Pucking Around

Ilmari thinks about the previous night’s game, and how he had to make too many saves because the Rays defense is not yet playing cohesively. His groin pull has also been aggravated. Rachel tries to draw him into conversation, but he responds only briefly. She encourages him to engage more fully with his teammates and insists that he chat with her, claiming that it is too uncomfortable to sit in silence on every flight. When he can’t think of a good question to ask, she threatens to move. Instinctively, he presses his hand down on her lap, which embarrasses him. She invites him to ask anything, and, seeing an opportunity to get help, he asks her about the “most effective way to treat a groin pull” (219).

Ilmari insists that his question is hypothetical, but Rachel suspects that he might be asking for a reason. When she presses for more information, he refuses to speak. She watches him, however, after they return for their customary post-travel brunch at the Rays arena. When he slips away, she follows and finds him doing common stretches. She finds his movements to be sexually attractive. Approaching, she asks about his pain. When he tries to leave the room, she jumps on his back, startling them both. As she clings to him, she asks him to trust her.

Rachel’s body wrapped around his makes Ilmari feel sexual attraction to her. He argues that she doesn’t understand the pressure he faces, claiming that the goalie bears all the hopes of the team, coaches, and the staff. When he claims that nothing in life is more important to him than hockey, she likens this attitude to addiction and warns that if he doesn’t care for his body, it will shorten his career. Given that Ilmari is 30, his career is likely already nearing its end. He begs her for help and promises to do anything to avoid being benched. She insists on an exam, but he rejects her request to get scans, saying that doing so will make his injury “official.” She demands that he take her to lunch so they can develop a plan. Ilmari thanks her, feeling protected by her ferocity.

Rachel and Ilmari head to a bar where Ilmari orders a healthy meal and obligingly answers Rachel’s questions about his injury and treatment. Later, during the exam, the location of Ilmari’s injury requires him to be naked, and Rachel must repress her attraction to him. During the exam, he accidentally makes an innuendo, causing them to banter briefly. Rachel hypothesizes that Ilmari’s injury might not actually be a groin pull but a labral tear: another common injury for hockey players. She advises a strict regimen to avoid surgery, including rest. Ilmari reluctantly agrees to miss some practice sessions but refuses to miss any games. She reiterates that she will support him, and to her surprise, he hugs and thanks her before leaving.

In her apartment that evening, Rachel calls her old boss, Doctor Halla, for a consult on Ilmari’s case, though she doesn’t mention Ilmari’s name. She is preparing to leave for Jake’s when Caleb bursts into her apartment, startling her. He is afraid that she has reconsidered moving to Jake’s house and offers to “bow out” of their relationship. Rachel, feeling combative after her challenging day, argues with him, accusing him of being afraid to see where things are headed between the three of them. She posits that she and Caleb are alike, but that they can both benefit from Jake’s love. Their argument leads to sex, during which Caleb reveals his desire to be referred to as “daddy” during their sexual encounters. When they are finished, Rachel asks Caleb to “take [her] home” (251) to Jake’s house.

Caleb, Rachel, and Sy go to Jake’s house, which awes Rachel with its grandeur. Rachel and Caleb banter about their mutual interest in astrology. When they find Jake in the kitchen, he immediately guesses that they had sex, and the three fumble over whether to disclose details of their sexual encounters with one another. Jake takes Rachel to his bedroom, where they discuss the logistics of how to respect the other members of their relationship. Rachel asserts that there are no rules aside from avoiding what makes them uncomfortable. She agrees to sign the HR form that permits them to date without risking their jobs, and Jake jokingly “fires” Rachel as his doctor. They remove their clothes and Jake becomes concerned when he sees bruises, though she reassures him that they were from her consensual encounter with Caleb. They resolve to take their budding relationship seriously and have sex in the shower.

