And I Love Those Crazy Things You Make Me Do

~*Luke's POV*~

“I call shotgun!” Carter yelled as he and Brayden raced to my car. I've never seen grown men act like such children before, it was quite funny to be honest. I unlocked the doors, and the three of us got in. I turned the car on and started down the road in the direction of Real Sports.

“So what have you been up to lately, man?” Carter asked Brayden while hanging in between the two front seats.

“Nothing really, Luke and I just got back from visiting our folks back in Saskatoon yesterday. I should be in Philly right now, though.” Brayden said, nonchalantly.

“Oh really? Then why are you still here in Toronto?”

“I can't really remember. I wasn't listening, something about the flights being canceled...” and that's where I zoned their conversation out. As I was driving, I thought of my brother and Carter's relationship. They were pretty close. They knew each other from their WHL days, and even played for Team Canada together in the 2010 World Juniors. They didn't talk much after the both got into the NHL, though. When Carter was traded to the Leafs, he told me how he missed talking and hanging out with Brayden. Until this moment, I never actually realized that I didn't have a friend like that. I mean, I have a lot of friends, and a few close friends, but none that I share a relationship with like the one Carter and Brayden share. Maybe I should start hanging out with the guys I'm closest to, Colby and Tyler Bozak. They're probably always busy, though. Colby being married with a son, and Tyler was probably always gaming, or hanging out with Phil Kessel. They were together a lot, so much that people starting saying they had a bromance. I never thought about it, but it must be nice to have a bromance. Wow, that was weird. I snapped out of my thoughts as I pulled into the parking lot of the Bar and Grill. We got out and walked towards the entrance. I felt like a third wheel with the way Brayden and Carter were chatting. When we got to the entrance, Colby and Mel were waiting there for us. When they spotted us walking over, Mel's face lit up.

“You guys! I haven't seen you in so long!” She threw her hands in the air and somehow managed to pull the three of us into one big group hug. Mel was always that one WAG's who could put a smile on everyone's face, no matter what. She was just, always in a good mood. (Though Colby would argue with that) “How are you guys?” She asked after she broke off the hug.

“We've been great, a bit tired, but great.” I said.

“Luke and I just got back from Saskatoon.” Brayden chimed in.

“Brayden! Look at you! I haven't seen you in forever!” Mel squealed at him.

“Aha you too, Mel.” Brayden said sheepishly. I've never seen him like that before. I guess we had been to distracted to noticed Colby and Carter waiting at the doors for us. We all laughed and went over to get seated. Once we sat down, the waiter came and took our orders. Dinner consisted of nothing but a bunch of small talk, catching up, and us laughing at one of the Armstrong's stories about their son, Cruise. I've heard plenty of stories about Cruise, met him a few times, too. He's the cutest kid I've seen, and I'd be lying if I said that seeing Cruise didn't make me want one of my own.

After dinner, we bid the Armstrong's goodnight, and we headed back to my car.

“Hey, Luke, can I drive home?” Brayden asked innocently. “I really want to try this baby out!”

“Not tonight Bray, I don't trust you with my car in the dark. Maybe tomorrow when it's day time.”

“Wow harsh. You don't even trust your own brother with your car.” Carter and I laughed. We got in the car and I started driving. We got back to my house at around quarter to 9. We said goodnight to Carter as he got into his car to leave.

“It was good seeing you again, man!” Carter called out to Brayden from his car.

“Yea, you too, bud! Hangouts soon!” Brayden called back as he waved to his friend as he drove off.

“C'mon bro, let's get to bed, I'm exhausted.” I motioned for Brayden to follow me and we headed inside to our rooms, without a word.

~~~~~~~

The next morning, I awoke to the familiar smell of pancakes. I walked downstairs to find Brayden making breakfast.

“Since when did you learn to cook?” I said jokingly as I sat down at my kitchen table.

“Haha fuck you. You're lucky I even thought about making breakfast. You can not have any, you know.” Brayden snapped back at me. Man, he can sure be an asshole some days.

“Chill bro, I was just teasing you. You take things too seriously. Thank you for making breakfast, though.” He came over and set two plates down, one in front of me, and the other in front of him. It looked and tasted not bad for someone who couldn't cook if his life depended on it.

“Y'know, I saw this girl at the bar last night,” Brayden said after a long silence.

“Oh really?”

“Yea man, she was hot.” He put a lot of emphasis on the word 'hot'.

“Yea? What did she look like?” I had to know if this girl actually was hot or not, I mean, he could be bullshitting me.

“Well, she was hot, I can tell you that. She had long, brown hair, just past her shoulders and a nice body.” He started to smile. “I can't really say anything else because I only caught a glimpse of her, but I'm telling you, she was hot.” I could tell by the tone of his voice and his face that he knew I didn't believe him.

“Ok, bro, I got'cha.” I laughed at him. How could you tell if someone is attractive if you don't even get a good look at them?

“Whatever, don't believe me. She was hot though!”