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February, 2021
It was a cold but cosy February evening on Bood’s deck, where most of the Centaurs and their partners had gathered for one of his winter barbecue’s. After the plane incident, Bood had promised to host one the first chance their schedule would allow it, stating they needed to appreciate these little moments as team mates. As always, Bood had outdone himself, serving his signature chicken as well as a brisket he’d been slow cooking for several hours. All the while, Cassie had kept the table stocked with appetizers and salads and had been watching like a hawk for any empty glasses or bottles. As a result, Ottawa’s finest athletes were now lazily slumped in their seats, stuffed to the brim. Empty plates rested on tables, armrests and underneath chairs. The sun had set some time ago and the noises of the outdoors were settling. Bood had finally sat down, after manning the grill for the past couple of hours. He and Dykstra were laughing at some story Lisa was telling them about Wyatt. Troy and Harris had disappeared a suspiciously long time ago, stating they were going to help Cassie with the dishes. Cassie - who was comfortably sitting in a lounge chair and talking to Luca and Caitlin Dykstra. She showed no signs of taking any action regarding the dishes. Some of the younger players sat a little further from the house, passing a joint between them and discussing superior locations for party holidays. Ilya was enjoying watching his teammates relax after an intense couple of weeks. To his side were Holmberg and his new girlfriend Julia. Tonight was Julia’s first official team outing, and she’d been very quiet when she’d first arrived. She was a few years younger than any of the other WAG’s and seemed a little uncomfortable, probably unsure of how to position herself in a group of people who were all very familiar with each other. Somewhere along the evening, Ilya had made it his mission to make her feel at ease. Which is how he’d found himself listening to the story of how the two of them had met.
“So as he’s jogging, I notice his wallet slipping from his pocket,” Julia said. “So I pick it up, start running after him, but Lars keeps going faster and faster. Up until the point where I’m nearly dying when he finally stops at his apartment."
Ilya realised this must have been one of the only times he’d heard Holmberg’s given name. Strange…
“In fairness,” Holmberg provided, “I’d seen her in multiple places around my apartment building over the course of a couple of weeks. And then she started following me home?” There was a slight touch of guilt laced in his expression as he explained his thinking process. “I thought this is it, I have my first stalker!” Ilya, as well as Cassie, Luca and Caitlin, who had tuned into the conversation, laughed at the picture the young couple painted.
“Don’t fool yourself, Holmboy,” Ilya joked, “I don’t think you have yet reached the level of fame to be stalker worthy.”
After some more laughter, it was Caitlin’s voice that rose above the sound. “Well, I don’t know about that,” she said, “Some of those puck bunnies these days are wild!”
“I know!” Julia reacted, “Ugh, my friends have been teasing me, calling me a puck bunny ever since we started seeing each other.”
Cassie and Caitlin gave her a sympathetic look. “Girl, we’ve all been there,” Cassie said.
“Even though they were the ones who were taking those Buzzfeed quizzes when we were in high school, like ‘Who’s your NHL boyfriend?’” Julia continued, adding air quotes around the question.
Ilya gave Luca a confused glance while the women laughed. “I remember those!” Cassie giggled. Even though Ilya expected Luca to be equally as confused as he was, he only found a shy smile and a slight blush in his teammate’s face. But Ilya was intrigued by this boyfriend quiz, so being the only one in the dark was not going to stop him from finding out more.
“Back up,” he uttered. “What do you mean ‘Who is your NHL boyfriend’?”
Julia let out an amused giggle. “You know Buzzfeed, right?” she explained, “They have all these quizzes. You have to answer a couple of random questions and it will tell you, like, which movie character you are or who you should date.”
“You’re probably one of the outcome options, cap!” It was the first thing Luca had said in a while.
“Let me see,” Ilya said, motioning his hand in a way that was reaching out to nothing in particular, as no one had anything tangible to show him.
“You can’t just go straight to the outcomes, Ilya,” Caitlin said. “You have to take the quiz and it will give you one of the possibilities.”
Meanwhile, Cassie was already typing away at her phone. It took her all of 30 seconds before she let out an excited “Found one!”
She started quoting the article, her voice sounding like one of the hosts in the reality tv shows Ilya liked to watch on lazy mornings after a rough game. “Now that the hockey season has started, you might want to find out who your hockey player soul mate is. Answer these 8 questions and we’ll let you know who your NHL boyfriend is.”
