Breaking Through The Ice Ch. 02

The first thing Drew did was call his parents. They were frantic with worry. After he told them that his errant younger brother had turned up literally on his doorstep, they calmed down and Drew put Carter on the phone. Carter took his mother's tirade in stride and handed the phone back to Drew when she stopped yelling.

"Hey, Mom."

"I don't know what I'm going to do with that boy!"

Drew exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked down the hall. "Well, for starters, he's not a boy anymore." He walked into his office and shut the door behind him.

"He could act like an adult from time to time!"

Drew couldn't argue with that. "Look, this isn't what any of us would have wanted but at least he's not out there alone somewhere."

His mother let her breath out on an anguished sigh but she agreed. "This is the last thing you need to be dealing with, Drew. We'll book your father on the first flight tomorrow and he'll come bring Carter home."

The first thing out of Carter's mouth after 'hi' had been, 'I'm not going back there.' Drew had believed Carter when he said he'd rather hitchhike across the country than go back to Boston. Drew explained as much to his mother who fell silent.

"Mom?"

"I don't understand what we did wrong, Drew." Drew could hear the tears in her voice and his heart twisted in his chest.

"Oh, Mom. You guys didn't do anything wrong. Carter is a smart kid and he's known all along what he was doing."

"But he got kicked out of college, Drew! Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Yeah, it means he's gotta work that much harder to make a living in this world, the same as millions of other people." Drew paused and shook his head. "Even with a post secondary education, there's no guarantee he would have had it easy, Mom."

"I know that, Drew, I just don't know why Carter would throw it away for a party!"

Drew sighed and shook his head. He walked around his desk and flopped into the chair. "I don't know, Mom. Just because he got straight A's in high school doesn't mean he's always going to make the right decisions in life."

She let out a weak laugh and sniffled. "You're right, Drew. You always were smarter than the rest of us."

"Ha! I don't know about that."

"Really, Drew, you can't handle Carter right now. You've got the end of the season coming up and you need to focus on hockey, not your brother."

"I can manage. I'm not going to make this a vacation for him." Drew clenched his jaw. "He's going to get a job and work every damn day and then he'll be too exhausted to party."

"How are you going to make him do that?"

"I'll hire a bodyguard if I have to."

His mother laughed and Drew smiled. "You can't do that, Drew. Just don't tell Carter and Dad will come get him tomorrow."

"Mom, you know he'll just take off again and next time, we might not know where he'll end up." Drew knew Carter was obstinate enough to do just that.

"You're right." She let out an enormous sigh. "What do we do?"

"Like I said, I'll make sure he gets a job and goes to it."

"How are you going to do that and work yourself?"

"I'll manage, Mom. This can't go any further though, you have to agree with that."

"I do, Drew."

"All right then." Drew rubbed his forehead. "Do you want to talk to Carter?"

"No. I'm still too angry. Just tell him to behave himself and be grateful that he has such a gracious brother."

Drew barked out a laugh. "Sure thing, Mom. Try to get some sleep tonight, all right?"

"I will. Thank you, dear. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

After he hung up the phone, Drew shut his eyes and rested his head on his chair for several minutes. Then he got up and went to talk to his brother.

Carter was out cold on his couch, snoring away. Drew glared at him and then his face softened when he thought of how long a day Carter would have had. He'd traveled by bus from Boston, switching lines in New York. His brother was nearly ten years younger than him and the two of them had never been very close. By the time Carter stopped being a brat, Drew was leaving for college. Then he'd joined the NHL and had hardly seen any of his family.

With a sigh, Drew grabbed a blanket from the closet and covered Carter up. He could stay on the couch for tonight and Drew would move him into a guest room tomorrow.

God, I have a game tomorrow night. Drew groaned as he walked up to his room. He flopped on his bed without undressing and threw an arm over his eyes. What a day.

His thoughts turned over the events of the day, from the benefit to meeting Mina. A smile touched his lips as he thought of her and her shy smiles. He wanted to see her again but now that he had Carter to deal with, he didn't know when or if he could make that happen.

The last thing she's going to want to do is deal with my family melodrama, he thought.

Still, he'd try to call her tomorrow and set a time to see her. It might be more complicated but Drew could use all the friends he could get right now.

