Breaking Through The Ice Ch. 01

No way is this a follow-up to "Number's Game," featuring none other than the popular friend, Drew Stamenski?!? *gasp*

It took a while, and hopefully it's what everyone's been wishing for. I actually started this before this season's trade deadline and wouldn't you know it? Our beloved "Drew Stamenski" was traded. Still, I wasn't about to change the entire story around because the team let him go, so just ignore the current roster and enjoy this story!

To those new to my stories, there is a longer note in my profile, if you'd care to check it out, about the sequence of events for these characters. This story does stand on its own but there is more to the supporting cast than what is written here.

Thanks, as always, for your wonderful support and enthusiasm.

P.S. PennLady, I think you know what to do. ;)

Happy reading!

M.

****

Anatoli Strelkov stared at the food he gathered on his plate. A frown lined his forehead and he looked for all the world like a lost puppy. Drew Stamenski rolled his eyes as he rubbed a towel over his arms.

"Sara's here, you're here. Go talk to her." Drew jerked his chin in the direction of the crowd. He knew Anatoli knew exactly where Sara was without looking.

"I not know what to say."

"Yes, you do."

Anatoli shrugged, his eyes darting around. Then he waved his hand at the crowd in general. "Not here. Too many people. She would not want talk to me here."

Drew agreed with him on that. "True. So talk to her somewhere else."

Anatoli frowned, confused. "I should follow her?"

"Don't be stupid." Drew felt like an ass the second the words left his mouth. The surprised look on Anatoli's face made him feel worse. They were friends; he shouldn't have snapped no matter how he felt that day. So he tried again. "Look, I'm sorry. Last thing I'll say: I'd try again."

With that, he walked off, leaving it to Anatoli to figure things out with Sara. Drew wiped at his wet hair with an absent-minded gesture as he stalked away. He'd just had the last shift in the dunk tank and his ears still felt like he was underwater. He ran his hand through his hair and flicked water droplets away from himself.

"Hey! Watch it!"

He stopped short and turned to see a woman juggling a large box. With water on her face and arm.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" Drew hurried to her side and dabbed at the wet spots with his towel. "I didn't even see you there."

She scowled and tried to move out of his reach. Drew's face flamed with embarrassment as he tried to dry her off. Then he noticed her balance shifting and the box she was carrying slipped.

"Oh!" She stumbled and tried to keep a hold of it.

Acting on instinct, Drew scooped the box out of her arms. She jerked back a step, off-balance by the load disappearing. Drew looked down and gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry."

She stared back at him but the scowl was gone. "It's fine. I can take it back now."

"You could barely hold it." Drew lowered his arms a little and tested the weight in the box.

Her hands went to her hips. "I was managing just fine until you got me wet!"

Drew opened his mouth to reply but the first thing that came to mind wasn't something he could spout off to a complete stranger. At his hesitation, her face colored and her mouth opened into a surprised little 'O.' Drew watched the change in her expression and couldn't help smiling. It turned into a grin and then he was laughing. She held her frown for a second longer before clapping her hands over her mouth to hold back her giggles.

After a minute, Drew had to set the box down or risk dropping it on his foot. The woman dropped her hands to her stomach as full laughter left her and Drew laughed right along with her. When they both calmed down and caught their breath, Drew held his hand out towards her.

"I'm Drew Stamenski."

She gave him a shy smile and color bloomed on her cheeks again. "Mina Jenkins."

"Nice to meet you, Mina Jenkins." He squeezed her fingers before letting go.

Now that they were past his embarrassing gaffe, Drew took a moment to study her. She was several inches shorter than him and her round face was framed by a riot of golden brown curls. Her dark lashes were lowered over sky blue eyes as she chewed her bottom lip. She wore a Capitals jersey and jeans, which revealed none of her figure to Drew.

"Who are you here with?"

She glanced towards the main area where everyone was still milling around. "My friend, Hilary, invited me. She's dating–"

"Mark Gaines!" Drew laughed. "I know Hil. She's great."

Mina smiled. "Yeah."

"How do you know Hilary?"

"We went to college together." She shifted on her feet and glanced back down the hall. "I'm sorry, but I should probably get this out there."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Drew stooped to help her pick it up. He frowned as she tried to balance it in her arms again. "Uh, do you want some help with that?"

"I'm fine. Thanks anyway."

