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//Ilya spent most of Boxing Day working up the nerve to ask Shane a single question. Finally, early in the afternoon, he broached the subject.//
They had been laying on the couch, Ilya half on top of Shane as his boyfriend ran his fingers through his curls, a hand tracing across his back as Ilya nearly pinned him to the couch. Ilya chewed on air, parting his lips as if to say something before realizing he had no idea how to approach the subject. He decided to just go for it.
//“Bood is having a party tonight.”
Ilya said it casually, as if there were no particular reason he was letting Shane know. As if his stomach wasn’t a mess as he anticipated Shane’s reaction.//
Shane’s hands came to a stop in their respective positions, seeming to still as he processed the information that was being mumbled into the crook of his neck, soft lips speaking against flushed skin and tight muscle.
//“Zane Boodram? He’s having a party on Boxing Day?”
“Yes. Not a big party. It will be chill. Mostly just the team and partners. Bood has fun parties.”
“Oh.”
Ilya held his breath.
“Did you want to go or something?” Shane asked, clearly confused. “I could stay here, I guess. Or head back to-”//
Ilya pulled his hands from where they were twirling around strands of silky black tresses at the base of Shane’s neck, using them to push himself up so that he was facing Shane directly, looking down at the pout of his lips and the small furrow of his brow. He held the position for a moment before pushing himself all the way up so that he was now sitting, dragging Shane with him so that they could be upright and facing each other for this conversation - one that Ilya was really hoping would go well.
//“I want you to go too,” Ilya said. “I want you to come with me to the party.”
Shane twisted around so they were facing each other on Ilya’s couch. “You want me to go to a party with your teammates? Why?”
So they can fucking meet my boyfriend, Ilya wanted to scream. But instead, he kept his tone light and said, “They are cool people. You might have fun.”
“But wouldn’t it be weird, if we showed up together?”
Ilya shrugged easily, as if this were a normal thing for him to suggest. “They know you would be in Ottawa for Christmas. We are friends, so I invite you to a party. No big deal.”//
Shane studied his face for a moment, the slight confusion on his own staying put before melting off into something more similar to nervous retreat. He looked down at where his fingers were now entangled in Ilya’s, rubbing a rough, calloused thumb across the back of his hand, before looking back at Ilya through his dark lashes with an expression that might cause him to melt at any moment.
“I… don’t know if I’m ready for that,” he said cautiously, like rejecting the sentiment too roughly would break his heart. It was, but that wasn’t the point.
“Even if we went as just friends? They would not suspect anything, moy lyubov, they each have thousand concussions making them stupid.” Ilya didn’t want to plead, but he wasn’t that far away from it. He just wanted one night with his boyfriend and teammates in the same room in a non-professional scenario. He needed to know that the two most important aspects of his life could coexist without blowing up, even if his teammates didn’t know he and Shane were anything more than friends.
The desperation on Ilya’s face must have shown through quite clearly to Shane, because he studied the other man’s face intently for a few moments, chewing blankly on his lower lip.
“Do you trust them?” he warily questioned.
Ilya felt a shimmer of hope rise in his chest as he nodded, lips twitching to form a smile as the pessimistic part of his brain forced them down, not allowing himself to believe that his boyfriend would actually agree to this.
“I do.”
Shane swallowed, grinding his lower jaw slightly against the top. He drew a hand back from where they still laid entangled in Ilya’s and tugged at the corner of his lashes, a nervous habit Ilya had noticed in him over time.
He loved noticing the little things in Shane, a privilege he never took for granted. He had never imagined that their relationship would grow to be what it was now, and he wanted to pay attention to any small detail about Shane he could find.
Maybe, hidden away in this dimly-lit living room, so close yet so far from the outside world, Ilya paid attention to these small details so that he could convince himself that this wasn’t a dream. There is no way, he thought to himself, that a person could dream up such small details about someone.
He knew in his brain that it was all real, that the simple separation of Shane and, well, everything else in his life didn’t make their love any less real. But sometimes, in his heart, he felt like it couldn’t be possible. To have so much and yet so little. He was sitting here, practically begging the love of his life to be seen in public with him, even in a casual setting as friends, and it hurt.
