“I’m sorry,” Rose said gleefully. “You’re just so fun to tease.”
“I’ve been told.”
Late in the afternoon, Rose dropped Shane off at his hotel. She hugged him as they stood next to her car and told him she’d be at his game the next night.
“Oh yeah?” Shane said.
“I’ll be in a box, wearing a Montreal jersey.”
“That’ll cause a scene.”
“Maybe the paps will think we’re back together.”
Well, that wouldn’t hurt. Except Ilya would never let him hear the end of it. “I’ll see you...someday,” Shane said. His heart felt heavy. He really wished she lived closer to him.
“Soon,” she promised. “I fly to Romania on Monday to start shooting a movie that I already know will be terrible, but maybe we can meet up somewhere after that.”
“Definitely.”
She hugged him again and said, quietly against his ear, “Say hi to Ilya for me.”
“Okay.”
“And come up with a backup plan.”
“I will.”
As he watched her drive away, a ball of tension formed inside his stomach, expanding into his chest. There was no backup plan. If he and Ilya were found out, they were fucked.
* * *
“Guess what,” Ilya said as soon as Shane accepted his FaceTime request. It was the next morning—early in L.A., almost lunchtime in Ottawa—and Shane was still in bed.
“What?”
“We are getting a team puppy! Harris told us today at practice.”
“Oh. Cute.”
Ilya looked perfect, sitting on his deck in the early-autumn sunshine. He was wearing a black sweater that looked soft and cozy, and his jaw was covered in thick stubble. The sunlight made his golden-brown hair gleam. “He is too small right now, but when he is old enough he will come to the arena to visit!”
“You gonna let anyone else play with him, or...”
“Maybe. Good game last night.” He lifted a McDonald’s cup and took a long sip of something that was, at best, Coke, but could possibly be a chocolate shake. Shane decided to ignore it.
“You stayed up that late?”
Ilya grinned. “Yes, but, you know. Mostly partying.”
Shane smiled back, knowing damn well Ilya had only stayed up late to watch his boyfriend play hockey. “Sure. I saw Rose yesterday.”
“Yes, I saw the photos.”
“Aw man, did those hit the internet?”
“They say you are back together. Congratulations. Very happy for you.”
“Anyway, I want to tell you what she said.”
“She wants you back?”
“No. Shut up. She said we should maybe make, like, a backup plan. In case our secret gets out.”
“Backup plan,” Ilya repeated. “What would that be?”
“No idea. I figure we either stick to the plan we have, or our secret gets blown and we’re fucked, right?”
Ilya frowned. “Maybe. Yes.”
“I know we’re careful, but...”
“Someone might notice my heart eyes.”
“Your what?”
“Heart eyes. Hayden said I look at you with heart eyes.”
Shane squirmed against his bedsheets. “When did he say that?”
“At camp. I was staring at you and he said—”
“Oh god.” Shane palmed his face. “He did not say that.”
“Yes. Was probably true. I look at you and I am just...” Ilya opened and closed his fist several times in front of his chest. “My heart goes crazy, you know?”
Shane’s own heart started going a little crazy. “You should see a doctor about that.”
Ilya grinned and shook his head. “Is just being in love, I think.”
Shane covered his face with a pillow. He couldn’t look at Ilya in that moment. Couldn’t let Ilya see him either.
“Come back,” Ilya said, laughing.
Shane tossed the pillow aside. “I fucking miss you so much. I wake up alone every day and it sucks.”
“I know. Four more days.”
Shane groaned. “We’re not even going to have time to see each other before our game, are we?”
“Probably not.”
“God, that’s going to be brutal.”
“Maybe I will kiss you during a face-off.”
“Pretty sure that would be a face-off violation.”
“You are a nerd.”
“I’m also naked right now.”
“Oh yes?”
“Mm. Except my glasses.”
Ilya grinned and stood up. “Let’s go to my bedroom, then.”
Chapter Eleven
Ilya bent over the face-off circle in Montreal and smiled at the man across from him. “Hi.”
Shane’s lips quirked up. “Hi.”
They’d done this dance so many times, but this time felt the hardest. Ilya hadn’t seen his boyfriend in three weeks, and now he was inches away from him, heart-stoppingly beautiful and completely forbidden.
“Do you have plans after the game?” Ilya asked casually.
Shane’s smile grew. “I’m wide open.”
Ilya hoped his own eyes showed the promise he was trying to silently transmit: you will be. The way Shane licked his bottom lip suggested the message had been received.
The puck dropped, Ilya won the face-off, and the game was on.
During their fourth shift together, Ilya was battling Shane for the puck against the boards. Shane struggled against Ilya’s weight as they clashed their stick blades together. “You got any more tricks to show me?” Shane said.
If he was trying to distract Ilya, it worked. Shane wasn’t usually the one to try to fluster Ilya with secret sexy messages on the ice. The surprise caused Ilya’s body to slacken long enough for Shane to skate away with the puck. Ilya smiled to himself as he chased after him.
The next time Ilya was pressed against him, later in the first period, Ilya answered Shane. “I don’t think I need tricks.”
For a split second, their eyes met. Shane’s were dark and full of promise, but then he said, “We’ll see,” and shoved Ilya off of him.