Coach Bombay hadn't been kidding when he told them that Russia's team had only gotten stronger since last year. Julie, Charlie, Fulton, and Adam already watched the tapes and felt ready for their first game. It was still the first period and poor Connie had taken more than a few hard hits, Portman had already been ejected from the game for boarding a player in retaliation.
Fulton was doing all he could by throwing his body around and making impressive hits, all the while still maintaining decent puck control. Charlie managed to get the first goal and Julie was fighting for every inch of her goal crease. More than once she'd been knocked into by Russian forwards haphazardly, as if they were trying to injure her. By the time the first intermission came she was ready for the break. USA was up by one but the pressure was definitely in the other team's favor.
The locker room was a freaking mess courtesy of Dean Portman. Julie remembered when that happened last year as well. She also easily recalled her own aggravation. Though, she was more upset with herself than anything else for getting tossed in that game against Iceland. Bombay merely sighed and sent Portman a disappointed look.
Robertson tossed Julie some Gatorade and she sent him a nod of much appreciation. They all listened in to their coach's strategy to get them through the next period. He made it clear that some of the boys were going to have to step up the level of physicality, pointing it out to them how much Reed was sacrificing for the team. Charlie rallied them and they were in pretty good spirits as they hit the ice to loud cheers from the crowd.
Julie skated to the opposite net and roughed up the area with her skates before moving into her routine stretches and hunkering down into the net in preparation for the puck to drop.
Charlie managed to win the face-off and fed it to Adam for a quick goal; they had somehow scored within seconds of the period starting. Now that they were up 2-0 some of the pressure lifted from their shoulders and now it was all about protecting the lead. That 2 goal lead just happened to be the final score, it was a case of Russia actually being the better team on the ice yet still losing the game. USA played well and held them off, but the fore-checking from the other team was ridiculously good.
All in all it was Julie that saved the game for them. Cat was even pictured in the papers the following day for her shutout performance against a top-ranked team. The USA Ducks had the day off and Connie and Julie spent the morning taking turns enjoying long and warm bubble baths in the huge tub. It was lunchtime by the time they left their rooms and met up with Guy, Fulton, Dean, and Tyler.
As a group they decided to take up Russ's suggestion of getting food at the arena and check out some of the other games going on. Italy was taking on Canada and afterwards it was Sweden against Iceland. And they all pretty much wanted to check out exactly how well the Vikings looked this year. Guy and Russ both confirmed that a few players from other teams were in attendance for their game the day prior so it wasn't like they were doing anything wrong.
Team Canada was looking pretty strong and they easily won over Italy by a commanding 5-1 victory. The bash brothers quickly picked out the enforcers for each squad and made sure to memorize the names and numbers for the players to watch out for.
Guy and Connie were of course all cuddled up and barely paying any attention. Julie went with Fulton, Dean, and Russ to the stands to walk around a little and get away from all the lovey-dovey stuff. It seemed that Portman was deciding to be nice to her today and going out of his way for her. He even bought her lunch earlier and mumbled an apology for his rude behavior recently.
When they returned to their seats they saw that both teams from Iceland and Sweden were warming up. Julie's eyes immediately caught and latched onto #9 and kept standing with the others and watched him glide across the ice. Stahl was the easily the best player in the tournament last year and she was eager to see how much he'd improved since then. As Gunnar made a full turn around their side of the ice his eyes looked up and connected with hers, she could see the slight smirk pulling at his mouth and she sent him a secret smile in return.
Dean then pulled her down to sit between himself and Fulton and the bash brothers starting talking rather animatedly over her head. She simply couldn't pull her gaze from studying every move Gunnar made. His skating was flawless, he was a natural scorer and she just knew he would eventually make it to the big leagues if that was something he ever wanted for himself. Looking at him, watching him effortlessly win the first face-off and put his body into everything he did, she found that she was definitely crushing on him. She figured that much out a few nights ago when he kissed her neck under water, with his body so close to hers. Julie vividly remembered feeling the warmth and chills of his lips pressed against her neck. And now her growing affection for him was further cemented with the happiness she found in him knowing she was here. That smile on his face nearly made her heart skip a beat at the sincerity she found there.
And when he scored the first goal of the game she nearly jumped up to celebrate with the fans rooting for the Vikings. As it was he nodded in her direction with a happy grin on his face as he neared the bench. God, so much had changed since last year.
"Hey, what's got that pretty smile on your face, sweetheart?"
Julie's easy smile faded as she turned to stare up at Dean for a moment and shrugged, "Just enjoying the game."
He moved his arm so that it rest against the back of her seat and leaned a little towards her, "I always did like a smart girl, look at you studying all of Iceland's moves. Preparing for them, huh? But don't worry cutie, I won't let them get to you."
She frowned as she looked forward, that wasn't what she was doing, was it? Maybe that was the original intention, yet Julie doubted anyone could ever prepare enough for the raw talent that made up Gunnar Stahl. When she didn't respond back, Portman wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her body closer to him. This was different than when her other teammates held her like this. With Adam she felt comfort. With Charlie it was all about acceptance. And at the heart of it was friendship with both, but it wasn't like that with Dean. She felt like he was trying to claim her or something and she didn't like it.
Julie tried to lean forward and give him the hint that she was only interested in him as a friend and teammate, nothing more. Her eyes narrowed and brows clenched together in frustration as he started to gently rub his fingers along the side of her arm. From the corner of her eye she saw that Gunnar was peering at her from over his shoulder on the bench. She watched as his gaze moved from her to Portman and back to her again, his own eyes slightly narrowing. It seemed obvious; to her anyway, that he didn't like what he saw. She could only hope that he could see that she wasn't happy about Portman's behavior either; then wondered why it bothered her that he saw her with another guy so much.
