Chapter Text
Shane sighed as he stepped into the restaurant. He was really not in the mood to go hang out with his team right now. He and Ilya hadn’t seen each other in 2 weeks and it had been almost a week since they had even been able to video call each other, due to both their captain duties, games and other commitments.
All Shane had wanted, was to go home and call his boyfriend. But no such luck, as he’d forgotten tonight was JJ’s birthday. He refused to take no for an answer from Shane. Insisted he’d take them to a restaurant not a bar and one that fit his macrobiotic diet. Given how strict Shane had gotten with his diet, he somehow doubted this was true but he didn’t have the heart to say no.
He already felt guilty enough about hiding his relationship from JJ. Hayden had guessed it, or rather it’d be correct to say Jackie had guessed it and made Hayden reach out to Shane few months back. That had been quite the shock in itself.
But with JJ, somehow Shane couldn’t bring himself to let him know, yet. Ilya and his press conference announcing their charity or rather technically even their friendship, was still a month away and that alone was going to be a lot for his team to accept.
JJ had been extremely chill about Shane being gay, when he came out to his team at the start of the season. That wasn’t a small thing. Not everyone had been as kind. No one had said anything to his face, but he’d started getting the feeling that there were conversations going on about him behind his back. People would stop talking when he entered the room, some guys would rush through their showers if they saw Shane entering.
Pfft. Like Shane gave a damn about them, if only they knew. Shane had a beautiful Russian hunk to go home to, thank you very much. He’d no interest in these jerks. But they clearly had a very high opinion on themselves.
Still, other than Hayden, a few of the rookies, only JJ had been kind to Shane. Even Ilya had been impressed with JJ’s response, which is saying something given his usual disdain for any of the Metros who are not Shane Hollander. JJ even went as far as wanting to set him up on a few dates. Ilya was not pleased about that part.
He had been bugging Shane a bit, to let JJ know that he’s in a relationship. His point was that he could tell JJ the partial truth, that he is in a relationship but his boyfriend isn’t out yet. That didn’t seem all that obvious, did it? Shane was mulling over it but honestly if JJ pieced together that he meant another hockey player, wouldn’t it be obvious? Or maybe he was overthinking things.
Just the other day, there had been an article on Ilya and his past partying habits. The article questioned as usual, like most other articles did off late, about why the Ilya Rozanov would leave Boston and that too for Ottawa. One of the theories gaining traction on twitter was that maybe he did it for a partner, for a girl. Added to the fact that, in a recent Centaurs video, his team had teased him about how during their time off, Ilya would mysteriously disappear, and the severe lack of photos of him going to a club, the girlfriend theory was on the rise.
So maybe Ilya’s bisexuality wasn’t as obvious as Shane thought, and Jackie Pike was just more of a genius than he’d previously realized.As he was thinking all this, he found the table. It was JJ, Hayden and Jackie. JJ had promised it would be a small group.
“Hey Capitaine!” JJ yelled out. “Joyeux anniversaire, mon ami!” Shane said, wishing the birthday boy.
“Come, we need to get drunk! We are taking this quiz that Jackie told us about.” JJ continued.
“Quiz?” Shane asked, feeling puzzled. “Ah its some…. Câlisse! What is it? Purity something?” JJ asked Jackie.
“So, it’s called the Rice purity test, it’s about like a 100 questions and it’s supposed to measure how innocent or “pure” a person is. The lower the score, the freakier a person has been, with either drugs, or sex, or illegal activities.” Jackie supplied helpfully.
“You know we should have our Capitaine take the test. I bet his score would be like an 80.” JJ teased.
“80 huh? Which would mean I am very innocent?” Shane asked to confirm.
“Yes, like an innocent virgin.” Hayden chimed in.
Shane glared at him, if anything, of all people, Hayden knew very well how not innocent Shane was in these matters, especially given who his boyfriend was. “And if I get a low score, what then?” Shane asked, feeling a bit irritated at being perceived as a prude by his friends.
“Hmmmm, then I will not skip any optional practice for a month.” JJ said, feeling confident of his victory.
JJ was known to skip out of optional practices regularly, so this could actually be fun. Shane wanted to push him a little further. “How about you create the optional practice schedules with coach as well?” he added, feeling a bit wicked. As the alternate captain, this was something he could and should be doing anyway.
“Oh you’re on!” JJ said. “And what about you guys, any bets?” he asked Hayden and Jackie.
Jackie raised her hands, “I am on Shane’s side on this.” she said supportively.
