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Hayley was running late to her monthly brunch with her childhood best friends. She had, stupidly, decided two months ago to grow out the pixie cut she'd been keeping up with since high school--convinced in part by the very same women she was going to meet. Traitors. She'd spent about an hour in front of her bathroom mirror trying to get the grow out to behave. Just when she thought she'd gotten it to look somewhat decent, she'd seen herself in the hallway mirror on the way out of her apartment complex. She now had tufts of black hair poking out under her only beanie she owned... which she was wearing in Boston...in March. Ridiculous. She prayed there would be at least a brisk wind to justify it. Pulling out her phone, she saw there were three missed calls from her best friend, Abigail. Jesus, it wasn't like she'd never been late before. There was even a missed call from Sofie, which was unusual.
She sent a text as she pushed out the doors of her apartment building.
Hayley: ETA 10:30 sorry!
And then
Hayley: did you bring your mom bag? my hair is pissing me offffff and i need hair clips or something
The response came less than 30 seconds later.
Abigail: You know I never leave the house without a tide pen, ofc i brought it. Have you been online at all today?
Hayley: No, I've been doing my hair since I woke up lol.
Hayley: Why?
Abigail: Don't worry about it, just get here. I already ordered you a mimosa and the french toast you liked last time.
Hayley shook her head in confusion and looked both ways before crossing the busy crosswalk over to the block of trendy new businesses. She could see the yellow striped awning of their brunch spot in the distance.
Sofie and Abigail were waiting at their usual table already sipping and whispering conspiratorially to each other. When they saw Hayley approaching they both sat straight up and waved her over impatiently.
"I'm coming! Jeez you guys." Abigail opened up her bag and pulled out a compact collapsible brush and some bobby pins.
"Ok take that hat off now," She said, "we have business to discuss" Hayley sat quickly stuffing her hat into her bag letting her cowlicked dark hair spring free.
"Both of you are being so weird."
"I can't hold it in. Can I tell her?" Sofie asked, leaning forward and looking beseechingly at Abigail, her blue eyes wide. Abigail sighed, bobby pin between her lips as she began smoothing Hayley's hair into place with the small brush. She nodded quickly.
At that moment the waiter came by with the plates lined up on her arm.
"French toast?" She asked, Hayley motioned to the space in front of her and mouthed a thank you while Abigail yanked her head. When the waitress left, Sofie turned her attention fully towards Hayley ignoring the steaming omelette in front of her.
"Do you remember that hockey player you used to hook up with?" As if Hayley could forget hooking up with Ilya Rozanov.
Abigail paused her tugging and said out of the corner of her mouth, pin still between her lips, "The Russian one."
"I only hooked up with one hockey player. Yes, I remember Ilya Rozanov. Why?"
Sofie's eyes lit up.
"Do you remember his rival?" She said, in a sing-song voice, clearly very excited.
Hayley looked up trying to recall. Even though they hooked up fairly regularly a few years ago they hadn't spoken in, at least, three years and when they had been seeing each other she didn't really follow sports. She saw an extremely hot muscular guy at the club during Sofie's bachelorette party in 2015 and that was it. They'd hooked up on his couch a few times and she remembered he would often have ESPN on in the background. One time they'd even fucked while some of his game highlights were behind them. Him being famous definitely boosted the allure of the hookup, but then he'd moved and she hadn't heard from him again. Okay that wasn't exactly true, he'd added her as a friend on Candy Crush sometime last year but she'd upgraded her phone since then and hadn't redownloaded any games. Vaguely, she thought about an ad spot that had aired between games once.
"Uh yeah, Hollander right? The Canadian one?" It was coming back to her now. Yes, she'd definitely heard people talk about him. Shane? That sounded right. Her brother had mentioned him at Thanksgiving last year. He'd won the cup or something.
Sofie squealed a little bit.
"Look." Sofie ordered, pressing her phone into Hayley's hand. It was one of those cheesy Fanmail videos of a guy she definitely didn't recognize standing in a room surrounded by trophies awkwardly but enthusiastically wishing someone named Brad a Happy Birthday. The video looped again and Hayley paused it.