When it came time for #9 to hit the ice for his next shift, Julie immediately noticed he was a bit more ruthless in his checks and pursuit of the puck, he was absolutely relentless. Gunnar was flying across the ice like a hell-bent demon and she doubted no one was surprised when he fed Sanderson for the second goal of the game. Two shifts already in the first period with him on the ice and they scored both times. He was definitely a leader and the tandem of Stahl and Sanderson couldn't be ignored.
"Hey Cat," Fulton interrupted her inner thoughts as he loudly stated, "switch seats with me, you're clearly having a hard time seeing past the person in front of you."
She gifted him with an enormously grateful smile and quickly stood and changed seats with him. When they seated in their new spots they shared an understanding look, she determined she would have to do something nice for him one of these days. Reed was more than an enforcer for the Ducks, Coach Bombay was right he did sacrifice it all for the team…even when they were off the ice.
Gunnar and Olaf were both staring over their group and she felt a little relief in seeing a small smile once more take over Stahl's mouth. His looks and actions were confusing yet wonderful and not entirely unaccepted. She just wondered if she was imagining that maybe he was sort of into her too. And if she was right then she hoped it he was being genuine. While the ferocity of the Viking's play dimmed somewhat, they completely dominated every facet of the game. Sweden had a decent goalie and managed to keep it from being a total blow out.
Russ shook his head at the end of the game, "Man I gotta hand it to those guys. They almost looked like a professional team out there."
Connie nodded her head in agreement, "Jovin wasn't lying when he said he improved on his speed, the guy was almost as fast as Luis!"
"No kidding, but they were right don't you guys think? Their game has changed, definitely not as dirty as last year," Guy admitted.
Dean looked at them all completely affronted by what he was hearing, "Wait one damn minute here, you guys are talking like you're on friendly terms with them or something!"
Fulton blankly looked up to his friend, "Dude where have you been? We've all been hanging out with them almost every night since we got here."
"Things have changed Portman," Julie stated in a low voice, her gaze never leaving the ice as she took in the two teams shaking hands, "people change."
"You've got to be freaking kidding me!" Dean appeared to be disgusted.
"Hey we should go see what they're up to and congratulate them on the win," Connie suggested with a secretly knowing grin sent Julie's way.
They all agreed while Dean just threw his hands up and called them traitors. Fulton had to back down or a fight would have been on their hands, so instead Portman just walked away from them. Julie felt nothing short of nervous as the group made their way towards the belly of the arena. They could hear parts of a wrap-up meeting taking place and then shouts of victory. Stanssen walked out and actually offered up a miniscule smile to them as he passed by. Gunnar came out next, still dressed in full gear sans his helmet, stick, and gloves and stopped walking as he noticed them. He told them it was okay to go on in to the locker room, even promised Connie that everyone was properly dressed.
As Julie moved to go with them Gunnar pulled her hand into his at the last moment, keeping silent until they were alone in the hall. He kept a tight grip of her hand and quietly led her down a hallway and asked her to hold still, all the while minding her feet with his skates so to not accidentally hurt her. Next she saw a few newspaper reporters moving in to interview him, which gave her time to still her wildly beating heart as he navigated through the questions and praise. Once he was finished and they were again alone, he moved in on her.
He was just so devastatingly good-looking. His hair and face was slick with sweat, his face lightly flushed still from the exertion of the game, and with him still on his skates she felt so small standing there in front of him.
"I'm glad you are here," he told her as she leaned against the thick wall.
She sent him a smile, "Me too."
"Julie," he neared her and grabbed her hands, "I can barely see you down there, come here."
She allowed him to take her hands and pull her up so that she was standing atop his skates with her back still leaning against the wall. Julie could feel her face ignite in a furious blush as she struggled with looking up at him, they were so close. And when she did look at him she felt her breathing stop for a long moment, his eyes were just incredible. He gently put his hands on her hips and she closed her eyes to collect herself, "Gunnar what is this?"
"What is what?" he teased, one hand rising to tilt her chin upwards so he could better look in her eyes, "I told you how I thought of you all year. It was non-stop. I like you Julie, a lot."
Julie couldn't help but melt a little at his admission, "I like you to, more than I should," she paused as he openly smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth, his touch felt so good and left her wanting to feel more. Yet she still had her reservations, "But Gunnar, is this for real? Last year we hated each other or at least I figured you hated me. I thought for sure you wanted to get back at me for what happened. Not to mention we belong to different countries, I just think that maybe-"
"Julie," he interrupted in a lower tone of voice as his head tilted and leaned further into her, he could feel her soft lips as his mouth whispered against them, "don't think."
And that was when Gunnar Stahl stole Julie "The Cat" Gaffney's first kiss. His mouth was gentle with that very first meeting of lips as he pressed fully against her. And he kissed her again and again, coaxing her mouth until she finally pushed back against him and let go of her inhibitions. Her lips slightly parted and their connection became just a little deeper. She could feel his warm breath on her face and the dampness of the sweat against on his skin even as her arms wound their way around his neck.
Gunnar felt her hands push into his hair and he pressed further into her, pushing her more firmly against the concrete wall of the arena. He had her just where he wanted her...with him.
A/N Blu- **I would like to give credit to HaloFin17's "Sympathy for the Icelanders" series for some of the inspiration behind this kiss scene- check it out, awesome stuff!**