He knew, rationally, that it made no sense to feel this way. It was what was best for the both of them, with Ilya still being tied to his Russian citizenship and both of them still being top players in the MLH. Regardless of their now public friendship with the foundation, most people still viewed them as bitter rivals, and adding the fact that they liked to kiss in their spare time wouldn’t exactly help that.
But still, he wanted more.
And so here he sat on his couch, staring intently at his boyfriend’s face as he waited for an answer.
“Okay.”
Ilya felt his eyes light up as he took in the word, something so simple yet so joyous to him right now. “Really?” he asked, still not believing he was agreeing.
Shane nodded, waiting a moment before replying, “Obviously as friends, but you trust them, and I trust you.”
Ilya felt a smile break across his face, too happy to be embarrassed by how much this affected him.
“Text Bood and make sure it’s okay, though. I don’t want to intrude, friends or not.”
Ilya nodded, pulling out his phone to text him, Shane watching over his shoulder as he typed.
The reply came barely a minute later, not surprising Ilya at all with Bood’s welcomeness to host another guest, even one of a rivaling team. That’s what he loved most about this team. They were so inclusive, even with the little things.
“See? I told you they would be fine with it. Now let’s go make good use of the few hours we have left,” Ilya said with a wink.
“Oh yeah? And how would we do that?” Shane prompted, a smirk appearing on his face that seemed to wipe away any evidence of anxiety remaining on his face.
“I may have a few ideas,” Ilya replied, dragging Shane off the couch, rejoining their hands and meeting their lips in one, crashing into his boyfriend and fusing them into one.
“Oh really, what might those be?” Shane’s lips moved against Ilya’s, who felt the other man’s thickening cock press up against his thigh, making him smirk against the kiss.
Ilya reached down to cup Shane’s length in his hand, feeling him through his sweatpants and making Shane groan against his lips.
“Fuck me,” he grumbled as he moved his face to nip at Ilya’s strong jawline.
Ilya hauled him up, Shane wrapping his legs around his waist and letting Ilya carry them up to the second-story bedroom.
As soon as they entered the room, Shane began stripping off his shirt, legs still wrapped around Ilya’s waist, who was supporting his back so Shane didn’t send them both tumbling to the floor in his hurry to get naked.
“So needy for me, yes?”
Shane grumbled as he threw his shirt on the floor. “If you don’t want to-”
Ilya threw him against the bed, pinning him down as he kissed and sucked the side of Shane’s neck in a way that would surely-
“Don’t. It’ll leave a mark.”
“What if I want to mark you? Let everyone see how well I treat you, how good you take it.”
Shane gasped as Ilya reached down and pulled down his sweatpants in one smooth go, dragging his underwear behind with it. Shane kicked his feet a little to fully throw them to the floor, not caring like he usually did about the proper ‘folding procedure’ that Ilya would never admit he liked.
Ilya began kissing the insides of Shane’s thighs, moving higher and higher until he was nearly at the base of his rigid cock before taking it into his mouth, swirling the tongue around the long, protruding vein that ran up it and the leaking tip. Shane squeezed his eyes shut and moaned, pressing up his pelvis closer to Ilya’s mouth.
Ilya moved off of Shane, stripping his own clothing off and throwing them near Shane’s as he grabbed the lube and condoms from the drawer next to the bed.
He opened the bottle and squeezed the clear liquid out onto his fingers, wetting himself properly before sticking a finger in Shane’s ass. He watched his eyelids flutter shut at the touch, going further until he was two knuckles deep before pulling out a little and adding another two fingers, massaging the tense muscle to open him up.
Shane writhed underneath of him, back arching up as he moaned in pleasure when Ilya began stroking his prostate.
“Fuck, Ilya,” he whined, voice barely above a whisper.
“So close, and you have not even taken my cock yet?”
“Give it to me. I need to feel you.”
Ilya withdrew his wet fingers and reached for the packet of condoms he had taken from the drawer before getting his arm smacked away.
“I want to feel you raw.”
