Archive of Our Own

Shane never thought he'd leave Ottawa to go to a college in the United States but here he is—in Boston of all places. Growing up as a hockey fan in Ottawa with a mother from Montreal meant he was supporting the Ottawa Centaurs and Montreal Metros, and that he actively rooted against the Boston Raiders.

Shane had decided that he wanted to apply for a hockey scholarship at some universities in the States that weren't such a long distance from Ottawa, where his parents still live. That didn't leave him very many options and ultimately, he went with his rival city.

Boston University has a great hockey team, some former players have even been drafted into the NHL. Not to mention he got a full scholarship to attend due to his hockey skills. He has high hopes for what these next four years will set up for him,ot only for hockey but also for his social life, even though he doesn’t have much of one. 

Shane's gay and realized that when he was in grade 8 because he noticed he  didn't think or talk about girls at school the way his teammates and classmates would. Shane would think about boys in that way instead—never his classmates or teammates,but he had a neighbor that he thought was really cute. They hung out  together sometimes but never alone, always with his best friend from his school. 

Realizing you're gay when you're a teenager really didn't make Shane want to try to date or get a girlfriend like some boys were doing. So he focused on hockey, instead of dating and all that came with it.

Shane also didn't have many friends while he was in high school. Those considered popular would bully him for being Asian, or being too quiet and weird, until he had his growth spurt and started working out on top of hockey. He became muscular and the girls started to take a liking to them, even though he'd never ask anyone out or he'd decline any date offer that did come his way. Still, that didn't leave him with many friends outside of his team, but he never went out with them after practice or games. He didn't leave himself with many opportunities to bond with them on a more personal level outside of the sport.

So that leaves an eighteen year old Shane moving to Boston to start his college years as a friendless, bitchless loser. He's desperate to change that.

Shane meets his roommate, Hayden Pike, who’s from Connecticut, and he's on the hockey team as well. Hayden starts talking about how excited he is to meet girls and go to parties. Shane feels suddenly deflated when Hayden asks him about girls.

"Uh—I don't really date," Shane tells him.

"Date in general or girls specifically? Cause it's cool with me if you're not into girls. I don't have a problem with being gay," Hayden blabbers on, which makes Shane laugh softly. He thinks they'll get along well.

"Yeah, I am actually. Uh—I haven’t told anyone other than my parents, and I only just did that like three months ago," Shane admits. They're both sitting on their own beds across from each other, their legs hanging off the edge.

"I feel honored, man," Hayden says, grinning. "Okay, so do you date guys?"

Shane scratches at the back of his neck anxiously. "No," he says softly.

Hayden seems to realize something because he says the thought that Shane can see pop into his head. "Are you a virgin?"

"Jesus, Hayden," Shane says, the embarrassment hitting him more than he thought it would. He looks around even though he knows his dad closed the door behind them all when they left. "Yes," he admits.

"Dude, we have got to find you someone this year! We can go to parties, or we can even have some! It'll be so much—"

"No," Shane cuts him off. "No parties in the room. Uh—please," he adds, realizing he can't just make the rules of the room when he's not the only one living in it.

Hayden laughs softly. "No, no, it's cool. But if we're never going to host a party, you have to come to any party I invite you to."

"For how long?" Shane asks, even though it sounds like a fair trade off. At least with parties he's attending, he can leave whenever he wants. Hosting them, you never know when people will leave and he doesn't want to have a bunch of people he doesn't know in the same space that he sleeps in.

"I don't kn—oh how about until you meet someone? Then you guys could choose together if you want to go to parties or not," Hayden says, smiling proudly at this compromise.

Shane laughs, shaking his head slightly. He doesn't know that he'll meet a guy that he likes enough to want to spend even more time with and actually be intimate with. He does want it to happen, he's just not sure that someone will want him back. He doesn't want to go through life never having kissed someone he likes. So he agrees to Hayden's terms, shaking his hand to solidify it.

After grabbing lunch together and exploring campus, they get back to their dorm and run into their neighbors who they hadn't met yet. Harris Drover and Luca Haas live across the hall. Harris is from a small town in Northern Ontario where he was homeschooled before he chose to move to the States, and Luca is from Sweden who got recruited to play hockey and is on an athletic scholarship like Shane. It's nice to know that another teammate is living closeby. Shane and Hayden are invited into the room where they continue to get to know each other.

Shane goes to sleep that night happy to know that he's already made three friends and it's only his first day of college.

The next morning, Shane goes for a run with Hayden. He's never had a running buddy before so it all feels new to him but he enjoys it. Hayden's a nice guy and he seems very genuine in wanting to be his friend. After showering and having a healthy breakfast, he heads over to his first practice with Hayden and Luca where they meet the rest of their team.

Captain and center: Scott Hunter, senior

Alternate captain and Right-wing: Carter Vaughn, junior

Center/Right-wing: Ilya Rozanov, freshman

Forward: Troy Barrett, freshman

Forward: Cliff Marlow, senior

Goalies: Eric Bennett (senior) and Wyatt Hayes (freshman) 

Forward, left wing: Zane Boodram, freshman

Defensemen: Evan Dykstra (sophomore), Ryan Price (junior), and Jean-Jacques ‘JJ’ Dagenais (freshman).

And of course, there's Shane, who is the team's new center, and Hayden plays left wing and Luca plays right wing.

The first person his eyes land on are Ilya Rozanov, who he learns has always been center, but will be playing right wing when he and Shane are on the same line. He's also the most attractive man Shane has ever laid his eyes on in person. He has curly blondish, light brown hair that looks really soft to the touch—he imagines briefly what it would feel like to touch it. He shakes the thought away, but then his eyes land on Rozanov’s intense, blue eyes staring right back at him. He feels caught under his gaze but he can't seem to look away. He notices Ilya's eyes drift over his face and Shane feels hot all over. He's never felt like this before, and never about a teammate.

Fuck, this can't be good.

He finally breaks eye contact when their coach, Brandon Wiebe, tells them to get changed into their gear and get ready for their first practice. Shane does his best to find a locker far away from Ilya Rozanov so that he doesn't have any awkward encounters. He cannot seem to control the way he feels when he looks at him.

When they get onto the ice and split into two to play against each other as practice, he faces off with Rozanov because of course he does. "It is lucky we are on same team for school," Ilya says to him in a Russian accent that he doesn't know if he was expecting or not, but it makes him even more attractive somehow.

"Why's that?" Shane asks him.

"Because I'd always win," Rozanov says before winning the face off, effectively distracting Shane—which never happens when he's on the ice.

What an asshole, but why was that so hot?

Shane manages a quick shower with most of his team before getting dressed at his locker. As he does, Rozanov comes over to him with a towel wrapped low around his waist, beads of water still lingering all over his chest—Shane wants to lick them off.

"You were good out there. Fast," Rozanov says.

"Thanks," Shane says, trying hard not to stare at his body like he wants to know what he tastes like. "Uh—you're an awesome player to watch."

"But you have a weak backhand. I can help you work on that," Rozanov then says with a smirk, making Shane scoff.

"A weak backhand? What the—I don't have a weak backhand," Shane says, annoyed and slightly frustrated.

Rozanov laughs softly, smiling at Shane in a way that makes him forget what a dick he is for saying that to him. He shakes it off and says, "I might have a weak backhand to you but to coach, I'm playing center. What did you play on your old team? Oh, that's right."