Jake challenges Caleb to a competition to tempt Rachel into breaking her rule about engaging in public displays of affection. They joke about it until Jake makes a comment about Caleb not having money. The following conversation reveals Caleb’s insecurities over Jake’s affluence and Jake’s insecurities over his belief that both Caleb and Rachel are much more intelligent than he is. Caleb asserts his need for time to establish his own rapport with Rachel and demands that Jake stop trying to control everything. Despite the tension of the conversation, the two men quickly reconcile.

Exhausted after a long week, Rachel is surprised that Jake and Caleb want to go to a team outing. When they arrive at the beach bar, they realize that it is karaoke night, which dampens Jake’s normally ebullient mood. Caleb plays the guitar and sings a song that he dedicates to Rachel. Jake is moody over Caleb’s romantic gesture. She is amazed with Caleb’s musical skill and is eager to get to know him better. The lyrics of the song mirror the romantic mood between the two.

Rachel attends a charity dinner hosted by the Rays at an art museum. She reflects that helping Ilmari with physical therapy has increased her attraction to him. She approaches Ilmari and is shocked to realize that he is donating $500,000 to turtle conservation. He counters that hockey is environmentally unsustainable, so he wishes to offset what he can. Rachel is impressed.

She finds Jake, with whom she hasn’t had much interaction since karaoke night, due to their conflicting schedules. She confides that Caleb told her about the argument that he and Jake had. She refuses to come between two best friends and reminds Jake that “what [the three of them] have together is special” (87). She offers “physical reassurance” and removes her ban on public affection. They prepare to have sex in a hidden part of the museum.

On a different day, Jake rouses Rachel to show her a pelican. She says she loves him, which makes him very happy.

The Rays play against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the same team that Jake and Caleb once played on together. Rachel is having a difficult evening due to various minor injuries among the players. Her mood is worsened when Avery makes sexist comments about her using sex to get her position on the team. Caleb takes Rachel to the locker room and shows her a secret box marked “FIGURE SKATES,” which contains snacks that the team dietician has forbidden. He warns her not to tell anyone, especially Jake, as the players will steal the snacks.

During the game, Rachel admires Jake’s focus. Repeated shots on goal necessitate Ilmari making difficult saves, and Rachel senses that he is in pain. He misses a save, which putts the Penguins in the lead. Between periods, Rachel asks Ilmari about his pain, but he brushes her off, so she benches him, which he sees as a betrayal even though she is trying to help him. They argue and Ilmari suddenly kisses her; she returns the kiss but pulls away. He apologizes, and she warns him not to kiss her again. She reasserts her requirement that he sit out the next two games and insists that he get scans for his injury, then leaves.

Jake believes that the Rays lost their game because the defense didn’t protect Ilmari sufficiently. Rachel and Caleb knock on Jake’s hotel room door, bearing “contraband” sweets. Rachel reveals that she has also brought her tentacle-shaped sex toy.

Jake is agog. Rachel undresses, and Jake considers how much he enjoys the idea of sex with Rachel while she simultaneously has sex with Caleb. Jake and Rachel have oral sex.

Caleb hands Jake the sex toy to use on Rachel while he watches and makes explicit commentary about their current and upcoming sexual plans. Caleb reflects that both Jake and Rachel make him feel loved. The three of them have sex simultaneously, including Caleb and Jake’s genitals touching, which is more sexual contact than the two friends have ever had with one another. Rachel says she loves them both, and Jake says “Love you,” not clarifying whether he means just Rachel or Caleb as well. Caleb enjoys hearing it nonetheless.

Ilmari, his mood poor, watches television while he rests his injury. He is grateful to Rachel for downplaying his injury and regrets his angry reaction to her decision to bench him. He resolves to apologize for kissing her and to start seeing a new physical therapist. He receives a text from Rachel, demanding he come to the beach, both to discuss his treatment and to spend time with the team. He wants to refuse until a photo of Rachel in a bathing suit circulates on the team group chat.

