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 Seven



Denise didn’t go home right away. For a long time, she drove around the city, deep in thought. This was not something that she could talk to Hilary about – even though she still considered them friends, there was something going on between them that was making their friendship a little more distant. This was something she had to figure out by herself.

She honestly thought she was right about Graham – that he was some sort of playboy that saw her as a passing amusement. She was certain that after he was done with her, he would just throw her aside. That’s what happened the last time she invested herself deeply in a relationship. She had her heart torn out.

It took so long to repair it and restore her self-confidence. Wasn’t that worth something? Of course she would feel apprehensive around Graham – he had qualities that made her leery of him. She supposed that he wouldn’t have understood that, since he didn’t know the story of her life. Or her romantic life, to be exact.

*I shouldn’t feel bad about what I said to him*

Except she did. She felt awful. People had tried to judge her or stereotype her for her entire life. Now she had just done the same thing to Graham. The same thing that she hated about other people, and now she had become one of them.

*I wonder if he’s really mad?*

When she had said her piece to him, his eyes were guarded. She was unable to read him, and that had made her nervous. When he had spoken to her, he had been angry. She could see that flare, not only in his face, but in body language as well. Denise surmised that he would still be mad, though she hoped that he would cool down soon enough.

She didn’t know when she should go talk to him again. She felt she owed him an explanation, (though she hardly wanted to disclose the personal details of her disastrous love life) and perhaps hear more of what he had to say as well. Already she was surprised by him – he obviously wasn’t the person that she had anticipated him to be.

*But when should I talk to him? I really don’t want to call…*

Denise parked on the shoulder of the road, leaning her head against the steering wheel. The sun had begun to set now, and she didn’t want to spend the entire night driving around, trying to figure things out. Graham had brought more confusion into her life in these past couple of days than she had ever experienced before.

*I lead such a sad existence….* Denise thought, depressed.

What good had everything done for her? She had a dream career, and fashion design made her happy to an extent. She was able to explore her creative side, and earn more money than she could have ever desired.

But was that it? Did she only live for her career? She hadn’t given love a thought since she had been hurt. Instead, she lived in her work. Even Hilary, who was supposed to be her friend, hardly showed concern for her. Most of the time, when she and Hilary would get together, the larger woman would talk about herself. It was always about her.

Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Denise felt a burst of anger. She squeezed the steering wheel, knuckles turning white.

*What good is everything I have? I’m not happy, that much is obvious. Fashion? I’m putting off the spring and summer collection because I don’t have any bloody ideas! How can I work when I don’t have any inspiration?*

Sitting up in the driver’s seat, Denise checked over her shoulder before pulling onto the road. She would not call Hilary, and she would most certainly not call Graham. She would probably regret what she was going to do in the morning, but at the moment, it seemed like the best thing to do.

She was going to go to a bar, and she was going to get piss drunk.


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Graham sat with his buddies in Harold’s, a sports bar. Large television screens hung from the roof, showing a multitude of sports. He was currently watching a soccer tournament, when he wasn’t distracted by Denise.

He wasn’t sure if he should call, or just show up at her house. He was sure that she wouldn’t seek him out. He didn’t understand her yet, there was so much going on in her head that she wasn’t telling him. He was positive of that.

“Hey man, snap out of it. You can’t be drunk already. You haven’t even finished one beer yet.” Neil joked, waving his hands in front of Graham. Graham turned and punched his friend lightly in the shoulder.

“Naw, I was just thinking about something. I’m fine.” Graham said. Neil studied him for a moment, then launched back into his story. Graham had heard it a million times before, it seemed. It was about some brawl Neil had on the ice with another guy during a game last year. Neil always found it funny. He was cracking himself up as he retold his story, yet again.

Graham watched his animated friend. Neil was nearly as big as he was, with blonde hair and green eyes. Although he was a tough guy on the ice, (and sometimes off too) Graham knew that his friend was a softie as well. Of course, if he ever said that out loud, Neil would have him in a headlock within two seconds.

Neil was the kind of guy who attracted enough female attention with his good looks, but never acted on it. When the gaggles of women flirt with him relentlessly, he doesn’t usually reciprocate. He’s polite, but he tries not to give them something to latch onto. Graham couldn’t quite understand that. As far as he knew, Neil was single and looking, so he thought at least one female in that group might catch his friend’s eye. Evidently not.

Graham took another swig from his beer, the cool liquid slipping down his throat easily enough. With Denise on his mind, he found he wasn’t enjoying his night out as much. He wanted to figure her out.

“Hey, hey, Grammy! Do you remember how I beat that guy into the ice? He tried to push me off but he was a big pussy.” Neil said, looking far too satisfied. Graham rolled his eyes.

“Of course I remember. My question is, did you notice that as soon as you started fighting him, everyone started fighting on the ice? You weren’t the only one going at it.” Graham said, laughing. Neil drew a blank look.

“Sorry man. I was concentrating on me.”

Jordan was with them as well. He was a little older than them, just over 30, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was married, and had one kid. He always found time to go out with the boys though, like he was doing tonight. Every now and then, he would add something to Neil’s story. He wasn’t much of a talker, but everyone liked having him around anyway. He was a warm presence.