Rozanov's smile widens at Shane chirping right back at him like it's exactly what he was hoping Shane would do. "You're funny," Rozanov says.

"Hey Roz, you coming or what?" Troy calls out from a few feet away.

"Coming, keep your dick in your pants," Rozanov tells him. He adjusts the towel around his waist and Shane's eyes can't help but drift down to watch him do it. When he looks back up into his eyes, Rozanov's smirking at him again then he says, "See you around, Hollander," with a wink before walking over to his locker.

Shane looks away, trying to recover whatever the fuck just happened, before he finishes getting ready and rushes out of the locker room. Hayden and Luca rush out after him, trying to catch up to him. Shane stops to wait for them when he realizes.

"That was fun," Luca says about practice when they're all together, walking back to the dorm.

"Yeah, everyone's cool too," Hayden says before adding, "Except Rozanov, he's a dick. He makes so many dumb comments, it's annoying."

"Right," Shane agrees, nodding along. Hayden was on Rozanov's team when they practiced today so he doesn't know what kind of comments Hayden heard from him. All he can think about is the comments Rozanov did make to him at his locker—and more so the looks he gave him. Like maybe he knows his secret. He wonders if he does and it's because he has the same one.

That thought lasts all of a few hours until he attends his first party that night, as requested by Hayden—Luca and Harris come with them as well. Within the first thirty minutes of being at this party, he sees a beautiful girl with curly brown hair, beautiful shiny skin, and long legs kiss Rozanov on the lips in greeting when he arrives at the party with Troy, Wyatt, and Zane.

Shane immediately wants to leave but he gives it a bit more time considering it hasn't even been an hour yet. He sips on a beer that he doesn't want and gets to know some of his teammates that are there. He talks to Zane who tells them to call him Bood. He talks to Wyatt and learns that he's very into comic books—Shane thinks it’s cool that he found something he's super passionate about outside of hockey. He also talks to Troy who is kind of quiet and weird like he is. Harris joins them though and suddenly it's just him and Troy listening to Harris tell story after story. Shane admittedly tuning in and out whereas he can tell that Troy is intently listening to Harris, unless he's really good at faking it, but Shane somehow doubts that.

Shane smiles and excuses himself, letting those two get more acquainted as he finds Hayden over by the keg, pouring himself another beer. "Hey, man, I think I'm going to head out," he tells him.

"What?! We just got here," Hayden says, frowning at him.

"It's been over an hour," Shane says back, like that should make it acceptable for him to leave now.

"How long exactly? I know you timed it, you freak," Hayden teases him.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole," he laughs softly. "This isn't really my thing."

"Well, maybe you should make it your thing, because it not being your thing is so high school, Shane Hollander. Aren't you trying to—you know—get out there? You can't do that from inside our dorm room," Hayden says, giving him a dose of reality that he needed to hear but also makes him want to roll his eyes, because all he wants to do is get back to the dorm and decompress.

"Are you trying to leave already, Hollander? You are so boring," an annoyingly beautiful Russian voice says to Shane's right. Rozanov joins them, getting himself a beer from the keg and smirks at Shane.

Boring? God, what an asshole—he's so hot, his mind supplies for no good reason.

"He's not boring, asshole," Hayden says, rolling his eyes at him.

"I'm not leaving," Shane says, taking another sip of his barely touched beer.

Rozanov hums over his cup before taking a sip of it, his eyes never breaking away from Shane as he drinks. Hayden pulls Shane away and the two of them find Luca talking to Wyatt, so they go join them. Shane doesn't talk to Rozanov for the extra hour he does stay, but he does see him—or well, he sees Rozanov's eyes on him every time he looks over at him. Even though he was trying hard not to look over at him, it's like his eyes are drawn to him.

He eventually does get to leave, with the guys he came with as they're all ready for bed since they do start classes tomorrow. Shane goes to bed that night thinking about all the new friends he made today that are on his team.

Well, if he's being honest, he's more so thinking about the way Rozanov looked at him all night and replaying the things he said to him earlier that day in the locker room, and just the way he looks. He pushes those thoughts aside—he doesn't want to get a boner right now, not when Hayden is peacefully sleeping in the bed across from him.

Shane is studying exercise science since it gives him a flexible schedule for hockey and it ties in well with the sport itself. He considered business, but he's not really great with math so this seemed like a better option.

He doesn't have practice today so he's really just going to focus on his classes and make sure he doesn't risk falling behind. Shane really wants to do well in school, not just getting by to be able to play hockey, so he can't let anything distract him.

Shane's sitting in his first class of the day—Sport and Performance Psychology—in a seat he found open near the middle of the room. He chose the seat on the far right of the table since no one else is sitting at this same table yet, which means there's room for three more people to sit but he'd only be next to one person. Two people walk in together and sit at his table, leaving the one spot left open next to Shane.

The class starts to fill, and as the professor makes his way inside the class, Ilya Rozanov is right behind him. They lock eyes immediately and Rozanov smiles at him with that smug little smile that makes Shane's insides swirl. He watches as Rozanov takes a seat right beside him, rolling his eyes as he does so. 

Of course Rozanov is in his first ever college class and is sitting right beside him where it's going to be impossible to focus on the subject matter that he's been excited about.

"Hello Hollander," Rozanov says with a smirk on his lips as he turns to look at him.

"Rozanov. You're also an exercise science major?" Shane asks, eyeing him.

"Nope," he says with a pop. His eyes looking over his face like he's trying to see through him.

"Then what are you—"

Rozanov shrugs his shoulder. "I am business major, and had an elective spot and this sounded interesting, so I am in this class. Is that a problem for you?" he asks, looking a little disappointed and not at all like he's trying to be an asshole.

"No," Shane says automatically. It isn't a problem for him but it is a distraction for Shane, though he'd never admit that to Rozanov. "It's not a problem," he says nonchalantly, or so he hopes.

"Good," Rozanov smiles.

Before either of them could say anything more, their professor introduces himself.

Class was interesting but also torturous with Rozanov sitting right next to him. He thankfully doesn't see him for the rest of the day but that doesn't mean he isn't thinking about him constantly. He's never found himself daydreaming about someone else in his entire life. He's used to only thinking about hockey and his routine—and the occasionally hot actor he sees when he does watch films or series not related to hockey, but even then it's not like this. He's never felt this overcome by this desire to be around someone else so much but then when he is, it all feels too much like he can't do it.

Two days later, he's still thinking about Ilya Rozanov and this feels like a problem now. It's Friday and Hayden tells him that the building is hosting dorm room parties. "You can either keep your dorm room door open, indicating you're open to having people come party in your room—" Hayden explains before Shane cuts him off.

"No."

"Or—" Hayden says, rolling his eyes. "You can keep your door closed and not participate in hosting but that means we will be going to some of the rooms that are hosting."

"Fine," Shane gives in easily since this is their arrangement. Harris and Luca also don't want to host, so that night, they make their way throughout the building, going into different dorm rooms to see what the vibe is before committing to one room for longer.

By the fourth room, Shane's already over it and wants to make his way back into his dorm, effectively keeping the door shut. This fourth room is a triple and he's greeted by one of the girls that lives there.

"Hi, I'm Jackie," she introduces herself then points to two other girls and says, "Those are my roommates, Lisa and Cassie."

"Hi," Shane says before Hayden practically shoves him out of the way to greet Jackie, hand extended.

