7. Tommy

After walking out of the academy together, Tommy and Paolo stopped to have a talk next to their cars. Tommy was initially distracted by the fact that Paolo had what surely had to be the most hitman car ever, a blacked out Porsche 911…

‘Seriously, why don't you just get SNIPER 01 on the plates?' Tommy laughed, casting his eyes over the smooth but powerful sportscar.

‘You'd be surprised how easily the car blends in,' Paolo replied, smiling. ‘It would be more suspicious if people saw a man like me getting out of a station wagon, don't you think?'

‘That's true,' Tommy smiled, conceding the point.

In fact, the more Tommy thought about it, the more perfect the car was for Paolo. It was sleek, stylish, and had an air of menace to it too. But more than that, it just looked like the kind of car that Paolo should drive.

‘So I guess you're saying that to blend in, you have to be your most authentic self?' Tommy asked, allowing his train of thought to continue out loud.

‘That's very perceptive, young man,' Paolo replied. ‘You're smart. Sure, you've got plenty of learning to do, but you've got it all going on up in that brain of yours to make the cut as a shooter.'

Tommy felt himself blush at the compliment.

Paolo was clearly not the kind of man who dished out praise where it wasn't warranted. And with his butt still very much feeling the aftereffects of the spanking, Tommy was all too aware that his instructor wasn't a man who messed around.

‘And I really do want to make it,' Tommy said, feeling comfortable enough with Paolo to open up a little more. ‘Hockey has always been my passion. But that injury I got… it really screwed things up for me. And then there was all the crap that I got myself into afterward. I'm not an idiot, I know that if I don't get a contract with the Ice Bears then I'm probably done as a pro. And I don't want that. I really don't want that at all.'

Suddenly Tommy could feel the emotions bubbling up inside him at lightening pace. It might have been the fact that he was opening up to Paolo, or it could have been the post-discipline effect, but Tommy was feeling like the damn was busting and everything was flowing out of him.

‘Hey, it's okay,' Paolo quickly said, stepping over to Tommy and opening his arms out. ‘Come here. Hug me. Hold on to me for as long as you need. I've got you.'

Tommy didn't need asking twice.

Before he knew it, Tommy's face was buried deep in Paolo's chest, and he felt his heart flutter as Paolo's arms wrapped around him and held him tight.

Tommy let out a long sigh. It was a sigh of part relief, and part comfort.

I needed this.

I needed Paolo.

I think I might…

But before Tommy could get overly comfortable in his thoughts, Paolo very gently pulled back and cupped Tommy's face in his hands.

‘You need to believe in yourself,' Paolo said, his voice firm but caring. ‘I won't always be there to give you a hug. Whether it's on the ice or in a shootout, you need to learn to take control yourself. Forget bad influences. Forget the past. You're on the path of your choosing now. Got it?'

Tommy smiled shyly and nodded.

He knew that Paolo was right, and more than that Tommy felt a determination to show his academy instructor that he truly did have what it took to reach his potential.

‘I've got it,' Tommy replied, his voice now sounding stronger again after his emotional wobble. ‘I'm going to prove that I can do it. I want to go back into the training room right now and run that exercise again.'

Tommy meant every word of it too.

Even if his butt was still glowing and he felt tired, he would readily have marched back into the academy and gone over the exercise as many times as it took to get a win over Paolo.

But it wasn't Tommy's call whether they went back or not…

‘I love the passion and commitment,' Paolo said. ‘But you've had a big moment. What you need now is to rest up and come back fighting tomorrow evening. I want you to go home, have a bath, and sleep tight along with your little monkey buddy. Have a relaxed morning, and then start to get yourself in the zone ahead of tomorrow evening's session. And that's an order.'

‘Yes, sir,' Tommy replied, knowing in his heart of hearts that Paolo knew best. ‘See you tomorrow, Paolo.'

‘You certainly will,' Paolo replied, a wickedly sexy smile on his face as he opened the driver's door on his Porsche and got inside.

Tommy took a step back and listened to the engine roar into action.

One day, Tommy wanted to drive a car like Paolo. But ahead of that, there was a whole ton of work to be done.

