Final Shift (Ice Enforcers #1)
Chapter 1
Jacob
“Bleurgh, I said snooze!” Jacob snapped, his voice croaking and a dull thud in his head as he gave his alarm clock one final voice command to shut the hell up. “Okay, one last chance… snooze!”
But for whatever reason, Jacob’s alarm clock wasn’t playing ball.
As far as Jacob was concerned, there was only one thing for it. With a flick of his wrist, Jacob pitched up the small beanbag on his bedside table and fired it directly toward the alarm clock on the opposite side of the room.
“Jacob Gosling is on fire!” Jacob beamed, the beanbag hitting the alarm clock dead center and knocking it off the shelf and onto the floor. “Now time to get back to dreamland and all those meaty dicks…”
However, Jacob’s hopes of going back to sleep were soon dashed.
No sooner than he had knocked the alarm clock off its perch, but the dreaded snooze alarm came back on. Jacob may have wanted to lie in bed for longer, but the world was pretty much telling him that this just wasn’t going to happen.
“I could keep fighting you, but some battles I just can’t win,” Jacob said, his bleary eyes beginning to focus again. “Fuck it. It’s time to rise and shine.”
It was 8:30AM and Jacob knew that the chances of him getting into work on time were pretty low. Still, that wasn’t going to stop Jacob from making sure that he did his morning routine.
Fruit and oat milk drink? Check.
Choco-crunch protein bar? Check.
Two liter water flask? Urgh. Check.
Jacob may have been twenty-one years old, but he still had to be convinced of the benefits of drinking so much water. Jacob liked flavor, color, and preferably lots and lots of sugar and sweetness too.
Jacob took a long gulp from his water flask and looked around his penthouse apartment. It may have been gifted to him for the duration of his playing contract, but Jacob had spent a small fortune on getting the décor just how he wanted it.
Large, colorful couches and super-soft carpets made Jacob’s place perfect for playing with his vast selection of toys, games, and the latest tech. In many ways, the apartment was just like the kind of dream home Jacob would have conjured in his head back when he was a child.
Jacob had even modified one of the guest bedrooms and turned it into a perfect arts and crafts room where he could paint, make craft, and get creative to his heart’s desires.
This might not have been the kind of apartment you’d typically expect a red-hot ice hockey talent to live in, but Jacob wasn’t like everyone else. Just like his rare talent on the ice, Jacob was a unique individual off the ice too.
Jacob Gosling was the league’s most talked about prospect, and he had been duly rewarded with a substantial contract by his team, the Toronto Enforcers.
It wasn’t unknown for rookies to be given big contracts, especially those perceived as being the most talented in that year’s draft.
But Jacob had been in demand to the point where it felt like he could have asked for anything and he would have been given it.
It wasn’t merely Jacob’s skill on the ice that made his signature so in demand.
With his cropped blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, Jacob was the perfect young hockey pinup for marketing and corporate purposes.
Girls and boys wanted Jacob’s poster on their wall, and sponsors would pay big money to him and the Enforcers to secure his image rights.
With several franchises all making serious offers to sign him up, Jacob could have gone in any direction and still come out smelling of roses.
In the end, it was the Enforcers who offered Jacob the best deal, and there was just something about the franchise that made Jacob feel like it was the right move for him. The Enforcers had an edge to them, something that made them a little bit different – just like Jacob himself.
Oh, and the fact that the Enforcers management had given Jacob such a great apartment to sweeten the deal was pretty awesome too. With enhanced twenty-four hour security, Jacob felt safe and secure to be exactly who he wanted to be in the safety of his home.
Being in the public eye, Jacob wanted to know that behind closed doors he was able to indulge in all of his passions without fear of his privacy being invaded.
And after employing an interior designer who trustworthy and discreet, Jacob was delighted with the outcome.
Everything in the apartment was on point, even down to the Anime inspired decorations and art that popped up across the place.
But as much as Jacob enjoyed life in his apartment, he was no homebody.
Jacob enjoyed parties, fun, and staying out all night.
In fact, despite only being at the Enforcers for a few months, Jacob had already developed a reputation as one of the city’s biggest party boys. If there was a club opening, movie premiere, or any kind of glitzy event going on, it was a pretty damn good bet that Jacob would be there.
