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Being out was still something new to Shane and Ilya. Yes, it had been four months since The Video, yes they were married, but being openly affectionate was something they both took advantage of as much as possible because they finally could.
It was the beginning of August, they'd just spent a month, uninterrupted at the cottage. Their own version of a honeymoon and it had been exactly what they both had needed to decompress after the most stressful four months of their lives.
Now, they were about to attend a pool party at Zane Boodram’s house and Shane was shitting bricks. Just a little bit. He'd signed his contract on July 1st, just like all the other free agents. Most of these guys had been at their wedding, but this was the first time he would be meeting them in a team capacity as the new guy. And like yea, he was Shane fucking Hollander, he was the best player in the league, he had three Stanley Cups to his name, but that didn't mean the stress of building trust and relationships with people you would play a minimum of 82 games with wasn't scary as shit to do.
Ilya pulled the Jeep along the sidewalk outside a large house, parked and swiftly exited the vehicle. If Ilya was driving, Shane didn't open his own door. Shane made a big fuss the first few times, but secretly he loved it, he loved being doted on.
So, he gathered the few things that were in the footwell of the passenger side while waiting for Ilya to walk around the hood of the car. Watching him, Shane still couldn't believe he got to play on the same team as his husband and be out and proud about it. Even six months ago that seemed impossible. But here Ilya was, sunglasses on, loose black tee and the loudest patterned, 3-inch inseam swim trunks he's ever seen, walking to open Shane’s door like some kind of gentleman. It still made Shane’s heart race.
With a flourish, Ilya opened the passenger door, hand out to take the bags out of Shane’s hand. Moving everything to his left hand, Ilya helped him out of the car, right hand gripping Shane’s right, pulling him up and into Ilya’s chest. He moved his right arm around Shane to push the door closed, pushing himself even closer to the brunette, lips quirked in a teasing smile. “Are you ready, Солнышко?” Ilya asked, followed by a soft press of lips to Shane’s forehead.
Shane leaned into the touch, eyes closed, feeling the nervousness in his stomach settle slightly. Ilya would be there, Ilya who knew these people and vouched for them constantly. “Yea, I’m ready,” Shane murmured, knowing it was time to be brave.
Walking into the house, the noise hit like a brick wall. There were players scattered throughout the living room that could be seen from the front door, their partners near them or standing in clusters speaking. Further into the house, the kitchen was off the living room, with doors opened into the backyard. More players and presumably some coaches, as he could see Weibe standing next to the grill talking to Bood, were in the backyard. The pool was half full with kids and their parents. Harris was on a lounger with Troy in the pool right in front of him, arms crossed on the concrete while they talked.
Ilya steered Shane towards the pool, saying “Hi,” for the both of them as they walked by people. Once they were next to Harris, Ilya dropped his bag on the chair before going to say his hellos to Troy.
“Hi Shane, it’s so nice to see you again! We’re so happy to have you on the Centuars!” Harris exclaimed from his lounged position, hand propped up to block the sun while he spoke with Shane.
“Hey, Harris. Yea, I’m stoked, too. It’ll be a big change, but I’m excited.” Shane replied, falling into his media trained persona, not quite loose enough yet to fully emote. Harris just gave him a big grin, cheeks ruddy under his beard from the sun, the smile brightening his whole face more than it usually was. Shane liked Harris, he was objectively the nicest person Shane had ever met. And Ilya loved Harris, which was always a good indicator. No one had a bullshit detector like his husband.
Shane started sifting through their bag, grabbing both his and Ilya’s towels, the insulated bottle full of ice and water, the sunscreen (despite what Ilya says, he does in fact get burnt), and lastly his Loops earplugs. He wasn’t sure he’d need them, but he wanted them easily accessible in case the noise got to him. Finally, he stripped his shirt off and folded it neatly before setting it at the bottom of the bag.
Ilya had finished his conversation with Troy and had meandered over to the space between the chair they’d claimed and Harris’. Ilya had his back to Shane, shirt in hand, joking with Harris about Chiron, of course, and wanting to know all about the other rescues his family currently were fostering. Shane took this opportunity to squeeze some sunscreen on his hands and start rubbing it into Ilya’s broad shoulders. Ilya yelped, turning with a glare that was mostly fond, “Why did you not warn me, Hollander? Shit is freezing, I have goosebumps!”