It was time to go home and rest.

Suddenly, taking orders from Paolo felt like something Tommy wanted to do – just like a Little listening to his Daddy…

The next morning, Tommy felt energized and ready to have some serious fun alongside Olivier and one of their soon to be teammates Chase.

With the sun high in the sky and a big blanket laid out in the park, the three Littles were quietly coloring their Pixar books with their stuffies alongside them.

‘You don't mind that people might recognize you, Chase?' Tommy asked, genuinely curious as to what such a famous player as Chase Light felt about putting his identity as a Little so out in the open.

‘Honestly, I'm pretty chill about it,' Chase replied, smiling as he colored Buzz Lightyear's helmet. ‘We've got security watching us just in case a mean person tries to do anything. But I've never had any issues up to now. Honestly, I don't think people care that much. And the way that the Doni family handles the media side of things, it's not like anything would ever get reported even if they did.'

‘The benefits of being an Ice Bear,' Olivier giggled, playfully coloring a big fluorescent yellow line through the middle of Lightening McQueen to go alongside his own personal take on the character.

‘So true,' Chase replied. ‘So, Tommy, how's it going in the one on one with Paolo?'

Tommy looked up from this coloring book and took a moment before answering. On the one hand he wanted to spill everything and say how his feelings for Paolo were becoming more and more personal rather than simply professional. But at the same time, Tommy didn't want to come over as unprofessional in front of one of the Ice Bears' best players.

‘Yeah, good, it's all good,' Tommy replied, his mind in that moment flashing back to the electric feeling of being bent over, exposed, and punished by Paolo's deadly accurate palm.

‘Okaaaaay...' Chase replied, a knowing look in his eyes. ‘Tell me where I'm telling lies, but I think someone's had their first spanking.'

In that moment, both Olivier and Chase burst out giggling.

And even though he wanted to play it as cool as possible, Tommy started to laugh too. Trying to resist the temptation to spill the beans was too much at this point. Tommy could sense that Chase was the kind of potential friend that he would have for life, and once he started talking it was hard to stop…

‘And then, when he was smoothing the cream on my butt, I started to feel a tingle down there,' Tommy said, in between taking a big gulp from his juice box. ‘I honestly thought I might go all hard. Imagine!'

‘That happens to me a lot,' Chase said, holding his stuffie up to his face and blushing. ‘My Daddy Jack sometimes even starts to play with my dick when he's giving me my aftercare. And with his hand covered in cooling cream it feels extra good.'

‘Swoon! I'm so jealous,' Olivier said, his eyes wide and his mouth open as he listened to Chase talk. ‘I need to find me a Daddy who can do that.'

‘You will,' Chase said. ‘And when you do, you can tell him all your kinks and things you'd love to try. Honestly, it's incredible.'

‘I've got one kink that…' Tommy said, suddenly realizing it was quite a big deal for him to talk about it. ‘Well, I won't say what it is, but… I think I might like Paolo to know what it is one day.'

‘Yay! I'm so excited,' Chase squealed, delight in his voice. ‘From what I've heard about Paolo, he'd be really super-cool about anything like that. He might come over all broody and mysterious, but I know that my Daddy wouldn't hang out with him unless he was a good guy.'

‘OMG, tales of all these Daddies hanging out together, I think I might need some privacy,' Olivier said, picking his stuffie up and holding him over his crotch. ‘Just kidding!'

Olivier and Chase giggled and rolled onto their back laughing.

It felt great to share the experience of being punished by Paolo, and Tommy was beginning to realize just how good it felt to have the kinds of friends in his life who were nothing but good, warm hearted people who were just like him.

The days of falling in with the wrong crowd were feeling like they were well and truly behind Tommy now. Even someone as charismatic and cool as Jason James didn't seem appealing anymore.

In the shape of Chase and Olivier, Tommy was seeing a glimpse of what his future could be like if he made the cut as a fulltime Ice Bear. And it was a future that he was more determined than ever to make happen – and if that meant working even closer with Paolo than ever to achieve it, then that was what he was going to do.