Chapter Text
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Their 7 game playoff series against Toronto ends at game 4. Four straight victories.
Shane and Ilya have been sleeping at each other’s places so often that it’s become a challenge of its own to not show up together to the rink for morning practices.
Their first practice after winning the quarter-finals, the guys kind of linger in the locker room before leaving.
They’re all hyped up on the energy of the wins and they want to ride the high as much as they can.
Shane sits on the bench and just watches his team socialize.
Cliff and J.J. are fighting about stick tape.
Hayden’s lobbing compliments at their goalie nonstop.
And Ilya’s the bright center of a cluster of players. Shane’s thrilled to see some of the skeptical guys with him, smiling at him.
Turns out being really fucking good at hockey can sometimes overpower homophobia. Shane thinks about some players who got traded away and how they probably wouldn’t have been so easily convinced.
They got lucky.
Ilya’s eyes find Shane’s across the locker room, “But, of course, how could I score all those sexy goals without our sexy captain?”
Shane sighs but can’t help smiling. “I’m leading you with points.”
Ilya waves him off, “No one cares about points, they care about goals. And who is leading the league with goals? Hollander, you know stats. Can you tell me who is leading goals?”
Shane shakes his head, lips quirked up. “You.”
Cliff chimes in. “I’m catching up!”
Hayden snorts. “It’s really a race for 3rd. We should disqualify Roz and Hollzy. It’s not fair.”
Ilya’s unbothered. “You could just be better, Pike. Have you tried that?”
“Oh, fuck off.” But he’s smiling.
Ilya crosses the room to Shane, smiling down at him.
Shane smiles up at him.
It’s hard to remember to play the game when he’s thinking about being in Ilya’s bed last night, hearing the Russian words for I love you whispered into his skin. “Everyone keeps calling us generational talents, dynamic duo. Unstoppable pair. We are better together than as rivals.”
Everyone in the room pretends to not be listening in, but the silence gives them away.
Shane stands up and they’re eye to eye. “Boston was so fucking stupid to let you go.”
Lightning crackles in Ilya’s eyes. “Even after all the wins I got them, they still fucked up too much to make playoffs. Embarrassing for them.”
Shane lets Ilya rile him up. “We’ll just have to embarrass Minnesota like we embarrassed Toronto. Who the fuck can keep up with us?”
Ilya grabs the back of Shane’s neck and pulls their foreheads together, “Fucking no one, beautiful.” He says the last word in Russian.
Shane doesn’t even notice as he mirrors the position. He’s so used to the word whispered into his skin that he forgets it’s a different language.
Someone whistles from the corner, a teasing lilt to their voice, “Get a room.”
Shane startles, pulling away from Ilya.
All it does is spur on the teasing. The cat calls start coming from everyone.
“Is that the secret to good line chemistry?”
“We should make them roommates more often.”
“Boston Lily who?”
Shane’s face gets redder by the second.
Ilya watches his expression, fascinated.
Shane looks into Ilya’s eyes.
Ilya raises his eyebrows at Shane.
It’s weird.
It’s weird to be teased… positively.
The team is joking. Shane knows that they’re joking.
But they also know Ilya is bisexual.
Shane can’t think of a single word to say.
Game or no game, he’s stumped.
Ilya takes pity on him.
Only in as much as he breaks the silence but he does so by choosing violence.
Ilya winks at Shane and says, “You have my number, captain.”
The room erupts. A couple of the guys scream, “No sex during playoffs!”
Shane mumbles a weak, “Fuck off,” but barely anyone hears it.
As soon as he gets home, he checks his phone to see a text in his group chat with J.J. and Hayden.
Hayden: “Do you think he likes me?”
Shane: Shut up
Hayden: “He flirts with everyone!!!”
Shane: I know!!!
J.J.: if i didn’t know any better i would think you two have hooked up already
Shane: It’s the playoffs!!!!
Hayden: Shane. I get that lots of us are superstitious about sex during the playoffs but I don’t think that includes intense makeout sessions. Just a suggestion. A recommendation even. From me and Jackie
Shane: Oh my god don’t bring Jackie into this
Hayden: Jackie has BEEN in this
J.J.: if you don’t kiss the man who has been scoring our game winning goals for weeks, i will. someone needs to. i will do it if no one else will
Shane: This is crazy
Hayden: Imagine how I feel!!! I’m actively encouraging you to kiss Ilya fucking Rozanov right now. Because you have a CRUSH on him and your chemistry is INSANE and you somehow think the only guy on our entire team brave enough to step into your personal space in the locker room doesn’t like you back
J.J.: oh be more specific, hayden. rozanov is the only person that shane ALLOWS into his personal space in the locker room and rozanov KNOWS IT
Shane: Please tell me you’re joking and I’m not actually this obviously desperate in front of the guys
Hayden: I WISH I COULD, MAN
Shane: Fuck
Shane: Okay. Maybe I do need to do something about this during playoffs. So it’s not like… distracting people
J.J.: shane please do not kiss a boy because you are worried about distracting your hockey team. you like him, no? it’s not just that you think he’s hot or whatever. you like him?