She takes his hand and he says, "Hayden. It's nice to meet you, Jackie."

Jackie blushes and smiles. "You too," she says.

"This is my roommate, Shane, and these two guys are Harris and Luca, they live across the hall from us, one floor down," he tells her.

Another girl comes up to him—she has reddish hair, a bright smile, and pretty eyes—and says, "Hi, I'm Rose Landry. I live across the hall."

Shane laughs awkwardly. "Shane Hollander, nice to meet you," he says back, offering his hand to shake hers.

Rose groans and says, "You're gay, aren't you?"

Shane looks around on instinct but no one is looking at them. Wait— "How did you—"

"I'm a theatre major, Shane," Rose shrugs, making Shane laugh. "Should have known. You're way too hot to be straight," she adds, smirking at him.

Shane likes her, she's funny. He looks around the room and notices the same girl he saw kiss Rozanov the other day at the frat party they went to. He scans the room for Rozanov but doesn't see him here. Rose asks him what he wants to drink before telling him, "Mind you, all they have is vodka, wine, and cranberry juice."

He makes himself a glass of vodka and cranberry, putting only one shot of vodka, as he's not really into drinking. Shane's introduced to Rose's roommate and potentially Rozanov's girlfriend, Svetlana. He can hear her accent and wonders if they were high school sweethearts who moved to the States together for school. The thought makes his insides feel like lava.

Shane looks over to see Hayden really hitting it off with Jackie and smiles at him when he looks over at him. He's sitting with Harris, Luca, and the other girls when he tunes in to hear Lisa mention that she wants to go to the boys room.

As he and his friends follow the girls out of their room and over to whoever the boys are, he asks Rose about it.

"Oh, it's Wyatt Hayes, Ilya Rozanov, Zane Boodram, and Troy Barrett. They're in a quad. I think Sveta said that Ilya rooms with Troy, and Wyatt rooms with Bood. Lisa also has a huge crush on Wyatt, by the way," she explains.

His mind gets stuck on the fact that he's about to go over to Rozanov's room right now.

"And Sveta is Rozanov's girlfriend?" he asks, because he's too curious not to, even though he's sure of the answer already.

He isn't expecting Rose to laugh. "No," she says finally. "They're best friends—grew up together in Russia. She told me that they do fuck around sometimes, more so out of comfort and convenience. Kinda sucked to hear honestly 'cause—" she says but then stops.

Shane tries to see what he's missing until it clicks. "Do you have a crush on her?" he asks in a low voice. Svetlana isn't near them, she's walking ahead with Luca and Lisa, but he still says it low enough for Rose's ears only.

Rose looks ahead and sees that no one's listening to them so she whispers back, "Is it that obvious?"

Shane smiles at her and she loops her hand in his arm. "No, but maybe you should tell her one day, see if she feels the same way?" he says, the end of the sentence slipping into a question. He says this to her but he'd never do the same for himself.

"We've become really good friends this week and we are roommates so it doesn't really make it easy but maybe—I don't know," she says.

They get to the suite that four of his teammates share, down the hall from where the girls are. The room is near the stairwell that would lead Shane downstairs and right to his and Hayden's room.

Shane walks in last and his eyes immediately land on Rozanov, who is already looking at the door like he was waiting to see if he was also with this group. He smiles at Shane—that same cocky little smile that makes Shane's insides swirl around.

Shane looks around the room awkwardly as Rose ditches him to go sit with some of the girls on the floor around the coffee table. They have a large space that acts as an entrance to the suite and a living room to the left. Just ahead there's one closed bedroom that Shane can see says Ilya & Troy on a board stuck to the door, and there's another closed bedroom to the right of the entrance that has the same board, but with Wyatt & Zane written on it.

Wyatt is sitting on the sofa with Lisa sitting on his lap—well that didn't take long—and Svetlana is sitting in the middle of them and Rozanov. Rose sits on the floor between Svetlana's legs; Cassie is sitting closest to where Lisa sits on Wyatt, but still on the floor with Bood on her other side; Luca is sitting next to Bood. Harris is near the makeshift bar chatting with Troy, and Jackie and Hayden are making out too close to him.

"Come join us, Hollander," Rozanov calls out to him. Shane looks over at him and sees him wave him over with that same stupid smile on his face that makes Shane want to sit right on top of him and kiss it away.

"I'm going to get a drink," he says instead, and walks over to the bar. Troy greets him when he joins them and finds a bottle of vodka—of course—and jackpot! Ginger ale!

Shane excitedly grabs a can and Troy laughs softly next to him. "Canadians gotta have their ginger ale, am I right?" he teases. He knows that Troy is from Toronto—another one of his rival teams—but it is nice to have a friend on the team that's also Canadian.

"Of course all you're going to drink is boring soda from Canada that tastes like medicine," Rozanov suddenly says from over his shoulder.

Shane can't help but jump slightly, not expecting him so close. He looks up slightly at Rozanov, who is still standing right behind him and he can feel the heat radiating off of him and can smell the scent of his cologne and him. "It doesn't taste like medicine," he says, rolling his eyes.

"Hmm, no, it does. You should add some vodka, it will make it better," he suggests with a wink.

"He's not wrong," Troy chimes in. "It's called a Moscow Mule and it tastes pretty good."

"Okay, fine, just one," Shane tells them, though his eyes are back on Rozanov who hasn't looked away from him, now standing more on his side.

"Wow, one drink—you're an animal, Hollander," Rozanov teases him as he reaches for a red cup and adds ice from the bucket before pouring him some vodka in his glass.

"Not too much," Shane tells him, his hand reaching out to touch his arm on reflex.

Shane pulls it away when Rozanov's eyes land on his hand. He lets go of Rozanov's arm and then Rozanov takes the can of ginger ale from him, cracking it open, then pouring that over the vodka and ice in his cup. He hands it to Shane and their fingers brush as he takes the cup from him.

Shane tries a sip, all while never breaking eye contact with Rozanov. As he starts to lower the cup, he can hear Rozanov whisper, "More." He's not sure why he doesn't think about it before doing as he's told and taking another sip of the drink Rozanov made him.

"It's good," he says, and that elicits a soft smile from Rozanov.

"Ilyusha!" they hear from the sofa, Shane turning to see Svetlana waving them over. "Приходи, мы хотим поиграть! Приведи своего парня," she says in Russian. Shane has no idea what she just said but she smirks when Rozanov flips her off.

"They want to play games," he tells Shane, then looks at Troy and smacks his arm. He says, "You too, lover boy," making Troy blush a deep shade of red. Harris smiles softly, trying to hide it as they all make their way to the sofa and the floor around the coffee table. Hayden and Jackie join them as well.

"We should play like typical high school games!" Cassie suggests, sitting up on her knees before grabbing an empty beer bottle from the coffee table. "Let's start with spin the bottle!"

"Oh my God, yes!" Rose says enthusiastically.

"We need to move the coffee table and everyone on the floor in a circle. Don't sit next to the person you want to kiss the most because it's unlikely you'll land on them," Cassie tells them with a smirk.

Everyone complies, sitting in a circle on the floor of the suite. The door is left open, signaling that anyone can come join them, but Shane’s glad that he knows everyone in here. 