Hayden thought for a minute, and said “If you want to workout at 5 am when we are on the road, I will join you, no questions asked.” Now this was doubly fun, Hayden and Shane frequently roomed together, with Shane always getting up early to get in a morning workout. Hayden was a bit lazier, given he was a father of 4, he enjoyed getting to sleep in and having his own space.
“Oh you’re so going to regret that babe.” Jackie said, kissing him on the cheek.
“Why is Jackie so confident about this? Does she know something I don’t?” JJ asked suddenly curious. Alarm bells were ringing in Shane’s mind, but he thought maybe this was a good way to segue into the partial truth to JJ.
“Um.. so kind of? Don’t flip out, but I am kind of seeing someone.” Shane blurted out.
“WHAT!!! Tabernak! Câlisse! Shane, why didn’t you tell me? Who is he? How long has this been going on for?” JJ asked, firing off questions rapidly.
“Look, you know I am a private person, my boyfriend isn’t out publicly to anyone yet. He’s not even told his best friend, so I want to respect his privacy in the matter. Ok?” Shane said, a bit aggressively.
“Ok fine fine, only if you agree to be honest in this questionnaire. At least we can get to know a little about what you get up to with your mystery man.” JJ said raising his eyebrows suggestively.
“Deal. Bring it!” Shane replied.
Jackie sent everyone the link, and they all began taking the test.
Some were quite childish, milder than Shane had been expecting, like have you held hands, or been on a date. What were they, 15? When he got to question 8, have you French kissed in public, Shane’s mind wandered back all the way to a Vegas rooftop in 2011.
He’d just won the Rookie of the Year award, he was a bit drunk from doing shots with Scott Hunter and he was annoyed he hadn’t found Ilya anywhere that night. Needing some air, he’d stumbled upon him on the rooftop, smoking.
They’d gotten into an argument back then but Ilya had gotten this heated look in his eyes, and the next thing he knew, Shane was being pressed into the pillar behind him, with Ilya kissing him senseless. Shane tightly gripped Ilya’s curls, and kissed him with equal desperation. It had been a very hot kiss, Shane could now admit to himself. Though back then it had freaked him out. There was a bar on the other side of the rooftop, and anyone could’ve seen them.
He smiled at the memory now, how young they had been. And how long they had been in each other’s orbits. He felt a stab of longing in his chest, wanting to call up Ilya that second. He steadied himself and moved to the next set of questions.
Q15 intrigued him, have you played a game involving stripping. His mind yet again took him back to Vegas, to the penthouse Ilya had booked, back in 2014, when he had won the cup and that night won the MVP award. He’d made Shane strip for him, made him touch himself, while Ilya sat across from him like a king on his throne, sipping vodka ina filthy manner. No one should look that good drinking vodka, Shane thought wryly. Ilya had maintained a distance from Shane that night, keeping him at arms length. It was only when Shane was desperate, and aching for Ilya, when he admitted how much he needed him that Ilya got up and touched him.
That memory was bittersweet for Shane, on one hand it had been one of the hottest, sexiest things they’d done, ever. But back then, in the peak of their situationship drama, Ilya being this unusually cold towards Shane, not kissing him, not talking to him had really hurt Shane. He had a mini breakdown afterwards about it in his room.
Years later, he had admitted to Ilya how upset he’d been over it, and Ilya had been deeply apologetic. He kissed Shane immediately, for what had felt like almost an hour, and then had proceeded to get on his knees, to show him how sorry he was.
This year for the NHL 2020 awards, as Shane had won the MVP, and gotten the penthouse, Ilya had been waiting for him, their deal still valid, the winner got what they wanted. Shane had made him recreate that night but with Shane in the chair this time, as Ilya pleasured himself looking at Shane.
And then Shane had ridden Ilya roughly, setting the pace, taking control for the night, slamming himself onto Ilya’s dick again and again until they both orgasmed hard.
Only difference was, afterwards they kissed sweetly, Ilya cuddling him like a big bear, and then they’d slept off in each other’s arms. That had healed the wound for Shane in a way. Now he could look back at that night and remember it for how sexy it had been. Well Ilya in a tux was always sexy……. God, he needed to focus, or he was going to get hard in front of his friends.
Q21 was again fun, masturbating with an inanimate object. Shane had always had his trusty dildo, purple coloured and curved, even before Ilya. But now Ilya had helped him experiment a bit more, they had quite a growing collection of sex toys ranging from dildos to prostate massagers.
