Frozen in Ice

Chapter 61

Luke's POV

"Lukey," I heard.

I rolled my eyes just as I had Mitch in my arms. I pulled him close and we stood there for a minute.

"It's so good to see you," I said.

Mitch had bulked out since I last saw him and his hair was a little shorter

"It's so good to see you too."

We grabbed my bags and I had more gear than from training camp and I was lucky that no one had noticed the United States Hockey logo on the side.

"A few of the guys found out that you are in town and want to meet you. I'm pretty sure they are already going to be in my apartment. I hope you don't mind," he said apologetically.

"Eh, all hockey players are similar. As long as you have food I don't mind," I told him honestly.

He nodded and we headed out. His car wasn't that far away and I dumped my bags in the back. As he drove we talked about how the Islanders were going and what the team was like.

Mitch was right. As soon as he opened the door i only had time to drop my bags before I was swamped by professional hockey players.

"He's taller than he looks on the ice."

"He really looks like Crosby."

"I don't think that Sid is the type to have a secret love child that no one knows about."

"He is too tall. Crosby's short."

"True, he definitely looks like a hockey player."

"Yeah, haven't you seen him play? He's a good one too."

"How come you have seen him play?"

"Have you never seen? Mitchy watches them all the time."

"Excuse me for not being his road roommate. How come he is in New York? We aren't getting a new rookie."

"Of course not you fucker. He's going to World Juniors and is here until tomorrow. That is why we are here. Didn't you listen?"

"Of course not. When do I listen?"

I rolled my eyes because this sounds exactly the same as the team back in Flint. I glanced around and noticed that Mitch was smirking from his seat on the couch. I glared at him and he just seemed to laugh.

"Guys, let Luke get in the door first," Mitch called.

Finally I could breathe as the hockey players got out of my face. I took a seat beside Mitch and the rest of the players took their own places.

"Now that you have calmed down how about you introduce yourself?" Mitch teased.

There were six of them and I had watched enough of the Islanders to know who they were anyway but I let them introduce themselves. There was Matt, Logan, John, Pat, Trent and Bryan. Once they were finished they wanted to know everything about me.

"Where are you from?" Matt asked.

"Originally Denver," I said.

"You can stay then since you are a respectful and proper American," Matt teased.

I could tell that that was mostly to get a rise out of his teammates and it did. Bryan was also American but the rest were Canadian, including Mitch, so they weren't pleased.

Mitch had a good group of friends and they were really nice to me as well. Bryan and Matt assured me that they would be cheering for me at World Juniors whereas Mitch told me that he was cheering for Adam and Jackson.

They all had the day off but the rest of the guys left so it was just me and Mitch. I was hungry and Mitch's kitchen was pretty much empty so we headed out for food. There was some sandwich spot that he liked nearby so we went there and it was pretty empty which was nice.

"Your team is really nice," I said.

"Yeah, I like them a lot. How are the Firebirds going?" he asked.

We talked about the team in Flint for a while and then just hockey in general before we got onto the topic of my family, in particular my Mom.

"Have you talked to either of your parents much?' he asked.

"Like I said before I haven't talked to my Mom in ages. I talk to my Dad once in a while but we aren't close," I explained.

"It's weird. I don't even know how your Mom got my number," he mused.

"I know because I didn't give it to her and I don't know who she would know that would know it either."

"Families can be weird. You don't talk to yours and my Mom still thinks it is necessary to call me every two days even though I live in Flint for two years away from her."

I had to laugh at that because even though I hadn't met Mrs Stephens I could see how protective she was of Mitch and could see her doing that.

"It's not funny, it's fucking annoying," he scowled.

It just made me laugh more before we settled into a comfortable silence.

"We should do this more often," Mitch said.

"You should come back to Flint. The guys would love to see you," I told him.

The rest of the day was spent mucking around and playing video games. It was fun to just relax with Mitch after not seeing him for months. It was just like all the nights that we spent together in hotel rooms when we were travelling.

"I do hope that you do well at World Juniors," he said just before we went to be.

"Thanks," I said softly.

He smiled and I headed into the guest room. I hadn't bothered really unpacking since I was leaving the next morning so I just dug in my bag to find an old shirt to sleep in and curled up in bed. After talking to Mitch I knew that I should call my Mom to see why she was calling Mitch but I just wanted to put it off.

I had plenty of good things going on in my life and I really didn't want to spoil that by fighting with my Mom more. Hopefully I could just leave it and she would stop but I knew that that was unlikely.

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The Wise One