“I’m young, dumb, and full of… what’s the word?” Jacob laughed, picking up his phone and scrolling through all the photos from the night before.
Jacob couldn’t remember what time he had arrived home, only that his butt was still tingling from a double spanking at the hands of two seriously hunky guys at Paddle Palace, the monthly late night party that was hosted downtown.
The spanking had been fun – and it had certainly given Jacob’s peachy cheeks a winter warmup. But Jacob would have gladly swapped out the two handsome strangers dishing out the punishment for one man who he was truly connected with.
Jacob smiled as he thought back to the additional fun after the spanking had finished and then took the last gulp of his milk.
Two big-cocked guy can be serious fun.
Twice the man, double the dick hehe.
But… is there a special one out there for me?
Jacob sighed. He still felt tired, and it would be a while before Jacob felt fully freshened up. Still, it was nothing that a quick shower wouldn’t help to set right.
And once Jacob was done freshening himself up, it was time to get his superstar of hockey butt over to the Toronto Enforcers training complex. This morning’s physio session was going to be very interesting indeed…
* * *
The Enforcers training complex was situated in Pine Rise, a leafy suburb just on the outer reaches of the city. Only a twenty minute drive away in good traffic, Jacob really had no excuses for ever being late.
But having no excuses didn’t mean that Jacob wasn’t just going to be late regardless.
“Another early start I see,” the security guard said, winking at Jacob knowingly as Jacob entered the training center via the side entrance. “Or should that be late night?”
“You know me too well,” Jacob fired back, shaking the security guard’s hand and doing his best to go unnoticed as he walked down the corridor and toward the relative safety of the physiotherapy room.
After some unexpected traffic on the way in, Jacob was even later for practice than he had anticipated. But Jacob didn’t think it was such a big deal. The opening few games of the season had seen Jacob hit his stride and prove to be an invaluable player for the Enforcers already.
Usually playing on the right wing, Jacob had been covering center due to the injury enforced absence of the Enforcers’ legendary Tane Rivers. But rather than struggling to deal with playing in a slightly less natural position, Jacob had actually found himself relishing his new role.
In fact, Jacob was beginning to set his sights on keeping his central position in the offence even when Tane Rivers returned from injury.
After all, Tane was a veteran player and there was no guarantee that he would return from his serious injury as the same player – and that was if he returned to the ice at all.
“Yo, Ricki!” Jacob said, full of bravado as he entered the physio room. “Quick massage before practice?”
Jacob was doing his best to hide the effects of his late night fun.
With a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, and a big smile, Jacob was hoping that his physio and newfound friend wouldn’t try and give him any heat for being out late on a school night.
Jacob wasn’t so lucky…
“You can take the glasses off, Jacob,” Ricki said, shaking his head. “You must have been having a good time last night if you can’t remember talking to me just before midnight at Paddle Palace.”
“Ummm…. oh… riiiight,” Jacob said, desperately trying to recall speaking to Ricki the previous night. “Yeah, totally.”
But Jacob’s pretenses weren’t fooling anyone.
Before he knew it, both Jacob and Ricki were bursting into laughter and giving one another a welcome hug.
“Of course I can give you a quick massage,” Ricki said, his kind brown eyes and shoulder length chestnut brown hair looking as rich with color as ever. “Lower back still giving you a little niggle?”
Jacob nodded and removed his t-shirt.
“Yeah, it’s been getting worse,” Jacob said, climbing up onto the massage table. “But it’s no big deal. I’m still hitting the numbers in matches, so who cares right? I’m young, I’m flying, nothing’s going to stop me. And certainly not some silly niggle.”
Jacob was lying face down on the massage table but could tell that Ricki was disapproving of his attitude toward injury.
“Just say it,” Jacob said, a hint of mischief in his voice. “Tell me what a silly boy I am.”
“You already know, what a silly boy you are” Ricki laughed. “We might both love to party, but you’re more than welcome to the sass and the risk taking. I’m the safety-first kinda guy, you know? I don’t have the superstar salary to fall back on when shit hits the fan.”
The two friends laughed again and Ricki set about working out the tension in Jacob’s lower back.
“Just say if it’s uncomfortable at any point,” Ricki said, kneading his hands harder and working out the tension as best he could.
“Will do,” Jacob replied. “After the spanking I took last night, this is easy.”