One night Ilya had made Shane slip in a massager inside him just before they headed to a function for the Irina foundation. The remote for it was safely tucked in Ilya’s pocket. And at odd times of the night, he’d turn the massager on, sometimes ramping up the setting to 3 or even 4, especially when Shane was alone. Ilya wasn’t a complete lunatic, he didn’t want Shane orgasming while talking to donors. But he did enjoy torturing Shane like this, and god help him, Shane loved it too. He’d orgasmed hard in the bathroom next to the ballroom, with Ilya pushing the massager to level 5.
God, these thoughts were not helping, Shane thought. With his dick getting half hard already.
Q30 was about giving someone blue balls. He smirked as he remembered, the last time he and Ilya had spent the night at Shane’s Montreal house. Shane had woken up to seeing Ilya being a complete slob, his socks on the floor, his coffee mug was on his counter without a coaster and he was munching on chips in bed! That too in the morning! Shane had thought it was time to teach his boyfriend a lesson.
He'd made Ilya wash his mouth, because those chips smelt awful. And then he’d kissed him, intensely, with as much passion as he could muster, while dragging him to their bed. He made his way down Ilya’s body, nipping at his skin along the way. He took Ilya into his mouth, Ilya’s cock hitting the back of Shane’s throat, his nose hitting Ilya’s pubic hair. He started sucking, as Ilya collapsed on the bed, cursing in Russian, gripping Shane’s hair.
Shane kept at it until Ilya was on the verge of his orgasm, and then stopped completely. “Hollander what the fuck?” Ilya groaned. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I have a meeting with my mom right now. Need to change and leave.” Shane said casually, getting off him, and heading to the bathroom to get ready.
“What? No! Shane, come back!” Ilya said, chasing him until Shane promptly closed the door on his face.
When he was about to leave, Ilya was on the bed pouting. Shane leaned in to give him a kiss, “I’ll be back in an hour tops. And when I come back, I might give you a little treat.” He said smirking at the frustrated Russian in front of him. “You will?” Ilya asked, looking interested. “I will, but only if you clean up after yourself. Get your socks in the laundry basket, clean your coffee mug, you get the gist?” Shane said, feeling a bit evil. “Or I won’t touch you for the whole day.” He said into Ilya’s ear and then he’d left.
When he came back, the house was spotless, and Ilya had attacked him as soon as he entered through the door. They’d not even made it to the couch this time, let alone the bedroom. Ilya had fucked him, hard and fast against the wall.
The questions were really getting explicit now, have you sent a sexual text? Had he? Well he’d certainly received his fair share of filthy texts from Ilya over the years, but Shane’s sexting game still wasn’t all that great. But he had gotten better at taking sexy photos of himself. It didn’t hurt that he had bulked up for the season, and was at his peak fitness at present.
Plus, it was easy because Ilya got turned on so easily when it came to Shane. A fact that thrilled Shane always. Once he’d sent Ilya a photo of him in one of Ilya’s black t shirts that he’d stolen, fitting him a bit loosely and wearing his reading glasses that Ilya loved so much.
Ilya had called him back within 10 minutes, and they both jerked off together, Ilya in a bathroom stall. Because he’d actually been out for dinner with his team at the time. But Shane in his glasses was the ultimate thing for Ilya, he couldn’t control himself then.
It had been really fun to be able to turn on Ilya so much, from so far away, to the point that he needed to excuse himself into a public bathroom. Of course, Ilya being the devil he is, had responded with a sexy picture of his own when Shane had been out with his team mates. Ilya had sent him a mirror selfie, while wearing a Hollander jersey, with his rock hard dick in his hand, stroking it. It was then Shane’s turn to rush to a public restroom to avoid orgasming in front of his team. It had also made him drive to Ottawa in the middle of the night. He'd ridden Ilya hard while he wore the Hollander jersey, until Shane came all over it, destroying it. Ilya had joked about preserving it or auctioning it off.
He yet again thought about Ilya, about his beautiful smile. God he missed his boyfriend.
Q56 was, have you gone skinny dipping?
Shane thought back to that summer, when he and Ilya jumped into the lake with no clothes on. It had been an unusually warm summer day and given the remoteness of the cottage, Shane felt comfortable enough to let himself go.
It was wild but once the cold water was surrounding them, it felt amazing given the heat of the day. Then Ilya had kissed him against the dock, and every thought in Shane’s brain had left him. They’d played around in the water for a few hours, Ilya showing him once again how he could do a handstand underwater, Shane swam underwater and pulled on one of Ilya’s legs until he fell into the water awkwardly. It had led to a really fun water fight, like they were little kids, making it a favourite summer memory for Shane.