Beside him was Eli Hanks, who played center on the third line. He was Assistant Captain, and had been with the team for a couple of years. He was 27 years old, with brown hair cut close to his head, and light green eyes. He was another person that got a lot of media and female attention. He was currently sponsoring an athletics company, so his face was all over billboards and in TV commercials. Women flocked to him. He had rugged good looks and a large stature that they seemed to cling to. For all that, he was also a quiet person, much like his good friend, Jordan.

A few other players on the Bannen Warriors were around the bar, not seated at just one table. Some were playing pool, some were screaming at the televisions, (Graham supposed whoever they were cheering for just lost) and some were just relaxing at other tables.

Deciding that he would deal with Denise later, he pushed her face to the back of his mind and immersed himself in the conversation at his table.


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Denise tried not to slump completely on the bar. If the bartender caught her like that, he would stop serving her drinks. She had already downed 4 shots of tequila, 3 beers, and some sort of lime-tasting drink. She could hardly remember. Her cheeks were flushed, and she felt giggly. Right now, she loved everyone.

The bartender did stop serving her eventually, when she couldn’t put full sentences together without slurring all the words. He had offered to call a cab, but she had declined, saying someone was driving her. That wasn’t true of course, and she wasn’t going to drive herself, but she didn’t want to go home just yet.

Standing, (or trying to) Denise made her way out of the bar, swerving left and right. She couldn’t walk in a straight line, which she found hilarious. She found the doors eventually, and stepped out into the night life. The air was fairly humid, which she found uncomfortable. She yelled at the air for being warm, and yelled at her feet, which were taking her in all sorts of directions. Bursting out in laughter, she tried to carry herself up the street.


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Graham had called it quits after one beer. He was driving, and he didn’t want to have too much. Waving good-bye to his friends, he started up the street to where he parked his car. The night was a little warm, but he welcomed it. He preferred it over the winter, when the biting wind would cut right through his jacket and chill him straight to the bone. Yes, he would enjoy the last few days of warmth before Mother Nature decided it was time to freeze everyone.

Just as he was unlocking his door, he noticed a woman stumble farther down the road. At first, he thought that she was in some sort of trouble, but chuckled when he noticed it was just an overly drunk person.

*Been there myself a few times* He thought with a grin.

Opening his car door, he glanced at the woman one more time as he was getting into the driver’s seat. She was sitting down on the curb now, feet straight ahead of her. She had her face turned slightly towards him.

*Holy shit*

Even in the poor lighting, he could see that it was Denise, with her eyes closed and in drunken bliss. He stepped out and walked towards her, just as she was starting to sway.

“Denise?” He called. She opened her eyes and looked towards him, smiling when she recognized him.

“Mm…hello. I wuz jus’ takin a walk.” She said with a big smile. He reached her just as she started to fall backwards. He could smell the alcohol on her breath.

*She is plastered*

“Okay. Where is your car?” He tried asking. She looked at him dumbly for a moment, then blinked.

“On 32nd.” She said. Graham took that to mean she had parked somewhere on 32nd street, which was a short stretch. He would find it in the morning. At the worst, she would be ticketed.

“I’m going to take you home.” He slipped one arm behind her back, and one arm below her knees, lifting her easily. He brought her to the passenger’s side, buckling her in and shutting the door. Sitting in the driver’s side, he took off in the direction of her house.

Denise babbled on for the entire ride, talking about anything and everything. He knew enough that she had far too much to drink, and would feel very sorry for herself the next morning. Every now and then she would grow silent, and Graham would think that she had passed out.

“Sorry.” She eventually said. It was the first semi-thoughtful thing she had said that night. He turned to look at her, but she was watching out the window.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Graham said. He had an idea what she was apologizing for, and it wasn’t the time to get into it. They would talk about it when she wasn’t drunk.

Stopping in her driveway, he fetched her keys out of her purse and carried her inside. He walked with her in his arms up the staircase, trying to locate her bedroom. She had a spare bedroom, which was decorated enough, but the room that had the most personality, he figured that to be her room. Setting her on her bed, he removed her shoes and pulled the covers over her small frame.

“I’m just going to get you some water, so don’t fall asleep.” He told her. Moments later, he returned with a glass of water. She was already starting to dose, so he gently shook her awake and made her drink.

*That should help a little bit* He thought. She was going to have a pretty bad hangover anyway, but the small things would help.

When she was finished, he lay her head back on the pillows, and she drifted into sleep easily enough. He sat on the bed for a few minutes more and watched her. Even drunk out of her wits, she was still lovely. Sleeping right in front of him, she looked at ease, face serene and dark hair a striking contrast with her white pillows. Leaving her room, Graham debated whether or not he should spend the night.

He thought he could use the spare bedroom, just incase Denise woke up in the night and needed assistance. What if she was suddenly sick and had no one there for her? He knew that feeling enough, after too many nights partying, back in his younger days. It was always the worst feeling running to the washroom, and having no one there for you.

Settled with his decision, he left for his house momentarily to grab a few necessary items. If he was to stay over, he wanted a change of clothes and such. He could explain himself in the morning, just as Denise could explain herself.



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A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I always love reading them. More to come soon! :)