Pucking Around

PUCKING AROUND JACKSONVILLE RAYS HOCKEY #1 EMILY RATH CONTENTS Author’s Note Tropes, Tags, & Content Warnings Meet The Rays Finnish Words & Phrases Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Epilogue Thank You Leave A Review Also by Emily Rath About the Author Copyright © 2023 Emily Rath Books. All rights reserved. First published in 2023. Rath, Emily PUCKING AROUND No part of this book may be reproduced, circulated, stored, in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means other than which it is published without the prior permission of the publisher. All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental. eBook ASIN: B0BPVJ4RVR eBook ISBN: 979-8-9877933-1-2 Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9877933-2-9 Cover Design by: Maldo Designs Consider this my love letter to #hockeyromancetok Oh…and to any NHL equipment managers reading this—all the unhinged daddy energy is specifically dedicated to you. AUTHOR’S NOTE This story starts with a spicy prequel novella called THAT ONE NIGHT. While you can definitely read this book without reading the prequel, you’ll be missing a bit of character development between Rachel and Jake. If you’re not going to read the prequel (or if you just need a refresher), here’s what happened: Two months ago, Rachel was in Seattle for her brother’s wedding She meets Jake Compton in the bar of her hotel and they have an instant connection They share one passionate night and have tons of great sex Jake begs for her name and wants her to stay longer In the morning, Rachel leaves without waking Jake This story starts two months after that one night. Enjoy! XO, Emily TROPES, TAGS, & CONTENT WARNINGS TROPES Hockey romance, ‘why choose’, friends to lovers, instalove TAGS MF, MM, MMF, MFM, MMFM, hockey romance, romantic comedy, instalove, friends to lovers, queer awakening, too much sex, don’t poke the bear, golden retriever, everyone has tattoos, baby girl, bend over, daddy, Finnish 101 CONTENT WARNINGS This book contains some themes that may be distressing to readers including one family’s history of receiving harassment, vicious bullying linked to homophobia, and a brief discussion of a family member’s attempt to unalive. More than one main character has a history of substance abuse; one went to rehab for treatment (discussed, not shown). A main character also has a history with disordered eating (briefly discussed as part of their past). This book contains detailed two-, three-, and four-person sex scenes that include elements of impact play, choking, voyeurism, bondage, double penetration, double vaginal penetration, toy use, degradation, dom/sub, spit play, snowballing, and breeding kink. STAR SIGNS RACHEL: Cancer (water): intuitive, emotional, guarded ILMARI: Aries (fire): bold, ambitious, temperamental JAKE: Taurus (earth): focused, sensual, steadfast CALEB: Sagittarius (fire): adventurous, adaptable, blunt MEET THE RAYS PLAYERS Compton, Jake (#42): defenseman Davidson, Tyler (#65): backup goalie Gerard, Jean-Luc “J Lo” (#6): defenseman Hanner, Paul (#24): defenseman Karlsson, Henrik (#17): forward Kinnunen, Ilmari “Mars” (#31): goalie Langley, Ryan (#20): forward Morrow, Cole (#3): defenseman Novikov, Lukas “Novy” (#22): defenseman O’Sullivan, Josh “Sully” (#19): forward Perry, David “DJ” (#13): forward Walsh, Cade (#10): forward COACHES Andrews, Brody: Assistant Coach Johnson, Harold “Hodge”: Head Coach Tomlin, Eric: Goalie Coach TEAM SUPPORT Gordon, Jerry: Equipment Manager Sanford, Caleb: Equipment Manager MEDICAL SUPPORT Avery, Todd: Director of Physical Therapy Jacobs, Hillary: Team Nurse O’Shay, Teddy: PT intern Price, Rachel: Barkley Fellow Tyler, Scott: Team Doctor OPERATIONS/MANAGEMENT Francis, Vicki: Operations Manager Ortiz, Claribel: Social Media Manager St. James, Poppy: Public Relations Director FINNISH WORDS & PHRASES En voi elää ilman sua/I can’t live without you Haluun tätä/I want this Joo/Yes Kulta/Sweetie Leijona/Lioness Mä haluun sut/I want you Mä kuulun sulle/I belong to you Mä rakastan sua/I love you Mä tuun/I’m coming Mennään naimisiin/Marry me Mitä helvettiä/What the hell? Mitä vittua/What the fuck? Mun leijona/My lioness Niin mäkin sua/I love you too No niin/*Versatile meanings Oon sun/I’m yours Oot kaunis, rakas/You are beautiful, darling Oot niin timmi/You are tight Rakas/Darling Saatana/Goddamn it Suksi vittuun/Get the fuck out (literally: ski into a cunt) Tule tänne/Come here Vain sun/Only yours Voi helvetti/Oh, hell 1 “RACHEL!” I groan, not ready to open my eyes and face the truth. It’s morning. Again. And I’m officially going to murder my roommate Tess…just as soon as I remember how eyelids work. Why did I let her talk me into going out last night? Because you’re twenty-seven and single, girl. Live your damn life! I can hear her voice echoing in my head along with the steady thump thump thump of last night’s dance music. I’m pretty sure there was drinking last night. What else explains why my tongue feels superglued to the roof of my mouth? Oh god—I think I’m gonna be sick. I’m getting too old for this. I can’t bounce back like I could when I was