Q68 was about having sex three or more times in a night. Shane’s brain yet again supplied him with the memory of just last month, when it had been the MTL vs OTW game. MTL won, obviously, but it had been a brutal game, ending 6-2 with Ilya scoring Ottawa’s 2 goals. That night at Ilya’s Ottawa house, Ilya had decided to reward Shane, he had said “Sweetheart, I am going to make you come once for each goal you scored.”
It had sent a shiver down Shane’s spine, as he had scored 5 of the 6 goals that night. And Ilya had kept his word. He first sucked Shane off, right in the foyer, with Shane’s back against the wall, as Ilya went down on his knees. He had come down Ilya’s throat within minutes.
The next one had been on the stairs leading up to their bedroom. Ilya and Shane had started removing their clothes as they made their way up the stairs, and had been almost naked when Ilya pushed Shane onto the stairs, just before the hallway, and produced a lube packet out of thin air, like some dirty magician.
He’d fingered Shane on the staircase, teasing his hole slowly, working a finger into him. And then he kept stroking Shane’s prostate gently, not enough to let him come, but enough that Shane was on the edge for what felt like hours, but was actually just minutes. As it was starting to feel too much, Ilya had added 2 more fingers, and then finger fucked him hard and fast, making Shane come for the 2nd time in 20 minutes.
They’d then finally made their way to the bedroom, where Shane pushed Ilya onto the bed, to take revenge, and sucked him whole in one go. He hollowed out his cheeks, relaxing his throat to take in Ilya’s girth. Ilya tugged on Shane’s hair hard, trying to pull Shane off him and get back on track, but Shane didn’t stop until he had Ilya orgasm into his mouth. He’d looked up, feeling very smug, with Ilya looking back at him with something dangerous glinting in his eyes.
He'd flipped them, so Shane was beneath him, he put a blindfold on Shane’s eyes, and handcuffed his hands, and reminded him of their safe word, if he needed to use it (Loon). Then Ilya began to torture him deliciously, he would kiss different parts of Shane’s body, only to then completely move off him. It was insane, Shane didn’t know where Ilya was, or where his next kiss would be. He kept that up, until sure enough Shane was hard again.
Then Ilya pushed Shane’s thighs back, licking a strip down his stomach and his cock, until he reached his hole. He ate him out, using his tongue in ways that felt like it should be illegal. Once his tongue was inside, he kept fucking Shane with it, the feeling was indescribable. Shane was babbling nonsense, having lost the ability to form coherent words at that point.
And then once he’d made Shane orgasm for the third time, Ilya removed the handcuffs and blindfold, gently kissing Shane, asking if he was ok. Afterwards, they’d just talked for a while, enjoying each other’s company on this rare night they had to themselves.
Just as Shane was about to get up to shower, Ilya tackled him back onto the bed, pushing a finger into his hole, which was still loose from Ilya’s previous ministrations. He opened him up quickly with two fingers, and then pushed himself in to the hilt.
Shane’s breath got caught in his throat, he felt so full, like he could burst, it felt amazing. Ilya then placed one of his legs onto his shoulder and drilled into him at a punishing pace. The noises they were both making were downright filthy, Ilya moaning in Russian, Shane in English and French.
“Blyat Shane, I love you so much.” Ilya said, driving into Shane. “God, I love you too Ilya.” Shane replied, breathlessly. They both came together, Ilya pulsing into Shane while Shane’s release splattering all over his chest.
It took them a while to catch their breath after that. Finally, for the 5th time that night, Shane came as Ilya once again got on his knees as they showered together. Shane holding onto the marble wall for traction, as Ilya kept bobbing up and down Shane’s half hard cock, until it grew in his mouth.
Then he licked the pre cum that was leaking from its tip, and took him into his mouth fully, making Shane weak in the knees. But Ilya grabbed onto his thighs, holding him up solely with his own strength, for by then Shane’s legs could no longer hold him up anymore.That had been one for the memory books alright. Thankfully Shane didn’t have another game for the next 2 days, because he definitely had a limp in the morning. But a night like that had been worth it.
Coming back to reality, he again tried to think of something else, for now he was fully hard thanks to all these memories swirling in his head.