Ilya knew an internet page would not be able to validate him more than his real life relationship with his fiancé would. He knew that. But he couldn’t help himself from wondering if his answers would lead to Shane anyway.
Continuing in the same reality show host voice she was before, Cassie started reading the first question. “What does your ideal first date look like?”
After reading the question, she reached out her phone for Ilya to take. Ilya, not knowing what the hell he was supposed to do with it, asked her, “Why do you give me your phone?”
“I already know Zane’s not going to be in it,” she said matter of factly. “I mean, I love my man but fortunately for me he’s not one of the ones to make the internet go wild.”
Ilya, still not getting it, just kept looking at Cassie questioningly without taking the phone from her. After another few seconds without a reaction from Ilya, Cassie explained herself.
“You want to find out if you’re in it? You take it, then, Roz! I mean, if anyone is going to answer it so that the result will be Ilya Rozanov, it’s got to be Ilya Rozanov, right?”
Cassie’s statement captured the interest of everyone who was listening in on the conversation and soon there were multiple encouraging words coming Ilya’s way.
“Starting with choosing which of these pictures appeals to you most as a first date idea.”
Ilya finally took the phone and looked at the options.
Thinking about it, he had never been able to really take Shane on a first date. Even after they’d established what they felt for each other was much more than just lust, the secrecy still prevented Ilya from showing Shane off. The first time Ilya went to the cottage was probably as close to a date as it got for them. A really long fucking date.. So going for a run or Netflix and chill - without the Netflix - were the most realistic options. But they did those things and it didn’t really feel like dates, even though Ilya really liked both. If having to keep their relationship private wasn’t a factor that mattered, and he could freely take Shane on a date, what would he do? Neither he nor Shane cared much for movies. So the cinema wasn’t an option. Ilya loved anything that had wheels and was fast, so the idea of go karting as a first date sounded really appealing to him. But then he heard Shane’s voice in his head and he was reminded of his boring fiancé’s stance on how to use vehicles and he decided against it. Ilya also eliminated the art gallery. Even though he had some art pieces in his house, those were mostly there because he’d had empty walls and money to spend. Looking at art as a date just seemed really boring to Ilya. And then his eye fell onto the last picture. A picnic in a park. Ilya thought of the times that he and Shane used to cook together. Shane’s diet would make it a challenge to bring some good food to the picnic, but Ilya liked a challenge and he remembered how happy he’d made Shane when he’d bought diet friendly ingredients and cooked for him. So without thinking about it any longer, he handed Cassie’s phone back to her and answered the question. “My ideal first date would be picnic.”
Unfortunately, just at that moment Bood had decided to join his wife, coming to stand behind her chair and resting his hands on her shoulders. And to make things worse, Dykstra, Hayes and Lisa had also joined them now. “Wow, Roz, I had no idea you were such a marshmallow,” Bood laughed.
“Shut up, Bood,” Ilya, who was definitely not blushing - Russians do not do this -, said.
“What’s going on here, anyway?” Hayes asked. As the group were all pushing around chairs to make sure that all the newly joined players and WAG’s had a place to sit under the heater, Cassie once again explained the concept of a boyfriend quiz. As a result, Ilya now had way more people than he would like interested in the outcome of this quiz on his hypothetical yet not so hypothetical love life.
“Ok, let’s get this over with,” he said with a sigh. “Next question.”
“Alright, next question is… What’s your favourite kind of food?”
Ilya listened to Cassie list the answer options and wondered how a type of food was going to tell him that Shane was his partner. He weighed his options. Exotic wasn’t really his thing, and fuck healthy and green. Sophisticated and clean? He didn’t even know what that was supposed to mean. He did have a sweet tooth and a taste for junk food, but again that voice in his head - the one that sounded a lot like the dark haired, freckled, Montreal captain who was currently heading back home from playing in New York - told him not to choose any of those options. Something simple and plain. Come to think of it, he did really like the simple but tasty meals he and Shane used to make together.
“Something simple and plain,” he answered.
The next question came with another set of pictures to choose from, so Cassie once again handed him her phone to pick one of the options.
Ilya didn’t look at the pictures for more than two seconds before handing the phone back to Cassie and answering. “The lake.”
The action earned him some stunned looks and a few laughs. “Damn, Cap, that was quick.”
