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. California doesn’t have a team named the Demon Dogs, that is my creation. The characters in this story 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
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Chapter Twenty


The meeting with Hilary had been uneventful, which Denise was more than surprised about. She had fully anticipated Hilary blabbing on and on about Graham, but she hardly uttered a word about the star hockey player. To say Denise was suspicious was an understatement. She had left Denise’s house almost immediately after the meeting, not even waiting around to see if he would call.

Graham had come to her after finishing his workout, freshly showered, his hair still damp. Together, they had gone over some of the gift packages for the raffle to be held at the children’s hospital, as well as briefly looking over the menu for the athletic banquet, Graham offering his opinion on some of the meal options.

“How was meeting with Hilary today?” He asked, a knowing grin on his face. He knew that just by mentioning her name caused Denise to scowl. As much as it was a cruel thing to do, he thought the way she scrunched up her nose impossibly cute.

“Well, as compared to the other meetings, today she was surprisingly quiet. Didn’t ask about you once. I think she has something up her sleeve.” Denise said, sticking out her tongue when Graham laughed out loud.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. She can’t do anything to me that would tear me away from you.”

“She’ll try though. I’m sure of it.”

“Let her try all she likes. It’s not going to happen.”

Graham leaned over, placing a soft kiss on her lips. Pulling away, he gave her that wolfish grin that was often photographed. The one that would make any woman’s knees go weak. Now he was hers. Denise felt reassured by his words, knowing that he wouldn’t do anything to betray her, especially with Hilary.

“How was practice today?” Denise asked, watching Graham, his clear blue eyes looking sleepy. It was soon time for an afternoon nap, a habit with all the men on the team. It was how they kept their energy up for workouts and games.

“It was good, but tiring. Big game tomorrow, so we can’t overwork ourselves. Coach needs to talk to us soon about the playoffs. You know, it’s always on our minds.” Denise nodded.

“Yeah, I know. You guys are looking good though. Do you think this will be your year?”

“I hope so. With the way we’re going right now, I’d like to keep my hopes high. We’ve managed to do well so far, I’d like to think the same thing will happen during the playoffs.”

“The Demon Dogs, right? That’s your big problem?”

“They’re one of our problems. We’ve got to beat a couple of times before we potentially face them. Sometimes our team is eliminated early on in the playoffs, and we don’t even get close to the Finals. Man, I definitely don’t want that to happen.”

Denise understood that, from recalling some of the stories Graham had told her about the team, and the Bannen Warriors playoff run. He had been with the team for three years, and three playoff seasons. Each time, they had come up short, and the players were trying to not let it get to them, but it was hard sometimes. She rubbed his knee, Graham turning to look at her.

“You go take your nap, I have some work to do. I’ll get you up in an hour and a half.”

“Okay, thanks.” He said, kissing her lightly on her cheek before heading up to her bedroom. She had to talk to Bob about the Christmas Banquet, as well as get some work done on her summer fashion collection. She was slipping a little on that, not even attending runway shows or meetings with the company she was affiliated with in what felt like forever. If she continued ignoring them much longer, they were not going to be pleased.


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The night had passed without Hilary calling at all, Denise wary about what the older woman was going to do. Amanda had called her the following morning, arranging to meet Denise for dinner before the game that night. Graham had gone to the rink early for the morning skate, leaving Denise with a ticket for the game.

Amanda showed up on Denise’s doorstep around five in the afternoon, with sandwiches and drinks in hand. They would have to arrive at the rink early, within the next hour or so, if they hoped to get in on time. The Bannen Warriors games were very well attended, and the arena got crowded up fast. Opening the front door, Denise let Amanda in, helping her with the foodstuffs.

“Sorry, Neil was being sluggish today, he didn’t leave until now.” Amanda apologized, offering Denise a sandwich. She took it, murmuring her thanks, leading Amanda into the living room.

“That’s okay. Graham only left half an hour ago. Usually he likes to get to the rink three hours in advance, but not so today.” Denise said, taking a bite of her sandwich. In the short time she and Amanda had known one another, she had grown close to the blonde woman. Amanda smiled, speaking between mouthfuls.

“Neil says that the match is going to be pretty heated tonight, since this will be the only time they’ll face the Demon Dogs before the playoffs start. If they win, it’ll look very good for the Warriors.”

“Not to mention, boost their spirits a fair bit. Whenever Graham starts to talk about the playoffs, he talks about that team with sourness. I guess they were beaten by them one too many times.”

“Tell me about it. Sometimes I think Neil is moping around when he’s got the Demon Dogs on his mind. It doesn’t look very good if that’s how the rest of the team feels when they think about the Demon Dogs. They need to approach them with confidence.”

“But who are we to give them such advice? Listen to us, it’s too funny. We’re just a pair of hockey girlfriends, and we are acting like advice speakers to them. I think they’ve heard this over and over. We just have to hope it makes a difference.” Denise laughed, thinking about how much the two of them changed from when they first started dating the hockey players. Amanda laughed with her.

“Yeah, best to keep our mouths shut. I know the coaches are drilling things into their heads everyday, that when Neil gets home, it’s the last thing he wants to talk about.”

Finishing up the last of their dinner, Amanda drove them to the rink. After the game, she would drive Neil home, where Graham would take Denise. They had worked out a system for this, and it seemed to be running smoothly. It meant having to wait around for their boyfriends to finish interviews and shower up after the games, but they just spent that time talking together anyways.

