Mae- Nah, I think everyone understands Mac and Georgia's bond; and Mac's sense of humor. LOL
Klinoa- Very flirty, which makes him even more cute! He really is a sweetie!
Darkdestiney2000- They are cute! Sure, I'll see what I can do!
Lia06- Twilight Zone fan? LOL More goofiness ahead, I promise! LOL
Shell- Mac is getting quite the following! LOL
Meadow567- Poor Moose! LOL
BellaLou- I love it when people include their favorite lines in the review! And Jimmy can be pushy with me anytime he wants. (Well Eddie Cahill can! LOL) My imagination too!
Miraclegirl- Thank you, I enjoyed your review! A sequel? What if the end of this story is Georgia's death in a plane crash on her way home from Lake Placid? (I didn't say that it was so please no one threaten to lynch me!)
Emador- Glad you enjoyed it! OC is a sweetie isnt't he?
Bookgoddess- Thank you again! You are so sweet. I work hard on my characters, thank you so much!
Strangexbutxtrue- They are coming soon, I promise! Poor Moosey!
Mrs. Rizzo- I dunno, I would LOVE to walk down a red carpet with Patrick and have people yelling at me: "Mrs. Demsey, Mrs. Demsey you look great! Who are you wearing? What a lovely maternity evening gown!" LOL
killerkeanegirl- Yes, Jimmy is very, very cute! Jimmy is a doll.
October, 1979 Minneapolis
"Why are we all going into the locker room?" I asked as Herb ended practice a little early and ordered the boys into the locker room.
"I don't know." Dad said.
"Maybe he is going to cut some players." Janny said.
"Nah, he does that privately. Herb is very sensitive when it comes to letting players go." I said, knowing that Herb had been cut in 1960.
We walked into the locker room to see that a screen and video projector had been set up.
"Georgy, have you set up an educational health filmstrip for us to watch. You know on reproduction?" Silky asked and threw an arm around my shoulders.
"Why, hoping to see some beavers?" I whispered and winked.
Silky made an odd face, and then yelled. "JIMMY!"
I started laughing and walked into the back room to see if anyone was complaining of an injury. Seeing no one, I walked back out to see Jim talking to Silk.
"Georgy, my wife." Mac said walking up to me.
"Mac, my husband." I said and hugged him. "How are things with you?"
"Great. What's up with the filmstrip?" Mac asked.
"I have no idea. Herb's idea." I said.
Speaking of the devil. Herb walked in and turned out the lights. All of us scrambled for seats. I sat in the back near Wells. Jim was leaning against the wall near us. I smiled up at him. (Herb had told Jim and me that if we were going to date, we were to keep it professional around the team. Despite the fact that the team knew, he didn't want any distractions.)
Up on the screen I recognized the Soviet hockey team. I had heard Herb talking about the Soviet team for the past year, even before he was hired as the USA head coach. He seemed driven to compete against the eastern block teams.
"Russian style of play boys," Herb started. "Fluid, creative, the forwards are constantly circling. They don't so much look for a man as they do a patch of ice. They get the mismatch, two on one, easy goal."
"Looks a lot like me out there huh boys?" Bah joked making us all chuckled.
Herb continued on with the film strip. "Boris Makhailov, captain for the past six years. He is the best player of his position and that includes as we just found out the NHL."
We all looked at the screen in wonderment." Do these guys ever smile?" Baker asked.
"They're Russians; they get shot if they smile." OC said, again we all chuckled.
Footage of the Soviet goalie came on the screen, "Vladislav Tretiak. You score on Tretiak keep the puck because it doesn't happen often." Herb said. I looked up at Jim whose face was unreadable. I wanted to hug him, he had been struggling some in the net and now he was being shown the greatest goalie in the world.
"42 games in the last 3 months 42 wins. Their main weapon is intimidation, they know they're going to win, and so do their opponents." Herb shut off the projector and turned the lights back on. Most of us looked a little shell shocked. "Look, I can give you all a load of crap about how you're a better team than they are, but that's exactly what it would be. And everyone in this room knows what people are saying about our chances. I know it, you know it."
I nodded silently. I heard the media and their remarks about how the team of college kids didn't have a chance for a medal, and that they hoped at least those kids didn't embarrass the country. That this team could never compete with the Soviets who were the best team in the world giving dominated world hockey for the past 15 years.
Herb continued, "But I also know there is a way to stay with this team. You don't defend them, you attack them. You take their game and you shove it right back in their face. The team that is finally willing to do this is the team that has a chance to put them down. NHL won't change their game, we will. Rest of the world is afraid of them, boys we won't be. No one has ever worked hard enough to skate with the Soviet team for an entire game. Gentlemen we are going to work hard enough!"
I looked around at the team. I knew Herb wanted to beat the Soviets. I knew this team was a long shot to do it. I looked at Jim his face still unreadable. The boys had been bonding well, even those from Minnesota and Boston. Could we really bond well enough to beat the Soviets?
When Herb dismissed the boys, I waited for Jim to shower up. He and I had plans to hang out after practice. I was so happy just to hang out with him.
"You ready to go?" I asked when he walked into the back, freshly showered and smelling great.
"Yeah, anything in particular you want to do tonight?" he asked as I gathered my purse to leave.
"Well, you have banned me from watching the 'Twilight Zone'." I said.
"You can watch it as long as you don't flip out on a plane next time we're on one." Jim said and took my hand as we walked out.
