Jacob smiled and gave a thumbs up in return to Tane. The prospect of hanging out with Tane outside of official Enforcers time was exciting. Jacob didn’t know for sure how Tane saw the situation, but for Jacob it felt good.
As Jacob watched Tane bark orders at some of the other players, Jacob realized that despite coming over as having a stick up hisbutt when they first met, Tane was coming from a good place – even if it took a spanking to break the ice between them.
With the prospect of a hangout with Tane for coffeeto come, Jacob refocused his energies on the final training drills and was determined to go even harder and give it everything he had until Coach Tremaine called him.
And Jacob wasn’t just going to see to it that he gave it his all, he was going to encourage his fellow players too.
“Yo let’s go guys,” Jacob said, hustling his team mates along. “The more we put in today, the greater the reward on match day.”
Jacob’s teammates all responded well to his rallying call, and the intensity and focus in the final drill was on point. Jacob even noticed that Tane, Connor, and Alex broke away from their warm down to check out the action.
Jacob knew that fully winning over the senior players wasn’t going to happen in one training session. But any progress was good, and Jacob was determined to keep it up and reap the rewards.
Suddenly, Chas was beginning to realize that training didn’t have to be quite so much of a drag as he’d always imagined to be. That said, the sooner he was sinking a coffee the better…
* * *
Fresh from his shower and a quick drive from Pine Rise into the city, Jacob stepped along the street toward the coffee spot.
Ever since moving to Toronto, Jacob had been totally in love with the vast array of coffee spots in the city. He might haveloved nighttime partying and getting wild, but that didn’t mean that his growing love of coffee was any less important to him. Far from it, in fact.
Jacob stepped through the glass and metal striped door and took a moment to take in the sights and sounds that made Roast Days such a wonderful place.
With the elegant décor and perfectly retro furnishings, there was something super-comforting and safe about Roast Days. In a sense, it reminded Jacob of childhood – albeit now he was old enough to order whatever he wanted on the menu and not have to worry if he wanted to order a second coffee or even go all out crazy and get a coffee milkshake.
But Jacob’s daydreams were soon interrupted…
“Hey, Jacob, good to see you,” Harry said, jumping over the counter to give Jacob a warm embrace. “Great game last week by the way. Me and
Silas were watching on the TV at home, but We’ll come to the stadium for the next game for sure.”
“Hey, I’ll fix you up with some free tickets,” Jacob said, smiling as Harry’s wild mop of blonde and blue hair bounced all over the place like a shaggy dog’s furry coat.
“Well that sounds like a great offer,” Silas said, his burly frame emerging from the kitchen area. “And in return, how about a free milkshake or two?”
Silas was Harry’s man and together the pair of them were a great combination. They were always full of laughter, jokes, and of course the most delightful coffee and milkshakes in the whole city.
“Let me think about it…yes please!” Jacob laughed, pointing up to the menu on the wall and selecting his favorite coffee fudge milkshake. “And for Tane I think I’ll choose…”
“Hey, boy, no one chooses my drink except for me,” Tane said, entering Roast Days and immediately making his presence felt. “But I might make an exception just this once.”
“Good to see you Tane,” Silas said, leaning over the counter and shaking hands with Tane. “I’m thinking the Enforcers are all set with you two combining on the ice now you’re back from injury.”
“We’ll see, I just need to keep this young man under control,” Tane chuckled. “But don’t bet against us going all the way.”
Jacob blushed and rapidly scanned his eyes across all of the options.
Figuring that Tane wouldn’t want anything too sweet or overloaded with colorful extras, Jacob decided to go for the Oreo Extravaganza milkshake with a triple shot of espresso for good measure.
“Good choice,” Tane said. “You’re growing on me, Jacob. Come on, let’s take a seat.”
With that, Jacob walked alongside Tane over toward the table next to the window. Jacob still didn’t know exactly how to define what was going on between him and Tane, but whatever it was, it felt good.
And with two super-caffeinated milkshakes due to arrive soon, Jacob was full of confidence that this could be an afternoon to remember.
Chapter 8
Tane