When they reached the hockey arena, it was the same story as always. They had to wait in a long line-up, before they actually stepped into the arena, trying to locate their seats. When they finally did, the two women sat down, pleased to see they had a good view of the benches, as well as the rink. Within half and hour, the lights dimmed in the arena, the ‘away’ team introduced first.

This was the first time both Denise and Amanda had seen the Demon Dogs, not sure what they should expect. The men skated out onto the rink to boos from the crowd, though it didn’t seem to faze the players in the least. From what Denise could see, the men looked somewhat taller and bulkier than the Bannen Warriors, but other than that, there wasn’t a visible difference between the two teams. After the Demon Dogs skated onto the ice, the Bannen Warriors were called on, to the cheers from the spectators. Amanda and Denise were looking for their respective boyfriends, recognizing them from their jersey numbers. Graham was number one, and Neil was number thirteen. Both men where on the ice, forming a line-up soon after for the national anthems as well as the first face-off.

Denise was always surprised about what a serious person Graham was on the ice. Looking at Neil, she saw that he was much the same – a nice guy in person, but when he was playing a game, suddenly he looked very tough, someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. After the anthems were over, the game started, with the Demon Dogs winning the first face-off. She hoped that the game would go well.


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Well into the third period, it was not looking good for the Bannen Warriors. Although the score was close, 4-2, it didn’t look like the Warriors were going to be able to save this one. The crowd still cheered for their team, though not as loud as when they first started. Denise could now easily see why the Warriors did not like playing the Demon Dogs. The men on the team were slightly bigger than the Warriors, and liked to throw their weight around. They were a physical team, the ‘goons’, as Graham called them, smashing players into the boards and ice. While some of the Dogs received penalties from the hits they made, it still did not help the Warriors much.

The Demon Dogs were also fast, and tricky with the puck. Francis Osler was the goalie for the Warriors, and Denise could imagine Coach Richards not wanting to put out Colin Burkins against the Dogs. That would be cruel. Graham was getting a lot of ice time, as well as Neil, along with Tom, the captain, Jordan and Eli. Now that Denise was spending much more time with Graham and some of the team, she was able to recognize more and more faces.

The horn blared, signaling the end of the game. While the Bannen Warriors played well, the score was 4-2, not exactly good for them. Denise knew that Graham would be frustrated, but she hoped that he wouldn’t let it get to him. They would have to find some way to outplay the Demon Dogs, and Denise was confident they would. They still had a few months yet, and a lot could happen in that time.

Walking with Amanda out into the lobby, they talked about the game, as well as how disappointed the players on the Warriors would be. This was the only time they would be able to play the Demon Dogs before the playoffs, and it had not gone how they would have liked.

Denise had spotted Hilary the same time she noticed Graham coming out to meet her. She hadn’t even known the damned woman was at the game, and seeing her making a beeline for Graham annoyed the hell out of her. She stood her ground though, not wanting to rush over to Graham and cause a confrontation. He hadn’t seen her yet, but had definitely noticed Hilary. She was very smooth, very smooth indeed. In record time, she was draped over Graham, laughing cheerfully, speaking to him. Denise could see that he was trying to be polite, but did not like her being that close to him at all.

When Hilary started running her hands up Graham’s biceps, Denise felt that crossed the line. Evidently, so did Graham, because he gently pushed her away, but with enough force to let her know he did not appreciate being handled like that. A look of anger and hurt passed by Hilary’s face, but Denise was shocked when strength returned, like Hilary wasn’t done with him yet. She let him go for now, but Denise could imagine the wheels turning in Hilary’s head, about something she could do next. God, she hated the woman.

Graham saw her, walking over, his hair still wet from the shower he had just taken. Bangs were splayed against his forehead, his hair several shades darker when it was wet, making his eyes stand out dramatically. He nodded and smiled at Amanda, before turning his attention to Denise.

“Well, Hilary is sure an insistent one.” He said, sounding none too pleased. Denise nodded.

“Yes, I saw. I told you that she wasn’t going to give up easily.”

“I believed you, but I didn’t think she would have the guts to throw herself at me and grab me like that.”

“Never underestimate your enemy.” Denise said jokingly, though inside she was entirely serious. Hilary was a confident person, and she probably wouldn’t give up on Graham that easily. Denise remembered a conversation she had with Hilary when she first took the job as events coordinator, when Hilary told Denise who her favourite players were. If she remembered correctly, she was certain Hilary had said they were Graham and Neil. Well, Hilary certainly wasn’t chasing after Neil, she was going full out on Graham. Since when did Denise deserve Hilary’s personal attacks? It was personal too. Hilary had just decided that Denise was the adversary, and she wanted to make the petite brunette suffer.

*What did I ever do to deserve this? She’s always been the person to insult me, and when we’re not getting along anymore, she decides to go after my boyfriend. How classy of her…* Denise thought sarcastically. Like a good man though, Graham hadn’t let her grope him very long at all, pushing her away, showing her that he did not appreciate her attention, and that he wasn’t interested. If he kept on like that, Hilary might leave them alone without Denise having to do anything. She hoped for that, at least.

Walking with Graham out to his car, he was very silent. Denise had a good idea of what he was thinking about – the game against the Demon Dogs. He did not look very happy. Denise decided not to talk to him about it just yet, until he could sort out how he felt. She hoped that he didn’t get his hopes down too much, because she believed that the Warriors could beat them. They just had to continue to work hard.



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

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