Ilya’s eyes darkened with lust, the lump in his throat growing as he felt all the blood in his body go into his rigid cock. He took it in his hand and guided the tip to Shane’s hole, already leaking precome all over the entrance.
“My good little slut, wanting to feel every inch of me?”
Shane screamed with satisfaction as he nodded, feeling Ilya filling every inch of him up as he sank into him and began thrusting. Every thrust seemed to make Shane loosen up even more, both physically and emotionally.
Between gasps and moans, Shane instructed Ilya to flip the two of them over but keep his cock in him. As they moved to the new position, Shane began rolling his hips as he sank down on Ilya, his ass meeting the other man’s pelvis.
Ilya took one of his hands from their tight, bruising position on Shane’s hips and moved it to stroke Shane’s thickened erection, only making it through a few fast pumps before Shane came in thick, milky white ribbons all over Ilya’s chest. Only a few moments later, Ilya could feel himself empty into Shane, not pulling out even after Shane collapsed on top of him with post-orgasm exhaustion.
They laid like that for a while before Shane pulled himself off of Ilya and grumbled about looking at the time and needing to shower. Ilya joined him in the shower, which took twice as long when you account for the multiple blowjobs given throughout it.
As they got dressed, Ilya glanced over at Shane every few seconds before he noticed and made direct eye contact with Ilya.
“I’m okay.”
“We do not have to do this if you are not ready. Just tell me and we stay home.” As much as Ilya wanted to go to this together, he would hate himself if he made Shane uncomfortable by being overbearing and pushy.
“I’ll tell you if it gets too much.”
Ilya nodded, and that was that. They got in the the car at around 6, giving them plenty of time to not be late according to Shane, who had originally wanted to drive separately to not raise suspicion. Ilya convinced him after a very lengthy speech about how it would be seen as normal since he had implied that they had been meeting about the foundation beforehand, and Shane eventually gave up on the fight.
As they arrived at Bood’s house, a rustic A-style building made of a deep color wood and large gray stones, they parked their car behind the others in the driveway, Ilya looking over at Shane to study his face once they stopped.
“Are you sure you are okay with this?”
Shane looked hesitant before he nodded and put on a smile, glancing at the house and then back at Ilya. “I’m okay. Just a little nervous but I’ll be fine. Just don’t… do anything, alright?”
Ilya wanted to kiss his face so bad, let him know how much he appreciated this, but he knew Shane would worry about being seen as they were sat in the driveway, so he settled for reaching his hand across the console from the driver's seat and taking Shane’s in his, squeezing it and looking down at their hands.
Ilya let go and reached to unlock the car and step out, waiting for Shane to do the same, who grabbed the container with the chocolate Yule Log that he insisted on stopping at the store to get, citing that “You can’t invite yourself to someone’s party and then show up empty handed.”
Ilya watched as Shane took in the exterior architecture of the home, knowing that he would later be having a conversation with Bood about who designed and built it.
“You will like the inside even more,” he chirped. “Bood will appreciate your real estate fetish.”
Shane broke his stare at the house to focus on Ilya. “I don’t have a real estate fetish, asshole,” he grumbled. “I can appreciate a nice house.”
Ilya smirked and moved from where he stood outside the door of his car to make his way up to the steps of the house, looking back at Shane to make sure he hadn’t gotten back in the car and drove away. He stepped up the steps, reaching the entrance to the house, a large wood door with glass panels framing it all around. He had to admit himself, the house was nice.
He glanced back one more time before opening the door.
“Have you been to one of these before?” Shane asked as Ilya reached a hand up to open the door.
His hand stilled and then dropped back done, turning fully to face his boyfriend. “Eh, a few times. But they are usually on free days, and…” he said, waving his hand around at the end to embellish what they were both thinking. On free days, I am usually driving two hours to come visit you.
He watched as Shane’s brows furrowed and he got that face that he always did when he was deep in thought.
“Do you want to come to these more often? If it means a lot to you, you don’t always have to drive to me. They’re your teammates too.” Shane seemed genuinely worried about Ilya’s lack of experience with Zane Boodram’s barbeques, something Ilya found both endearing and a little funny.