There are three more men than there are women here and playing the game—himself, Hayden, Harris, Luca, Rozanov, Troy, Wyatt, and Bood, as well as Rose, Svetlana, Jackie, Cassie, and Lisa—but no one seems to make a comment about it. He wonders if this means someone who lives in this suite is also attracted to men, or if everyone's just super okay with kissing members of the same sex—or maybe if you land on the same sex, you spin again.

Shane never partied like this in high school. He doesn't know the rules or if this is totally normal and he's just the weird one. You are, he thinks. 

He focuses back on his surroundings, looking up from his lap to spot Rozanov watching him. He’s just to the left of being across from Shane. He thinks about how the odds of them landing on each other is quite high from what Cassie mentioned before they all sat down.

With such a large circle of thirteen people, Shane can't focus on everyone or where they're sitting or who is next to who, and his eyes are solely drawn to Rozanov—who keeps looking at him, too.

Cassie is sitting somewhere between him and Rozanov on his left, and says, "I'll spin first since it was my idea."

She spins the empty beer bottle in the middle of the circle and they all watch it spin and land on Luca, sitting right next to Bood. They both crawl their way to the middle to meet above the bottle and kiss once on the lips. Everyone cheers as they part. Cassie sits back down and Luca takes his turn spinning. The bottle spins and spins until it lands on Rose. She kisses him once on the lips, then takes her turn.

Rose lands on Troy, who then spins and it lands back on Rose.

"You gotta use tongue now!" Lisa calls out. So if you get the same person again, you have to deepen the kiss.

Shane watches as Rose and Troy kiss again, their tongues touching and everyone cheering before they pull back. 

Shane's heart starts pounding in his chest. He's never even kissed someone and he's sitting in this circle so he's going to eventually have his first kiss ever and he has no clue who it will even be. He could land on anyone in this circle and suddenly he has to kiss them.

"Can we join?" someone asks for the door, stepping inside. Shane sees that it's Dykstra.

"Get your dumb ass in here!" Bood calls to him.

Dykstra makes his way inside with two girls that he introduces as Caitlin and her sister that's two years older than her, Ava. They make room for them, reshuffling a little to include them in the large circle.

"Okay, let's restart," Cassie comments, picking the bottle back up.

Hayden chimes in with, "Shane should go next."

Shane turns to his right to find Hayden who's sitting two spots away from him, Lisa and Harris in between them, and gives him a look. Hayden grins at him smugly, but Shane can't stop it as Cassie is passing him the bottle.

Shane positions the bottle in the middle and spins it. His heart feels like it's going to burst out of his chest as he watches the bottle spin, and spin, and spin. It finally starts to slow and then it stops. Shane looks up to see that the bottle landed on—

Ilya Rozanov. Of course that's who it would land on for his first ever kiss, Shane thinks, stopping himself from rolling his eyes. He finds himself saying what hasn't been commented on yet tonight, "So do I spin again or—"

Shane looks at Rozanov when he says, "Do you have problem with kissing a man?"

Shane blushes; he can't help it. He feels embarrassed for even asking but he just didn't know. "No, I—of course, not. I don't have a problem with kissing a man," Shane starts to stutter but recovers, looking directly at Rozanov, ignoring that there's like fifteen other people watching them.

Rozanov smirks at him and says, "So then get over here."

Shane rolls his eyes at him and starts to crawl to the middle. Rozanov does the same, meeting him above the bottle like everyone else has been doing. Their faces are closer than they've ever been, and Shane can hear the blood rushing in his ears.

Rozanov whispers, "Relax," before he leans in and kisses him gently on the lips. A noise gets stuck in his throat as he feels Rozanov's soft mouth press against his. He can barely even lean into it before Rozanov pulls away, smiling at him. They both retreat back to their spot before Rozanov remembers that he has to spin next.

He spins the bottle and it lands on Svetlana.

Of course it does.

Rozanov rolls his eyes as Svetlana laughs. They meet in the middle and kiss once, similar to what he saw the first time he saw them kiss. From what Rose told him just before getting here, Rozanov and Svetlana hook-up occasionally but they aren't in a relationship. He can't help but wonder if it was always like that or if they were together at one point.

Svetlana spins next landing on Rose. They kiss then Rose spins again, landing on Caitlin. "I'm in bisexual heaven right now," Rose laughs, making everyone chuckle, before she and Caitlin kiss.

A few people spin next, none landing on Shane but then Luca's spin lands on Rozanov and Shane wants to look away but he doesn't. It's a quick peck before Rozanov takes his turn. He watches him kiss Jackie next, pissing Hayden off in the process.

Jackie lands on Shane so he kisses her then he spins again. This time it lands on Troy and Shane can't help but look over at Rozanov when he crawls to the middle to join Troy. Rozanov isn't smiling or laughing or cheering like everyone else. Instead, he's quiet and looks kind of annoyed.

Shane kisses Troy once on the lips and though it felt nicer than his kiss with Caitlin, it doesn't make him feel anything like he did when Rozanov kissed him, no matter how quick that kiss was.

Troy spins, landing on Harris, then he takes his turn and it lands back on Shane. "I'm in gay heaven!" Harris teases, mimicking Rose, making everyone laugh. Shane laughs too, he really likes Harris as a friend and feels comfortable with him so this kiss will probably be nice. He looks over at Rozanov again because he just can't seem to stop at this point, and he's not laughing or smiling yet again.

Harris kisses Shane on the lips, then Shane picks up the bottle to take another turn before Rozanov says, "New game now, yes?"

"What's the vibes?" Dykstra asks the room.

"High school house party games," Cassie tells him.

"Oh! I have a good one," Caitlin's sister Ava chimes in. The music is loud but not loud enough that they can't hear each other. She then says, "Seven minutes in heaven."

Another game Shane has never played. He's sure every game they play tonight will be a game he's never played. He wasn't exactly popular in high school.

"We can use Ilya's room for where you'll have to go and do whatever you want for seven minutes. You won't be let out until the timer goes off," Svetlana offers up.

"Hey, that's my room too," Troy comments.

"Good so how about you and Harris go to heaven first," Svetlana says back, winking at him.

Troy blushes and looks over at Harris, who smiles. They both wordlessly get up and head into the bedroom marked Ilya & Troy and close the door. Ava sets up a timer for seven minutes, and the party resumes for those few minutes. Some get up and get a new drink, some go to the door to listen, but Shane just sits there, quietly wondering if anyone is going to suggest he go in next with someone he may not want to do anything with.

As Shane sits there, looking down at his hands in his lap, someone moves from across the circle to come sit right beside him. He can already tell who it is before they say a word.

"What is wrong?" Rozanov asks him, knocking his shoulder against his gently.

Shane looks up at him, meeting his eyes, so intense in the way they look at him. "Nothing," he tries to play it off, but it doesn't work with the way Rozanov looks at him skeptically.

"Hollander," is all he says.

Shane sighs. "I've never—" he says but stops. He doesn't even know what he wants to really say. He doesn't want to even have this conversation right now.

"Never what? Played game before?" Rozanov asks.

"Yeah, or—" Shane starts to say and stops again.

"Oh my God, Hollander, do you finish sentences or—" he asks, teasing by not finishing his sentence.

Shane laughs softly. "Fuck off, asshole," he says, making Rozanov smile. He says quieter than before, "I've never even kissed anyone until tonight." He doesn't know why he just admitted that to him.

Rozanov looks shocked. "You—what? That cannot be possible," he says.

