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


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Chapter Eight


Denise had woken up, earlier than she would have expected. It was ten in the morning, and she had dragged herself to the bathroom to shower. She felt disgusting. Brushing her teeth and showering at the same time, she tried to rid herself of last night. Her head ached, and she thought with the way her skull throbbed, it would surely explode. She nearly welcomed that.

Washing her hair and body, she liked that she at least didn’t smell like tequila anymore, but flowers. She liked the flower scent so much more.

*Didn’t I swear to give up drinking?* She thought to herself.

Looking in the mirror, she toweled off, trying to dry her hair as best she could. She didn’t want to run the hair dryer- too loud. Even the bathroom lights, glowing a soft yellow, seemed too bright for her. Looking at her face in the reflection of the mirror, she was pleased she hadn’t done too much of a number on herself. Below her eyes were a little gray, but that was to be expected, from the drinking and from her sleeping patterns as of lately. She tried to cover them with make-up, but there was no need for that right now. She was in the privacy of her home.

Changing into a baggy t-shirt and a pair of boyshorts, Denise padded barefoot down the stairs and towards the kitchen. She wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, but this particular morning called for it.

Walking into her kitchen, the last thing she expected to see was a man. Already she knew who it was. She remembered running into Graham last night. He turned just in time to see the look of horror in her features.

“Good morning, Sunshine.” He said with a grin, forcing a coffee mug into her stiff fingers. She was still gawking at him.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” She said, dumbfounded. He raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you remember last night?” He asked. Her shoulders slumped.

“I had hoped it was just a dream.” She said, dejected. Registering she had coffee in her hands, she took a sip of the dark liquid. Graham was still watching her. She walked over and sat at the kitchen table, Graham following shortly after. It wasn’t until she noticed he was acutely studying her that she started to become self-conscious.

*Oh my God, I’m not wearing any make-up…and my hair isn’t done….and I’m wearing boyshorts!* She thought, trying to keep from looking horrified. Denise tried to keep her mind off of it by changing the subject.

“So, why are you in my house?” Denise asked. Graham shrugged nonchalantly.

“I figured that with all that you drank last night, you’d might want someone around incase you were sick or needed help.” He said. That seemed reasonable enough to her. Taking a few more sips of her coffee, she wasn’t sure if she should talk about what she had said to him yesterday. Was it the right time? Should she leave that talk until later? Graham seemed to save her the trouble of deciding.

“Why don’t you have something for breakfast, and then we can sort some things out. We have a bit of a communication problem.” Graham tried to put it lightly, have some humour in it, but Denise felt humourless.

“Fine. Why don’t you go to the living room, and I’ll be with you in a minute.” She tried smiling, though it hardly disguised her trepidation. He didn’t say anything, standing and leaving towards the living room. When he was gone, Denise walked over to the counter. Suddenly she didn’t feel so hungry. She found a granola bar and ate that, washing it down with water and some aspirin. Her head still throbbed – it felt like it would for an eternity, but she had to try and push it aside. Graham wanted to talk to her about what she had said, and she didn’t want to talk at all.

Denise finally just decided to suck it up and get it over with. The worst that would happen would be that he would stomp off and leave, probably not wanting to ever see her again. She thought she was fine with that, since they hardly knew one another, but the thought of him leaving her life forever caused a painful knot to twist in her stomach. She didn’t understand him, her feelings for him, and definitely didn’t understand herself.

Walking out into the living room, she sat on the opposite end of the sofa, as far away from Graham as she possibly could. He didn’t seem to mind the space between them. Clearing his throat, he was the first to speak.

“I guess I might as well speak first, because I don’t think you will. Tell me honestly Denise, do you really believe everything that you said about me?” He was in one of his serious moods again, with the blue eyes she didn’t understand. She was quiet for a moment, before speaking.

“Well,” she started. “I did, at first. But what you said after the fact, changed my mind,” she spoke quietly, and Graham waited patiently for her to continue. She avoided his eyes.

“I know that I judged you. I had an impression of you, and I was wrong, it seems. I don’t know anything about you though, and sometimes you do things that make me believe certain stories I’ve heard about you.” This time, she did stop. She finally raised her eyes to look him in the face. She didn’t look remorseful, or sorry. She had told him what she had thought. He would make sure he changed whatever image she was getting of him, however long it took.

“Denise, whatever stories you hear, you have to disregard them. There are malicious reporters out there who try and twist my words against me every time I do an interview. There are always going to be people printing negative stories about me. If you want to get to know me, then know me through talking with me, not reading about me. I have had a lot of people say I’m arrogant, but really, that hardly affects me. I need to be confident in my game, or I just won’t play well. I am a good player, because I’ve worked my ass off to become that way. That’s where the confidence comes from. I’m not going to bring myself down just because some people misread confidence for overly cocky.” Graham finished, still looking Denise in the eye. She was listening attentively to every word he said, no doubt trying to figure him out.

She nodded, running a hand through her hair. Denise turned her head to the side, breaking eye contact with Graham. She was deep in thought, trying to piece together all the new information she had about Graham. He was a complicated puzzle. After a silent break, Graham spoke quietly,

“So why can’t you trust me?” This made Denise snap her head back to look at him.

*Because of all of my memories…*

~Flashback~

Denise walked into the expansive house she shared with Jonathon. It was quiet. She supposed it would be though, it being Sunday afternoon. Jon was probably out in the backyard, or in his study. Smiling, she took a walk through the house, intent on finding her boyfriend. She had exciting news to share.