“They do not matter to me, moy lyubimyy. I want to see you.”
“Still, if it’s ever getting to be too much-”
“I will let you know.”
With that, he turned and opened the door, stepping inside and allowing Shane to follow him.
“No need to take off your shoes, we are headed to backyard anyway,” he said to Shane, who was currently toeing his shoes off in the entryway. “They know you are polite Canadian golden boy, you do not need to show them this, too.”
“Asshole.”
Ilya smirked and switched to a whisper. “Yes, but you like my asshole.”
Before Shane could make a noise, Ilya heard the loud footsteps of Bood approaching behind them.
“Hey Roz, don’t kill him yet. All the WAGs want to meet him.”
Ilya turned around, keeping that same smirk as he teased his linemate. “I am innocent. Is not my fault that Hollander here has real estate fetish. You two would hit it off.”
Shane made a near desperate move to shake Bood’s hand that Ilya made a mental note to make fun of him about later. “Hi, Shane Hollander. Thank you so much for letting me come. I brought a Yule Log if you want me to put that anywhere?”
Bood laughed at Shane’s nervousness as he took the cake from his hands. “Hey man, no need to worry so much, it’s really no big deal. Any friend of Roz’s is a friend of ours, even if he’s on a rivaling team.” He said the last bit in clear jest, which Ilya was very thankful for as he didn’t need Shane to take that seriously and get even more worked up.
As Bood moved into the kitchen to put down the cake, Ilya led Shane into the backyard where most of the team were sat around a firepit, drinks in hand and laughing as they shared stories of the past few days with family.
“Hey Hollander! Nice to see you outside of hockey,” Hayes said, laughing as he stood to pull him into a hug. “Your boy Rozanov drag you out here?”
Shane froze and looked at Hayes with wide eyes. “What?”
Hayes looked at Shane confused and then over at Ilya, who came up closer and nudged Shane as much as he could without being noticeable. “Yes, I am being very nice here to my good friend,” he said, trying to mitigate the damages done by Shane’s freeze up. “Inviting him to come, I am amazing, yes?”
Shane forced out a laugh and nodded. “Uh, yeah, thanks for that.”
As Hayes moved aside to make room for Bood, who was now reentering the backyard carrying a platter of raw meat to the grill across from where they stood, Ilya took the chance to lean in surreptitiously and mutter in Russian to Shane, who still stood there nervously.
“Uspokoysya, vsyo v poryadke. Oni ne znayut.”
Shane nodded, swallowing and loosening up. “Spasibo. Ya tebya lyulbyu.”
“Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu.”
“Hey Hollzy,” called out Dykstra, still sat on one of the chairs next to the fireplace. “Since when do you know Russian? That’s pretty cool.”
Ilya felt his own stomach drop. He thought they were being discreet enough, but apparently not. Shane was now frozen again next to Ilya, so he took over, coming up with a random excuse that would typically not work on anyone with a brain, but he trusted in the stupidity and gullibility of his teammates.
“Ah, he does not. I taught him a few words so that I can chirp him more accurately. Was just telling him he needs haircut.” He laughed, hoping that it didn’t come out sounding as forced and defensive as it was.
“Hey, be nice to him. He’s one of us tonight,” Bood called from over his shoulder, grilling the food for later.
Ilya scoffed sarcastically and dragged Shane over to sit down near the fireplace.
Shane made some awkward attempts at small talk before seeming to get a little more comfortable with the dynamics.
“So, Hollzy, what brings you to Ottawa for Christmas?” asked Young. “Pretty far drive from Montreal, right?”
“Uh, it’s only two hours, so not that bad,” Shane stated nervously. “I was visiting family nearby, and, uh, Rozanov here…” He trailed off, and Ilya realized they probably should have made up some story before coming.
“We had to meet up for foundation things anyway, so when I saw Bood’s text about tonight, I asked Hollander if he wanted to come. Figured it would be more exciting than sitting in his house doing puzzles.”
In reality, Ilya was the one sitting with David yesterday finishing up a puzzle they started last time Ilya had come around. But they didn’t need to know that.
