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The Photo by sammythemattressthief
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types
23 Apr 2026
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Summary
"There in the photo was a young man in a hammock with a serene lake behind him, bathed in an orange sunset. A book was open in his lap and he was smiling up at the camera, easy and relaxed. Ilya didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone look so effortlessly gorgeous in a pair of ratty sweatpants and a bleach-stained t-shirt. He also didn’t think he’d ever find a personal family photo of Shane Hollander, the up-and-coming hockey sensation from Canada who had gone missing in November of 2008, in a thrift shop in Boston."
Ilya and Shane never met at world juniors because Shane vanished without a trace. Against all logic, he appears almost two years later in Ilya's dreams. Those dreams begin to blur the line between fiction and reality, becoming muddy and impossible to navigate. As Ilya falls in love with a dead man, he finds that he cares less and less about those lines. When the opportunity to solve the mystery and bring closure to Shane's parents presents itself, Ilya must face whatever reality may truly be, even if that means losing the love of his life for good.