Her latest line, Evening Elegance, had been a commercial hit. She had hoped they would be able to celebrate. Nearing the study, she heard Jon’s voice within. She stopped just outside though, when he had said something. It sounded like he was having a telephone conversation, most likely with a woman, from the things he was saying.

“Oh, you’re a bad, bad girl. So naughty. I’ll have to spank you later for that one. My girlfriend is coming home soon, so we have to part soon, my sweet…..yeah, we can meet like last time…..no, no, don’t worry about it. I’ll feed her some story like I have to go on an important business trip. She fell for that one last time….ok, I’ll call later…..bye.”

Denise stood just outside the door, eyes wide, a hand over her mouth. It had hit like a ton of bricks. She quietly stepped away from the door and left for her room, her eyes stinging.

~End of Flashback~


Denise wasn’t sure how she could trust another man. As much as it wasn’t fair to Graham, because he might not be the same as Jonathon, Denise couldn’t shake the pain of it. It was one thing to break up with a partner on equal grounds, but to end a relationship because of an affair? That is what hurt most of all.

“Denise?” She was shocked out of her daydream by a hand on her cheek. Graham had come across the sofa to sit right beside her now. He was looking into her face, his eyes full of concern. One of his hands rested on her forearm, the other was cupping her cheek. Where their bodies made contact, it was like her nerves were on fire. It was a pleasant burn though, and she felt herself subtly lean into it.

“What?” She asked, confused. She didn’t know why he looked so concerned.

“You’re crying.” Shocked, she brought her hand up and touched her other cheek, feeling the wetness. Embarrassed, she ducked her head away from Graham’s touch.

“I’m fine.” She said, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she had been crying. It wasn’t a lot, but it was something that she did in private. She didn’t want anyone else to see, not even Hilary. He sat up straight, much taller than she, even while sitting.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something is wrong.” Graham said, trying to give her a warm look. Instead of feeling reassured, Denise started to feel that rising anger again. He had come into her life so fast, demanding her attention, carving a place already in her soul. She was mad at him, that he would have that sort of an effect on her. Now she had cried, right in front of him, about some god-awful memory that she just wished she could forget. And he wants to know what is wrong?

He must have seen a change in her, because he shifted back a fraction. Denise let the skeleton out of the closet, though it wasn’t nice to be on the receiving end of her pain.

“Why can’t I trust you? God damnit, Graham. You want to know just how fucked up everything is? I was betrayed by someone who was supposed to love me forever. We were going to get married, we talked about it all the time. Then I find out he’s been fucking some broad for as long as he’s been fucking me. I didn’t even know,” Denise laughed, though it was devoid of humour. “I didn’t even know. He said he loved me. And I believed him! My God, I thought I was living in some sort of a fairytale before I found out he was having an affair. So, that’s what you wanted to know? I haven’t been with anyone since then, and I certainly haven’t trusted anyone. Why the fuck would I want to do something like that again?”

Denise stood and left the room, leaving Graham still seated on the sofa. She had started crying again, but she couldn’t care how she appeared to Graham. She hadn’t cared about her language, or what he would think of her story. Right now, what she cared about was lying down, to stop the pain in her head, and the pain in her heart.


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Graham sat, replaying Denise’s words in his head for what seemed like the hundredth time. In reality, only a few seconds had passed, as he kept thinking about what she had told him. Denise had been hurt, far too deeply than anyone should have to put up with, and he wasn’t sure what to say to her. It didn’t seem like he could comfort her from the fact that she had been betrayed by an asshole. Whoever she was talking about, didn’t deserve her in the first place.

It had occurred to Graham that Denise was avoiding all relationships, specifically with him, because she didn’t want to go through the same thing again. What she didn’t realize though, was that Graham wasn’t the same person that hurt her, and he would never be. She was turning away before even bothering to give him a chance. He would find a way to prove to her that she could put her trust in him, and she could be happy again.

Standing, Graham resolved that the only way to get past this was with actions, more than words. He could tell her forever the words she would like to hear, but she would only believe him if he acted upon them. He set out to find Denise, which was easy enough. She was at the foot of the stairs, about to go up to her room again. She turned just as he was nearly upon her.

Without even bothering to speak, Graham kissed her. He kissed her mouth, her tears, her eyes. She clung to him like he was a life-raft. He went back to her mouth again, wrapping his arms securely around her. He broke away only when he felt his lungs searing from the need to breathe. Denise was looking at him, waiting for him to say something. He was positive she didn’t even realize she was gripping his shirt sleeves.

“Denise. I’m not him. Give me a chance to show you that.” He said, his face only inches away from hers. She lowered her eyes.

“I don’t think I’ll be that fair to you.” She spoke, biting on her bottom lip. He kissed her again, this time with more insistence.

“You don’t give yourself a lot of credit. I know that you’re hesitant, but just go with me.”

He was strong, but she wasn’t intimidated. She felt strangely secure in his hold.

“I barely know you Graham. I don’t know what to think.” Denise said, raising her blue eyes, only to look into his blue eyes, several shades lighter than her own. He gave her that sexy grin again, the one she constantly saw pictures of, the one that made her knees weak.

“Well then, we’d better change that.”


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A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! Things are starting to heat up it seems! :D

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