“Yes,” was the only thing Ilya said.
Once it became clear that Ilya wasn’t going to elaborate, Cassie continued onto the next question. “What would be the way to your heart?”
As Cassie listed the answer options, a few chuckles came from the group at the first answer option. Someone wolf whistled and someone called, “Yeah, that sounds about right, cap!” Ilya ignored it and listened to the other answer options. He answered each of them with, “Yes.” When Cassie’d finished listing them all, and Ilya kept quiet, she gave him a questioning look. “So?”
“So, what?” he asked.
“Which one do you choose?”
Ilya wanted to choose all of them, he realised. In essence, he was the clubbing kind of guy. At least, he used to be. Until a certain boring hockey player with a weak backhand introduced himself in Saskatchewan in this weird, authentic way of his. And then he’d kept taking initiative to see each other, despite every bone in their bodies telling them it wasn’t a good idea. After Ilya had started to realise that maybe he’d let feelings into the mix, he’d made him a home cooked meal, because that was what he could think of to let Shane know, without telling him, that maybe he wanted more. After they’d finally both realised their feelings for each other, Shane had gone on to make Ilya feel loved every single day. And a few weeks ago, their entire relationship had reached an even deeper level after Shane’s grand romantic gesture. Ilya instinctively touched his chest where his necklace was hanging underneath his shirt, holding his mother’s cross as well as the ring that Shane had given him.
The sound of the rookies bursting out in laughter a few yards away made Ilya realise he’d spaced out for a bit. He looked around to find the group still waiting for his answer. Even though he could pick any of the answers, he knew what had really made him fall for Shane. Throughout all the years that Ilya had known Shane, even before they were together, Shane had always managed to surprise him. From completely trusting Ilya and following orders in the bedroom, to carefully folding his clothes after taking them off, Shane had always shown Ilya little pieces of himself. Not of Shane Hollander, Montreal’s star center, but just Shane. His, authentic, Shane who sometimes wears glasses and stays up late to make sure he knows all of the allergies that the kids at camp have.
“Be authentic,” Ilya finally answered.
The next question was another picture one that didn’t take Ilya long to answer.
“Formula 1,” he said, “Next.”
“Alright,” Cassie answered, “What do you value most in a romantic partner?”
As Cassie listed the answer options, Ilya once again noticed most options were qualities that he valued and found in Shane. Although sometimes he wouldn’t mind if Shane lacked a fraction of the discretion he possessed. Chivalry, Ilya realised, wasn’t really something he valued much. Out of the other four options, one word stuck to his brain. Family. Years ago, he never would have thought that he would find the kind of family life that he got to experience with Shane and the Hollanders. And now that they were officially going to be family soon, Ilya couldn’t wait to start this life that would eventually maybe, hopefully, lead to an extension of their own family. So there wasn’t really any other option than to answer Cassie with, “Family oriented.”
Cassie nodded and locked in Ilya’s answer on her phone, before revealing the next question. “Alright, so now the opposite: What’s an absolute dealbreaker for you?”
Ilya thought about it for a little bit. He liked that Shane was ambitious, but he didn’t think it would be a dealbreaker for him if he wasn’t. Picking insecurity would be a hypocritical thing to do, considering Ilya had his own insecurities, despite what he let on. One thing that he’d noticed could affect his insecurity, was feeling like he was being taken for granted. He didn’t really mind how serious or not his partner was. The best was probably somewhere in the middle. Ilya wondered what not being present meant. Literally being absent? Or not being in the moment? The answer option was a little too vague for his liking. And the final one, unkemptness, he didn’t even know the word and it was too late to try to find out what it meant. So he went with the only answer that he could somewhat relate to. “Taking me for granted.”
Cassie locked in Ilya’s answer, before shifting in her seat - moving forward a little - indicating she had something important to say. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she announced, “we have reached the final question.”
Ilya noticed everyone looking at Cassie in anticipation. Ilya was just hoping for her to get it over with. He was starting to be a little bit done with all the eyes being on him.
“Final question… As it says here, Last but not least, what’s your love language?”
As Cassie read the answer options, Ilya couldn’t help but feel relieved that the last question was another easy one. Although there were multiple ways in which he enjoyed spreading and being shown love, there was only one that resonated with him as strongly as his answer did. “Easy,” he told Cassie, “physical touch,” which earned him more wolf whistles.
