I hope you all like this chapter. It'll show a little more of Hunter's tough side and it'll be a little more exciting to read. Hope you enjoy. For all you Mac fans, so sorry….

Hunter stuck her head into the team locker room. "Everyone decent? Close enough?" she called. A few suggestive things were yelled back, which she shrugged off. "Okay, I'm coming in. Everyone beware, the estrogen is entering!"

A group of laughter could be heard as she passed around the corner of the lockers. She cocked her eyebrow happily at the boys who were missing shirts before she leaning against a locker.

"Herb wants you guys out on the rink pronto. If he says that, ya better hurry up. I know Herb and he's not soft about being on time." She could feel the eyes of the guys on her, looking her over. "That's all for now. See you soon boys," she remarked with a wave and left the room. The boys started chatting to each other about her and the team when Rob McClanahan walked in. He took a seat next to Mike Eruzione and began to get dressed.

"You're Robbie McClanahan, right?"

Hunter sat in the locker room, throwing towels around. She wanted to be out on the ice with the team, but Herb thought differently. Something about the boys not listening well to some girl no one knew. 'No one 'cept Coxy,' she thought. No matter. She thought she'd hang around the lockers, cleaning up a bit while practice was on. All the sudden she heard voices outside the door and creeped out into the hall. She walked past Rob McClanahan, one of the boys she had yet to meet.

"Hey gorgeous, what's a pretty little thing like you doing in here?" he asked, watching her over his shoulder.

'Keep quiet, keep quiet,' she thought, ignoring the pain of her nails digging into her palm.

"You gonna talk?" he pestered, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around. "You gotta problem with talking?"

Hunter's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry?" she said, daring him to speak again. Mac was never one to pick up on subtle things.

"Feisty little thing, aren't we? What are ya doing in the practice rink?"

Hunter could hear it in his voice and she hated it. She could hear the sound of sexism, of ego in his words. It took all she could not to swing back and punch him. She stood up to him, her height only under his because of the skates on his feet. Her eyes bore into his own, showing him she wasn't afraid.

"You know, that practice wasn't too bad," Cox remarked, carrying a bag into the room. Hunter backed off at the sound of his voice. "Hey HP. And McClanahan, right? You're the jerk that was beating on OC." Cox rolled his eyes at him and continued to walk down the hall. "See ya HP," he said, giving her a pinch in the side.

Mac smiled cheekily at her. "Oh, I see. One of the team girlfriends. Why didn't you just tell me cutie? We could have passed all this. Why Cox though? You know, there are plenty of guys on this team," he said, inching closer to her.

That was the last straw for her. No one mocked her like that and got away with it. As she pulled back her fist, Cox reappeared.

"I left my water bottle out here and…it seems I couldn't have picked a better time to come back out." Cox smiled and lunged at Hunter grabbing both her arms and pinning them behind her back. "Calm down HP. Chill. Just let it go." He could feel her tense muscles relax a little in his arms. Mac just snickered at them. After a minute, Hunter shook herself loose from Cox.

"I'm good Coxy, I'm good," she said, rolling her neck around. Cox put a hand on her shoulder, serving as her big brother. It was his normal role for them. Growing up together made sure of that. Of course, growing up with her should have hinted what happened next. Hunter never let anyone get the last word. As Ralph turned to leave, she pulled back and slugged Mac in the eye. He collapsed; whimpering from the shock the punch had put on his already hurt nose and pain of his already bad day.

"Yeah, okay Hunter, you're good, what ever you say," he snarked, grabbing her hand and stopping another hit. "Let's go find you some tea, or yoga, or something Zen." She just grinned at him, turning to go. She stopped and turned over her shoulder, spitting on the ground in front of Mac before walking away with Cox.

Author's Note: All better y'all. I changed around Mac's words a bit. Now he's not such a jerk. Sorry about how it used to be, but I wasn't sure about where the story was going. I hope y'all like the changes.

-Shelby