Shane rolled his eyes, “Ilya, you always burn, I don’t want you to get skin cancer, ok?” Ilya just stuck his tongue out and turned back around to continue his conversation with Harris. Shane’s lips lifted into a soft smile, going back to making sure his husband didn’t turn into a lobster before the day ended. He stroked across Ilya’s upper back, massaging the cream into his skin, dragging his hands down his shoulder blades, making sure there was no residue. Ilya just relaxed further into Shane’s touch, reaching one hand back to squeeze Shane’s hip in affection without skipping a beat in his conversation.
As Shane finished his application, he took the bottle, tapping it against Ilya’s shoulder, while simultaneously freeing the crumpled shirt from Ilya’s hand. Ilya, knowing what Shane wanted, grabbed the sunscreen out of his hand, squeezing it into his own before starting the process on his chest while Shane folded Ilya’s shirt and placed it on top of his own.
Starting at the god awful bear tattoo, Ilya quickly and efficiently worked the sunscreen across his pecs and down his abs, before going back up to his arms, alternating the bottle between hands until his front half was done. Still in the midst of his conversation, Ilya reached a hand back and Shane took the bottle, sitting down to apply his own sunscreen.
With his feet on the ground in front of him, sitting on the end of the pool lounger, Shane started methodically applying his own sunscreen, starting at the base of his left leg and moving up to the bottom of his own 5-inch inseam trunks, finishing and starting at the base of his right. Shane worked his way up his stomach and chest before moving back down his arms. He’d already applied his face sunscreen before they left the house, so that didn’t need to be reapplied yet. Ilya, still talking with Harris, moved to sit behind Shane, taking the sunscreen from next to his husband’s thigh. He repeated the process that Shane had just done to him, never breaking concentration on his conversation. Shane adjusted his prescription sunglasses, shoulders rolling forward to release some of the tension he was holding. Ilya’s hands were firm, slightly rough from calluses that had barely begun to heal, moving in a slightly erratic pattern across Shane’s back. Shane would love to feel Ilya’s hands on him forever, especially when they could be out like this with no judgement.
Once Ilya was finished, he set the bottle back in the bag, scooting forward until his legs framed Shane’s, chest mere centimeters from Shane’s muscular back. Leaning forward, Ilya pressed kisses across Shane’s shoulder, passing the nape of his neck with a soft brush of his nose into the dark hair laying there, causing Shane to shiver slightly, before moving his head back slightly to comb down the hair he had messed up.
Shane put a hand back to rest on Ilya’s thigh, splayed out, taking up a decent amount of space on Ilya’s tree trunks he called quads. Ilya placed his opposite hand loosely around Shane’s waist, thumb brushing the light dusting of hair above the swim trunks. Shane released the tension holding him hostage. His lower back settled into the V of Ilya’s legs, shoulders down from his ears. Ilya rested his chin on Shane’s trap muscle, feeling the hardness of his husband’s built body.
“You doing ok, Солнышко?” Ilya said under his breath, not drawing attention to Shane’s obvious discomfort when they first walked in.
“Yea, baby, I’m ok. I forgot how different these guys are from Montreal. It’s nice,” Shane whispered back, head turned 90 degrees to be able to look at Ilya when he spoke.
“Good. If we need to leave, tell me, да?” Ilya said with a squeeze to Shane’s hip. Shane just nodded, turning his head back forward, watching Wyatt Hayes walk towards them with a woman holding his hands.
“Hey, Roz. Hey, Hollander. Just wanted to come over and say welcome to the team, we’re so excited to have you! This is my wife, Lisa, I didn’t get to introduce you guys at the wedding,” Hayes said, full enthusiasm, genuine in everything he did.
“Hi, Shane, it’s so nice to meet you! Ilya talks about you all the time, even before we knew you were together,” Lisa said, hand out to shake Shane’s.
“Lisa, how dare you lie? I do not do this, I talk about Shane normal amount,” Ilya said, an affront in his tone.
“Lisa, it’s very nice to meet you, and please tell me more about how Ilya is obsessed with me,” Shane shook Lisa’s hand, a wink following the end of his sentence.
“Oh, I like you. Ilya, I like your husband more than I like you now, sorry!”
“What is this? Is Shane WAG now? Shane is WAG approved and I am not?” Ilya was indignant, but the smile could be heard in his voice.
Wyatt started pulling his wife away, “Come get some food, it’s ready,” he shouted on his retreat, head turned towards them, his wife on his arm.
“So you’re obsessed with me?” Shane says, turning his head again to look at Ilya, eyebrow raised, lips tilted in a smirk.
“Me? No, no, you are mistaken. You are obsessed with me, sweetheart.”
