Chapter Text
Shane always knew that having a double life would backfire on him one day. But Ilya Rozanov is too hot and Shane is too gay to resist so... for months he has been running a secret account named Ilya Rozanov's fan #1 posting about Russian model in between his own practices and games. It became his hobby, way of dealing with his inconvenient feelings for the man who (in Shane's opinion) is way out of his league.
Ilya Rozanov's fan #1 @rozanovfckme
so you're telling me it's a watch ad? yeah very nice red watch definitely #NEEDTHAT
Ilya Rozanov's fan #1 @rozanovfckme
i visit Ilya's instagram more often than my own parents... sorry mom. #noregrets
Shane Hollander @hollanderofficial
FUCK I WANNA BE THIS CIGARETTE
Shane's phone blows up with notifications approximately thirty seconds after he has hit 'post'.
He is in the locker room after a brutal morning practice, still in his gear from the waist down, sweat cooling on his skin. He taps the screen, expecting the usual — teammates tagging each other in memes, the team social media manager posting highlights.
His blood turns to ice.
There it is. His post about Ilya Rozanov. On his verified account. With hundreds of thousands of followers. His own profile glares at him from the screen, fucking @hollanderofficial instead of @rozanovfckme.
And the worst of all — before Shane can think about the possibility of deleting it, pretending that it never happened — he sees a retweet with comment from the user @rozanov. With a verification mark next to his name.
Ilya @rozanov
oh hello :)
Shane actually wants to kill himself. He wants the floor to swallow him. He wishes he never fucking knew about twitter. And about Ilya Rozanov. Maybe it's not late yet to leave the country and change his name and—
His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a private message.
Ilya
so about your desire to be the cigarette... are you free tomorrow?
Shane
.I'M SO FUCKING SORRY
IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL
I FORGOT TO SWITCH ACCOUNTS
?fuck. i just made it worse, didn't i
Ilya
wow. you actually only made it better ;)
so my question stays
when are you free?
Shane's hands tremble violently as his mind tries to process what the fuck is going on. Is Ilya Rozanov asking him out? For a date? To laugh at his face? Ilya doesn't seem like a mean guy who would shame anyone for such things. Shane inhales deeply trying to calm down a bit and types the response.
Shane
.god. tomorrow is fine
i only have practice in the morning
Ilya
cool ;) i'll pick you up from the stadium then
Shane closes the dialogue and throws his phone on the bench. Holy fucking shit. He's actually going to see Ilya Rozanov. Tomorrow. He tries not to let his delusional thoughts take over because one meeting doesn't mean anything. After all Ilya is a famous model who has plenty of fans and Shane is just one of them, lucky enough to get noticed thanks to his own star hockey player status. It doesn't mean anything, Shane repeats to himself but his stupid heart does weird thumping things in his chest and—
His phone buzzes again from the bench and he grabs it to check. @rozanov just published a new tweet.
Ilya @rozanov
just found out that cute hockey star has a crush on me 😋 life is so good
Shane has to stifle the scream. Cute? He can't let himself think about this too much. He just needs a shower. And a few hours of sleep before the tomorrow will either change or ruin his life.
The next day after a practice ends Shane takes a shower quickly and leaves the rink to see Ilya Rozanov casually leaning against the sports car and smoking a cigarette like a damn romance cliché. He's even more devastatingly stunning in person, Shane notices to himself and the thought definitely doesn't help to soothe his already frayed nerves. He suddenly feels stupid in his simple clothes and with his hair still damp after the shower while this man in front of him looks like he just came off some very luxurious magazine cover.
"Hey," Shane says awkwardly as he approaches Ilya.
Up close, Rozanov's eyes aren't just beautiful, they're intelligent, sharp, and currently fixed on Shane with terrifying amusement.
"Hi," even Ilya's voice sounds... rich. Can the voice even be rich? Before Shane's mind can spiral into some deep voice analysis, Ilya continues. "So, you're my secret admirer. Jealous of the cigarette, huh?"
Shane realises that Rozanov teases him, almost gently, without any purpose to make him feel uncomfortable. Probably it's the opposite and Ilya tries to help him to relax a bit. Shane manages a small smile.
"Yeah. It's kinda awkward."
"It's fine, Hollander. Or may I call you Shane?" hearing his own name in Ilya's voice makes Shane's brain short-circuit and he's pretty sure that he's blushing. Rozanov's satisfied smirk only confirms his suspicions.
"Shane is fine. And you... Ilya?"