Cassie locked in the final answer before looking at the result. A hint of surprise crossed her face that Ilya did not like. Ilya squinted his eyes at her, before asking her, “Cassie, what is it?”
“Well, it’s not you,” which gave Ilya zero information. He hadn’t thought that some random person working at a website would know him well enough to handpick his answers to these kinds of questions. But as Ilya looked around, he noticed that he wasn’t the only one who was waiting to hear what the result was. So after asking for a drum roll and everyone - except for Ilya - tapping their hands on their thighs, Cassie announced that Ilya’s supposed NHL boyfriend was-
“Hayden Pike.”
You’ve got to be kidding me, Ilya thought. Fucking Pike. Always fucking there when Ilya didn’t want him to be. He heard a few snickers around him but nobody dared to comment on the result, as they saw the way Ilya treated Hayden whenever they played Montreal.
“Let me see,” Ilya snapped and reached out his hand for Cassie’s phone. Ilya studied the web page and sure enough, it was there. Hayden Pike’s smug smile. And if it wasn’t enough, Ilya then noticed that the picture came with a text description as well.
Maybe you were once a wild one, but those days are far behind now. As you crave the stability of a family life, Hayden Pike is the perfect guy for you. Loyal, supportive and although maybe a little clumsily, always ready to be there for you. The personification of a golden retriever.
“I will take it again,” Ilya told Cassie. To Ilya’s right, Luca - who had been quiet for quite a while - leaned forward in his seat. “Actually, maybe if you want to find out if you’re in it, we should all take it,” he suggested.
Some enthusiastic agreement came from the group and Lisa asked Cassie where she’d found the link. “Already on it,” Cassie said as she took her phone back from Ilya and started doing something on her phone. A few short moments later, some phones pinged and Ilya took his own phone out of his pocket to reveal a text from Cassie to the group chat containing the link to the quiz.
Within moments, Lisa, Wyatt, Luca, Cassie, Caitlin and even Bood were taking the quiz on their phones. Julia told Holmberg she didn’t need the quiz in high school and she didn’t need it now. That she was happy with him anyway. How nice, Ilya thought, young love. Dykstra didn’t join in on the hype either, although he kept glancing at Caitlin’s screen as she took the quiz. Ilya also set out to take it again, determined to choose the most boring answers so the stupid website would tell him Shane was his boyfriend. 1. A date to the art gallery. 2. Green and healthy food. 3. A vacation to the lake - yes, it was the most boring one of the answers, but he obviously liked boring. 4. Make me feel loved every single day as the way to his heart. 5. Golf as the other sport to watch. 6. Discretion as the most valued trait in a romantic partner. 7. Unseriousness as the deal breaker. 8. Feeling known/seen - because he didn’t really know which of the love languages was boring so he just randomly picked one. After tapping on his final answer, the website started loading his result. And just like the previous time, it didn’t give him the desired outcome. Instead of seeing Shane’s face or even his own, he found Scott Hunter staring right at him from his phone screen. Just as he thought there was no way it could get worse than Pike. Ilya let out a frustrated groan that wasn’t missed by the crowd surrounding him. Everyone was now looking in his direction.
“What’s the matter, Cap?”
“Care to share with the group?”
“Who did you get this time?”
Instead of answering, Ilya showed his screen, to which loud laughter erupted from the group.
“I never understood what you’ve got against Hunter anyway, man,” Bood said.
“Well, at least he’s gay,” Cassie provided, “so you’d at least have a good chance of your boyfriend actually being into you.”
Even though the way Cassie said it sounded like she was probably just lightheartedly teasing, Ilya’s first instinct was to come up with a quick and witty reply, like he usually did when people would make comments that hit a little close to home. Before he could do so, though, Bood countered his wife’s statement. “You’re forgetting that Roz isn’t into guys, babe.”
The comment made Ilya cringe. He was sure that most of the guys would be completely fine with his sexuality. At least be decent human beings about it and keep to themselves if it made them somewhat uncomfortable. But because they didn’t know, it wasn’t uncommon for Ilya to be subjected to these kinds of assumptions that just sounded so wrong. But telling his team was out of the question, for now at least.
Wanting to move on from the subject, Ilya asked the others which answers they got. Not everybody had finished yet, but Wyatt was grinning as he looked at his wife’s screen. “We both got Vaughny, Lis. Looks like we have the same type.”
