Stick Handling
A North City Mammoths Novel
by Jace Wilder
📖 Free with Kindle Unlimited
Pairing: MM
Heat: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Inferno
Series: North City Mammoths #1
Tropes: Age Gap, Forced Proximity, Grumpy/Sunshine, Enemies to Lovers, Praise Kink, Touch Him and Die
Control the puck. Control your temper. Control your pleasure. When one scandal too many lands rookie Jax Rydell in his team captain’s spare bedroom, the only thing more dangerous than their rivalry is the heat building between them.
Jax Rydell has everything going for him—second-overall draft pick, famous hockey father, and enough talent to be a star. But behind the cocky grin is a man running from his own shadow, using parties and performances to hide who he really is.
When one scandal too many lands him in his team captain’s spare bedroom, Jax expects lectures, drills, and disapproval. What he doesn’t expect is Elias “Thorne” Thorne—the thirty-four-year-old captain with eyes like ice and walls higher than any he’s encountered.
Elias has spent twenty years hiding. Hiding his desires. Hiding his loneliness. Hiding behind a legacy that’s never felt like enough. The last thing he needs is a mouthy rookie turning his carefully controlled life upside down.
But when midnight conversations turn into stolen touches, and stolen touches turn into something neither can deny, both men must face the question that could destroy everything:
Is love worth the risk of losing it all?
You’ll love this if you enjoy:
✓ Grumpy captain x sunshine rookie
✓ Age gap with power dynamics (34/21)
✓ Forced proximity roommates
✓ “Touch him and I’ll end you” protectiveness
✓ Praise kink and surrender
✓ Coming out journey with team support
✓ Public declaration at center ice
✓ Guaranteed HEA with wedding epilogue
⚠️ Content Warning
This book contains explicit MM sexual content including praise kink, D/s dynamics, and detailed intimate scenes. Themes include parental emotional abuse, closeted athletes dealing with internalized homophobia, on-ice violence, and characters navigating coming out publicly. All intimate scenes feature enthusiastic consent.
Reader discretion advised. This book is intended for mature audiences only.
💬 Notable Quotes
“I love you, you asshole. I’ve loved you since you broke your stick… since you made me believe I could be enough.”
“Some things are worth more than cups and trophies.”
“Kiss me, Captain.”
📖 Read Chapter One Free
Chapter One: Rock Bottom
The video had forty-seven million views by the time Jax Rydell woke up.
He stared at his phone through gritty eyes, the screen brightness turned down to its lowest setting, and watched himself make the worst decision of his twenty-one years on this planet. Again. The clip was only thirty-eight seconds long, but it contained enough material to end his career three times over.
First: the stumble out of the club, arm slung around some guy whose face was blurred in the reshares but crystal clear in the original. Second: the middle finger to the photographer who’d caught them. Third—and this was the part that made Jax want to crawl into a hole and die—the slurred declaration that Coach Hartley could “shove his curfew up his ancient ass.”
Jax had been in the NHL for exactly four months. He was a second-overall draft pick with a famous father and a PR team that cost more than most people’s houses. And somehow, he had managed to become the league’s biggest liability in a single drunken night.
Dad is going to kill me.
The thought came with a familiar twist of anxiety in his gut. Rick Rydell—four-time Stanley Cup champion, Hockey Hall of Famer, and the most demanding father in the history of demanding fathers—had been waiting for Jax to fail since the moment he’d been drafted…
…
🔥 Want an EXCLUSIVE Bonus Chapter?
“The Captain’s Reward” — A scene TOO HOT for Amazon
The night after the Cup parade. The Stanley Cup sits on the kitchen counter. And Elias finally shows Jax exactly how thoroughly the captain can reward good behavior. Features praise kink unleashed, “hands on the headboard,” and a celebration that goes all night long.
More MM Hockey Romance
Puck You
Chicago Sentinels #1
Power Play
Chicago Cobras #1
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this book part of a series?
Stick Handling is Book 1 in the North City Mammoths series—standalone romances connected by team. Each book features a different couple and can be read in any order. Complete HEA guaranteed!
How spicy is this book?
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 — This is a 5/5 heat level book with 7 explicit scenes throughout. Features include praise kink, light D/s dynamics, possessive claiming, and a captain who knows exactly how to take control.
Is there a happily ever after?
Absolutely! Elias and Jax get their HEA complete with a Stanley Cup win, public kiss at center ice, proposal, and wedding epilogue. No cliffhangers!
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