3. Tommy

‘Danilo, I mean Mr. Doni,' Tommy said, nervously looking back toward Danilo as the menacing figure of Paolo walked down from the ledge and toward him. ‘I'm not sure if…'

But Tommy couldn't quite get his words out in time to even try and change what was happening. Before he knew it, he was walking alongside Olivier toward a door that led into another room.

‘Psst, I don't know about this,' Tommy said, trying to keep his voice down and not draw Paolo's attention. ‘I've got a bad feeling.'

‘Hey, just go with it,' Olivier replied, a little too loudly.

Paolo clearly heard the exchange and spun around to face the two Littles.

‘Tommy is right to be cautious,' Paolo said, a coldness in his voice that unsettled Tommy further. ‘And that's a good thing. A sniper always needs to be fully aware of his surroundings and any threats that might present themselves.'

Tommy didn't respond and instead looked around the new room they found themselves in. It was small and had a projector screen on one wall with a couple of low chairs and a small desk in the corner too. It was far from luxurious and barely welcoming either. In short, it very much fitted the bill for the academy's basement level so far.

‘You two, take a chair and sit down,' Paolo said, a slight gruffness to his voice as he made his way over toward the projector screen and turned it on, immediately illuminating his presence as he did so. ‘I'm going to run through what you can expect from me. And I'll also make it very clear precisely what I expect from you too.'

Tommy and Olivier did as Paolo asked and soon enough the pair of them were sitting attentively as Paolo began to talk.

It was clear that Olivier was listening to everything Paolo was saying, but Tommy was keen to try and read Paolo's body language too. There was something different about Paolo – something that Tommy couldn't quite put his finger on.

Paolo certainly did have a detached and aloof air to him, but Tommy sensed that there might be a slither of warmness underneath his cold exterior. It was only a hunch, but as Tommy listened and observed, he began to let his imagination run away with him.

Imagine those hands on my neck.

He could do anything to me, and I'd be powerless.

Paolo and his fully loaded rifle…

Tommy let a giggle slip out as his imagination took him to the down and dirty realm of fantasy far too quickly. And his slip didn't go unnoticed either…

‘Something amusing you, Tommy?' Paolo said, abruptly stopping talking and fixing a hard, piercing stare at Tommy. ‘Look at me, boy. I will not tolerate a lack of respect. And I'm certain that Danilo won't either.'

The harshness in Paolo's voice and the threat of Danilo getting involved was enough to make Tommy make a quick apology and refocus his mind on listening to what Paolo was saying.

But the more Paolo talked, the harder it was to resist.

Soon enough, Tommy could feel his cock pulsating in his briefs and doing everything it could to make the biggest, most embarrassing swelling at the front of his pants.

The more Tommy tried to put erotic thoughts of Paolo out of him mind, the harder he became. And it seemed like there wasn't anything that Tommy could do to keep Paolo from running wild through his thoughts either.

Paolo pinning me down and making me suck his cock…

Using me as his Lingerie Little…

Taking me in every hole….

However just as Tommy thought that he might actually have an orgasm in his seat, he was put out of his misery by Paolo.

‘You two, on your feet,' Paolo barked. ‘It's time to see exactly how closely you were listening. It's time to hit the forest…'

With that, a much relieved Tommy stood up and made a rapid-fire adjustment to his crotch so that his arousal hopefully wouldn't be on display. However if Tommy thought that things were going to be getting any easier once they were outside, then he was sorely mistaken…

After a quick briefing where Paolo instructed both Tommy and Olivier to hide in the dense woodland, Tommy found himself crouched behind a fallen tree.

‘Urgh. My feet are wet already,' Tommy muttered, looking down toward his sneakers for confirmation that they were soaked through already.

Paolo had told them that part of being a good hitman was not only the ability to kill people efficiently, but to do so in a way that wouldn't draw anyone else's attention if possible. So Paolo instructed both Tommy and Olivier to hide themselves in the undergrowth and do whatever it took to remain undetected – and with Paolo playing the hitman, that would represent an impossible challenge, according to Paolo himself.

Wet sneakers aside, Tommy wasn't convinced by the training exercise.

Surely if they were being trained to be hitmen, they needed to be the ones on the offense and not the other way around? In fact, the more that Tommy considered it, the more irritated he became.

This is bullshit.

I'm wet, cold, and it looks like it's about to rain.

This game is dumb, dumb, dumb.

But just as Tommy was about to stand up and quit, he caught a glimpse of Paolo stalking through the trees. Tommy kept a low position and watched as Paolo headed in the opposite direction to him, presumably on Olivier's trail instead.

‘Ha, gotcha,' Tommy whispered, his voice barely audible.

Feeling smug, Tommy decided to keep playing the game. The thought of Paolo not being able to find him was actually rather appealing, and Tommy couldn't wait to show his so-called instructor that maybe he wasn't quite the expert he proclaimed himself to be.

