Chapter 4
Tane
The three Toronto veterans found themselves in one of their favorite haunts in the whole city, just like they often did after a big victory.
The bar was called The Rocks, and while it may not have been a celebrity hangout it certainly did come out tops in terms of refinement, privacy, and the best whisky in the city.
Tane, Alex, and Connor held their drinks aloft and toasted to the team, and to one another too. But the third and final toast was for Tane himself…
“The king is back, and back in motherfucking style,” Alex said, a look of affection in his eyes as he held his whisky glass up.
“Back to fitness, back on form, and the playoffs are there for us to smash,” Connor added, thumping his chest with one hand as he raised his glass with the other.
The three men cheered and took a sip of their vintage liquor.
With its classy lighting and low key members club vibe, The Rocks was somewhere that Tane felt like he could let go the burden of being team captain. While Tane loved the responsibility of being the team’s longtime figurehead, he also knew that he needed time to simply be himself.
But hockey was never far from Tane’s mind, especially now that he knew the clock was ticking down toward the end of his glorious career.
“So… I’m thinking we can seriously challenge this season,” Tane said. “I’m talking playoffs. I’m talking winning the whole damn thing.”
“Hell yeah,” Connor said. “With you back, we’ve got the perfect balance. But…”
“Don’t say it,” Tane said, knowing full well that Connor was going to bring up Jacob Gosling. “Just don’t say his name…”
“Ha!” Connor laughed. “The kid’s got talent. Fuck, he’s got more talent in one hand then I do in my whole body. But what he doesn’t have is team spirit. He who must not be named is a brat. And brats don’t work for the team. They play for themselves.”
Tane knew that there was much truth in what Connor was saying.
But what Tane also knew was that Jacob was young. Sudden fame and money could be an unsettling thing for a young man to deal with. And it was more than possible that Jacob was struggling to deal with his new status, no matter how cocky and full of himself that he seemed from the outside looking in.
Still, Tane also knew that it was bad for any sporting team to have a player in its ranks who wasn’t working toward a shared goal.
Tane had seen it countless times in his career.
All it took was one negative player to disrupt a season, or in some cases tear a franchise apart and set them back years.
Jacob needed a strong man to guide him, Tane didn’t doubt that for a second.
But the fact that Antonio Cardini had stepped in and made the Cardini family’s wishes very clear to Tane added a level to this game that made Tane uncomfortable.
It was one thing acting like a team captain and leader and guiding a young player toward a better outlook.
But with the pressure of a notorious Mafia family weighing down on the situation, it was far from ideal.
“It’s the family, right?” Alex said, noting how deep in thought Tane appeared to be. “They’ve said something to you about the boy?”
Tane nodded.
While it was an open secret amongst players that the Cardini family were serious people who you simply did not cross, there was an unspoken agreement that any public talk about them was kept to an absolute minimum.
Tane knew that the Cardini family had a far reach, and it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that they were operating a network of street spies across the city.
Some players felt like this was just a little bit too far on the side of paranoia, but Tane felt certain that the Cardini family would stop at nothing to make sure that their franchise was run with just as much ruthlessness as their other business interests.
“So… that’s a yes then?” Alex said, quickly looking around to check that no one was obviously listening in to them.
“Whatever they’re asking you to do, jut tread carefully Tane.
This is your last season. I think I speak for me and Connor when we say that we both want you to get out of this game alive. ”
“Thanks,” Tane said, a wry smile on his face. “It’s good. Don’t worry about me.”
But just as he was speaking, Tane noticed his cellphone flash up a message from none other than Antonio Cardini…
ANTONIO: Lux Lounge. The boy is acting the fool. He’s alone. You should be there, remember what we talked about.
“Well, what do you know,” Tane said, shaking his head. “It’s looks like we’ve managed to manifest an appearance from the Cardini family via instant message. Fuck. I need to go.”
“You want us to come with you?” Connor said, ready to stand and leave with Tane.
“No, it’s fine,” Tane replied. “You two stay out and have some fun. This is something I need to do by myself.”
Tane bade a quick farewell to his friends and headed out of The Rocks.
It was time to find Jacob Gosling and extricate him from whatever mess he was about to make for himself…
* * *
After a speedy drive of a few blocks, Tane thanked his driver and told him to wait just around the corner. Tane had called one of his doorman friends at Lux Lounge and apparently Jacob had indeed been starting to cause consternation with his behavior.
This wasn’t good.
Tane knew that the last thing the Cardini family wanted was any kind of negative press. If Jacob was indeed acting the fool, the likelihood was that at some point he would push things too far and could end up brawling with some other partygoers, or worse… the police could get involved.
As Tane strode toward the club, he saw a message pop up from his contact at Lux Lounge. Apparently Jacob had just left a few moments ago and was looking seriously the worse for wear.
“That damn boy,” Tane grumbled, suddenly furious that his night was being taken over by his wayward teammate.
The truth was that Tane had felt an undeniable attraction to Jacob.
Tane had initially reasoned that it was probably just a physical thing, but there was something extra about Jacob that Tane just couldn’t shake.
