Ice Dreams

Disclaimer: Characters in this story are my creation, as is the city of Bannen, (as far as I know, Canada doesn’t have a city named Bannen in it), and the hockey team is fictional as well. They are not based on any specific person, so any similarities are purely coincidental. I do not own any rights to the Stanley Cup, and I don’t make any money off my stories.

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I tried to keep the hockey facts as truthful as possible, so please excuse any slip-ups. While this is a story based on a sports team, it’s not my intention to focus completely on it, but instead on the romantic story. I also don’t bash hockey players in real life, as I’ve met a few and they are lovely people. It just works in my story for now. I was inspired from the recent playoff games, when this plot bunny jumped into my head. Please enjoy.

Warnings: angst, lemon, oral, death, fluff, language, m/f

*Asterisks indicate thoughts.



Chapter Two

Graham Kelly strut into the locker room, peeling off his helmet before reaching his locker. Pulling off his jersey, he began the task of stripping off his gear for the communal shower. Some of the guys were already ahead of him, Neil Hamilton being one, who already was nude except for the towel around his waist.

“Come on guys! Quick shower, then we can head over to Harold’s for a beer before it gets too busy!” Neil called out, flashing Graham a quick grin. They had been buddies for what seemed like forever, first meeting at hockey camp at the tender age of 11. Now at 28, they had been placed on several different teams throughout the years before once again reuniting to play on the same team. That had been 3 years ago.

“What, boozing again Neily? Fuck.” Graham played along, reaching to pull the towel away from Neil’s hips. Neil danced away from his outstretched hand, heading to the shower.

“Last one in the showers buys the team a round!” Neil called as he retreated to the shower. No one else was hurrying though. Being multi-million dollar athletes, a round of beer for 20 guys wouldn’t put a dent in anyone’s wallet.

Graham pulled off his sweat-soaked shirt and tossed it in his laundry bag. He would think about it later. He was last in the locker room because he was pulled aside by Coach Richards. It hadn’t exactly been a nice chat, but he was expecting it.

He wasn’t captain of the team, or even assistant captain, but sometimes he was nearly as important in the Coach’s eyes. He had been traded to the team a few years back in exchange for another fantastic player. The pressure had been on him to perform. He was praised as a rookie, a star player, someone to keep an eye on. The media had covered him a lot in his early days. He had had good seasons with the Bannen Warriors, but he knew he could step it up, and Coach Richards knew it as well.

There wasn’t any fear of him being traded, since he signed a two-year contract, but Coach Richards expected more from him. He was giving the puck away, wasn’t as fast on his feet, and as of recently, was thinking more with his head than with his stick. Coach Richards would constantly say to him, ‘shoot first, think after’, but he had reached the end of his line and decided a private talk was necessary.

He knew the Captain, (Tom Welding, nice guy, good player) wouldn’t speak with him unless Graham continued playing the same way he did today. Tom was a good guy, but if something was rubbing him the wrong way, he would get it out. He could see everyone’s potential, and if they weren’t working up to it. Graham supposed it was one of the many reasons why Tom Welding was captain of the Bannen Warriors. At 35, he wasn’t exactly young, (though his appearance was incredibly deceiving) but he had the ability to motivate his teammates, incredible drive, nerves of steel, and as everyone would say, ‘he captures what hockey’s about’.

Graham admired him. The last thing he wanted was for Tom to have a word with him. They worked on the front line together – Tom as center, Graham as left wing, and Neil as right wing – so he liked it when there was harmony between them. Not that Tom would harbor ill feelings toward him, but Graham didn’t want to underachieve.

With one last thought towards his performance, Graham grabbed a towel and head for the showers. Another friend of his, Jordan Michaels, (worked defense) was still removing his gear.

*Well, I guess I’m not buying the boys a round* He thought with a chuckle.

Stepping into the showers, he placed his towel to the side and stood under a warm spray of water. Hot water always seemed to loosen tight muscles. Practice hadn’t been too long today, so Coach didn’t want them riding the exercise bikes before showering. Coach Richards didn’t think that they would need to today.

