Free Audiobook: Tough Guy (Game Changers Series, Book 3), by Rachel Reid

A gentle enforcer, a second chance in the city

Pro hockey player Ryan Price has spent years being the tough guy on the ice, dropping his gloves whenever coaches and teammates demanded it. Off the rink, though, he lives with anxiety and a growing sense that the game he once loved has stopped loving him back. When a trade brings him to the Toronto Guardians and a small apartment in the city’s LGBTQ Village, he hopes a quieter life might help him breathe again.

What he does not expect is Fabian Salah. The last time Ryan saw Fabian they were teenagers, circling each other around a nearly shared kiss that neither of them ever forgot. Now Fabian is an aspiring musician who wants nothing to do with hockey, but he is very interested in the shy, ginger bearded defenseman who shows up at his local café. Their reunion quickly turns into late night walks, music gigs and the kind of easy companionship Ryan has been missing for years.

As Fabian guides Ryan through Toronto’s queer spaces and his own emotions, their connection deepens into a relationship that feels solid and real. Yet every road trip and every on ice fight reminds Ryan of the role that is breaking him down. To build a future with Fabian, he may need to rethink what toughness truly looks like and decide whether holding on to his job is worth more than the happiness he has finally started to find.