Chapter Text
Shane flopped down onto his back beside Ilya, savoring the ache in his thighs and the loose, floating feeling everywhere else. God, he’d missed this. It had been a rough few weeks.
“Both out of playoffs,” Ilya said, as though reading his mind, “Maybe okay if we have more time for this.”
Shane settled in closer, mindful of a few wet spots. “Sudden death,” he said, “So fucking close.”
“I would say you will win next year, but is not true,” Ilya said, “Is mine.”
“With Ottawa,” Shane said. He was still processing that that was really going to happen, needed to say it aloud every once in a while.
“Yes,” Ilya confirmed and pulled him in more tightly by his side. “With Ottawa.”
Free agency. Nothing was public yet, but the papers were all but signed. No one expected Ilya to leave the team that had drafted him, the city that he had called his home for many years now. But he was. For Shane. Even without anyone knowing that part of the story, this was going to make waves.
“I’ve been thinking…” Shane said slowly, aiming for a light tone.
“Oh no,” Ilya said, the words rumbling deep in his chest and reverberating against Shane’s own.
“Nothing bad,” Shane assured him. “I know you’re announcing it soon, but what if we had a little get together? Something to celebrate you moving closer and the charity, and, you know. Us. Our relationship.” He hoped he was selling this well. “Like a dinner party, just a few close friends.”
“Nothing bad, you say,” Ilya grumbled like the idea of a dinner party with a few close friends was the equivalent of a week of torture. Ilya nudged at Shane. “Did you wait on purpose until after we fuck to ask this?”
Shane studied the side of Ilya’s face, the sharp lines of his profile. Like this, he was at his softest and most pliable. Shane kissed the warm skin of his shoulder. “Maybe,” he said. Ilya hummed.
“Okay,” he said after mulling it over. “But if Pike is going, I want Svetlana there.”
Shane dug his chin against the muscle of Ilya’s shoulder now instead. It’s not like he was actually jealous, not really, but it was hard for him to resist taking the bait. “That’s fine,” Shane said, “I was thinking of inviting Rose.”
Ilya sat up immediately, propped on one elbow. “You bring Rose Landry?” He asked, incredulous. “Your ex, Rose Landry?”
“My good friend,” Shane corrected, “And ex for a reason.”
“Yes, a reason, good reason,” Ilya said, fired up. He swung a leg over Shane and loomed above him, his arms forming a cage on either side of Shane’s head. “She could not make you feel like I can.”
Shane’s breath hitched, stomach swooping with the thrill of it. He nodded, eyes locked on Ilya’s.
“She could not touch you like I can.” Ilya moved one hand to rest against Shane’s jaw, thumb brushing against his lips just long enough to wet it before sliding down to the base of Shane’s throat. It was then that Shane pushed all thoughts of Rose and dinner parties out of his mind as Ilya headed southward, up already for round two.
“Shane!” Rose’s face filled the screen as she answered his video call. “Oh my god, you’re exactly the kind of person I want to hear from right now.”
“Yeah?” he asked, happy to see her, too. They’d both been so busy lately that they’d hardly had time for anything more than the occasional text. But it turned out she had meant what she’d said after their breakup; they were real friends, even far apart.
“Yes!” He could see her move from her kitchen to her living room, where she threw herself down onto a couch. “I just got home from an industry party full of the worst type of man LA has to offer. Say something normal to bring me back down to earth, please?”
He smiled at her theatrics and propped his phone up on his own kitchen counter. It was late and his Montreal apartment was quiet. “Like what?” he asked.
“Like I don’t know…” She searched around the room like she could find answers there. Then she settled on, “How’s Canada?”
“Canada’s fine,” he said, filling a large glass of water from his fridge tap. “Weather’s been nice. I’m heading out to the cottage soon.”
“Ugh, bless you, that’s perfect,” she sighed. “When can we hang out again? I feel like wandering around old Montreal would fix me.”
Shane took a big gulp from the glass of water. Go time. “That’s actually part of why I called,” he said, “How would you feel about coming here to meet my boyfriend?”
“Um, oh my god?” She leaned close into the phone as though that would give her a better look at him, smile shocked and huge. “Shane!”
He ducked his head, trying to hide his own smile. He knew she would be happy for him, and he hadn’t even told her everything yet.