Lathering his body in soap, Graham washed off the sweat and the practice. He’d think about how he could improve more in the privacy of his home. For now, he would enjoy his shower, have fun with the guys at Harold’s, and try not to think too much about hockey.

“Don’t drop the soap!” Neil yelled out, earning a good laugh from all this teammates. Graham rolled his eyes, but a grin escaped him.

Finishing off with his shower, Graham toweled himself off and changed into a pair of jeans and a fitted white t-shirt. The Bannen Warriors fans always hung out in the bars, so he knew from experience that he was going to be asked for a few autographs and pictures at Harold’s. It was hard to escape the celebrity status, but he didn’t mind all that much. He enjoyed the fans enthusiasm, and the love of hockey.

Grabbing a comb and a bottle of hair gel, Graham set to the task of fixing his hair in one of the locker room mirrors. Neil came up behind him and made a face in the mirror, but other than that, didn’t mess with him too much.

“You’re vain, my friend.” Neil said. Graham chuckled. It was a deep, rich laugh.

“No. I just like to look good. I can’t help that I’m sexy, it’s in the genes.” Graham grinned mischievously. Neil shook his head.

“Vain.”

Graham looked back at his reflection, satisfied with his hair. He was an attractive man, at 6’4 and 215 pounds. Muscular, since that was what his career demanded. He looked his age, his features not the least bit boyish. His hair was a normal medium brown colour, but with the hair gel it looked several shades darker. Natural honey blonde highlights always seemed to make him a hit with the surfer girl fans, as he liked to call them. His eyes were an icy pale blue, but held a certain mischief and warmth that would make female reporters weak-in-the-knees. A lot of people mistook his confidence for cockiness, but he didn’t let their negativity affect him. He knew he was a good player, and he knew he had room to improve, but he wouldn’t bring himself down with a poor attitude. Sometimes he was called a little arrogant, but he could live with that.

“Come on guys, let’s drink some beeeeer!” Jordan hollered. His teammates answered him with a howl, and they left the locker room filled with energy.


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“Thank you so much for showing me around, and helping me out.” Denise smiled at Bob, shaking his hand.

“If you need any help in organizing the Christmas socials, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I would be more than happy to help.” Bob offered. Visible relief flooded Denise’s face.

“Thanks a lot. I thought I would have to do that all by myself. I haven’t really done this before, so I can tell you honestly that I appreciate every bit of help.”

As Bob led Denise back to the front entrance, they were nearly trampled by tall, broad forms coming around the corner. Denise had to stop herself from jumping back. The men at the front had to stop abruptly to avoid walking all over her and Bob.

“Bobby! Whatcha doin’ around at this time of night?” One of the men at the front, who nearly crushed Denise, spoke. He was a good looking man, with dark hair and eyes, though his nose looked like it had been broken one too many times. Bob gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder.

“Just showing Miss Woods here around the rink. She is the new events coordinator.”

The men closest to Bob turned to regard Denise. It looked like they hadn’t even seen her at first. Being only 5’3, she could see why. She was tiny in comparison to the men standing before her.

*The shortest guy here is probably six feet tall…* She thought to herself.

The men didn’t say anything, and Denise felt increasingly uncomfortable as their eyes traveled up and down her body. Bob could feel Denise’s discomfort, and decided to rescue her.

“Well, Miss Woods and I should be going. I’ll catch up with you boys later.” With that, Bob led Denise to the front entrance with his hand on her back. She was relieved that he picked up on her distress. She passed the rest of the hockey team, not even bothering to spare them a glance.

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Graham followed the rest of the guys out of the locker room and into the hallway. They had parked their cars at the back entrance. Graham was closer to the end of the line, walking with Neil and Jordan.

“And then, when you think that the worst of it is over, some mutated shit starts coming out of the ground and kills all those fuckers….” Jordan was telling Neil about a recent movie he had seen. It was obvious he enjoyed it, judging from the enthusiasm in his voice. Graham partially listened.

All of a sudden, the line halted. Graham nearly ran into Neil’s back, cussing under his breath.