In spite of her assurance, Drew trailed after her for a several steps. Then he stood and watched her make her way to a nearby table. Someone took the box from her and she smiled in thanks. He stood there watching her move around and chat with a few other volunteers until someone nudged his shoulder.

He turned and smiled at Cole Janizak, the Capitals team captain. "Hey, Cole."

"What's going on?"

Drew shrugged. "Not much. I was just going to dry off and change."

Cole nodded. "Listen, can you do me a favor? I've got to go pick up the kids and she insists that she has to stay here for the rest of the benefit. I just don't want to leave her alone."

Drew lifted his eyebrows and glanced back to where Nancy was sitting behind a table, surrounded by several players' wives. "I think she's all right."

Cole followed his gaze and nodded as a soft expression spread over his face. "Yeah, she's just been real tired lately."

Drew clapped Cole on the shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on her. You'd better go if you have to."

"Right. Yeah. Thanks, man! I owe you one." He hurried away.

Drew glanced out to the crowded arena once more and when he couldn't see Mina Jenkins, he shrugged and headed to the locker room. After drying himself off and changing, he rejoined the crowd.

The rest of the afternoon passed by in a bit of a blur. He tried to stay close to Nancy but she kept sending him off to one station or another. Before long, he was left sitting alone at one table and the crowd had thinned out considerably. He let his eyes scan the crowd and that was when he spotted Sara speaking to Anatoli.

Drew smiled as they conversed for a minute and then started to walk out together. It was all Drew could do to keep from shouting encouragement to his friend. That was the last thing Anatoli needed; he looked nervous enough as it was.

So he watched Anatoli and Sara leave together and smiled to himself. He hadn't meant to snap at Anatoli earlier but he'd spent enough time with the younger man to realize how over the moon he still was for Sara. He felt a sharp tug somewhere in the vicinity of his heart and frowned.

He'd never have admitted it out loud to anyone, but he was jealous of Anatoli. Oh, he liked Sara well enough, but he was more jealous of the closeness they shared, rather than the woman Anatoli had. The same went for his other teammates and their girlfriends or wives. Sometimes it bothered him to not have a hand to hold or a secret smile to share. An image of a shy smile and round pink cheeks came to mind and he scanned the sparse crowd again.

Useless thoughts. Drew let his breath out and ran a hand over his hair. Most of the players had left and only the event organizers and a few hangers-on lingered now. Nowhere did he see Mina.

He wandered over to the table where Nancy Janizak was maneuvering her very pregnant self around as she tidied up.

"Drew! What are you still doing here?" She looked up with a smile.

He returned her smile and bent to scoop up the flyers she'd dropped. "Here you go."

She groaned and thanked him. "You're an angel. I can't believe how uncoordinated I've become over the past few weeks."

Drew eyed her belly with a smirk and she swatted him with the handful of flyers. He laughed and slung an arm around her shoulders. "You're beautiful, Nancy."

"And you are a flirt, Drew Stamenski." She tipped her head back and poked him in the ribs. "You're just lucky Cole isn't around."

"He's not back yet?" Drew looked around and couldn't spot any of his teammates inside the arena.

"He called a little while ago. There was some traffic snarl on 395 so he's running a little late." Nancy moved away and stacked the last of the flyers. "You didn't answer me before. Why are you still hanging out here?"

Drew's smile slipped but he covered it with a shrug and leaned one hip on the table. "I wanted to make sure you didn't attempt any heavy lifting alone."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid." She straightened and put her hands to the small of her back as she stretched. "Really, Drew. You don't need to stay. Go home. You guys have an early practice tomorrow."

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he didn't want to go home but that would just open the door on a whole conversation he didn't want to have. Nancy was nice and she and Cole were good friends of his, but he didn't want to burden them with his sob stories.

"I guess I should get home and unwind." Drew stood up and looked around before holding his arm out towards Nancy. "Do you want me to walk you out?"

Nancy grinned and slipped her hand through the crook of his arm. "Such a gentleman. You can walk me out if you don't mind the slow pace." She glanced at her watch. "Cole should be back soon."

"Great."

Drew walked with her up the stairs and out through the concourse. A few people passed them, calling out greetings as they made their way through the building.

Nancy had to stop at one point to catch her breath. "I'm sorry to slow you down with my waddling."

"It's fine." Drew patted her hand. "We're not in a hurry."