Shane laughs, rolling his eyes. "Why not?" he asks, though he's blushing.

"Hollander, please, why are you asking stupid questions?" Rozanov teases. "Obviously, you are hot. I don't believe this."

Now Shane is really blushing. Rozanov just called him hot.

"It's true. I wasn't exactly popular in high school. I kept to myself most of the time, outside of hockey anyway," Shane admits.

"Did you kiss someone at another party or was I the first one?" Rozanov asks him, his voice low—this conversation is just for them.

Shane blushes more and he can see a soft smile tug at Rozanov's mouth. "You were the first," he tells him. Rozanov grins smugly and Shane can't help but laugh, shoving at his chest lightly. "Fuck off," he laughs.

"I didn't say anything," Rozanov says, laughing as well.

"You didn't have to, asshole," Shane says, smiling.

The timer goes off loudly in the party and Wyatt knocks on the bedroom door loudly. "Okay, time's up! Get the fuck out," he calls to them through the door.

A few moments later, Troy and Harris open the door, looking a little flushed—their lips slightly swollen. Everyone cheers for them as they exit and then someone asks who is going to be next.

"Me and Shane," Rozanov calls out beside him before standing up.

"You can't pick yourself," Hayden protests.

"My suite, my rules, Pike," Rozanov says before looking back down at Shane and offering him his hand. "Is okay with you?" he asks him quietly.

Shane smiles softly, his insides melting at the way Rozanov—Ilya—said his first name. He hasn't heard him say Shane until this moment and it makes him feel all fluttery. He takes Ilya's hand, letting him help him up before they walk hand-in-hand to his bedroom that he shares with Troy.

People are cheering them on as they go inside and close the door. Their seven minutes alone started and he's watching as Ilya crosses the room to sit on what he assumes is Ilya's bed. He pats the mattress next to him so Shane walks over and sits down next to him.

"We do not have to do anything if you are not comfortable. We can just talk," Ilya offers.

"You said my name," Shane finds himself saying. Ilya smiles at him and Shane stutters, "Uh—out there I mean, when you offered us—actually, why did you want to come in here with me?"

Ilya laughs softly, shaking his head. "It is not obvious?" he asks.

"Uh, no?" Shane asks, confused.

"Jesus, Hollander," Ilya laughs, shaking his head. "I have not stopped thinking about you from the moment you walked into practice on the first day. All I can think about is where you are, what you're doing, who you're with, if you're also thinking about me. All I've wanted to do is kiss you, get to know everything about you, hold you in my arms."

"Really?" Shane asks, still shocked that this is actually real right now, as he smiles at Ilya.

Ilya grins at him, laughing softly. "Yes. Now can I please kiss you again? I did not get nearly enough in that game," he says, making Shane blush.

Shane turns to face him more and Ilya does the same before he brings his right hand up to Shane's cheek, caressing him softly, brushing his thumb over his cheek.

"I love your freckles," Ilya says, smiling softly as their eyes meet. 

"Kids used to make fun of them. I never liked them until my mom told me only the most special people have lots of freckles," he finds himself saying then feeling embarrassed for bringing up his fucking mom right now. "I mean—"

"She is right," Ilya says, still smiling at him softly. "You are special, and those kids are all stupid. They are stunning."

"Stunning?" Shane asks, shocked, enjoying the way Ilya is gently caressing his cheek. They must not have a lot of time left alone, but he's loving this gentle side of Ilya.

"Mm," Ilya hums, his eyes landing on his lips. "You know, take my breath," he says quietly, leaning in closer to him, his hand drifting down from his cheek to his jaw.

Shane leans in and their lips meet in a gentle kiss. Shane moans into it softly which Ilya takes as permission to kiss him deeper, slipping his tongue into his mouth.

It's like his brain shuts off from overthinking and just lets himself feel. Ilya is gentle yet demanding in the way he kisses him, his hand buried in his hair as he pulls him closer, holding him in place as he devours his mouth.

Ilya moans into the kiss and the sound goes right to Shane's dick, which is now fully hard in his jeans. Shane whines, his hands running through Ilya's curls, surely fucking up his hair as he grabs onto handfuls of it, his tongue moving easily against Ilya's.

"Fuck, Shane," Ilya moans, his lips pulling away from the kiss. Shane takes the opening to throw his leg over Ilya and move to straddle him on the bed.

Ilya grabs Shane's hips, his big hands palming his ass as Shane grinds down against him, attaching his lips to Ilya's neck.

"да, just like that, зайчик," Ilya says, speaking a bit in Russian.

That's so hot.

Shane moves his lips back up to Ilya's before accidentally leaving any kind of mark; he doesn't need that kind of attention on them as they leave this room any minute now.

Ilya's right hand moves up from his hip to his head, pulling him back into a searing kiss. Shane grabs onto Ilya's arms, grinding down onto his lap as Ilya tries to push his hips up against Shane’s ass in return; their jeans are severely in the way.

Shane pulls away from the kiss to look at Ilya, all of this feeling so good but also overwhelming.

Ilya smiles at him softly and asks, "Everything okay?" his eyes searching Shane’s to see if he's done something.

"Yeah," Shane says, slightly out of breath. "This is all just—"

"Too much too good?" Ilya asks, smiling at him and Shane just wants to kiss him again.

"Yeah," Shane laughs softly. They look at each other and Shane decides to ask a question he's curious about. "Is this your first time with a man too?"

Ilya now knows that Shane had his first kiss tonight so he surely knows he's never had sex before but he hasn't said if he's ever been with a guy, just that he finds Shane hot.

"Ah, no," Ilya says softly, looking up into his eyes, his hands rubbing gentle movements on his hips and then onto his arms as Shane remains straddled on him.

"Really? With who?" Shane asks, curiously.

"My coach's son back in Russia. Was nothing serious. We both had same secret and was just—"

"Curious?" Shane asks, his hands on Ilya's shoulders, running up his neck and into his hair again.

"Curious," Ilya agrees, smirking up at him. "Do I make you curious?" he asks teasingly in his thick accent, his hands running up his back under his t-shirt.

"Obviously," Shane teases by grinding down against him.

Ilya moans, his hands going back to grab his ass, pulling him harder against him. “You make me curious,” he says before he kisses him again. They’re interrupted by a loud banging on the door.

The timer has run out and their seven minutes in heaven are finished. Ilya groans, his head landing on Shane's chest. Shane laughs softly, his hand running through his hair gently, pulling his head back up to look at him. He leans down and kisses him, his tongue slipping into his mouth to devour him one more time before they leave the bedroom.

He pulls back from the kiss and Ilya grins up at him. "You're going to murder me," he says.

Shane laughs softly, "Maybe," he says. "C'mon." Shane climbs off Ilya's lap and they both stand up, adjusting themselves in their jeans.

"Are you—um—" Shane starts to ask, unsure where he's even going with this or why he's even speaking.

Then Ilya says, "I am bisexual. I realized I liked both when I was thirteen."

"Same, well—not—I'm gay," Shane stammers out.

Ilya laughs softly, "Hmm, no kidding."

"Fuck off," Shane laughs. "I meant I was also around thirteen when I realized I'm gay."

"Are you two fucking in there?!" someone yells through the door.

"Let's go," Shane says before heading to the door. He opens it and sees many eyes watching him as he steps out. People start to cheer as they both walk out the room then Cassie yells out, "Lisa and Wyatt should go next."