“Well, of course, I’m obsessed with you, baby, I married you,” Shane said, the duh implied.
“Shane, you cannot be sincere and sweet when I am trying to make fun,” Ilya pouted, but the fondness and love in his eyes was impossible to miss.
“Baby, that's how I win,” Shane grinned before leaning forward and taking Ilya’s lips in a hard, brief kiss.
“Shanya, you are evil,” Ilya whispered, a smile growing on his face before he captured Shane’s lips in another kiss
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Walking back to the Jeep, Shane knew he had found his team. He was going to retire with this team, he was going to win cups with this team, and he got to do it all with his husband. Shane couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if he tried.
Getting into the passenger side while Ilya held the door for him, Shane set their bag on the floor, grabbing his phone out of the front pocket. He had left with probably close to 20 new phone numbers; players and partners of players alike.
As Ilya pulled away from the curb, Shane checked his messages that he’d been neglecting all day. The first few notifications were simple, “Hi, Shane, this is [blank]”, of people sharing their numbers. Scrolling past his pinned messages and into more new ones, he saw an unread text from Harris and the preview just said “Attachment: 5 pictures and 1 video”. Clicking on it, his breath caught.
The pictures were of him and Ilya sitting together on the lounge chair, so comfortable, smiling and laughing and even one of them kissing. The video was of Ilya as he finished applying sunscreen to Shane’s back and the casual kisses he pressed across Shane’s shoulders. It was something he never thought he’d get while he was still playing. Casual intimacy and people being so accepting of it they filmed it and sent it to him because they knew Shane would want it.
“моя любовь, why are you staring at you phone? What is wrong?” Ilya stretched his right hand out to rest it on Shane’s thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze of assurance.
“Harris took some pictures of us and sent them to me,” Shane whispered, awe in his voice. “I’m gonna post them”
“What? Really, sweetheart?” Ilya’s voice full of disbelief, knowing how private Shane was and how traumatized he still was from the Fanmail video.
“Yea, baby, we look really happy,” the soft smile on Shane’s face grew wider the more he looked at his phone. Ilya kept stealing glances out of the corner of his eye, while keeping his focus on the road.
“I think that’s a great idea, sweetheart. You will collab with me, yes? Need to make sure all my followers see my sexy husband and know he is off limits.” Ilya finished with a quick few swats to Shane’s leg before putting his hand back on the wheel.
“Of course, my love,” Shane said as he opened up Instagram.
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@shanehollander24 Pool day with the new team. Thanks @zaneboodramhockey for hosting and thank you @harris_drover for the pictures. Ilya is very clingy.
Image description: [The first image is Ilya with his chin on Shane’s back while Shane sits on the end of a lounger, his feet on the ground, Ilya bracketing Shane’s legs with his own. The second image Shane’s head is turned toward Ilya, a smile on his face. Ilya is mid-pout, his lips pushed out dramatically. The third picture is Ilya pressing a kiss against Shane’s shoulder, with Shane’s hand resting on Ilya’s thigh. You can just see Ilya’s hand furthest from the camera resting right above Shane’s trunks. The fourth picture is Shane and Ilya kissing, Shane turned again towards Ilya, with his sunglasses askew from the angle and the kiss. The fifth picture was obviously taken after the kiss, their faces no more than a centimeter apart, smiles on both their faces. You can see the blush across Shane’s freckles. The last slide is a video, it seems to be a cut of a few different videos edited together. In the video, Ilya and Shane are still sitting on the end of the lounge chair. Ilya is occasionally pressing soft kisses to Shane’s back. Shane will reach a hand back and give Ilya a quick squeeze. They will whisper to each other and then turn back around to whatever is off camera. They look like a couple in love]
@ilyarozanov81 best looking couple. sorry, everyone else can go home now, no need to try and win.
@zaneboodram happy to have you on the team, Hollzy! Can’t wait for this season.
@drhayes The best Hollander-Rozanov. Sorry, Ilya!
↳@ilyarozanov81 lisa, i am betrayed
@harris_drover Just a taste of the media I’m going to subject you guys to this year!
@hollanov4llyfe i used to dream of days like this.
@ottawafan2481 i can’t believe being an ottawa fan is finally paying off. We’re for sure getting the cup this year.
@montrealboy what the hell did we do to lose Hollander. We’re literally never winning a cup again. I’m supposed to believe PIKE is gonna get us to the cup?
@shilya2481 these pictures are so BUZZY. I’m making the one where they’re smiling at each other my background.