“I know you said you were ‘kind of’ seeing someone,” she said, pulling finger quotes with one hand, “But wow! It’s that serious?”
“Yeah,” he said, suddenly nervous. It was that serious. Introduce-him-to-friends-and-loved-ones serious. “But, I mean, we’re not telling the whole world yet, obviously. It’s way too complicated, he’s closeted, too, and everyone would have so many questions.”
“Dude, breathe,” she laughed. “I get it. You know I’m the last person to run and tell the media, right?”
He exhaled, long and slow. Took another sip of the water. Set the glass down. “Right,” he said. “It’s just… It’s big. No one knows.”
She stared at him for a long time, blinking slowly like something was clicking into place. “Shane,” she said slowly, “Who is your boyfriend?”
He squared his shoulders, tried to relax and fortify himself. “Ilya Rozanov,” he said simply.
She screamed. It was a wordless squeal, the image on the screen flashing and shaking as she flailed. “What?” She appeared back in frame, eyes round and delighted. “Oh my god! What?”
“I know,” he said, unable to stop his hand from coming up to cover the lower half of his face. “I know,” he repeated.
She was looking at him the way she had when he’d let it slip that he preferred being the hole rather than the peg, which wasn’t exactly a moment he wanted to dwell on too much. “Holy shit! Shane!” She seemed unable to say much else.
“Like I said, it’s big,” he said. “But I really want you to meet him. We’re thinking of having a dinner party. Small, just the people I’m out to— my parents and a few friends, so everyone can meet. We’ve got a lot to tell everyone.”
“Um, yes!” she said, finally able to form other words again, “That would be amazing. I’ll be there. Tell me where and when, I’ll make it work.” Her smile turned softer, eyes a little watery. “I’m so fucking proud of you, you know that?” she said, and he could feel the warmth of it, knowing that she was.
“Sounds great,” Yuna said, already adding the event to the calendar in her phone even as Shane gave her the details on speaker. “We’re free that night. Should we bring anything?”
“No, no, don’t worry about it,” Shane said. “I hired a private chef, so all I have to do is serve the food, and everyone else just has to show up.”
“Very nice,” Yuna said, impressed with his planning.
“I know the season didn’t end the way you wanted,” David said, “But you still had a run worth celebrating.”
“Thanks,” Shane said. Then his voice took on the particular tone that it did when he was nervous and thought that he was hiding it well as he said, “We do have a few things to celebrate, that’s why we wanted everyone there.”
Yuna and David exchanged a look.
“Anything else in particular?” Yuna asked. He may have successfully hid many things from her for a long time, but she knew her son well.
Shane took a while to answer. “Don’t worry about it now,” he said. “I don’t want to say anything until it’s confirmed.”
“Fair enough,” David said, still sharing a significant look with his wife. “Love you, son. See you then.”
“Love you too,” Shane replied, and the line went dead. Yuna set her phone down on the table in front of them.
“Sounds like he has some kind of announcement,” David said diplomatically.
Several possibilities flashed through Yuna’s mind. She went with the most likely one. “Do you think they’re engaged?”
“Or he’s thinking of popping the question,” David said.
“Private catered dinner,” Yuna said by way of agreement.
David patted her hand. “Let’s bring a nice bottle of something, just in case.”
Hayden poked at the burgers on the grill, not because they needed flipping just yet, but because it was his duty as a father and homeowner. Across the yard, several of his teammates were playing an elaborate game of red rover, to the great entertainment of his daughters.
“Need a hand?” Shane appeared beside him then, still sipping at the single beer that he’d been nursing for the better part of an hour.
“Nah,” Hayden said, poking at another patty, “I’m a pro.”
Shane laughed, which always felt to Hayden like a win. Then he glanced around briefly before asking, “Hey, what are you and Jackie doing next Saturday?”
“Nothing, as far as I know,” Hayden said with a small shrug. “Why?”
“Having some people over,” Shane said. He was still being dodgy, which to be fair was pretty standard for him. But Hayden knew enough now to guess why.
“You and…” He waved his spatula around to somehow take the place of saying Ilya.
“Yeah,” Shane said with another glance around, as though someone would manage to figure it out through Hayden’s utensil waving. “A nice dinner, just my parents and some close friends.”
“I’ll let Jackie know,” Hayden said, “What’s the occasion?”