Everyone cheers for them before they swap out. Shane heads to the bar, needing something to do, feeling overexposed now after making out with Ilya in his room. Everyone probably knows, fuck, they probably heard stuff if they listened at the door like a few did for Troy and Harris.

"So," Hayden says, joining him at the bar.

Shane shakes his head. "Don't," he starts to say.

"Can't believe your first time was with Rozanov," Hayden says, sounding a bit disgusted which is quite rude. Shane doesn't like that.

"We didn't fuck or anything in there, relax.You don't have to be so disgusted," Shane snaps, voice hushed though, he doesn't want anyone to hear them argue.

"Whoa, Shane, I'm not disgusted, I just—I wouldn't have expected it," Hayden says. "Sorry, man."

"I didn't expect it either," Shane sighs. "When we met that first day, it felt—I don't know, like, electric or something. Nothing I've ever felt before. I never expected for any of this to happen within my first week of college," he laughs at how absurd it is.

Hayden laughs, "Yeah, I get it, I mean—Jackie is something special, man. I can't keep my eyes off of her," he says, his gaze currently tracking her instead of looking at Shane. 

Shane looks over Hayden's shoulder and sees Ilya sitting on the couch again with Svetlana, the two of them having a conversation that Shane cannot hear from where he is.

Ilya meets his eye and smiles at him, waving him over to join them. Shane takes his can of ginger ale he cracked open and leaves Hayden, who is already walking over to Jackie, to join Ilya.

"Sit on me?" Ilya asks when Shane stands by his side next to the couch. He's got these big puppy eyes looking at him and for a second he considers it.

"You are ridiculous," Svetlana says, kicking him to make room. Ilya shoves her head but then moves over to the middle so that he's between her and Shane, who sits down next to him.

"I hear you are very good player," Svetlana tells him.

"Oh, uh, thanks," he says awkwardly. He's never been able to take a compliment well.

"You are also very big hockey nerd, yes?" she asks.

Shane glares at Ilya, who smiles at him innocently. "I'm not a hockey nerd," he says.

Then Harris says, from where he's sitting on the floor with Troy, "Yes, you are. You made us watch two hockey documentaries this week alone."

"Oh, it is worse than I thought," Ilya teases, poking at Shane's arm.

"Fuck you both, I just love hockey. What's the problem with that?"

"Nothing, you are perfect," Ilya says, smiling at him, his fingers grazing his arm. Shane blushes at the comment and at the physical touch. He has no idea what's happening but he doesn't want it to end—he likes the way it feels having Ilya's attention like this and the way he's touching him… he's trying hard not to get hard.

They talk more about hockey—Svetlana asks him a lot of questions; she really knows a lot about the sport. He then learns that she knows so much because her father is a famous Russian goaltender. She offers to get him a jersey signed if he's interested. He takes her up on her offer and the whole time, Ilya is just beaming between them.

Shane can't help but smile back at him shyly. Rose pulls Svetlana away leaving just Shane and Ilya on the couch, sitting so close together their thighs are pressed against each other.

"So what's the deal with you and Svetlana?" Shane asks, it's been on his mind for days.

"What do you mean?" Ilya asks. "We are friends."

"That fuck?" Shane asks.

Ilya smirks. "Are you jealous?"

"No," he says too quickly. "I'm not jealous."

"You are, it's very cute," Ilya says, reading him like a book.

"You didn't deny it," Shane notes.

"No, because is true. We sometimes fuck. She is my best friend, we grew up together in Russia," Ilya explains.

"She's never been your girlfriend?" he asks.

Ilya laughs softly. "No, never. It has always been mainly for comfort and what is the word—"

"Convenience?" Shane supplies, remembering what Rose said earlier about Ilya and Svetlana's arrangement.

"да, convenience," Ilya says, getting used to the word. "Is never more than that. We do not love each other in that way."

"No?"

"No."

Shane smiles shyly when Ilya smiles at him and takes Shane's hand into both of his, onto his lap. "I want to take you on a date," Ilya says softly, looking into his eyes.

"You do?" Shane asks, caught off guard.

Ilya smiles at him, chuckling. "Yes. Is that hard to believe?"

"Kinda, yeah," Shane tells him honestly.

"Hmm," Ilya hums, scooping Shane's legs and dropping them onto Ilya's lap. Shane laughs softly, adjusting himself on the couch so that he's sitting properly now that his legs are in Ilya's lap. "Does this make you uncomfortable?" Ilya asks, noticing Shane looking around.

"No, I—maybe? I've never done anything like this before. I mean, you already know you were my first kiss ever," he says, almost under his breath, not needing anyone else to hear that information. "I've never been this open with anyone. It's all very new to me."

"Do you like it? I like it a lot, but if you do not, we don't—"

Shane cuts him off with, "I do," because he does. He doesn't want Ilya to let go of him. "It's just new," he repeats.

"So we go slow," Ilya tells him, his hands touching his legs in his lap but nothing inappropriate. It's very calming.

"You would do that?" Shane asks, cautiously.

"Of course," Ilya replies, looking into his eyes. "I want you. I can go at your um—pace?"

Shane smiles, "Mmhm," he hums, letting Ilya know he got the word right. "I want this too, you know."

Ilya smiles. "Good because I do not know if I can stay away from you," he tells him.

"You don't have to," Shane says.

"Can I kiss you?" Ilya asks him softly.

"I'm not—I mean—I've only come out to Hayden, and well, Rose guessed," Shane says.

"You are practically in my lap, Hollander," he laughs. Right, duh. His voice soft, he says, “And we spent seven minutes alone in my room where everyone knows we were probably doing something. No one will care. But if you do not want, we do not have to."

He knows Ilya's right. Everyone can see the way they're sitting so close together, Shane's legs on Ilya, the way Ilya's touching him, how they were in his room together during the game, and even that they kissed in front of everyone for spin the bottle. No one seems to care about any of that so why not just kiss Ilya in front of everyone right now? Svetlana is able to—as he saw at that party—so why can't he? He really wants to…

"I want," Shane tells him finally, blushing when Ilya smiles at him.

Ilya's hand comes up to hold his face gently, his thumb caressing his cheek much like he did in the room during the game, then he leans in and kisses Shane softly on the lips. Shane's hands immediately move to Ilya's hair, holding him close as he deepens the kiss.

"Get a room!" someone calls out to them, making people laugh or cheer.

Shane pulls back, beet red, and sees Ilya flip off whoever said it—from what he can tell, Wyatt said it since he's flipping him off back and laughing. "So I'm guessing you're out, since no one seems to be shocked by this," Shane notes.

"Ah, yes," Ilya says. "I do not have to hide here like I did in Russia. These guys are my roommates, they should know who I am, so I told them I am bisexual on the first day. Wanted to also make sure they would not be assholes about it and care if I brought a guy back here."

"And they're not?" Shane asks.

"No, as you can see, they seem pretty supportive," Ilya says, his hands always gently touching him where he can. It feels nice.

"Yeah, they're great," Shane notes, looking at all his teammates that are here and how none of them seem bothered by any of this. Shane yawns then and says, "Sorry," covering his mouth.

Ilya laughs softly. "Can I walk you to your room?" he asks.

"Okay," he says simply.

Shane gets up and goes over to Hayden to let him know he's going back to the room. He exchanges numbers with Rose before he goes and says bye to his teammates and friends before he and Ilya make their way out of the room.