“Fuck you, I would have had plenty of fun without you.”
“Oh, would you have?” Ilya asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.
Shane’s eyes stilled on Ilya’s, a twitch of frustration growing behind them. “Stoy,” he whispered gravely.
Ilya’s eyes fluttered away and he leaned back in his chair, not wanting to make him upset and ruin the night they would have after this.
It was another half hour before the food was ready, Ilya standing up and motioning for Shane to keep seated. “I got it, stay here.”
He went over to the table of food, trying to differentiate amongst the foods what would be good for Shane’s diet. It didn’t seem like enough, but he knew better than to argue about it, especially seeing the situation that they were in right now. Still, he put an extra piece of chicken on his plate, just in case.
When he sat back down next to his boyfriend, handing him the plate, he watched as Shane’s eyes flicked down to the measly serving of food on his plate.
“There wasn’t much you will eat. I have extra chicken if you want it.”
Shane looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you.”
He took his fork and pushed it onto the other plate, watching as Shane ate a piece of it and smiled.
“It’s good, yes?”
“Yeah, it’s actually really good.”
At that moment, Bood came over to sit down and eat himself. “Thanks man! It’s a family recipe.”
Light conversation continued to spark up throughout the night, past the time they all finished their food and settled in with beers in hand. Ilya watched Shane throughout the night, growing happier as he watched the man he loved interact with some of his closest friends, seeming to grow more and more comfortable as the night went on.
The sky grew darker as the night went on, the biggest sources of light being the warm fire in the center and the lights from inside the house where the team’s wives were hanging out.
“Hey, I have an idea,” Hayes exclaimed. “Let’s do drunk Never Have I Ever! Welcome Hollander here properly.”
Ilya looked over at Shane, trying to see if it was time for them to head out.
But to his surprise, Shane nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’m down if you guys are.”
“Ty uveren? My mozhem uyti, esli ty zakonchil.”
“Nyet, Ya v poryadke.”
Bood went into the house and grabbed a couple of bottles of vodka and some shot glasses, giving them to the guys and putting the rest of the bottles on the ground near their feet.
“Okay, who’s starting?” Bood asked.
“I will,” Hayes laughed. “Never have I ever got so shit-faced drunk I fell up a staircase in front of half my team.”
“I was a little tipsy and the stairs were weird, it’s not my fault!” Boyle bantered as he took a shot. “Okay fine. Never have I ever faked sick to get out of practice.”
A few of his teammates drank.
“I will remember this,” Ilya said sardonically, which led to a round of laughing boos directed towards their captain.
The game continued for a few more rounds before it, as inevitably as Never Have I Ever with a group of drunk men does, turns sexual.
“Alright,” Dykstra challenged. “Never have I ever travelled more than two hours for sex.”
Shane and Ilya both took a shot, causing cheers from the group.
“Damn Hollzy, I expected that from Roz but not you.”
Shane blushed and looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up and grinning. “Never have I ever… Brought a tripod on a team trip for phone sex,” he said while tipping his head back to take a shot, followed by Ilya and Hayes.
“You’re supposed to say things you haven’t done,” proclaimed a few of them while laughing.
“Never have I ever made out with a guy,” said LaPoint.
Ilya froze for a second, not sure if he should be honest. He glanced over at Shane, who shrugged and took a shot. He raised his glass with hesitation and threw it back.
He glanced over at his shocked teammates and tried to give a witty smirk. “Is nice, you should try it some time.”
“You got something you wanna tell us, Rozy?” joked Hayes.
Ilya hesitated. He was sure they knew Shane was gay, either from the rumors spread through the MLH that he never denied or the lack of reaction they had to him taking a shot, but he wasn’t sure if Shane would want him to be honest. They had known from Farah’s reaction to Ilya sharing the news of his sexuality that it wouldn’t be that hard to put two and two together, although he did have to admit that they were much different circumstances. Last time he checked, his teammates weren’t seeing him and Shane living together and both very obviously fresh out of the shower while coming out.
He glanced at Shane as secretly as he could, receiving a small, barely noticeable go ahead glance in return.
“I am bisexual. Is no big deal.”
