Tough Guy (Game Changers, #3)

by Rachel Reid

So maybe it was suddenly acceptable for an NHL player to have a boyfriend, but Ryan suspected that hockey players were expected to have a certain type of boyfriend.

Interesting...

Fabian’s parents had housed members of the Halifax Breakers junior hockey team for years. Young Fabian had always resented it, and had actively avoided interacting with the obnoxious jocks who’d invaded his home every winter.

No wonder he hates hockey

Fabian’s friends had a semi-regular Sunday tradition that they affectionately called Bargain Brunch. The three major components were: frozen waffles, cheap skin masks from the drugstore, and gossip. Everyone brought a topping that they thought would elevate the frozen waffles to haute cuisine.

Oh that sounds amazing

It wasn’t unusual for young players to challenge him to fights; Ryan was known to be one of the toughest fighters in the league. A youngster could quickly earn a little respect by challenging him.

Oh the inhumanity of this - seen as a trophy versus as a complete human being

But fighting was all his teammates expected of him, and if he didn’t get perfunctory acknowledgments for punching people, Ryan would never hear praise at all.

Oof

Everyone in the room was dressed casually, but in a way that suggested their outfits had been carefully put together.

But he was still a hockey player, and Fabian had been very glad to eliminate all traces of hockey from his life as soon as he’d moved to Toronto to start university over a decade ago.

I mean it is honestly kind of ridiculous - but again, didn't have the best experiences as a kid and so makes it a bigger deal than it is as an adult... still, if this is the major conflict I'm glad that I checked this out from the library.

“I will. And thank you, Ryan, for helping. You seem like a great guy.” She glared at Fabian when she said those last words.

So she hasn't actually spoken to Ryan at all (she was flirting with the bartendress) so clearly a dig at Fabian.

“You’re an idiot. And Claude and I are not together.” “Your mouths were together last week,” Tarek pointed out.

So like the best part of this book are the side characters?

He discovered, as he was telling Ryan about one of the pubs that usually showed hockey on the big screens, he didn’t particularly like the idea of Ryan hooking up with other men. But that was ridiculous.

Correct

Ryan had no beef with Rozanov. He’d played with him in Boston—had won the Stanley Cup with him, in fact—and while they hadn’t exactly been friends, Rozanov had always been nice enough to him. He was the opposite of Ryan in almost every way—flashy, and confident to the point of being obnoxious—but Ryan respected him.

Have to throw in that Ilya cameo

But Fabian, for whatever reason, gave Ryan the impression that he enjoyed his company. He didn’t seem to notice or care that Ryan was starved for the light Fabian radiated effortlessly. He didn’t know that, if he got too close, Ryan would no doubt extinguish that light and drag him down into the shadows with him.

“Fuck this stupid piece of shit door! There.” He pushed it open, and Ryan followed him in.

That's the second time they've mentioned the door, it has to be important later

I’d rather struggle to do what I love than devote myself to something I hate.”

Don't know how I feel about that... I mean, I like the idea, but you can't sell out if you can't sell anything.

But being good enough does not obligate us to take those jobs. It’s okay to use your talent to create happiness rather than wealth. It’s okay to not use your talent at all!

She took a sip of latte, her face scrunched in concentration. “He’s scared,” she decided.

Yeah the side characters are way more entertaining

He couldn’t pinpoint the moment when he’d given up completely on himself, but he missed thinking he might be somebody worth talking to. Worth touching.

He couldn’t be with a man if he only allowed himself to see the best parts of him.

“Traded?” Ryan asked miserably. “Where?”

First time it's somebody else being traded - but sets up the book where somebody else is in Ottawa. I still think he's going to retire at the end of the year and do something else, even though we've now got information about hockey being fun again.

Spending the holiday safe and alone in his apartment rather than dealing with planes and travel and over-interested neighbors was a much more appealing option.

Yeah he's depressed

But Ryan was managing both the anxiety and the back pain just fine. He couldn’t expect Fabian to understand the demands of professional hockey.

“Hockey is all I am!” Ryan shouted back. It was the loudest Fabian had ever heard him speak, and it startled him.

“I don’t know why you do that. You seem to think I’m better than I actually am. I can’t be the person you have in your head.”

Despite what he had promised Fabian during their fight, Ryan could feel himself developing a dependence on drugs.

Reefer Madness undertones - but also showing how they don't really care about the players and that hockey is a product

He heard Wyatt exhale and then say, “He died. They found him yesterday. At home. It looks like suicide by overdose.”

The drugs feel very shoehorned in - I wish that this had been something that had been part of the story earlier, even if just minorly in the background.

Ryan found a seat in the back row and tried to swallow his anger. It was like Harvey had never existed. He’d given everything he had to hockey, and when there was nothing left, hockey had abandoned him. He didn’t even seem to have many friends or family here, and maybe that was what happened when you were a miserable addict everyone feared.

Yeah this I vibe with - we know that Ryan is replacable because he's traded every year and has never really stuck anywhere for super long. This is kind of the payoff and he realizes that because he's not "famous" for hockey that he's just a product who will be abandoned by everybody else once he outlives his usefulness - this was basically the entire point of the scene with his new coach at the beginning of the book.

“You should ask Scott Hunter then.” He made a face. “Maybe.” They walked back to their vehicles in silence. As Ilya was unlocking his Mercedes SUV, he said, “Find something that makes you happy, Price. Hold on to it.”

lol why is it up to Ilya to save the day?