Eyes follow their every step out of the room so Shane looks at Ilya and asks, "What did you tell them?"

"That I am walking you to your room and will be back. They do not believe me," Ilya says with a smirk.

Shane blushes, looking back ahead of them as they walk down the stairs, Shane leading the way since Ilya hasn't been to his room yet. "This is me," he says when they reach his and Hayden's room. He opens the door and allows Ilya to come inside and take a look.

"That is your side, yes?" he asks, pointing to the cleaner side of the room—the side without clothes and books littering the bed and desk.

"Yes," he says. He loves the way Ilya smiles, like he's proud to have known something about Shane even though they don't really know each other all that well.

Ilya walks over to Shane's desk and looks at his things then over to Shane's bed where he's stuck some pictures on his wall. There's a photo of his first time ever on skates on the ice with his dad behind him holding him upright. There's a photo of him and his parents on the day he won his first ever game. And there's another photo of the three of them taken this past summer at the cottage before he moved here. Shane feels a little embarrassed having Ilya see these pictures and how it's just him and his parents—no friends or anything even close.

"You are very cute, like Зайчик," Ilya says, turning to look at Shane.

"What does that mean? You said it earlier, too," Shane asks, curiously.

"It is like name you give pet," Ilya says and Shane looks at him confused. "No, I am saying it wrong."

"Do you mean a pet name, like a term of endearment?" Shane asks.

"да, exactly," Ilya tells him. "It means little bunny."

"Little bunny?! Ilya…"

"Shane…" Ilya repeats.

"I'm not a little bunny," Shane says, feigning annoyance, though he's smiling softly at hearing Ilya say his name again.

"Is not bad thing. I would not say bad words about you," Ilya tells him, walking over to him, meeting him in the middle of the room.

"You wouldn't? You said I have a weak backhand," Shane reminds him, looking up slightly when Ilya stands right in front of him.

Ilya smirks. "That is not bad words. I want to help you get better," he teases, his hands running up and down Shane's arms.

"I'm the best player on the team," Shane finds himself saying, making Ilya raise an eyebrow.

"You're hot when you're cocky," Ilya says.

"Not cocky, just right," Shane says back, making Ilya laugh softly.

"Okay, Mr. Superstar," Ilya teases before he starts to lean closer, his lips ghosting over Shane's. Shane closes the little space between them, kissing him purposefully on the mouth, his fingers sliding up his chest and to his face, pulling him closer.

Ilya moans into the kiss and Shane needs more. He walks Ilya back to his bed until he's sitting on it and Shane climbs onto his lap like they were during the game earlier. Ilya's hands grab onto his hips as Shane kisses him again, his hands deep in Ilya's curls.

Ilya pulls away from the kiss, looking up into Shane's eyes, searching. "Fuck, I do not want to stop but we said we will go slow, yes? That is still what you want, котёнок?"

Another Russian word he doesn't know, but in this context, it might be another pet name, which makes Shane's heart beat even faster. “I do want to go slow but I also don’t want to stop,” Shane tells him. 

Ilya grins at him then leans back in to kiss him gently. The kiss deepens quickly, getting right back into it with Shane grinding against him, his fingers grabbing Ilya’s hair. Ilya has his arms wrapped around Shane; he can feel his big hands moving up under his shirt, his fingers touching his bare skin. 

Shane whimpers when Ilya flips Shane around, laying him down on the mattress, getting between his legs and laying mostly on top of him. 

All they do for what must be an hour is make out, and maybe grind against each other a little. When Shane yawns right in Ilya’s face, Ilya laughs and presses a gentle kiss to Shane’s cheek, his nose, and his lips. 

They get up from the bed and Shane walks Ilya over to the door. Ilya turns to look at Shane and says, “So about that date—is tomorrow after practice good or—”

“That works,” Shane says, blushing at how enthusiastic he sounds. 

“We can go for dinner and then maybe find somewhere to get to know each other,” Ilya suggests. 

“Um, I’m kind of on a macrobiotic diet,” Shane tells him.

Ilya looks at him confused. “I do not know what this means,” he says. 

Shane smiles fondly. “I follow a certain diet for hockey so I’m not really the easiest person to go out to eat with,” he says.

“What do you eat?” Ilya asks.

“Mostly chicken or salmon, brown rice, vegetables, things like that.”

“Ah, boring food,” Ilya teases, booping his nose gently, making Shane roll his eyes. “Okay, I have an idea. I will pick you up some time after practice.” 

“Okay,” Shane smiles. He’s curious what idea Ilya just had and already can’t wait for tomorrow.

“Give me your phone,” Ilya adds, holding his hand out. 

“What?” he asks, not catching what he said, too distracted by how good Ilya looks—his curls sticking up slightly in different directions from where Shane’s fingers were running through it.

“You have phone. Give,” he says, holding out his hand.

Shane pats his pockets then remembers he took it out of his jeans when they were making out. He walks back over to his bed and takes the phone from his bedside table. He walks back over to Ilya and hands it to him, watching him create a new contact of himself then adding in his number. He then texts himself with it so that he also has Shane’s number. 

He hands Shane back his phone, and says, “Goodnight, Shane,” with a soft smile. 

“Goodnight, Ilya,” he smiles back. 

Ilya opens the door and they’re met with Hayden who looks like he was just about to enter. “Jesus,” Hayden says, jumping slightly. 

“No, my name is Ilya,” he teases, winking at Shane when he steps past Hayden. 

Shane laughs softly, shaking his head as Hayden rolls his eyes. “Bye, Зайчик,” Ilya says, grinning at Shane. 

Shane says, “Bye,” back but it’s so soft and Ilya is already walking away. 

Hayden groans at the lovesick look on Shane’s face, pushing past him into the room. Shane shakes himself out of it, heading back inside as well. 

Hayden is stripping down to his briefs before climbing into bed, as Shane walks over to his closet to grab his shower caddy for his nighttime routine. 

“Sooooo,” Hayden drags out. Shane looks over his shoulder at him and cocks an eyebrow. Hayden asks, “You still a virgin?”

“Hayden—” Shane groans, furiously blushing. 

“What! It’s a legitimate question. Rozanov was gone for over an hour after saying he’d be right back,” Hayden tells him. 

With his shower caddy in hand, Shane is ready to get far away from this conversation. “Not that it’s your business,” Shane says pointedly, making Hayden roll his eyes, before adding, “All we did was kiss. Now I’m gonna go get ready for bed.” 

Hayden laughs as Shane leaves the room. He takes a quick shower, changes into his blue plaid pajamas, brushes his teeth, flosses, and washes his face. When he gets back to the room, Hayden’s sleeping. Shane puts his clothes in the hamper, his shower caddy away, then climbs into his bed. He takes his phone to plug it in at his bedside table when he sees a missed text from Ilya that he was not expecting to get tonight. 

Shane’s glad Ilya didn’t push flirting even more now that it’s past two thirty in the morning—but mainly because he doesn’t want to get hard with Hayden asleep in the bed across from him.

Shane plugs his phone in to charge and lays it flat on the bedside table. He falls asleep thinking about the way Ilya Rozanov tasted on his lips and wondering what other parts of him taste like.

Shane tries his best to stick to his morning routine before practice this afternoon but he’s moving a little show due to getting less sleep than he normally gets. He even snoozes his alarm a couple of times and only gets up because Hayden tosses a pillow at him. 