“What the hell is this all about?” Neil voiced his thoughts. They could hear some of the guys voices at the front, but was too far away to catch any of the conversation. A few seconds later, Graham saw Bob pass by him, leading a young woman away. His eyes were instantly drawn to her. Neil whistled under his breath.

“Well, you certainly don’t see that everyday.” Neil was obviously referring to the woman with Bobby. Graham was able to see her face before she walked by, though she didn’t even care to glance at them.

She was beautiful. She had looks that would make the women competing in pageants jealous. She had pale skin, with large ocean-blue eyes framed by beautiful long, dark lashes. Her hair was long as well, a dark chestnut brown (in some lights it would look closer to black) with a hint of auburn. Her face was a perfect oval, with pink, pouty lips. That definitely caught Graham’s attention. Her face was tightly drawn though, in a look of uneasiness.

She passed by, and the line continued moving. Bob and the woman disappeared from view.

“Did you see that?” One of his buddies called up front.

“What a natural born hottie.” Another said. The news spread down the line fast enough. They didn’t know her first name, but Bob had introduced her as Miss Woods, and he was the new events coordinator.

*This could be fun* Graham thought, with a devilish smile.

This Miss Woods was a far cry from what he was used to seeing (and dating). The girls he was used to going with had long, straight blonde hair (natural or dyed, he didn’t really care) and were fans of the tanning bed. With pronounced cleavage, heavy make-up, and bright pink lipgloss, he had grown accustomed to those kinds of women. Those types were all he was really seeing lately. It was the new ‘beautiful’ look.

Miss Woods seemed to be in an entirely different category of women. Just from what he had seen, she let off a quiet air of elegance and propriety. She definitely wasn’t at ease with all the men surrounding her, which led him to believe she probably didn’t date or sleep around as much as the women he was used to dating. He couldn’t judge her personality just yet, since he didn’t know too much about her.

*That will be fixed soon enough* He thought with a smirk.

Miss Woods looked a little uptight, which could be entirely too much fun to unwind her, or see how long she lasted until she popped. He could have a lot of fun just teasing her- she looked susceptible enough. Still thinking about her, he walked into the parking lot, getting into his Mercedes. That wouldn’t be the last time he saw her, he would make sure of that.

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“So? Did you take the job?”

Hilary had called Denise, terribly excited. Denise didn’t know how Hilary could have known they had contacted her so soon.

*She must have some sort of sixth sense*

“Yes, I took it. Whether or not I last in it is a different question.” Denise replied honestly. Hilary scoffed at her.

“Oh please. Of course you’ll last. You’re just an organizer, that’s all.”

“I’m a coordinator Hil. Get the job title right, jeez.” Denise teased her friend. She was glad she had Bob to help her out, he had left a good impression on her. The hockey players though, they were a different story.

“So, are you going to tell me anything about it? Did you meet the players? Kelly and Hamilton are my favourite players. Their jersey numbers are 1 and 13. Sooo hot.”

“Well- ”

*Well, what did happen? I had some of them checking me out like I was a piece of meat and they were starving animals*

“Well what? The suspense is killing me!” Hilary cried dramatically. Denise rolled her eyes, glad that her friend couldn’t see her.

“They weren’t wearing their jerseys, so I had no idea who any of them were. Not like it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. With or without jerseys, I don’t know anything about the team or the players.”

Denise could hear Hilary huff over the line.

“We are going to have to change that, and soon. You have to know the players, and how important they are. How can you possibly work for the Bannen Warriors and have no clue who any of the players are? It’s almost disgraceful! Girl, I am coming over to your place tomorrow afternoon to educate you. No ifs, ands, or buts. It’s a happening thing.” Hilary spoke strongly enough. Denise knew there was no way she could stop her.

*Isn’t this just giving into pressure again? When did I ever become such a softie?*

“Fine, whatever. So long as you bring that latte you promised me.”

“Sure thing.” Denise could practically see the evil grin on Hilary’s face across the phone line.

*When did I become like this?*



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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! More to come soon.