Page 94 of Bad Teammate
“He’s just gliding around on his skates like a drunk, angrily blasting slappers,” Dane said.
“Are you kidding me? The media’s probably out there recording him.” I shoved my hands into my gloves and grabbed my stick. “Let’s go get him outta there before this looks any fucking worse.”
***
I hurried through the tunnel and led the boys onto the ice. At the other end of the ice, Niko took one big windup after another, not even trying to hit the net or, hell, aiming at anything in particular. His shots pounded the boards with a thunderousboomthat echoed throughout the empty rink.
Sure enough, the press had gathered behind the glass and were excitedly filming Niko with their phones as he wobbled around the ice.
The kid was going to catch alotof shit for this stunt.
I whistled to get his attention. “Niko! Hey, bud! Get over here!”
Niko slowly turned around. He saw me leading the boys onto the ice. Standing still, he scooped up a puck onto his stick. He pushed off and glided in our direction.
Even from a hundred feet away, I knew something was wrong. I could see it in his eyes. And I knew exactly what it was.
I wasn’t surehowhe knew about me and Katerina, no—but it was obvious that he did.
Niko wound up, his stick raised high in the air, aiming right at us. The boys ducked and scrambled to get out of the way, taking cover wherever they could. I didn’t move. I didn’t want one of the boys to accidentally get pelted when I knew perfectly well that I was Niko’s target.
I stood still and faced him.
Niko’s eyes stayed zeroed in on me as he dropped his stick like a hammer and swung. His blade clapped the ice, ripping his world-class slapshot right at my head. The puck zipped past me like a bullet, whistling as it cut through the air a mere inch from my cheek.
“It doesn’t have to be like this, Niko,” I said. I knew he couldn’t understand me, but I hoped he mightfeelmy words.
He took another stride, picking up speed as he skated towards me. Niko scooped up another puck and fired at me again. The puck became a black blur, speeding right towards me. I couldn’t have dodged it if I wanted to—Niko hit his mark, pounding me dead center mass, just above my navel, where we don’t wear any protective pads.
“Oof.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut by a gorilla. My knees buckled and I fell down to my knees. I clutched at my stomach, gasping, but unable to draw in any air. He’d knocked the wind right out of my lungs.
Then I heard the sound of skate blades chopping across the ice. The boys roared in warning, “Reavo! Look out!”
I looked up. Niko’s legs chugged across the ice as he raced towards me. He shook his gloves off, readying for a fight.
I was defenseless. Fighting back was impossible—I couldn’t get any air into my lungs, and all my body wanted to do was curl up into a ball. But even if Icould’vefought back, I wouldn’t have. There’s a code in hockey. And the code says you gotta answer the bell when you cross the line. Sometimes, when you do something so egregious and terrible, it’s better to take your licks than to fight back. Beating someone up when they’re looking for justice canonlymake a bad situation worse.
But even more than that? He’s Katerina’s brother. Even though he’s done a lot of fucked-up shit to his sister, I know Katerina loves him. And I won’t ever let him get between us—definitely not like this.
Niko grabbed the collar of my jersey and hoisted me to my skates. I couldn’t stand—my legs were still jelly—so he had to hold me up even as he started swinging. I ate one punch after another, his fist smashing into my jaw, my nose, my eye.
My punishment ended when our teammates rushed over and finally managed to separate us.
Dane roared in the rookie’s face. “What thefuckare you doing,Niko?!”
“Get him the hell out of here!” someone else yelled.
Dane and a few of the other boys pushed the Russian off the ice in a hurry.
I’d fallen to my knees again. Blood streamed down my jaw and splattered the ice.
Hath knelt next to me and put his hand on my back. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, still gasping. “Worst part was his slapshot. Can’t breathe.”
“Let’s see the damage,” Hath said, wanting a look at my face.