At the beach, Rachel talks with Tess about Ilmari’s fears that if the team learns of his injuries, he will be disregarded. She confesses that she has set up the meeting with Doctor Halla without consulting Ilmari. Tess turns the conversation to Rachel’s love life, commenting that the relationship with Caleb and Jake seems serious, but Rachel passes it off as “just having fun” (329). Rachel is afraid that her desire for privacy is unfair to Caleb and Jake in the long term, but Tess asks if the men are willing to “brave the media storm that comes with the Rachel Price experience” (329). Just then Langley accidentally kicks a soccer ball at Tess, and the two of them flirt. Jake asks a question about grilling hot dogs, making an accidental innuendo, which makes Tess laugh and Rachel groan.

Ilmari arrives at the beach, shocking Caleb, as Ilmari rarely attends team events. Caleb suspects that there is something between Rachel and Ilmari, but she denies it. Only Tess knows about their kiss. Tess teases Rachel for having romantic intrigue with three men; she is happy for her friend but prefers monogamy herself. Rachel warns Tess away from Langley, whom she believes will get his feelings hurt by Tess’s intensity. Ilmari sits with them shows them the design of his tattoo, which is made of scenes from the Kalevala, the Finnish book of folklore. Rachel senses that Ilmari is showing her this private aspect of his identity in order to indicate that his feelings for her have changed.

Rachel asks Ilmari to go to Cincinnati with her the next day so they can get scans of his injury without the NHL or FIHA knowing. He says he trusts her and apologizes for their kiss. Later, Rachel reveals to Caleb and Jake that she is traveling with Ilmari but cannot reveal why due to the rules of medical privacy. Caleb asks if she is having sex with Ilmari, then asks if she would like to. The two men have frequently discussed Rachel’s interest in the goalie.

She says she is taking Ilmari to get a scan, asserting that her responsibility to her patient supersedes the rules about alerting the team of a player’s medical issues. Caleb and Jake to express concern that she might lose her job if the team finds out. The two men return to the question of the attraction between Ilmari and Rachel. She gets upset, saying that while they act like a committed “throuple,” they don’t discuss their feelings openly. Jake challenges them all to do so, calling it “sudden death.”

Rachel watches nervously until Caleb agrees to Jake’s “sudden death” proposition. She admits that Ilmari kissed her, and Caleb asks if “this three-way [is] about to become a four-way” (345). Rachel doesn’t know, and Jake expresses qualms about whether the new arrangement would work and repeats his concern that Rachel might leave them for someone else. She grows angry, saying that neither of them “own” her and that she has enough love for both men.

After assuaging Jake’s fears, Rachel confesses her dislike of traditional conventions such as marriage and monogamy, preferring an expansive, adventurous life. She says the three of them are “extraordinary” and asks if “sharing” her with Caleb hurts Jake. He immediately responds that it doesn’t. He looks to Caleb for agreement, but Caleb will only comment on their relationship sexually, which prompts Rachel to accuse him of “holding back.” Caleb lashes out, again claiming no emotional attachment, but Rachel asks if he loves her and accuses him of hiding behind anger to avoid vulnerability. Finally, he admits to loving her, and she tells him to demonstrate it with rough sex.

Rachel reiterates her demand. Jake is uncertain about their exchange but stays to watch at Caleb’s invitation. They have sex, during which Rachel encourages Caleb to be physically rough and say cruel things to her as part of their exchange of power dynamics. Caleb commands Jake, as well, who participates after seeking reassurance from Rachel. The tension and attraction intensify among the three of them, culminating in Caleb request that Jake perform oral sex on him, which Jake has never done before. Jake is nervous but eager and complies as Rachel assists him.

Caleb feels intense pleasure as Rachel narrates Jake’s performance of oral sex. Caleb knows that Rachel understands his desire for Jake. Rachel also performs oral sex on Jake while Caleb watches. Caleb thinks about the intensity of his affection for her and decides that he wants her to have whatever she desires, including sex with Ilmari. He reflects on his absence of sexual jealousy and his satisfaction at having Rachel and Jake’s love. He admits that he loves them both and asks them not to “ever leave [him] behind” (364). They all touch one another before retreating to a bedroom for further sex.