He was thankful, but unsurprised, at the more than supportive reaction from his teammates. He knew they were good men, but it still felt nice to witness it first hand.
“You lock anyone down yet, Roz?” one of them asked.
Ilya felt his cheeks heat a little and tried his hardest to avoid looking at Shane. “Ah, that is story for later.”
He got nods from the rest of the team, now even more thankful that they knew when to back off. Shane had told him that he wasn’t ready, and he wanted to respect that.
“Never have I ever had sex for more than five hours,” someone yelled out.
Only Shane and Ilya took a shot.
“How?”
“Five hours is crazy!”
“I was not expecting this from Hollander!”
“It’s always the quiet ones.”
Ilya watched Shane blush even deeper, but he was clearly too drunk to care. His boyfriend really was a lightweight.
They kept going for a few more rounds, the WAGs now coming out to join them.
“Hey, Rook, it’s your turn,” Ilya called out.
Luca looked around panicked. “Uh, never have I ever done stuff with someone in this room?”
Ilya’s lips twitched. He knew that Luca was only saying that because most of the guys had their wives here, but if only he knew.
Ilya turned to smirk at Shane only to see him throwing back a shot.
Shit.
Shane must have noticed Ilya staring at him wide-eyed because he turned to Ilya and looked at him expectantly. “Take a shot, it’s the rules!” Shane slurred.
Of course his boyfriend was the type to make sure they followed the rules to a drinking game while seeming to be hammered drunk.
Ilya stared at him for a second before throwing his own glass back.
He felt all eyes on him and Shane as he turned his head back to the rest of the guys. Luca looked increasingly startled at what he started, but the rest of them just looked confused.
“Who have you two fucked here?”
“It’s what you haven’t done.”
“I’m so confused.”
Shane giggled drunkenly, and Ilya made a mental note to not let him play any more drinking games for the rest of eternity. “Shhh, it’s a secret,” he let out in between laughs, trying to whisper but failing miserably. “You aren’t supposed to know.”
Ilya stood up nervously and tried to pull Shane up with him. “I think it is time for me to take Hollander home. Goodbye, I will see you all at practice later.”
“Wait, we want to-” Hayes stopped. “Oh my god.”
He was staring directly at them with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, and Ilya wanted to curse whatever gave him the idea to bring Shane to this and then let him get this drunk. He was going to be killed later.
The other guys looked between Hayes and the two standing men expectantly before a few of them seemed to get it. They let out tiny noises of surprise and Ilya knew it was too late to do anything. He cursed under his breath in Russian.
Shane saw their faces and let out a giggle. “Ya dumayu, oni znayut.” His accent seemed to be even worse when he was drunk, which Ilya found incredibly cute.
“Holy shit,” Dykstra said, surprised. “He did learn Russian.”
Ilya stared at his teammates, unsure of what to say. He didn’t want to confirm anything, knowing Shane didn’t want to tell his team yet, but he didn’t exactly know if he could deny this.
Shane, of course, took the moment from him before he could say anything.
“Of course I did,” he said, leaning heavily on Ilya in a way that made him stumble for a second.
Ilya squeezed his eyes shut for a second before turning slightly to whisper in Shane’s ear. “Moy lyubov, I thought you were not ready.”
Shane shrugged haphazardly, like he didn’t just reveal their biggest secret to most of Ilya’s teammates. “It’s fine,” he stage whispered. “I think they know.”
Ilya sighed and then looked at Bood. “Can I get some water or something to sober him up a little before we do this?”
Bood just stared at him for a second before replying. “Uh, yeah, sure man. Come with me real quick.”
Ilya followed him into the house, pulling Shane along with him.
“Hey, look,” Bood started off as he pulled a glass from the top shelf of one of the kitchen cabinets and filled it with water. “We support you guys no matter what. I know that we don’t know any details but I hope you know you can trust us.”
Ilya took the glass of water and nodded. “It was not a lack of trust, it just…was not the time.”
“Yeah, I know. I just wanted you to hear that from me.” He smiled at Ilya and pushed the Yule Log that they brought from earlier towards him. “This should help a little. I’ll leave you two alone for a second, just come out when you’re ready.”