“Which question are you on Shane?” Hayden asked. “Oh, I am um on question 73.” he replied, hoping Hayden didn’t notice how pink his cheeks had gotten or how he’d now kept his jacket over his lap to cover himself.
“Ooo having sex in a car? Don’t think I’ve done that since high school.” Hayden replied.
“Does on a car count?” Shane didn’t realise he wondered out loud. “Oh Shane you putain! You did it against a car?” JJ said clapping him on the back.
Well, what could he say, he had a gorgeous boyfriend, who annoyingly had a knack for buying uncomfortable but great looking sports cars. In 2018, when Ilya was leaving Boston, he’d sold most of his car collection, to use the money to start the Irina foundation. But not before he gave a send off to all his cars, pressing Shane down on the hood of each car, while he drilled into him mercilessly.
Shane finished the quiz, as he was reviewing his answers, he saw he’d forgotten to select one of the options – Danced without leaving room for Jesus? Who writes a question like that, he thought.
But his mind yet again helpfully supplied him, for once, with a sweet non sexual memory, of Ilya and him at their cottage last summer. Shane had once again built a fire for them, it was a beautiful clear night, you could see the full moon shining brightly. Ilya had suddenly put on some music, Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex started playing on the Bluetooth speaker Ilya had brought out with him.
He pulled Shane up, and took him by the waist, and they gently swayed in the night, just them together. It had been beautiful. Shane couldn’t help but think in that moment, what a perfect night it would’ve been to propose, the ambience was perfect for it, and unbeknownst to Ilya, Shane had actually bought a ring before the summer.
He thought about giving it to Ilya as a promise ring of sorts, but then he worried if someone would see, then what would they think? Would they speculate that Ilya’s engaged, and he’d thus refrained himself from giving it to him.
But that night, he’d almost been done it, the words at the tip of his tongue. “Ilya, will you marry me?” He wished things could be different, if they’d not been hockey players, he’d have asked Ilya long ago. Probably the first time he came to the cottage itself, when Ilya had presented him with the lunatic idea of marrying Svetlana for the passport.
Shane wished he could’ve just gotten on his knees right then and there and said, “Don’t marry Svetlana, marry me. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life playing hockey and arguing about who won with you. You stole my heart in a parking lot in Saskatchewan with your stupid toque and your cigarettes. I want more than just these summers with you, I want a life, one with dogs and kids, with everything we said we’d have one day.”
But he hadn’t said it. Hell, at that point he’d not even told Ilya he loved him, so he’d been resigned to just look at him murderously and say “Don’t marry Svetlana. Just don’t."
And the last time he’d felt the urge to propose had been while they danced under the moonlight. He didn’t even think he’d need to say anything much. They’d been dating for years by that point, he just wanted to tell Ilya, “I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?”
Just that, simple and to the point. He was sure Ilya would say yes, or he had been sure at that point. Off late, things had been a bit strained with them. Ilya seemed different, like he was hiding something from him. If Shane didn’t know better, he’d think Ilya was cheating on him. But Shane did know better, he actually suspected Ilya was dealing with something. He had tried suggesting Ilya go to therapy, but that had only led to more fighting.
Being reminded of the night they danced, he realised it had been a while since he’d seen Ilya smile that openly, whether with him or while playing hockey. If there was one thing Ilya was better at than Shane when it came to playing hockey, was that he enjoyed it so much. He always looked like he was having fun.
Shane loved hockey too but it was a much more serious endeavour for him, he treated it as such. He couldn’t remember the last time hockey had felt fun, especially lately with his team behaving the way they were.
Pulling him out of his sudden morose thoughts, JJ poked him. “Capitaine, are you done?”
“You tell me, are you both ready to lose?” Shane said, pretending to be smug, trying to hide the fact that he was missing his boyfriend so badly, he was almost about to cry.
“Any final guesses? Shane asked. “85.” JJ said, “70.” Hayden said. “I am thinking Shane’s going to surprise you guys, I think its going to be less than 40 for sure!” Jackie said.
Shane clicked on the Calculate my Score button, and got the score of 39. He showed it triumphantly to the stunned men.
“Get ready to gym at 5 am Hayd. And thanks JJ for taking over the optional practices, I can finally get some other work done then!” he said, reminding the men of what they’d agreed to.
“Putain! You cheated! I don’t believe it.” JJ moaned. “And how exactly are you planning to verify this? Would you like me to tell you in detail about all the things I did which were on the list?” Shane asked, teasing his friend.
“Oh god gross no! I don’t need details. But I have played poker with you, you have no poker face, I guess I will have to agree this is true.” JJ grumbled.