Of course, there was no way in hell that Tane was going to do anything about this attraction.
It would not be looked upon very positively by the Cardini family for starters.
But equally, Tane knew that inter-team relationships came with so many complications and potential pitfalls that it was really asking for trouble.
No, Tane would deal with Jacob in the most professional and reasoned way possible. Tane was the team captain, the elder statesman, and apparently also now a Mafia spy…
“There he is, the silly boy,” Tane muttered, noticing Jacob wandering aimlessly toward the road crossing with his head buried deep in his phone. “I’m assuming he’s going to look up at some point. But what the hell is that SUV doing though…”
Tane walked quicker with each step before breaking out into a full-on sprint.
If Tane didn’t know better, the SUV headed toward Jacob was doing so with the intention of hitting him. And the boy hadn’t even noticed it at all. As far as Tane was concerned, this could get extremely ugly very quickly indeed…
Fortunately for both Tane and Jacob, Tane got to the boy in time and literally swept him off his feet and away to safety. After checking that Jacob was okay, Tane called his driver and soon enough they were both safely in the back seat of Tane’s town car and headed back to his house.
But as a clearly shocked Jacob nestled up to Tane, Tane’s mind was whirring with possibilities…
Who the hell was in that SUV?
Some drunk asshole?
Or could it have been… the Cardini family?
* * *
“You’ve got a nice big house,” Jacob said. “I bet you’ve got other big things too.”
“And I’d bet that you’re absolutely way too drunk,” Tane said, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Here, drink some of this.”
Tane handed Jacob a small mug of warm milk with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.
“Thank you,” Jacob said, blushing. “But warm milk? Really?”
“Trust me. And… you’re welcome,” Tane replied.
They were sitting in the large kitchen of Tane’s house. With its granite kitchen units and sleek design, it was very much exactly the kind of kitchen that Tane had always dreamed of. It was macho, but practical too.
“How are you feeling?” Tane said, taking a seat next to Jacob on the smart couch that ran underneath the floor to ceiling window with views out onto the dark streets outside.
“Tired,” Jacob replied, his eyelids drooping.
“Okay, I know I said we’d give you a bath,” Tane said.
“But maybe that can wait until the morning. I think what you need is a nice sleep. I’ve got the guestroom on the first floor that you can sleep in.
It’s got its own private bathroom too. You should be able to get some rest. How does that sound? ”
Jacob nodded.
“Okay, finish off your milk and I’ll show you to your room,” Tane said, smiling for the first time in what felt like hours.
“Thank you,” Jacob said, a slight reddening in his cheeks. “This milk is… nice.”
Tane could sense that Jacob was a good kid beneath all the bravado and over exuberance. But that didn’t mean that he was about to give Jacob a free pass for his bad behavior. No, Tane could see that what Jacob needed was some firm guidance – the kind that only a real alpha could give.
But all of that could wait.
It was time to take the boy to bed and let him sleep it off.
Tomorrow would be a new day, and a much better time for Tane to see if he could convince Jacob that it was in everyone’s best interests for him to curb his enthusiasm for life just a bit.
In less than fifteen minutes, Jacob was snugly wrapped up in bed and Tane could even hear him snoring from down the corridor. It was cute, there was no denying it.
In fact, with so much pent up energy inside his body, Tane decided that what he needed was a nice, late-night bath.
Tane walked into his master suite and shut the door behind him. Before long, he was naked and easing his aching body into a bathtub full of hot water and relaxing bath salts.
“I’m getting too old for this game,” Tane said, noting how stiff his back felt and how deep the purple and green bruises on his body looked. “But… I love this fucking game too much to not give it my all.”
But for once, Tane’s mind wasn’t on hockey for long.
As the bath salts worked their magic, Tane felt his cock hardening as thoughts of Jacob flowed through his mind. Yes, Chain was a giant pain in the ass, but he was so damn sexy too.
Tane began to stroke his thick, long cock and it was rock-hard in a matter of seconds.
There was something about the mischief in Jacob’s ocean blue eyes that made Tane’s entire mind and body react. Due to Jacob storming out of the locker room earlier, Tane hadn’t seen him naked – but that wasn’t about to stop his imagination running wild with its own ideas.
A slender waist.
A small but strong butt.
Flexible, bendable legs that could…
“Oh, fuck,” Tane groaned, shooting a hot load over himself as he thrust his hips above the hot bath water.
Tane hadn’t intended on climaxing so quickly. But there was simply something about Jacob that was clearly incredibly stimulating to Tane. The boy was trouble, but he was all kinds of sexy.
What Tane needed to figure out now was precisely how he was going to handle his clear attraction to Jacob and not jeopardize either the team’s success or his own life if the Cardini family suspected something was going on between them.
“Looks like I’m all set for plenty of late night bathgasms…” Tane chuckled, seeing the funny side. “And now I think it’s time to haul my old ass to bed.”
Tane knew that when morning came, he would need to give Jacob a clear warning about his future conduct. But right now all he cared about was taking himself off to his emperor sized bed, popping a pain pill, and putting some rest and recuperation into his aching thirty-eight year old body.