Ilya smiled and thanked him as he retreated back to the backyard. He took a fork and opened the cake, passing it over to Shane. “Eat and drink a little, moya dushenka. You need to sober up so we can deal with the mess you made.”
He watched as Shane finished half of the cake and two glasses of water, tracing circles across the other man’s arm. He wasn’t sure if Shane would be more upset tomorrow at the drunkenly-coming-out-to-half-of-the-Centaurs or the cake he was now indulging himself in, but Ilya knew he was not looking forward to the aftermath of all of this tomorrow.
He waited for a little until he felt like Shane had sobered up enough, not wanting to leave the rest of his team out there waiting. It was then that he realized he didn’t owe them anything.
“Are you sure you are ready to do this?” he asked Shane warily. “We can leave and go home now. I will tell them it was a misunderstanding.”
Shane looked up at him through dark lashes, the glassiness in his eyes giving away the fact that he was still pretty tipsy, but the concentration in them proving he was at least now more sober than originally.
“You trust them. I trust you. I think it will be fine. I mean, they seemed pretty accepting earlier,” he mused. “And it’s not like we can exactly go back from my very public display there."
Ilya smirked and shook his head. “Probably not, no.”
Shane stood on wobbly legs, Ilya wrapping an arm tightly around his waist to keep him standing upright. He looked down at the beautiful man next to him, revering in the flush of his cheeks that accented the deep freckles that painted his cheeks. He could study the face of his lover for the rest of his lifetime and many more to follow.
“Ready?”
They walked out into the backyard together, Shane still tipsily leaning on Ilya, turning the heads of all of their teammates. Ilya led Shane over to where they were previously sitting, keeping a hand entwined with his boyfriend’s as he looked at him and then back to his friends.
“I am sure you have…questions. I think we are okay with answering some,” Ilya started off. “I would say I am sorry that I did not tell you guys, but I am not. Is my personal business, and I do not care for the opinions of others on my relationship. I just ask you keep this to the team. I guess I will tell the few not here because I know you idiots will not be able to keep this a secret from them, but is a secret for a reason. Obviously.”
"Yeah man, of course. We all support you. We aren’t jackasses or anything,” Hayes said. “I’m just- How long has this been going on?”
Ilya looked at Shane who was barely struggling to hold in a laugh. Maybe he wasn’t as sober as Ilya had thought. This should be fun, he thought.
“It depends on your definition. We have been official since 2017.”
“And unofficially?”
Ilya looked at Shane, trying to see if he was okay with sharing that.
“The summer before our rookie season,” Shane cut in as Ilya opened his mouth to speak.
If Ilya thought the faces of his teammates couldn’t get any more surprised, he was wrong. It was truly hilarious to him to see the reactions of people when they learned how long they had been together for.
“The whole time?” Haas squeaked out.
Ilya nodded. “Yes, the whole time. It was not serious for a long time, but yes.”
“So you’re in love?” asked Selena, Chouinard’s wife, from a table a couple feet away from them. Ilya had forgotten they were there and it startled him a little.
“Why, are you trying to steal him from me?” Ilya questioned sardonically.
The wives let out a small laugh before Ilya nodded. “Yes, we are.”
“Can I tell you guys a secret?” Shane said, once again failing to whisper, but at least this time trying a little harder as he poorly cupped his hand to his mouth to block Ilya from seeing. “I’m planning to propose.”
Ilya’s head whipped around to look at Shane, causing a few of the guys to chuckle.
“Buddy, I don’t think you’re doing a good job of keeping that from Ilya,” Bood said laughing. “I think even the WAGs just heard you.”
Shane blushed and looked at Ilya. “Did you hear that?”
Ilya barely moved out of his state of surprise before shaking his head. “Nope,” he said.
Shane looked at the rest of the team satisfiedly.
The team obviously had a few more questions for them, but as it started getting pretty late, most of the team started trickling out. At some point, Shane started to doze off on Ilya’s shoulder, and he took that as a sign they should be heading out.
"Come on, moy lyubov. Let’s get you home.”