“My god Shane, I wasn’t expecting this either and I have met your boyfriend!” Hayden let it slip. Oh god no.
“What! Hayden has met your boyfriend?!” JJ now sounded furious.
“Ok ok, let me explain JJ.” Shane said trying to calm him down.
“I don’t want to ruin your birthday, so why don’t you come home tomorrow? I will tell you the whole story about my boyfriend, it’s kind of a long one.”
“As for Hayden, he or rather Jackie, guessed who it was, I couldn’t deny it. Its not like I went out of my way to not tell only you, ok?” Shane said bit tersely.
“OK fine, deal.” JJ agreed. “OK let’s get some food, I am fucking starving.” JJ said.
The rest of the night went by without incident. Once Shane was home, he messaged a heart to Ilya. Ilya called him immediately. “Sweetheart, you’re up late.” came Ilya’s voice.
“Hey, just got back from JJ’s birthday dinner. You’re up late too. I thought you’d be asleep by now.” Shane replied, it was so good to hear Ilya’s voice again.
“I couldn’t sleep.” Ilya admitted. So Shane told Ilya about the night, the quiz and the bet.
“39 is it? Mr Golden boy of Canada is not so good, who knew?" Ilya teased him.
“Send me the quiz, I take. Bet I can beat your score.” Ilya added.
“Oh. I know you will, you’re a reformed party boy, as per the TMZ article.” Shane teased back.
“These questions are kind of kinky.”, Ilya said, as he read the link Shane had sent him.
“Oh yea, I um had trouble doing the quiz, my mind kept wandering to all the things we did on this list.” Shane admitted
“Is that so, which was your favourite?” Ilya asked sounding curious.
“Actually, and don’t laugh at me, but I was thinking about the time we danced under the stars at the cottage this summer.”
“Aww, so romantic Hollander, this doesn’t sound like you.” Ilya teased.
“Shut up asshole, listen. I wanted to tell you something. That was a great night for me.” Shane admitted, his voice heavy with the emotions he’d felt that night.
“For me too kotik.”, Ilya admitted as well. “I thought of asking you to marry me that day.” Ilya continued.
“What? Really?” Shane asked.
“Yes. Remember I’d told you I would ask you to marry me after I filled the dock with candles on a clear night? When I saw the moon that night I thought, blyat! Would have been perfect night to ask Shane to marry me. Is why I asked you to dance with me.”
Shane now had tears streaming down his eyes.“Can we face time? I want to see you.” he said.
“Of course!” Ilya said.
Once they were both on video, Ilya saw Shane had been crying,
“Oh sweetheart I didn’t mean to upset you.” Ilya said, looking upset at Shane’s tears.
“Fuck you, no what u said was beautiful. I am crying more because I wanted to ask you to marry me that night too.” Shane admitted.
Ilya’s eyes widened, “Want to beat me to this too is it?” he teased, but his eyes had gotten teary as well.
“Actually,” Shane said, “I already got a ring. It’s been in my pocket since the summer.”
Ilya visibly gulped, the emotions threatening to break through.
“What if we stopped waiting? To ask each other?” he asked softly, almost scared.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Shane admitted. “I am planning to tell JJ about us tomorrow, I was going to tell you, you should also tell someone about us, if you want to.”
Ilya’s face split into a huge grin. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Shane replied. “I am tired of pretending that I don’t have someone in my life who I love very much. Every time JJ tries to set me up with someone, I feel like screaming at him.” Shane said.
“I wish I could kiss you right now.” Ilya said, looking at Shane with those heart eyes Hayden had teased him about.
“How about we try to goto the cottage, just for a weekend, the next time we are both free?” Shane asked, a plan forming in his mind.
“I think I am free 2 weeks from now.” Ilya said, checking his calendar. “Me too.” Shane confirmed.
“How about… we say everything we want to say to each other when we’re there? Ask each other what we want to ask?” Shane said, feeling a bit shy.
Ilya looked happier than Shane had seen him lately. “Da, yes that sounds wonderful kotik. Why don’t you get some sleep now, I will see you in a few days.”
“Yes, 4 days. I can’t wait.” Shane said and cut the call.
As he was about to drift off to sleep, he saw Ilya sent him his score, 17 😈
You dirty man, Shane replied.
The dirtiest 😉, Ilya replied back.
And then Shane slept, feeling lighter than he had in months. Dreaming of starry nights, and slow dancing.