Page 88 of On Thin Ice

“It actually helps me to see how you move. How you prepare for each shot,” Finn said. “Might’ve watched about a thousand hours of YouTube footage. You, and a bunch of other goalies. But you were always my favorite.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Jacob said dryly. He straightened and pulled off his sweatshirt and then his T-shirt.

Finn grinned. “Yeah, can’t imagine why. Though I might’ve had a little—or a big—crush on Thatcher Demko, too.”

“Guess I should be relieved he’s married.” Jacob was not jealous; he wasnotjealous. So what if Thatcher Demko was six years younger than him? He was still not jealous.

At the height of his NHL career, he could’ve held his own against Demko or Fleury oranyone.

After all, there was a reason Morgan had been so pissed off at him. Because he wasgood.

“You don’t have anything to worry about.” Finn put a hand on his chest, curling his fingertips into his skin, and gazed up at Jacob’s face with the kind of worshipful affection that before last night had thrilled and worried him.

Now, after last night, he could tell himself:there could be worse people for Finn to admire.

“I wasn’tworried.” But he’d been something. He knew it. It seemed almost too good to be true that this young, hot guy with an incredible future laid out in front of him was interested in Jacob.

Moira would tell him that this worry stemmed directly from the false assumption that retirement meant your life was over, not that it was just beginning.

He knew, because she’d literally just said those exact same goddamn words this afternoon, during their Zoom session.

“Sure,” Finn teased. “Kinda sounded like you were. Doing this for less than twenty-four hours and you’re already convinced I’m gonna go running after Thatcher Demko.”

“I think I’m safe, at least for now.” Jacob shook off the worry and shot Finn a look full of the confidence that still existed inside him. It might be diminished, but it still existed. “Time for me to show you how it’s done.”

Finn grinned with delight. “You know watching you do this last time was the best jerkoff material I’d had for months. Maybe evenyears.”

Jacob, more at home on skates than on his feet, nearly tripped. “Are you serious?”

Finn shot him a look full of heat. “Are you kidding? You’re so hot and so good and so . . .ugh.”

“What you’re really saying is hockey porn is a thing,” Jacob said, recovering and picking up his stick. Testing it in his grip.

“Uh,yeah.”

“So really, this is doing it for you in all kinds of ways.” Jacob discovered he liked that. He really fucking liked that.

“Yep,” Finn said with a nod. He positioned himself behind the puck machine as Jacob took his own position in the net.

He did one last stretch and then nodded at Finn.

This exercise wasn’t evereasy—Jacob did it because it was hard, because it pushed him, mentally and physically, to the edges of his limits. But somehow, knowing how Finn felt about it, how much he enjoyed watching and how much he got out of watching, it felt a little easier than normal.

Easy enough that he was actually able to point out some of his thought processes to Finn, who nodded at each comment with a serious expression and eyes full of heat.

It shouldn’t have been both.

But it was, and Jacob fucking ate it up, moving better now than he felt like he’d moved in ages.

“Damn,” Finn said when he deflected the last shot. “That was . . .justdamn. The hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jacob had worried when the last puck was gone, he’d feel it. And he did, the burn in his muscles, the way he’d pushed them pushing back, but it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.

His doctorhadsaid that with time he’d recover some maneuverability in the joint. That he might be able to stave off a hip replacement for another few years if he continued to keep himself active and in shape.

Probably Dr. Chandler hadn’t meant this kind of activityorthe other kind of activity he’d very enthusiastically participated in last night, but in the end it didn’t matter if it was jogging or weight lifting or fucking.

“Yeah,” Jacob agreed. He caught the water bottle Finn tossed him. Downed half of it.

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