"Speaking of horror flicks and science fiction type stuff. There is going to be a two part movie by Stephen King on next month. 'Salem's Lot'." I told him as we crossed the parking lot. "It's about vampires."
"Am I going to have to buy garlic if we watch this?" Jim said.
"Nah, hanging garlic everywhere would just attract Rizzo." I said with a smile.
Jim laughed and we climbed in the car. As always, Jim immediately began playing with the radio. I didn't mind, we listened to a lot of the same stuff. Foreigner, Bad Company, Allman Brothers Band, Kansas, etc.
"So what are the big plans around the dorms tonight?" I asked as we pulled out to drive the short distance to the dorms.
"I haven't heard of much going on. Herb has been running us ragged." Jim said.
"Well now that he has seen what the Soviets did to the NHL, I look for things to pick up even more." I said.
"Do you think we could beat the Soviets if we played them?" Jim asked me.
"I don't know. They are a lot older than us, and more experienced. Not to mention that no one has anything encouraging to say about us." I said with honesty.
"I talked to my father yesterday." Jim said as we pulled into the parking lot of the dorms.
"How is he doing?" I asked.
"He's hanging in there. Busy with my two younger brothers. Now that I am away from home they think they can get away with more." Jim said.
I nodded. I had heard him talk about helping his dad manage the family once his mother passed away. I was amazed to learn how big Jim's family was. Jim was the 6th of 8 children. I was worried that I would never learn everyone's names.
"I am sure they miss you as well." I said.
"Just the same, when we go to play Harvard, I am making a stop at home. Just because I am in Minnesota is no reason for them to goof off and let their grades slip." Jim said.
"You're a good older brother." I said getting out of the car. "The closest thing to an older bother I ever had was Mac. Which is kinda weird because he always wanted to marry me."
"Were you two in the movie 'Deliverance'?" Jim asked and I laughed.
"No, I can't play the banjo and you know I can't swim, so I would have been lousy in that movie." I told him as he opened the door for me to enter the building.
"Dad is coming to watch us play Harvard." Jim said. "He says he can't wait to meet you."
"What have you told him about me?" I asked as we walked up the stairs.
"That you're the team nurse, and really pretty, and very sweet, and smart." Jim said. "He asks about you every time I talk to him."
"He sounds nice. I hope he likes me." I said as we walked to Jim's room.
"He does already from what I have told him." Jim said as he unlocked the door and we walked in.
"So can I watch the 'Twilight Zone'?" I asked him.
"If you can find it on, I suppose so. Just tranquilize yourself for our next flight." Jim said and kissed my cheek.
I pulled Jim down to me and kissed him. I wasn't sure what came over me but I just had this incredible urge to near him. I wrapped both arms around his neck. I felt Jimmy run his hands down my back, pulling me closer to him.
Reluctantly I pulled away before we got carried away.
"Are you okay, Georgy?" Jim asked.
"Fine, I just have this thing for goalies." I said.
"Really? Because I have this thing for nurses." Jim said pulling me over to the couch.
"The goalie and the nurse, sounds like a romance novel with a sports twist!" I said sitting down next to Jim as he flipped the TV on.
We did find a few episodes of the 'Twilight Zone' on TV. Luckily they weren't episodes about planes. One was about this couple who woke up from a drunken stupor to find themselves in an empty town, with fake trees and such. Turns out they had been abducted by aliens and were live dolls in a giant alien's playhouse. I snuggled up in Jim's arms as we watched.
The second episode began. It was about a man who was being told what to do by the ghost of Hitler. It ended with him killing his best friend and then being killed by police.
A third episode started, it was a plane that pulled into an airport completely empty.
"Oh no, it's a plane episode, you can't watch." Jim said and pulled me closer to him.
"But it looks interesting." I protested.
"Then I'll just have to distract you." Jim said and pressed his lips against mine.
The TV immediately forgotten, I started running my hair through Jim's hair as he pulled me onto his lap. Jim pulled me tightly against him. I was drowning in the feeling of being in Jim's arms and his kiss on my lips.
Jim and I stayed that way for what seemed like forever, I could've kissed him forever. Jim pulled us both down on the couch without ever breaking the kiss. I ran my toes down the back of Jim's calf. Jim moved so that he was half-lying on me. I ran my hands down his back.
Jim ran a hand down my side and moved his mouth down to kiss my neck. I arched up into Jim's touch. Jim started pushing my shirt up. I realized if I didn't stop now, it would lead to one thing.
"Jim, Jim. We have to stop." I said. Jim halted his movements and laid his head down on my chest. His breathing was heavy.
"I'm sorry." Jim said trying to calm his breathing.
"For what? I let it go just as far as you did." I said.
"Georgia, can I ask you something?" Jim asked.
"Anything, you know that." I said.
"What exactly are you waiting on?" Jim said, but I could tell he wasn't angry just curious.
"Well, it's hard to explain." I said and rubbed his shoulders. "It's like, I am with you, and I like you a lot. I feel safe and comfortable with you. But at the same time, it doesn't feel right………..at least not yet."
"Would it help if I spread rose petals all over the bed?" Jim asked with a chuckle.
"Quit thinking with the wrong head." I said and ruffled his hair.
"Sorry, but I have to use the one that has blood." Jim said, lifting his head to wink at me.
"Sometimes you are just so cute." I said.