"Who the fuck is this?" She asked. It definitely wasn't Hollander, everyone always talked about how hot he was. Abigail reached over the table and used two fingers to enlarge the video to focus on a spot in the background. Ah yes, Hayley saw it now. It was Ilya and Shane. They were tangled up in each other's arms and making out. Passionately.
"Holy shit." She said, zooming in even more and leaning forward, swatting Abigail out of her hair so she could get a closer look. Her friends nodded looking along with her. The girls were quiet for a moment. Finally, Hayley said, "Well he certainly never kissed me like that."
"They have to be in love. Ilya has to be gay!" Sofie exclaimed, some mimosa sloshing over the edge of her glass.
"He's definitely not completely gay." Hayley said, gesturing towards herself, "Nobody eats it like that if they don't enjoy it." Her eyes were locked on the screen still but when she finally looked up her friends were staring at her silently, studying her.
"What?"
Abigail and Sofie exchanged a look.
"Nothing." Abigail said, putting her kit back in her purse. "It just seems like he might have a type." Sofie nodded.
"What do you mean?"
"Be serious." Sofie said.
"Do I need to get out my travel mirror too?" Abigail asked, jingling her bag. "Hayley. You could be related! You and Ilya's man! You're like genderbent Shane Hollander." Hayley looked over at the mirrored wall behind the bar where the bartender was assembling a mojito. She caught her reflection there. Her hair had been suitably tamed by Abigail's efforts but her friends were definitely right. She had thick, straight dark hair and dark brown eyes. It was only March so the summer sun hadn't gotten to her cheeks yet but the spread of freckles across her nose was unmistakable. They really could be siblings.
"Holy shit." Hayley said again. The girls nodded excitedly. "That's crazy." She offered. The girls nodded again, reaching for their mimosas and chatting about how you really can't always tell who is and who isn't gay these days. Hayley wasn't really listening. She took a bite of her french toast but it sank like a rock in her stomach. Ilya was always so kind and attentive to her during their encounters and the video did not seem intentional. Ilya was not out and she didn't think Hollander was either. The last time an MLH player came out it was big news. Everyone knew about Scott Hunter. Even herself, with her very limited knowledge of sports, would have heard about it somehow. Her stomach hurt.
Sofie and Abigail kept talking but Hayley took her phone out of her pocket and did a quick Google search for Ilya Rozanov. As she feared, article after article popped up from gossip sites and tabloids. Opinion pieces about being down low in professional sports. Speculation about the legitimacy of the kiss and possible relationship between the two. Those were just the headlines. She was sure the comments were even more brutal. Twitter must have been a shitshow. She went to her contacts and scrolled through. She wasn't sure if she still had his contact or if he even had the same number. According to one website it seemed like he had moved to Canada for Hollander. Did you have to change phone numbers when you moved to Canada? Would he even see it if she did send something? Would it be overstepping? They obviously had not meant to be discovered and she was just a hookup! From years ago! She made up her mind to leave him alone until something official came out--a statement or something. Until then she returned her attention to the french toast and tried to ignore the feeling of distress she felt for Ilya.
ONE WEEK LATER
Hayley woke up from her nap to a phone call from Abigail.
"Hello?" She asked, sitting up on her couch and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Check instagram! I sent it to you." Hayley put Abigail on speaker and opened up their chat on instagram. It was a joint post between Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander. They'd been in a "committed relationship for several years". She swiped through the photos of them together and felt the corner of her mouth tick upwards. They were adorable together.
"What an it couple." Hayley said plainly.
"Right?" Abigail purred. "Eiffel tower, am I right?”
"You're a freak. I am hanging up on you." Hayley said before adding, "but you're absolutely right."
She hung up and commented a single red heart emoji on the announcement post. Before she could overthink it she sent a quick text to the number she had saved for Ilya.
Hayley: Hi! This is Hayley from Boston. Idk if you remember me or if this is even your number still but I wanted to congratulate you and Shane. You're a beautiful couple. :)
She put her phone down and pulled the blankets back up around her shoulders. He probably wouldn't respond anyway. To her surprise the phone vibrated a few minutes later and there was a text from Ilya.
Ilya: Thank you, Hayley. I think so too.
She smiled and went to put her phone back down but before she could, it vibrated in her hand.
It was Ilya again.
He'd sent her an iMessage request to play Cup Pong.