Shane looked out over the yard to where most of their teammates were still goofing around with the kids. JJ was rolling on the lawn in full dramatic fashion as his side was badly losing. Once he caught Shane’s eye, he started waving him over. “Just have some things to announce,” Shane said vaguely.
“Okay,” Hayden said, because that answered exactly nothing.
“Capitaine! Capitaine!” JJ wailed, “Lend us your strength!”
“I think you’re being summoned,” Hayden laughed.
“I’d better go support my team,” Shane said. He set his beer down on a nearby table with a wry smile and left to join the fray.
Hayden shook his head and kept poking at the burgers. Jackie left the group of WAGs she had been talking to to toss an empty soda can into the recycling bin nearby and sidle up next to him.
“What did Shane want?” she asked, “He looked… well, you know.”
“Invited us to a dinner next Saturday with his parents and some friends,” he said.
“Oh, that’s nice,” she said.
“Yeah,” Hayden continued, “Said he had things to announce.”
“Oh.” Her eyebrows shot up. “You think this is like a coming out thing?” she asked, dropping her voice so low she was practically mouthing the words, even though no one was very close to them.
“Kind of sounded like it,” Hayden said.
Jackie looked over to where Shane was getting roped into the shenanigans, to the absolute delight of her girls, her expression fond. “Then we should go and support him,” she said.
“And make sure Rozanov doesn’t ruin the moment,” Hayden mumbled.
“Hayd, you’re going to have to get along with him eventually,” she admonished.
“Get along with? Fine, I can be civil,” he said. “But actually like the guy? Oh no, that ship has sailed.”
He flipped a burger to punctuate his point.
“Are you free for a visit to Montreal next weekend?” Ilya asked Svetlana in Russian once the usual phone greetings were out of the way.
“Depends,” she replied, “Why would I want to go to Montreal?”
“Shane wants to have a dinner party with everyone who knows about us,” he explained.
“So sweet,” she tutted, “You two are playing house.”
“Yes, yes, very sweet,” he said, “I need you there to keep me from murdering Pike. I do not think Shane would be so sweet, then.”
“Yes fine,” she agreed, “I will make sure you don’t make Pike’s wife a widow.”
“Widow with sixteen children,” Ilya grumbled, and she laughed. “And you will have to get used to visiting me in Canada soon.”
She paused, and then asked, “So you are going through with that?”
“Yes,” Ilya said, “We are telling everyone at the dinner, news will go public the next day.”
“That boy has you wrapped around his fingers,” she said, “But I like the way love looks on you.” If she had been able to see his face, she knows he would have been blushing then, despite all of his protests that he never did so. “And how is Shane?”
“He’s fine,” Ilya said, “Nervous. Wants everything to be perfect. I don’t understand why he is so worried. Everyone who will be there already knows about us, that we’re serious. What could be the problem? What does he think will go wrong?”
“Careful,” she laughed, “Those are famous last words, Ilyusha.”
Hi, Hayden, the text read, Just want to confirm that you will be at Shane’s dinner on Saturday. Shane said that he has an announcement to make, so I know that it will be important to him to have his close friends there.
Jackie was at Mommy and Me Yoga Night with their two oldest, so it was just Hayden alone with the little ones. He had finally gotten both of them to sleep and sat down on the couch with his phone out to do something mindless for a while (like try to beat that one killer round of Candy Crush now that his lives had refilled). Then he’d seen the text from Shane's mom.
We’ll be there! he replied. So Shane had also let them know that he had something to tell them. Hayden just hoped she didn’t try to ask what. His phone buzzed again moments later.
I don’t want to overstep, but do you think this will be a special occasion? I know Shane is very private, but maybe he talked to you about it.
Fuck, okay. Don’t out your friend, Hayden. Let him have his moment.
He hasn’t said anything about it to me, Hayden replied. Good, neutral, not even a lie. Hayden could do this. Three dots appeared on the screen as she typed again.
Got it. We’re just trying to figure out how nervous to be…
Hayden read the message three times through, trying to figure out the best way to respond. He tapped out his response slowly, aiming for a watertight reply.
You know Shane, it’ll be big, but he probably doesn’t want anyone to make a whole production out of it
There, perfect. He hit send and her answering message came quickly.
Very true! See you then.
Hayden set his phone down with a long sigh of relief, happy that he had managed to get through the conversation without saying a single wrong thing.