“So that’s three now,” Holmberg counted, “Pike, Hunter and Vaughn. Who else? Hollzy’s got to be in there as well, right?”
“I got Pike,” Bood offered with an apologetic shrug, “What about you, Haasy?”
Ilya definitely didn’t miss the blush creeping up on the rookie’s face. Judging by the way he was squirming in his seat, Ilya had an idea what the answer was going to be. The confirmation came in the form of a shy, “Rozanov.”
Of course, this had all the guys roaring with laughter. “Well, I guess that number 81 poster above your bed should have told us all we needed to know,” one of the guys teased, which evoked another round of laughter. It kind of all went downhill from there, as far as the conversational level went.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Bood shouted over the laughter, “What does it say in his description?”
Ilya was kind of curious as to what it said about him. He knew the reputation he’d gained over the years, mainly when he was still living in Boston though. Luca had a hard time reading out the few sentences, however, due to him being constantly interrupted by a new joint burst of laughter.
“You like a man who knows confidence is sexy. Ilya Rozanov will take charge when you need him to, but he’ll do it in a non misogynistic way. He might never be just yours, but he’s definitely the kind of man who knows what you want. Leave it to him to show you a good - it says good in different font, like it’s suggesting something - to show you a good time.”
When Luca had finished reading, nearly five minutes later, people were wiping away tears from laughing so much. Ilya found he was quite alright with the description. It wasn’t untrue, some of it was just a little outdated. He’d been a reformed man for some time now, not wanting anyone but Shane. But he definitely knew what Shane wanted and when he needed him to take charge.
Ilya was still waiting for someone to mention that they got Shane as their result. Somewhere along the line, Ilya had figured that way he could find out what answers to put in the quiz to end up with Shane. Only Cassie had yet to reveal her score. Ilya didn’t want to be too obvious, but it seemed like all the others might have forgotten she hadn’t shared her result yet. So he asked anyway. Cassie’s answer both surprised and delighted Ilya.
“Marley, my man!” he exclaimed. When he noticed Bood’s expression shift to slight concern, Ilya decided to tease his alternate captain a little.
“Yes, I see why Cassie would want to date Marley,” he said to Bood, “He is good man for her. You and him are like same word, different handwriting.”
“You know what, Cap,” Bood chuckled, “sometimes I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Lisa, always being the smart and helpful one, came to Ilya’s aid. “Do you mean ‘Same person, different font’?”
That sounded alright to Ilya. “Yes! That!”
Cassie just chuckled as she shook her head. Then she looked up and gave her husband an affirming kiss.
Just as Ilya was giving up hope of ever passing the boyfriend test and was ready to let the subject go, Troy and Harris finally re-emerged, Troy holding up his phone.
“Cassie, why did you send the group chat a link to a Buzzfeed quiz?” he asked.
Harris, feigning being offended, added, “That’s more my job, wouldn’t you say?”
After Julia and Cassie had explained to Troy and Harris how the group had found about an hour's worth of entertainment in the website, they also seemed intrigued.
“Let me try it too,” Troy said as he slid in a chair and pulled Harris into his lap.
Harris, not wanting to be left out, also took out his phone and started taking the quiz.
With the newfound interest, Ilya decided to take one more try. Third time’s a charm and all that. “I will do one more,” he announced.
Both Harris and Troy looked up from their screens and into Ilya’s direction. Harris was the quickest to realise Ilya’s specific wording.
“One more?” he asked, “How many did you take already?”
Ilya decided it was probably best not to comment. Unfortunately, other people did it for him.
“This will be his third.”
“Why?” Troy asked, an amused glint in his eyes.
“First two times he didn’t get the result he wanted”
Both Troy and Harris snickered at that, before Harris asked, “Who did you get?”
Ilya felt his frustration start to build up again before he answered. “First Pike, and then dinosaur Hunter.”
Troy gave Ilya an inquisitive look. “Who are you trying to get, Roz?”
Of course Ilya wasn’t going to tell them. Especially not Troy, who had been so dangerously close to figuring everything out that night they’d gone to the Kingfisher. Fortunately for Ilya, Wyatt came to his aid without even knowing it himself.
“Probably himself,” he said. And with that, Harris and Troy laughed and went back to their phones to finish the quiz. But the knowing smirk on Troy’s face told Ilya he wasn’t convinced by Wyatt’s answer and he had a theory of his own. Probably the correct one.