****

In the morning, Drew woke up to the sound of a frying pan clanging on the stovetop. He jerked upright and glared at the bedroom door. Memories of the previous night washed over him and he groaned. He laid back down until another ominous bang sounded from the kitchen.

With a grumble, he got up and changed before walking downstairs. "What the hell are you doing?"

Carter turned from the stove and grinned at Drew. "Morning, bro. You want scrambled or sunny-side up?"

Drew scowled at his brother. "You're cooking?"

"Sure. I can make something else if you want. Omelette? French toast? Eggs Benedict?" Carter stopped and frowned at Drew. "Well, I could make Eggs Benny if you had English muffins but dude, your pantry needs some lovin'."

Drew held his hand up to stop his brother's speech. "When did you learn how to make Eggs Benedict?"

Carter shrugged and turned back to the pan on the stovetop. There were onions and mushrooms sizzling together in the pan. "I picked it up. So you want something to eat or not?"

Drew stared at his brother for another minute before shrugging. "Fine. Just eggs, scrambled, and I'll make some toast."

"Sit down!" Carter exclaimed when Drew made a move for the toaster. "I'll do it. It's the least I can do after you letting me crash here."

Drew eyed Carter with suspicion but let the younger man have the room to work. "And how long exactly are you planning on 'crashing' here?"

Carter glanced at him and flushed under his scrutiny. "Uh, I hadn't...thought about it."

"Oh no?" Drew raised his eyebrows and sat down at the kitchen table. "When were you going to think about it?"

Carter didn't say anything for a minute as he worked over the stove. Drew watched him move around, letting the question hang. Carter finished with that pan and whipped out another, smaller one. He cracked two eggs into it and started swishing a spatula through them. In minutes, Drew had his requested scrambled plus toast, and Carter even knew where the butter and jam were.

While Drew dug into his breakfast, Carter finished up with his omelette and joined him at the table. Neither said anything while they ate and Drew watched his brother as they sat there. After, both brothers stared at each other until Drew let out a sigh.

"Carter–"

"Don't make me leave, Drew."

Drew blinked, taken aback by Carter's soft plea. "I wasn't going to say that."

Carter nodded but still looked apprehensive.

"But you can't just stay here and expect to sit around all day."

"No. I totally agree. I'm going to start looking for a job today."

Drew shook his head. "What?"

"I know a bunch of places I can work at. I've already made copies of my resume and I'm going to start handing them out."

Drew narrowed his eyes at Carter. "What's going on, Carter? And I don't just mean with your spontaneous job search. What's the deal with Boston College? Why'd you just take off on Mom and Dad?"

Carter looked sheepish for the first time since his arrival. "I didn't mean to worry them."

Drew snorted. "Yeah, well, you did."

"I'll apologize."

"Fine, but Carter, how'd you manage to get yourself kicked out of college?"

Carter gave a noisy sigh and stood up. He started to clear the dishes and clean up the mess he'd made. Drew watched him and was about to demand more answers when Carter started talking.

"I didn't like it, bro. College was never right for me." He shrugged. "I didn't know what I wanted to take and I felt like such a jerk making Mom and Dad spend the money to send me. The only thing I felt good doing was hanging out with the guys."

Drew frowned. 'The guys,' as he called them, were his band of legal-age friends who'd taken it upon themselves to get Carter drunk every other night. The first incident had ended with Carter tossed from residence and put on probation at the college. After that, his nights of partying with 'the guys' were off-campus but still affected his studies.

"Whether or not you liked it, Carter, you should have given it a chance." Drew got up and paced around the kitchen. Even as he spoke, his own words bothered him and he couldn't understand why. "You shouldn't have partied like an idiot and forced the school to kick you out. That was stupid. Don't you know it could affect your chances of getting into a school in the future? Any school?"

Carter looked abashed as he set down the pan he'd been wiping and faced his brother. "I guess...I guess that's something I'm going to have to live with."

Drew whirled around and glared at his bother. "Yeah. I guess so."

They faced each other in stony silence for a long moment and then Drew jerked a hand back through his hair.

"You're going to get a job." He pointed a finger at Carter, who nodded. "And a full-time job at that. I don't want you working two shifts a week somewhere and then sitting on your ass the rest of the time."

"Totally." Carter nodded again.

"And you'll pick up after yourself. I'm not a maid."

At that, Carter grinned and his eyes darted around Drew's less than tidy kitchen and the living room beyond. "Obviously."