As the rain began to fall, Tommy held his position.

Maybe it was the time spent being totally silent, but Tommy's mind began to wander. Without realizing it, Tommy was soon recalling the fateful day at training camp for his old team where he injured his shoulder so badly that several sports doctors said he might never recover well enough to play professional hockey again.

Tommy hated even thinking about the injury, let alone the days, weeks, and months that followed. It had been a rough time for Tommy, and there were many moments where he came incredibly close to simply giving up on his rehab and fully diving into his newfound dangerous party lifestyle.

The truth that hurt Tommy the most though was that the injury wasn't in fact the fault of his strength and conditioning coach at all. It was Tommy's own recklessness that had caused the injury, and had he never been able to play again it would have been his fault.

And then by doubling down on his initial recklessness and falling in with such a bad crowd, Tommy had compounded his misery and probably done a lot of damage to his reputation with talent scouts and potential opportunities with other teams.

Tommy was in the last chance saloon, and he knew it too.

And all of this before he was even twenty-two.

It was easy to lay the blame at the feet of others, but deep down Tommy knew that it was on him. And the worst thing was that even now, his hockey future depended on doing the Ice Bears academy training.

It wasn't that Tommy was ungrateful for the opportunity that Danilo had given him. Far from it, in fact.

What Tommy really hated that he was no longer being judged solely on his skill on the ice. It might have been the hand he was dealt, but Tommy would have done anything to have a brand new deck of cards to play with.

I need to make sure I graduate from the academy.

I need to show Paolo freakin' Totti that I'm better than him.

This is my last chance at a pro contract, and I'm gonna take it…

With that, a flash of impulsiveness came over Tommy and he decided to make a play to cross over the open greenery and switch his hiding position. With Paolo already having looked there, it would be the perfect move to stay undetected – and once Paolo gave up, Tommy could walk out in triumph and show everyone what he was made of.

‘Okay, let's move,' Tommy whispered, bouncing up from behind the fallen tree and readying himself to make a dash across the grass.

But just as he was about to hit full flight, Tommy felt something bounce off the back of his head.

‘What the hell?' Tommy blurted out, the slight stinging sensation making him angrily spin around and face the other direction.

‘Gotcha,' Paolo laughed, a truly smug look on his face. ‘You couldn't wait it out, could you?'

‘But… you went… the other way,' Tommy said, confused. ‘I saw you!'

‘You saw what I wanted you to see,' Paolo replied. ‘And don't worry, it was only an acorn that I bopped you with. Just be glad it wasn't a bullet. This time…'

Tommy felt a sense of real frustration begin to bubble up inside him.

Paolo had tricked him and made him look like a fool. And with Olivier emerging from behind the bushes with a smile on his face, it looked like he was in on it too.

‘Being a hitman is a lonely business,' Paolo said. ‘It's just you. And today you've learned that lesson, boy. Next time, you might not be in a training exercise. Am I understood?'

‘Whatever,' Tommy replied, his voice sullen and downbeat.

‘There's no whatevers when we're talking about life and death,' Paolo said, irritated. ‘I had you from the beginning. And had you been listening to me talking back at the academy, you might not have made such an obvious mistake.'

‘But-' Tommy interjected, starting to feel more and more frustrated by how Paolo was talking to him.

‘No, not interested,' Paolo barked. ‘You didn't listen. You screwed up. And I don't expect you to make the same mistake again. We're done for the day. Make your own way back.'

With that, Paolo turned and quickly disappeared back into the woodland.

Tommy stood with his hands on his hips and a look of pure thunder on his face. Not even Olivier's angelic smile could make him feel any better. If anything, it only made Tommy feel worse…

‘He's such an… asshole,' Tommy protested, stomping his feet on the muddy ground underneath. ‘Asshole, asshole, asshole.'

‘It's only the first day,' Olivier replied. ‘Next time I'm sure I'll be the one getting my butt kicked. And anyway, you have to admit one thing…'

‘What?'

‘He's super-gorgeous,' Olivier said, his cheeks flushing red. ‘I mean, come on. Don't tell me that big boner you had back in the room wasn't all about Mr. Moodypants Assassin?'

‘Don't go there!' Tommy said, unable to stop himself from laughing. ‘Just don't!'

The two Littles smiled at one another and began to make their way back toward the academy, ready to head to the gym for some fitness work.

Tommy had enjoyed his time at the academy learning under Taine, but his new instructor was far from satisfactory so far.

And as much as he hated to admit it, Tommy knew that if he was to have a real chance of gaining a place on the Ice Bears team then he would have to do whatever it took to impress Paolo.

I'll let him think he's got me under control.

I'll show up, do the work, then go home.

But that's it. I'll never let him inside my head again…