Nancy groaned as she rubbed a hand over her stomach. Drew grimaced as he watched. He was happy for Cole and didn't have a problem with kids but the whole pregnancy thing kind of creeped him out.

Nancy noticed his expression and started to laugh. "You play a game that involves flying teeth and bloody gashes and the baby kicking me grosses you out?"

Drew cringed and looked away. "Don't talk about the baby kicking. I prefer to think of the stork delivering them to the front door."

They laughed together and continued on their way. Outside in the loading area, Cole was standing next to their vehicle, leaning in the back window where he spoke to the kids.

"Hi, honey!" Nancy waved as Drew guided her down the steps.

"Hey, guys." Cole hurried over and pulled his wife into a hug as she reached the bottom step. He flashed a grin at Drew. "Thanks for taking care of her."

"My pleasure." Drew smiled. "I'll take any opportunity to spend some time with a beautiful lady, no matter how brief."

Cole snorted with laughter and Nancy gave him a playful scowl. "You don't think I'm beautiful?"

Cole gaped and shook his head as he stammered. Drew laughed and winked at his teammate when Nancy turned to give him a hug.

"Thanks, Drew, for the walk and the compliment." She threw another narrow look over her shoulder at a now disgruntled Cole.

"You know I think you're gorgeous," Cole tried again as Nancy stepped back. "No matter how big you are."

Nancy shrieked and smacked him on the arm and Drew looked on, howling with laughter. Cole followed his wife to the waiting vehicle, still trying to backpedal. Drew watched them go. It was fun to see his captain so out of sorts and Drew knew that Nancy wasn't really upset. Even as they settled into the vehicle, Drew saw them lean towards each other to share a kiss.

Again, Drew felt that tug behind his ribs and exhaled on a long sigh. Nancy waved as the vehicle moved away and Drew lifted a hand in return. Then they were gone and he was left with no choice but to head home himself.

Normally he'd head inside to the parking garage but he'd taken the Metro today, figuring it would take longer to get home. He scuffed his toe on the step and loitered for several minutes until he heard someone come out of the building behind him.

"Hello again!" Drew grinned and hurried over to Mina's side.

She looked up at him as she adjusted her jacket and handbag. "Oh, hi."

OK. Not quite the reaction he'd expected but he'd had worse. "Are you leaving?" He could have smacked himself in the head for the idiotic question.

But she smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah. I've been here since before noon. I'm exhausted."

"I can imagine. I don't get out of bed before noon some days."

"I'll bet." Her smile turned into a smirk and she glanced around. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"No. I was just going to walk to the Metro. Where are you headed?"

"Uh, I'm not really sure. I think it's Arlington."

At Drew's raised eyebrows, she gave a little laugh. "I'm staying with Hilary but I don't know my way around very well yet."

"Yeah? You just moved here?"

She nodded and looked away, chewing her bottom lip. She peeked back up at him and a pretty blush stained her cheeks.

Drew found her very intriguing. Then again, he could just be using her as an excuse not to go home. "Where's Hil? I haven't seen her for a while now."

"She went home with Mark."

"And left you to find your way alone?" Drew tsked and shook his head.

"Well, we came together on the Metro and I thought I'd be able to figure out how to get home on my own. Plus, I think Hilary just wanted some time alone with Mark."

Drew scoffed. "Please. They spend every waking hour together."

Mina laughed. "I don't know about that. It was just us girls last night."

"Just you girls." Drew nodded and a smile spread across his face. "Sounds...nice."

Mina looked away. Drew chuckled as he watched her and admitted that he liked to see that pretty shade of pink on her round cheeks.

"Well, you must be busy." She hiked her bag higher up on her shoulder and turned to go. "It was nice meeting you."

He stared at her as she walked down the steps. Had she just blown him off? He hurried after her, wanting to know more about her.

"Did I look busy?"

She started at his appearance by her elbow. "N-no. I just...I thought you'd be..."

"Busy?" Drew raised his eyebrows at her.

She smiled and looked away. "So you're not?"

"No. Are you?"

"No."

They continued walking at a steady pace towards the Metro until Drew let out a nervous laugh.

"We have to talk, Mina, otherwise I'm just a creepy guy following you to the Metro."

She laughed and glanced at him. "What do you want to talk about?"