Ilya didn’t let himself worry about that too much and returned to his third quiz. This time, he decided to fill it out completely at random. After the final answer, the irony of the result was not lost on Ilya. Now staring back at him on his phone screen, was his own face.
Having lost interest in the stupid website, Ilya waited for Troy and Harris to reveal their answers. Harris’ was boring, another Hayden Pike. Troy’s result did pique Ilya’s interest, however - as well as the rest of the group’s - because Troy was the first person to get this result.
“Ah, look at that,” Troy said, “I got Hollander.”
“Let me see,” Ilya said as he reached out his hand for Troy’s phone. This earned him another smirk from Troy, but he was too impatient to care. When he looked at Troy’s phone screen, sure enough, there was Shane’s face smiling back at him. It was a nice picture. Shane’s freckles were on full display and he looked really cute in it. Ilya read the description that came with the result.
Steady, competent and reliable is what you’re looking for in a partner. With Shane Hollander, you know you’ve got a man who will treat you nice, take you seriously and work hard for your relationship. Plus, his looks don’t hurt, right? I mean, look at that cute smile. Although he couldn’t disagree with the description, Ilya couldn’t help but feel it lacked any real definition of who Shane really was as a partner. Then again, he had to remind himself, this was written by people who didn’t know Shane at all. Of course, Ilya knew better.
Although still not being able to completely let go of the idea that he should somehow get Shane as a result on his quiz, Ilya did manage to prevent himself from asking Troy which answers would lead him to Shane. There was still some shred of common sense or self preservation left in him to tell him that doing that wasn’t a good idea. Deciding to give up on the quest, he showed the group his final result that said Ilya Rozanov, leaning into Wyatt’s suggestion that that was what he’d been after all along and moving on to another subject.
A few hours later, when Ilya was driving home, he called Shane.
“Ilya?” came Shane’s sleepy voice from the other side of the phone. “What’s wrong?”
Ilya immediately felt a flash of guilt and regret. He hadn’t meant to wake Shane. He’d thought he would’ve still been traveling.
“Nothing,” he quickly said, “I’m sorry, moya lyubov, I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m driving back from Bood’s and I thought you were still on the road.”
There wasn’t any trace of annoyance in Shane’s voice and any remaining guilt Ilya was feeling was replaced with a sense of comfort, especially after hearing Shane reassure him.
“It’s alright, it’s good to hear your voice,” Shane said, “Did you have fun?”
Shane patiently listened as Ilya told him all about his evening, from the great food to Troy and Harris disappearing, right until Ilya arrived at the most interesting part of the evening.
“Right!” Ilya exclaimed, “I have to tell you about this.”
“Tell me about what?” Shane asked.
“Did you know there is a quiz that tells you who is your NHL boyfriend?” At the same time as it came out of Ilya’s mouth, he remembered who he’d asked. This was confirmed right after when a confused chuckle and a no that sounded like a question came from the other side of the phone.
“Tell me about it,” Shane said.
“Well, there is this website and if you answer some questions, it tells you who your hockey boyfriend is. You, me, Hayden, Hunter, Vaughn or Marley.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but I tried three times and it still wasn’t correct, because it didn’t give me you.”
That statement produced the cutest little chuckle from Shane. “Well,” he told Ilya, “Lucky for you, you’ve already got me.”
“Yes, lucky for me,” Ilya said.
As much as he loved talking to Shane, he thought he heard a muffled yawn on the other side, so he told Shane to go get some sleep.
“I love you, see you in two days,” he told Shane.
“Ya tebya lyublyu,” Shane replied in his cute accent, before hanging up.
When Ilya arrived home, he noticed a notification on his phone, two texts from Shane. After opening them, he saw that it was a screenshot from the Buzzfeed website. Shane had taken the quiz and had gotten Ilya as his result. Beneath it was a heart emoji. Ilya practically melted and couldn’t wait for it to be the day after tomorrow, so he could once again hold this perfect man in his arms. He thought of Shane lying in bed, Googling the quiz and answering the questions on his phone. In the end, at least one of them received the validation a stupid website could give them. What Ilya didn’t know then, and would take Shane another four months to admit, was that it had taken him 7 tries before he could take the screen shot with Ilya’s face in it.