Avalanche to the Heart

Nathan’s POV

Nathan MacKinnon couldn’t get the girl who had hugged him out of his head. She looked so familiar, but it was killing him that he couldn’t place her from where. He thought, but was eventually distracted by the woman draped over him. The ice girl. She was sloppily kissing him all over, and grinded against him, hungerly. He then felt her hands grab at his crotch and that was enough for him.

He shoved her away and stormed into the locker room. He rapidly undressed himself. He just wanted to get out and get home. He was done for the day and he was done being someone’s sex doll. He was feeling extremely uptight and he didn’t want to be the guy making out with the ice girls.

“Hey Mac, where ya off too?” his captain asked him, as he snatched his stuff up and started to leave.

He paused in step, at the doorway. He realized that he had been the last one into the locker room and the first one leaving. Was he really that fast in undressing?

“Oh, sorry, I’m just heading home.”

“Without making love to the ice girls?” He was in shock.

“Yeah. I’m not in the mood, for once.”

“Is it that girl?”

“No.”

Gabriel Landeskog, the captain, shrugged and turned back to his undressing. Nathan rolled his eyes and walked out of the locker room. He walked out, through the tunnel and headed toward the lobby. He pushed open the doors and ran right into someone.

“What the--?” He gasped, as they both collided. Him on top of the other person, who gasped as well. He looked down and found himself lying on top of….her!

It was the girl who had hugged him from the audience!

****

Lillian’s POV

"I can't find it anywhere! Are you sure that you--?" Lillian called out, glancing back over her shoulder, thinking it would be nothing. Which meant she wasn't paying attention when she collided with someone else, who had bumped right into her.

She fell to the ground and the other person toppled right over her. He scrambled up, and seemed to be a mess. She looked up at him, through her mess of brown hair that covered her eyes and vision. She brushed her hair back immediately, as he rose to his feet.

He put out his hand to help her to her feet, even though he was known as a player, he was never disrespectful to women. When she looked up, his whole world changed. She saw it in his eyes. And she was taken aback as well. Gravity shifted and this handsome man standing before him with gorgeous blonde hair locks and a pair of shiny blue eyes. He also seemed to be thinking about her as some kind of angel with beautiful brown wavy hair like Anna from Frozen. She was a pro at reading facial expressions and minds.

She knew he would do anything to keep her protected and happy. He was so filled up with thoughts of how beautiful this angel was, like she was of him, that they finally realized they had been standing there for a couple of minutes just staring at each other. It quickly turned to awkwardness.

“No, no, it was my fault, I’m sorry.” She pushed her hair back out of her face, revealing a pair of beautiful, sparkling eyes. She began to blush, gasping with shock. Her hands flew to her mouth instantly.

It was Nathan MacKinnon. THE Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche. She sighed and smiled at him, sweetly, dropping her arms down to her sides. "Oh, you’re—you’re…." She couldn’t get anymore out.

He flashed a smile too. “Nathan MacKinnon.” He smiled and put his one arm behind his hand, before gesturing in a spiral downward and bowing. He noticed that his voice came out rather huskier than it normally was. Why was he so nervous? He shouldn’t be this nervous, he was the star of an NHL team! "Sorry."

"It's okay. I wasn't…uh, paying attention," she stammered, struggling to get her thoughts out. She was starstruck by him. And who wouldn’t be? She was talking to the star of the Colorado Avalanche!

She needed to know this beautiful man, she wanted to know everything, and by the look on his face, she could tell he was feeling the bond that they had just formed. Or maybe it had formed in the past, because it felt right. It felt familiar. She couldn't believe she just imprinted on someone so beautiful and handsome as Nathan MacKinnon, the centre for the Colorado Avalanche. She didn't deserve him, and she knew he was thinking the same thing, but she would do anything to be worthy of him.

He reached out and helped her to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. He didn’t think that it was going to come across as a disrespect or a violation of her privacy. He was simply being courteous. And he felt like he owed her something. It was the least he could do. "I'm so sorry." He said again, now looking at who it was.

He didn’t seem in a hurry and he didn’t seem like he wanted to rush anywhere. Plus, he was looking at her with a keen interest. It made her rather curious.

"No. It was me. I was a little angry and upset at the moment."

"Why were you angry?"

He didn’t appear like he want to tell her and maybe he couldn't tell her. Could he? It seemed like he thought it was embarrassing. She found his emotional expressions rather cute.

“Do I know you from somewhere?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…you look familiar.”

“Really?”

She really wasn’t understanding him. Why was he asking her these questions? How could she know a hockey star?

“Oh, well, nevermind then. Can I at least get your name and email and maybe address, so I can make it up to you? Maybe I can have everyone and myself sign an autograph for you or something. We can work it out.”

“I think that can be arranged.” She was preparing to tell him her information, as he whipped out his phone, when her two friends trotted up.

“Hey, you found Nathan MacKinnon!” her snowy haired friend remarked, with a gasp.

“What happened, Lilly, did you run him over?” Jeremy teased, playfully.

Lillian shot him a look. “Oh hush, Jeremy. It was an accident. And he is taking full responsibility for it!”

“It is my fault that I wasn’t looking when I opened the door. And I’m repaying your little friend here. Let me have your number darling, so I can get back to you on the special gift!”

“Of course. My name is Lillian Kinnan.”

****

Nathan’s POV

Nathan literally dropped his phone. It clattered on the ground, noisily. He took a giant step back. The name instantly sparked a memory inside of his head. He saw her looking at him, bewildered. She didn’t remember him, but he remembered her.

“Oh my gosh, this is a shock. Lillian Kinnan, I can't believe that it's you."

“What?”

“You don’t remember me...us?”

“What do you mean?”

“High School, in Halifax. We dated and went to the prom together!”

“Prom...High School...Halifax…” She repeated everything to herself. There was a few minutes, before her eyes widened and she too looked startled, stepping back. She had a big smile on her face as she looked at him, "Nathan MacKinnon, as in Kinny?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Oh my gosh, how are you?”

“Well, obviously I’m fine, doing well...about to head home.”

“Same here."

“Cool.”

There was an awkward silence that followed, as Jeremy and Destiny shared a look and backed away. They stood off to the side and he turned to her.

“How does she know him?” Jeremy asked.

“Remember when we told you about our high school years and she didn’t want to talk about it...this is why. I was in love with his friend, Val Nichushkin. I called him Nichy, but he’s long gone…”

“...in Dallas, right?”

“Yeah.”

When Lillian didn't say anything for a while and just continued to stare at Nathan, she saw his face change and thought that he was beginning to feel his heart tearing in two. Was she rejecting him, again? Did she not want him, again?