Drew shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Do you want me to show you the way to Hilary and Lena's? I've only been to their apartment once or twice but I think I could find it."

Mina hesitated before answering and Drew didn't blame her. It must seem a little strange to her that a perfect stranger was offering to take her home.

"If not, no big deal." Drew smiled, hoping he was putting her at ease. "We're both headed to the Metro though."

Mina glanced towards the station entrance and nodded. "That's true. And it would be nice to have some protection." She smiled a sly little smile at him. "Even if you are only a hockey player."

"What?" Drew gaped at her.

She laughed and continued walking on to the Metro. Drew followed, impressed with her teasing.

"Hey, I'll have you know most of us are tougher than we look."

Mina laughed again as they went down to the station. They waited for the train and Drew continued to try to convince her that he wasn't a wimp.

"I never said you were a wimp," she protested.

"It was implied." Drew smiled and winked, which made her cheeks color again.

Mina gave him a shy smile. Drew stepped closer to her as the train whistled into the station. They boarded and found seats next to each other.

"So where did you go to college?" he asked.

Mina glanced over with a smile. "Didn't Hilary ever tell you?"

Drew laughed and shook his head. "She might have but I probably wasn't listening."

"We went to University of Maryland, in Baltimore."

"Ah, and what was your major?"

"Architectural Engineering."

Drew let out a low whistle. "I'm impressed."

Mina grinned. "Don't be. I dropped out after two years and switched schools. I went to Baltimore International College."

Drew frowned. "Isn't that a cooking school?"

"Yup."

"You're a chef?"

"I try to be."

"That's so cool!"

Mina's cheeks turned pink as Drew grinned at her. "You think so?"

"Sure. I'm always impressed by people who can cook." Drew laughed. "Hell, the best thing I can manage is spaghetti."

"I like spaghetti."

Drew glanced at her and winked. "I'll remember that."

She laughed again and looked away.

"So you and Hilary stayed friends even after you switched schools?"

"Oh yeah." Mina nodded as she fiddled with the strap on her purse. "We were roommates up until she finished her undergrad program and moved to Arlington. Then we kept in touch as much as we could."

"That's nice that she only moved to Arlington." Drew shifted in his seat and slung an arm across the back, behind Mina. He smiled when she tensed at the motion but she relaxed after another few minutes. "It would have been harder to stay friends if she'd moved to Seattle or something."

"That's for sure," Mina agreed. "What about you? Playing hockey must make it tough to keep in touch with friends."

Drew shrugged. "With my old friends from home, sure. The guys on the team are my friends too and getting along with them makes it easier to travel and all that."

"That's good."

They fell silent as the train pulled in and out of another station. They disembarked at the next one to switch to the Orange line and sat next to each other again for the longer ride. Drew took up the same position, his arm slung across the seat behind Mina, without touching her.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye, smiling as she twisted her purse strap nervously around her fingers.

"If Hilary's out with Mark tonight, what are your plans?" he asked, breaking the silence as the train rattled around them.

Mina glanced up at him with a shrug. "Probably some more unpacking."

"Must be crowded with all three of you in that apartment together." Drew smiled as he imagined Mina, Hilary and Lena trying to sort out living arrangements.

"Oh, no. Lena's in the process of moving out." Mina turned to him with a smile. "I would have thought you'd have heard."

"Heard what?" Drew was surprised. From what he knew of Hilary and Lena, they were very close and hadn't been any reason to move apart. Then again, Lena had just become engaged to his teammate. "Ah, right. She's moving in with Obie."

Mina nodded. "I don't think she'd planned to move in with him so soon but when I needed a place to stay, it seemed to work out."

"Right." Drew's smile slipped as he felt that all-too-familiar twinge in his chest. He really should stop being jealous of his teammates and their happiness in love.

The two of them fell silent again, Drew sinking into his thoughts as Mina stared out the window.

"I think this is my stop."

Mina's voice broke through Drew's musings some time later and he looked over in surprise. He got up with Mina as the train stopped. She looked over with a half-smile and a question in her eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do you live around here too?"

Drew laughed and shook his head. "Not very close, no. I want to make sure you get home all right, since you're new in town and all."

Mina lowered her lashes in a shy gesture. Drew felt his heart skip a beat and let his smile widen as he exited the train with Mina. They walked out to the street and Mina pulled her coat tighter around herself as she looked around.