as she trudged down the stairs, heading towards the dressing rooms. It was an hour and a half before Canada was playing Switzerland, and Malayna was bringing Carter a coffee as part of their pregame ritual that seemed to be working.

She came to the start of a hallway that at the end, broke off into a separate one. The blonde stopped in her tracks as she approached the security guard. He wore a serious expression, his hands behind his back as if he was trying to hide something. He barely acknowledged Malayna, his eyes darting to her before looking away.

Malayna took that small gesture as a go ahead, however just as she was about to walk past the guard, he stuck his arm out, pushing her back. "I didn't say you could go."

Furrowing her eyebrows, and placing a hand on her hip, Malayna retaliated. "You didn't say anything at all."

"Actions speak louder than words," he replied, his voice gruff and emotionless. He clearly likes his job.

"Words of wisdom. Can I go now?" Malayna retorted, fed up with the guards snarky replies.

"Not so fast, little lady. I don't think you're on the mens team."

"I know.I don't have a penis. I am a friend of Carter Hart's though," she bit back, her voice sharp.

The buff security guard laughed dramatically. "Oh! You're a friend of Carter Hart's! Oh I'm sorry, you should've started with that!"

By the tone of his voice, Malayna could tell he was being sarcastic. She replied to his smart ass reply with a scoff, her free hand resting off her hip. His face went back to its normal, angry expression, making him look like he wanted to murder someone. "How about you just go join the rest of Carter Hart's fan club, upstairs?"

Malayna swallowed hard, retaining herself from dropping the coffee and going after the guard. She simply scowled at the guard, her jaw clenched. "You know, Bill's a lot nicer than you. We had a nice conversation about the Sabres the last time I was here."

"Bill got fired," the guard responded instantly.

Malayna sighed, annoyed. "You should be fired too."

"This isn't helping your case, miss."

"Well-"

"Malayna!" At the end of the hallway was Cale Makar, walking towards them, his skates in hand.

The guard furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he glanced between the girl and hockey player, who was most likely heading to the equipment room to sharpen his skates. "He, is helping my case." Malayna replied flatly, her lips turning upwards as Cale neared the two.

"Is there a problem?" Cale asked, genuinely confused, but still saying in an intimidating way.

"No," the guard quickly called out, Malayna giving him a look of surprise. "Malayna and I here were just having a nice little conversation about the Sabares." He paused, giving Malayna and Cale a nervous smile. "She's with you?" he clarified, Cale nodded.

"Yeah, well, with Hart."

Malayna grinned, walking over to the boy, Cale nodding to the guard before turning back around. When he wasn't looking, Malayna swivelled her head around to face the guard, still walking, sticking her tongue out well mouthing fight me.

"Thank you," she mumbled to Cale, turning her head slightly to look at the rosy cheeked boy. "That asshole wouldn't let me through."

Cale chuckled, "yeah it looked like you weren't too happy with him. I'll bring you to the dressing room, Carter will be happy to see you."

They rounded the corner, heading down the hallway lined with dressing rooms. The coaching staff and trainers were all standing around, some nursing coffees, others eating snacks such as donuts or fruit.

"Oh, l-like in the dressing room? Are you sure?" She questioned nervously, not liking the idea of being in a dressing room filled with boys high on the energy of playing in an hour.

"Oh yeah, it's fine. They all like you," Cale reassured her, leading her past the coaches who were clustered in a group. Malayna awkwardly made eye contact coach Ducharme and Hunter, nodding at them as they paused from their conversation, nodding at her in recognition.

"Are we all decent?" Cale yelled into the slightly ajar door, Malayna letting her gaze roam the rink as the boys all piped back with yes.

The two entered the room, Cale instantly heading back to his stall well the smell of sweat, stinky hockey gear and cologne tickled Malayna's nostrils. The loud speakers playing rap music faded out as the boys' attention shifted to the only girl in the room.

"Malayna!" Carter shouted, pausing from tying his skates. He was all ready from the waist down, his pads on and his skates in the process of being tied. His top half was far from being ready however, as he wore no shirt, showing off his perfect stomach and arms.

His hair was messy and damp, and Carter wore his signature grin as he sat up straight, waiting for Malayna to stop admiring him.

Shaking her head to clear the thoughts of Carter, Malayna shifted her gaze up to meet his eyes, now full of amusement. "Hey," she mumbled, a smile growing on her face as her cheeks heated up.

Walking over to his stall, Carter stood up just as Malayna shoved the warm cup of coffee in Carter's hand. He grabbed it before instantly wrapping Malayna in a tight hug, kissing the top of her head before letting go to plop back down in his stall.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he mumbled his bright eyes admiring Malayn's features as this was the first time they were seeing each other today.

"No problem. Now, I'll let you get back to-"

"Wait," he said, tugging on her arm and gently yanking the girl forward. Malayna plopped down next to the goaltender in his stall, Malayna instantly leaning into his side, Carter wrapping his arm around her to pull her closer. "I'm sorry I didn't text you yesterday, we had a team bonding thing. But tomorrow, theres no games. I'll-"

"Stay with your team and prepare for the semifinals," Malayna finished off his sentence.

"Malayna," Carter frowned, feeling bad for not spending every free moment he had with her.

"You need to focus, Carter. I'll always be here, but you need to focus on this tournament. So I'm going to kiss you, then I'm going to go, then you're going to win your game, then you're going to bond with your team tomorrow."

Carter's lips twitched upwards into a smile, shaking his head in disbelief of how lucky he got with Malayna. He's had too many girls be clingy and annoying. Malayna is the complete opposite and Carter loves it.

"I really like you, you know that?" He whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"And I really like you too," she replied with a smug smile, happy Carter didn't protest about not worrying about her.

"Okay, I'm gonna go." She pulled out of Carter's grasp, looking up at him. "Good luck," she whispered, before leaning in and placing a quick kiss on his cheek. Just as she was pulling back, Carter gabbed her chin, capturing his lips in hers.

"Okay boys! Twenty minutes until warmups!" Ducharme yelled, opening the door slightly to notify the team. He froze just as the door was about to close, swinging it back open to gaze at the couple in Carter's stall.

"Oh no, its happening. It's last night all over again."