HOCKEY IMAGINES: BOOK 2 // REQUESTS CLOSED

#8: PAVEL KOLTYGIN - #27 DRUMMONDVILLE VOLTIGEURS

My family and I have been season ticket holders of the Drummondville Voltigeurs for what feels like forever. My parents met at a game when they were younger and since then we have always been going to their home and away games. When my twin brother and I were about six years old our parents began to take in players of the Voltigeurs and housed them during the season. I loved it, the players became a part of our family and it was like I had older bothers to look up to. I hated to see them leave, but some would return and some would be replaced by new members of the Voltigeurs when they left or got traded. As I got older, I still saw them as my old brothers even when we were the same age. Sometimes I had little one sided crushes on the guys, but they all stopped when I turned sixteen and got a hold of my feelings.

So as always in the last week in August, my parents and I get the basement ready for the guys to join us.

"Is Alex coming to stay with us again?" I ask as I walk into one of the bedrooms that the players will stay in. I see my mother and father putting the sheets on the bed, my brother sits on the couch watching them and I make my way over to him.

"He is and we've another boy joining us." Our mother nods plumping up the pillows.

"Who is it?" Roman pushes his way into the conversation.

"Pavel Koltygin." Our mother tells as she turns to look at us.

"Pavel Koltygin sounds Russian." I mutter and pick at my nails.

"He is and speaks very limited English so we'll have to help him with that." Roman and I's father says looking between Roman and I with a pointed look.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Roman asks slightly offended by our fathers gaze on us.

He tuts and shakes his head. "We know about the prank you played on Alex last year."

"Oh." I giggle and Roman does too. Our mother and father roll their eyes at us when they remember the prank Roman and I pulled on Alex. It was a harmless prank we played on Alex, who is a native of Quebec and speaks French as his first language, moved in with us and Roman and I told him that we only speak French around our parents and at the dinner table. Poor guy was sitting at the dinner table speaking away in French every night we had dinner as a family, Roman and I's parents thought he didn't speak a word of English. It was about January when Alex caught on we had pranked him, he got us back by filling of pillow cases with jelly. Since then we have had a prank war brewing between us, we just need our parents to leave Alex's room so we can set up our welcome back prank for him.

"Yeah, no pranking Pavel please, he's never been in Canada before and probably won't understand your type of humour." Roman and I's mother says sending us her 'don't you dare' glare. Roman and I mock salute her, our parents roll their eyes and get back to finishing off the two rooms for Alex and the new guy Pavel.

It's a few hours later and Roman and I are hiding in his room, we might be seventeen years old but we are children at heart. We set up the classic bucket prank, where Alex will walk into his room and be dumped with slime and feathers, it's just a little something to say, 'welcome home Alex!'

I lie on my back with my head dangling off the edge of Roman's bed, my attention is on my phone until we hear the doorbell ring. I push myself up with a cheeky grin on my lips like Roman, I fix myself up right and hold in my laughter when I hear our parents talk.

"Hey, you two get on down here and meet the boys!" We hear our father shout to us. Roman and I push ourselves off his bed and make our way down the stairs, as I round the corner I feel myself slow in step when I see the new member of our family. He stands awkwardly by the front door, a suitcase and hockey bag beside his feet and he looks around. Our eyes meet and I feel my heart thump a little harder, he's pretty cute. He has dark brown eyes, plum red lips and a nicely styled dark hair.