeah, well, I thought she’d distract Gray for a bit longer than she did.”
“Nothing can truly distract me when it comes to hockey,” Grayson said. “You know that.”
“Whoops!” Paige yelped as her skates flew out from under her and she fell on her butt.
Grayson was by her side barely a heartbeat later, helping her back to her feet.
“You were saying?” Cammie called to him, but Grayson was too busy checking on Paige to hear her.
“We’d still beat you even without Gray,” Reed said. “Hell, we’d probably still beat you with me only skating backward, Paige playing at center, and Parker with no stick.”
“Let’s do it,” Parker called, happily ditching his stick to the side.
Max laughed. “This ought to be good.”
The game descended into chaos after that.
Reed did as he suggested and exclusively skated backward.
Max played with his eyes shut whenever he got the puck.
Cammie got bored and started elegantly spinning in circles at center ice, while Paige simply tried her best to remain upright, and Grayson stayed within inches of her at all times to make sure she did.
After a while someone suggested getting home for dinner, so Reed called out “next goal wins”, and everyone suddenly focused on the game again.
“Heads up, Kenzie,” Max shouted as he fired the puck down the ice toward me. I suddenly realized I was close to the goal, and when I collected Max’s pass, I charged toward it. It wasn’t often I got a chance to try my hand at offense.
I was just about to shoot, when Parker appeared between my target and me. He was completely blocking my path and shielding the goal as I raced closer. Should I take the shot? Or should I try and go around him?
I chose the second option and faked as though I was going to skate left. The second Parker started to shift his weight in that direction, I slid hard to the right. But he read me like a book.
I should have stopped. He should have backed down. But I guess we were both too stubborn for our own good, because just as I flicked the puck toward the goal, we collided. The two of us toppled to the ice. His arms wrapped around me. And the next thing I knew, I had landed firmly on Parker’s chest.
He grunted at the impact, but a cheeky smile touched his lips as he peered up at me.
My breath caught as I stared back at him.
We’d been avoiding each other the entire game, but now we couldn’t have been pressed closer together.
His cheeks were pink with exertion, his hair was ruffled as it fell across his face, and his eyes were glittering like a summer lake struck by sunlight.
All thoughts of hockey fled my mind. The only thing I could concentrate on was how close we were.
And how tightly Parker was still holding me.
The cheekiness in his gaze shifted into something more powerful as he eyes dipped to my lips. For a moment, just a moment, I allowed myself to look at his lips too. My body buzzed. My heart raced. And I wondered if perhaps he was one mistake worth repeating.
But then he started talking. “Did you just fall for me, Mackenzie Foster?”
“We collided, Parker. That was gravity.”
“Well, whatever it is, it feels really good.”
I shoved myself off his firm chest and clambered to my feet.
Tension continued to flicker between us as he also stood. I wasn’t sure why he was suddenly grinning at me when it felt like he’d been keeping his distance all afternoon.
I dusted myself off and said, “I’m pretty sure that was a penalty, by the way. You know there’s no physical contact in pond hockey.”
“And you know I don’t like to play by the rules.”
“Is that what you were thinking yesterday, too?”
The mischievous look in his eyes disappeared. “No, yesterday, I—” He paused. “Yesterday, I wasn’t thinking. It’s becoming a bit of a problem for me when it comes to you…”
The intensity with which he held my gaze made my heart race for all the wrong reasons. What was up with me today? This was Parker. Parker. The guy I’d rather punch than kiss. Unfortunately, while I still wanted to punch him, I also kind of wanted to kiss him.
“You guys okay?” Reed’s voice calling over to us pulled me back to reality.
“Uh, yeah, all good,” Parker replied.
“Well, game’s over, time to go.”
“Yeah, nice goal, Kenzie.” I turned to see Max clapping his hands at me and then glanced beyond Parker to the goal behind him. The puck was nestled against it. It seemed, despite Parker’s efforts, I’d scored the winning goal.
Parker and I followed the rest of the group over to the edge of the lake where we changed back into our shoes.
“You guys want to come for dinner?” Reed asked my brother. “We can watch the Wild game too.”
“Yeah, we’d love that,” Max said.
We would not love that. I shot my brother a hard look, but he ignored me.
“Great,” Reed replied. “We’ll meet you back at the house.”
“You don’t need to look so horrified.” Max laughed as we headed back to our own car. “Dinner will be fine.”
I nodded, but it wasn’t dinner I was worried about.
It was the blue-eyed, six-foot-something, playboy hockey star who I’d just been lying on top of.
I couldn’t seem to think straight, because despite the fact I knew going to his house was definitely a bad idea, it didn’t stop me from getting in the car.