Drew scowled. "And no attitude, you got it?"

Carter nodded and held up his hand in a boy scout salute. Drew swore and stalked out of the kitchen.

Upstairs, Drew got ready for his day. He changed and left the house to head to the practice arena. There was a brief practice and a team meeting followed. After practice, most of the guys were talking about what a good time they'd all had at the benefit the day before.

Drew found Cole and socked his friend in the shoulder. "Did you grovel all last night?"

Cole turned to Drew with a grin. "A little. Nancy's pretty easy going and she let me off with a warning."

Drew laughed. "You're a lucky man, Cole."

"Don't I know it."

Anatoli walked over and Drew could tell by his wide grin that he and Sara had worked out their differences.

"Hey, Anatoli." Drew smiled at the Russian. "You look tired. Late night?"

Anatoli laughed but color rose in his cheeks and it made Drew and Cole laugh. They teased Anatoli until the coach came in and they all sat down. The meeting was also brief, a quick rundown of the team they were facing that night, the St. Louis Blues, and then they were sent off for the rest of the day.

Most of the guys would head home to rest and then return for the game. Drew wanted to do the same. He'd had so much on his mind lately that his game was suffering. He could focus with the best of them but it had been a difficult time for the entire team over the past few months.

As he drove home, his thoughts turned to Mina and he wondered what she was up to today. He found himself wanting to talk to her and tell her all about his surprise visitor last night, family drama or not. He glanced at the clock and figured he could squeeze in at least a phone call. By the time the phone was ringing in his hand, he was grinning.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hil, it's Drew."

"Drew, what's up? How was practice?"

"It was good. Hasn't Mark called you yet?"

Hilary laughed. "I just got off the phone with him. He says he's going straight home to sleep."

"What a wimp."

"Hey! That's my boyfriend you're talking about, Drew."

Drew laughed. "Yeah, yeah."

"So what's up?"

Drew felt a prickle of nervousness and tried to brush it aside. "Uh, I was just calling to talk to Mina, actually."

There was a pause before Hilary answered.

"You know Mina?"

"Yeah, we met at the benefit yesterday and got to talking." Drew frowned as he considered that Hilary hadn't known that. "Is she around?"

"Yeah. She is. She's...uh, just one second."

The sounds through the phone became muffled and Drew assumed Hilary had covered the mouthpiece. A few seconds later, Mina came on the phone and Drew felt some of his tension ease.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mina."

"Drew? Hi. What are you...I mean, is everything OK?"

"Yeah, of course. I said I'd call you, so I am."

She gave a light laugh. "Well, yeah, but you're also a guy so you'll have to forgive my surprise."

"Ouch!" Drew laughed with her. "I thought we were friends."

"Then I can be honest with you, right?"

"Touché. I should have known I'd have to watch myself around a smart woman like you."

She laughed again, less nervous this time and Drew drank up the sound. Listening to her was a balm to his muddled thoughts and without even thinking about it, he took the exit ramp that would take him towards her apartment building.

"I was wondering if you'd like to get some lunch."

"Lunch?" Mina sounded surprised. "Don't you have a game?"

"Yeah, but it's not until tonight."

"Hilary told me you guys usually sleep in the afternoon before games."

"True, we do that but I have some time before I do." Drew flicked his signal on and turned at the intersection. "And I need to eat."

"We all need to eat," she murmured.

"So you'll come out?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Great!"

"Do you want to meet up somewhere?"

"No, I'll come pick you up."

"Oh, OK. How long until you can be here?"

"Can you be ready in five minutes?"

Mina laughed. "I guess so, as long as you don't expect miracles."

Drew blinked, surprised by her response. "Well, I'm just turning onto your block now."

"What?" She laughed again. "You said five minutes!"

Drew laughed. "I'll take the stairs. See you soon!"

****

Mina hung up the phone, still laughing. Hilary stood before her with a worried look on her face.

"What?" Mina asked.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd met Drew yesterday?"

Mina shrugged and walked past her friend to the bedrooms. She needed to change out of her sweats into something else. Drew wasn't giving her enough time for more than a change of clothes, damn the man.

"Come on, Mina. We were up for hours last night. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think of it." Mina flicked through her half of the closet she was sharing with Lena and pulled out jeans and a top. "Really, Hil. I wasn't keeping it from you but when you came home, we talked about Lawrence and then school and whatever else and I just didn't think about Drew."