"Call me however you want," Ilya winks at him and why the fuck he's so comfortable with this? Shane is about to die because it's all so confusing, he's still ashamed, nervous and Rozanov is flirting with him? Is he actually flirting?
"Uhm... So is there any plan?" Shane finds himself asking as they're still standing next to Ilya's expensive car and he has no idea how this meeting is supposed to progress.
"Wanna see my apartment?" Ilya asks bluntly and laughs immediately seeing Shane's terrified face. "Just kidding! Sorry, I also don't find out that hot hockey player is my fan every day."
"Hot?" Shane repeats before he can stop himself and Ilya's smirk softens a bit.
"Well, you're not the only one having secrets." They stand there in silence for a moment before Rozanov continues. "Anyway, I know some good places if you're up for dinner."
"Oh. Yeah. Dinner is nice," Shane mutters in response still trying to process that he was called hot by Ilya-the-hottest-man--of-the-generation-according-to-Vogue-Rozanov. Ilya actually opens a passenger door for him, this damn gentleman, and Shane's naive, stupid heart desperately hopes that it's not the last time they see each other.
The dinner is perfect. Ilya is funny, easy-going and manages to finally make Shane comfortable enough to stop blushing and stuttering. He talks passionately about his job, photoshoots and stuff, but he's also a good listener and asks Shane questions about hockey with genuine interest and curiosity. Fuck, Shane thinks as Ilya laughs at some stupid joke he just said, he's too perfect.
After the dinner Ilya offers him a ride home and Shane feels like a teenager on the first date. Was it even a date? Can he ask Ilya about it? Did Rozanov enjoy it as much as Shane himself? God, why is it so hard to function like a normal person around this man.
The car stops in front of Shane's condo and they sit in silence for few minutes while Shane wonders whether he should just leave or thank Ilya for the evening or ask for his number—
"It was a good time," Ilya breaks the silence first. "If you ever want to repeat..."
"Yes!" Shane exhales too quickly, his voice laced with relief and joy and Ilya's smile widens. Fuck, he's so gorgeous. Shane Hollander is officially screwed, fucked (though not in a funny way) and lost to this world forever.
They exchange numbers and before Shane leaves the car Ilya suddenly leans over the console and presses a soft, undemanding kiss to the corner of his mouth.
"Thanks for the evening, solnishko."
The brief kiss and Russian term of endearment (how is it even legal that Ilya's voice sounds even sexier in his native language?) make Shane's brain stop working for the tenth time this day, and his face burns, and Ilya looks at him like this—
"Y-yeah.. See you!" And he leaves the car quickly, almost running towards his house as if seeking shelter from this unbelievable, perfect reality.
They start texting each other every day and Shane even gets selfies from Ilya between his photoshoots which he cherishes more than anything and never posts to his fan account (though Ilya doesn't really mind) because he wants to keep it all to himself. Also Ilya's messages sometimes make Hollander blush furiously because as time passes he becomes more and more openly flirtatious.
Shane
you look really good in this shirt
Ilya
i think even better without it ;)
wanna take a look?
Shane screams into the pillow. This man actually drives him crazy. He's never once in his life felt like this. But Ilya Rozanov easily dismantles all his self-control and common sense. Shane is officially falling in love with Ilya. And it seems to him that Ilya reciprocates the feeling.
They go on more dates and Ilya clarifies that these are real dates because Shane is still too terrified of all these beautiful things happening to him. Shane also finds out that Ilya is a very good kisser and it almost makes him mad.
"How can you be so fucking perfect in everything?!" He grumbles against Ilya's mouth and the model's answering laugh gets lost in their next kiss.
"You're just as perfect, solnishko," Ilya says later, tracing the lines of Shane's puffy lips and Shane preens involuntarily under the praise and this idiotic pet name. He knows now that it means "little sun" and if you ask him, Ilya is the one who resembles the sun much more than Shane himself. He's not complaining though. He would be happy even if Rozanov called him some stupid shit like "lawnmower".
Wheh Ilya asks him to be his boyfriend Shane feels like he's about to faint and nods so enthusiastically that his head starts aching. Worth it, he decides, because Ilya's happy laugh and sweet kisses can take away all the pain.
One day Shane finds Ilya's old tweet, the one in which he called him cute, from the day when everything has just started, and retweets it with a comment.
Shane @hollanderofficial
don't call me cute
It takes less than a minute for Ilya to post a response. It's a damn picture of Shane from one of his games with a pink ribbon photoshopped to his head.
Ilya @rozanov
but you ARE cute, solnishko ;)