Chapter Text
If someone had asked Hayden how well he thought he knew Shane Hollander, on a scale of one to ten, he would have confidently answered at least nine. Maybe even nine and a half. It was one of those things he considered a given, like the fact that the sky was blue, he loved Jackie and their children with all his heart, and he would soon be making an appointment for a vasectomy. They shared training sessions, hotel rooms, endless flights, and that routine of professional athletes who practically live together for more than half the year, resulting in their lives becoming so intertwined that they were almost indistinguishable. Hayden probably shared a room at night more often with Shane than with Jackie, his own wife. He knew his facial expressions when he was tired, the way he touched his eyelashes when he was nervous, and he even knew his favorite brand of jockstrap.
That’s why, when Shane’s phone started to vibrate on the nightstand of a Boston hotel room, Hayden picked it up without thinking twice. It was rare for him to receive messages, usually his phone remained silent and unused for most of the day. The text was probably from Yuna, and since his best friend was in the shower and his showers were never quick, Hayden didn’t want her to worry or for something important to have happened that Shane needed to know about right away. Except it wasn’t Yuna the sender, but someone named Lily; and the text wasn’t some important communication, but an address in Boston. Weird. Before his brain could register the action, his eyes slid to the previous messages.
Lily
Are you ready to get your ass kicked tonight?
And then get another kind of pounding
Shane
Pounding? Who taught you that word?
Lily
Porn.
Don’t change the subject.
Shane
If you win tonight, I’ll let you fuck my mouth.
Lily
As if that’s a rarity... But seeing you kneeling in front of me with tears in your eyes because you’re choking on my cock is always a treat.
Shane
Asshole.
Lily
What if you win?
Shane
I’m sure you’ll think of something ;)
Lily
[location shared]
Hayden’s body remained paralyzed for several moments, unable to process what he had just read. Part of him screamed to put the phone down immediately, to pretend he hadn’t seen anything, to respect the invisible line he had just crossed without realizing it. The other part kept rereading the texts, as if they might change meaning after the third or fourth read. And, look, he wasn’t exactly a newbie when it came to sex - he had four kids, for God’s sake! - but what he had just read... There was nothing vanilla about what he had read, nothing he would have expected to associate with Shane’s sex life. Hayden was a little ashamed to admit it, but he had always had a slight doubt that his best friend was still a virgin. He could never have expected the content of those texts. There was nothing familiar about the way Shane talked to this person, it was nothing like the tone he used when texting him or the team. The person who had replied to those messages was flirty, bold... The complete opposite of what Hayden had always thought Shane was. The fact that he was gay - or bi, or whatever - was honestly less shocking than the fact that Shane was into face fucking.
Yeah, maybe he didn’t know Shane Hollander as well as he thought he did.