That wasn't the whole truth and Mina did feel bad for not sharing. Meeting Drew and having such a great time with him still felt a bit surreal and she hadn't wanted to share just yet.

Mina changed in a hurry and then crossed to the bathroom to straighten out her hair. Hilary followed, still with a worried expression.

"You met at the benefit?" Hilary asked.

Mina eyed her reflection and winced. Her hair, unruly at the best of times, was an absolute disaster at the moment. She'd tied it up after her shower this morning and after working on several boxes, it was stringy and wild at the back of her head. As she yanked out the elastic and wet her fingers, she smiled at Hilary in the mirror.

"Yeah. We met there and ran into each other later outside the Verizon Center." She winced as her fingers got caught in a tangle. "We took the Metro home together and he–" She broke off when she realized how it was going to sound to Hilary.

"And he what?"

Mina sighed and finished sliding her fingers through her hair, taming it somewhat. "He suggested we go for dinner and we did."

Hilary's eyes popped open wide and she let out a low whistle. "Wow."

Mina frowned at Hilary's surprised expression and put her hands on her hips as she faced her friend. "'Wow' what?"

"Nothing. I think that's great. I mean, you're both single, and he's a good guy from what I know of him." Hilary grinned. "Good for you, Mina!"

Mina rolled her eyes and turned back to the mirror. She finished winding her hair back into a bun and then dug out her make-up bag to do a few quick touch-ups. "It's not like that, Hil. We just talked and ate and he walked me home. He was fun and funny and it's kind of nice to have another friend in town."

Hilary didn't say anything and Mina glanced over at her in the mirror.

"What?"

Hilary shrugged and twirled a blond lock around one finger. "Did you tell him about...?"

Mina frowned and finished brushing concealer over her face. "No. I didn't tell him I was cheated on by my fiancé and that's the real reason I moved from Baltimore." She finished with some lip gloss and straightened. "It didn't seem like a casual first-time out together conversation."

Hilary's eyebrows shot up. "So it was a night out?"

"No!" Mina flushed and pushed past her friend just as the apartment buzzer sounded. She hurried down the hall to buzz Drew in. "It wasn't a date. And his isn't a date."

"OK, Mina. I don't mean to pry, you know that."

Mina faced Hilary and hugged the other woman. "I know. Don't worry. We're just friends." Mina rolled her eyes as she moved back. "Believe me, Drew didn't seem the slightest bit interested beyond that."

Hilary opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. "As long as you're all right, then I think it's good. You do need to get out and see other people, friends or not."

Mina smiled and embraced Hilary again. Then she pulled away and had just put her shoes on when a knock sounded on the door.

"Hey, Drew!" Hilary opened the door with a wide grin.

"Hi, Hilary. How's it going?"

"Great."

Drew walked into the entryway and looked around at the boxes. "Wow. Looks a little cramped."

Hilary laughed and waved a dismissive hand. "It's not so bad. Besides, I'm hardly ever home between work and seeing Mark."

Drew lifted an eyebrow with a smirk and Hilary blushed. Mina watched this entire exchange with interest. Hilary had had a hard time talking to any guys after all that had happened to her in the past and this friendly, casual conversation between them was just another example of how much Hilary had changed since that first incident all those years ago.

Then Drew spotted her and his grin widened. "Hi, Mina. You look great!"

Mina blushed and lifted a hand to her hair, hoping it was still in place. "I don't know about that. You didn't give me much time to change and all. I've been unpacking all morning."

Drew looked around at the unopened boxes and they all shared a laugh.

"If you're ready, let's go. I know just where I want to eat." Drew opened the door again.

"OK. I'll see you later, Hil." Mina pulled her jacket on and smiled over her shoulder at Hilary.

"You kids have fun!" Hilary waved and shut the door behind them.

"Where are we going?" Mina asked as they left the building.

"There's a great Greek place not far away from here." Drew bounded down the steps to the street and opened his car door for her.

Mina laughed and slid into the passenger seat with a smile. "I like Greek."

"Great." Drew got in and started the car.

They didn't speak much on the way to the restaurant and Mina felt nervous. She didn't know why. She believed what she'd told Hilary, that they were just friends, but being alone with Drew again made her hyper aware of how eligible he was.