Shane: Yeah, I like him
J.J.: kiss him because you like him. not because of hockey
Shane stares at his phone as Ilya walks up behind him, arms wrapping around his middle as he kisses Shane’s jaw and reads over his shoulder.
“How does it feel?” Ilya asks between soft kisses. “Knowing that your friends like me?”
Shane relaxes into Ilya’s arms. “Incredible. Hard to believe but…yeah, incredible.”
Shane puts his phone away and spins in Ilya’s arms. “I like you.”
Ilya smirks. “Oh yeah? That’s why you let me stand close to you in the locker room?”
Shane nods.
“Why you told me your door code so I can let myself into your most private space whenever I want?”
Shane nods again.
“Why you let me fuck you within an inch of your life when we assist each other’s goals?”
Shane smirks, “Which happens nearly every game now. At least once if not more.”
Ilya moans, kissing him hard. “I want every other MHL team to hate us. I want them to be sick of us celebrating goals in each other’s arms. I want to be in their fucking nightmares, Shane.”
Shane pushes Ilya towards the bedroom. “I think I can make that happen.”
When they recover enough from extremely pressing afternoon post-practice sex, Ilya heads to the living room to turn on game analysis for Minnesota’s first round of playoffs.
Fuck, Shane loves him. He takes a picture of Ilya in his living room watching hockey on his TV.
“Can I tell Hayden and J.J. that I invited you over for dinner?”
Ilya looks over his shoulder at Shane. “What, like a date?”
Shane nods.
For a moment, Ilya looks like he did in the back alley at the Prospect Cup in 2008. There’s a boyish kind of joy in his eyes as he says, “Of course, love.”
Shane: [photo attached]
Shane: So I invited him over for dinner
J.J.: HELLO
J.J.: AND DID YOU KISS YET?????
Hayden: Fuck, you act fact, Hollander
Shane sits on the couch beside him and shows Ilya the texts.
Ilya immediately steals Shane’s phone and opens the camera, turning it to selfie mode before leaning over and kissing Shane.
Shane: [photo attached]
Shane: i’m open to letting you kiss me, boiziau. but you will need to ask for shane’s permission first
J.J.: YOU SHOWED HIM OUR TEXTS????
Hayden: 1. This is a deep betrayal of the bro code 2. FUCK, YOU ACT FAST, HOLLANDER
Hayden: ALSO. Did he call you Shane???????
Shane: Please don’t tell the rest of the team yet! Let us do that
J.J.: your secret is safe with me, hockey gods on my team that also kiss each other now
Ilya snorts at the text, “We should probably tell Marly.”
Shane hums. “I’ll leave that to you. You deserve this too.”
Ilya smiles stupidly. “I will tell him same thing. Hold on, go into the kitchen like you’re making dinner.”
Shane frowns. “I thought we were ordering in.”
Ilya shrugs. “Okay, so go pace behind the couch like you are ordering food on the phone with a takeout menu.”
Shane rolls his eyes and pulls a menu out of a drawer, pretending to be on the phone so Ilya can snap a picture.
Ilya: [photo attached]
Ilya: he invited me over for dinner
Cliff: FINALLY
Cliff: and have you made it clear that you want this to be a not platonic dinner???
Ilya sends himself the selfie from Shane’s phone.
Ilya: [photo attached]
Ilya: very clear
Cliff: WE’RE GONNA WIN THE FUCKING CUP
Ilya wheezes and shows Shane his phone.
Shane’s smile nears on manic. “All our friends are just as insane about hockey as we are.”
Ilya tsks, “No one is as insane about hockey as you, Shane.”
Shane straddles him on the couch to kiss him.
Ilya grabs the menu from him, “Are we actually ordering?”
Shane collapses on the couch next to him. “You do it.”
Ilya laughs softly and does as he’s told.
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Epilogue
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Ilya and Shane spend the entirety of the semi-finals in each other’s personal space as much as possible.
It only gets worse for the finals.
They don’t kiss in front of the whole team or anything, but rumors are flying.
When they have team dinners, they catch Ilya’s hand on the small of Shane’s back.
When they’re on buses or planes, Ilya and Shane fall asleep on each other’s shoulders.
When they go out for drinks, Ilya goes to the bar and gets two drinks and hands one to Shane without asking for his order.
When they win the cup, everyone gets sprayed with champagne as press and their social team capture footage of the celebration but the moment the locker room clears and it’s just the team showering off and getting ready to head out for days if not weeks of celebration, Ilya and Shane run into each other’s arms.
They kiss like they were starving for it and in a lot of ways they were.
The room erupts in cheers.
Shane and Ilya never imagined this, didn’t dare to imagine this. The best they could picture was a world where they disclosed their relationship as an unexpected shock to their teams. But their team (singular) watched this happen. Their team watched them fall for each other, watched them flirt, watched them grow closer. So it wasn’t a surprise to see them kiss. It’s what their team has been rooting for.
They already decided they’d tell Hayden, J.J., and Cliff the real story later but for today they break the news of their relationship to their cup winning team.
Today, everybody wins.
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THE END
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