Shane opens his blinds from behind his bed, letting in some of the morning light but it’s not the brightest day out today. He unplugs his phone and sees a good morning text from Ilya so he sits up in bed to text him back. 

Shane is much more awake by the time he makes it to practice later that afternoon, having a couple cups of coffee after texting with Ilya. 

His eyes immediately land on Ilya when he walks into the locker room. Ilya is shirtless and in his hockey gear from the waist down. Shane has to stop himself from moaning at the sight. 

Shane goes straight to his locker, dropping his bag onto the bench. Ilya is suddenly by his side, looking downright fucking sinful with no shirt on and his piercing eyes on him.

“Hello, Hollander,” he teases, his eyes taking him all in.

“Rozanov,” he says right back.

Ilya grins at him, “Are you ready to be destroyed?”

“Who says I’m going to lose?” Shane asks, eyebrow raised.

“I am not talking about practice,” Ilya smirks, making Shane blush furiously at the realization that he means on their date later and not on the ice.

“I—” Shane stutters.

Ilya chuckles. “You are so cute, I am just teasing you, зайчик,” he says softly, his fingers gently brushing against Shane’s lower back.

“Right,” Shane says, rolling his eyes but can’t help but smile back at him. He wants to wrap his arms around Ilya right now and kiss him but he isn’t as brave to do so in front of his entire team in the locker room of all places. Last night at the party, in Ilya’s suite with a few of their teammates and friends with liquor flowing is one thing, but in the middle of the afternoon in the locker room before practice in front of everyone? That’s a different story altogether.

Ilya laughs softly, rubbing his back gently before letting go. He winks at him then walks back over to his locker to finish getting geared up. Shane turns back to his bag and starts to get ready for practice, trying to ignore his need to devour Ilya in front of everyone.

They play on the same side during practice and demolish the other team. Their first game is in three days and Shane’s very excited, especially since he now knows just how well he and Ilya play together on the same line. 

Once Shane’s showered and back in his regular clothes, putting his gear away at his locker, Ilya comes back over to him. 

“I need to go do something before our date but I should be able to come get you at six o’clock. Is okay?” he asks softly.

It’s a quarter past four now so that’s in less than two hours, giving Shane plenty of time before their first date. He doesn’t know what to do with all that time but it’ll help him mentally prepare—maybe he should also physically prepare. 

“Yeah that sounds good,” he says before he starts to internally panic about what they might get up to tonight. 

“Good,” Ilya repeats, smiling. “See you soon, Shane.” 

Shane nods, watching him leave the locker room. He finds Hayden and the two of them make their way back to their dorm. Hayden doesn’t stick around, as he has plans with Jackie, so he’s left alone in his room to overthink and panic for the next hour. 

Shane knows that he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do but that’s the thing—he does want to. And he also thinks that he’s ready, he’s just kind of scared. Shane’s not new to feeling scared or overwhelmed, but this is different because it’s more of an exciting overwhelming feeling. He wants Ilya so badly and it seems like Ilya wants him just as much, which means that Shane could potentially lose his virginity tonight. That thought is both thrilling and terrifying. 

When he finally manages to stop overthinking and get ready for the date, he has half an hour until when Ilya should be arriving. Shane changes into a pair of dark blue pants and a black short sleeve button down shirt with a black tank top underneath. His shirt is unbuttoned up to the center of his chest and he even put on a silver chain that his dad gave him that once was his. David told him that he was wearing it the day he met Yuna. 

Shane thinks his dad gave it to him because he hopes that Shane meets someone that he likes as much as his dad liked his mom when they started dating. He’s also starting to think that he did find that person, so why not wear the chain. 

Shane goes to the bathroom to use the toilet, then brush his teeth and style his hair. He’s letting his hair grow out since he’s always had it super short and he wants to try new things now that he’s in university. He makes sure he looks good for his date, noticing a couple people check him out in the mirror as they go by him. He must look good enough then so he leaves the washroom. 

Shane sprays some cologne when he’s back in his room, looks at himself again in the full-length mirror that’s in Hayden’s closet, then sits on the bed to wait. 

Shane checks his phone to see no new texts and that it’s nearly six then he hears a knock at the door. He grins to himself, happy to see that Ilya’s on time—even a couple minutes early. He gets up, pockets his phone and wallet on the way to open the door. 

He’s greeted by Ilya looking so fucking hot. Ilya looks him up and down and he can’t help but blush when their eyes meet. Ilya’s wearing a dark pair of jeans—that he’s sure fits his ass so well with the ass he’s seen on Ilya—and a black polo. Shane can see his cross necklace around his neck and fuck, he wants to mark it up so bad. His curls are perfectly styled and he just looks downright delectable. 

“Hi,” Ilya grins. 

“Hi,” Shane says, beaming back at him and trying to play it cool—something he’s never been able to do before. 

“This is for you,” Ilya produces a single red rose from behind his back, Shane just realizing that he had one hand tucked behind his back. 

Shane blushing, laughing softly. This is so fucking cute. “Thank you,” he says, taking it from him. “You didn’t have to get me this.”

“I wanted to,” he tells him, smiling sweetly. “You deserve nice things.” 

Shane blushes. “So do you,” he says softly. Ilya then reaches down to grab two medium sized grocery bags that were off to the side. “What’s all this?” he asks, curiously.

“I thought we could occupy some space in the student lounge and make dinner together. Is a Saturday night so most people are probably going out,” he tells him. 

Shane smiles fondly at him, not for the last time tonight, thinking how sweet Ilya is. “That sounds great,” he says. 

They leave the room, Shane closes the door behind him and then tries to reach for a bag, only for Ilya to pull them away. “C’mon, let me carry one,” he says, reaching again.

He watches as Ilya puts both bags in one hand then takes Shane’s hand with his free one, holding it as they walk to the student lounge. Okay, that was fucking hot, he thinks, loving the way Ilya’s hand feels in his. He’s missed having the physical contact between them he realizes and it’s barely even been twenty-four hours. 

“Smooth,” he teases Ilya, making him laugh. 

“You liked it,” Ilya says right back, grinning. 

Ilya was right, there really aren’t many people in the lounge and the ones there aren’t using the kitchen. They set themselves up at the island, taking things out of the bags. 

“Since you eat boring food—” Ilya starts to say, pointing at everything on the counter, making Shane push him slightly. Ilya grins and continues, “You said you eat salmon, brown rice, and vegetables so I found recipe for uh—” he takes his phone and checks something then adds, “Miso roasted carrots,” Shane smiles fondly at him. “And I also got gross ginger ale for you, and yummy coke for me.”

“This is very sweet, Ilya,” Shane says, stepping closer to him, allowing him to wrap his arm around his waist. Shane drapes his arm around his shoulders and leans in to kiss him softly on the lips the way he was desperately wanting to all day. 

“Mm,” Ilya moans softly into the kiss before pulling back just enough to say, “Food first, котёнок.”

Shane rolls his eyes, smiling nonetheless. Ilya kisses him once more on the cheek before letting him go. They cook everything together, moving around each other easily, talking like they’ve known each other for longer than just a few days, and getting a little distracted with stealing soft kisses where they can. 

They enjoy a lovely dinner getting to know each other. Once everything’s already been cleaned up. Ilya takes Shane’s hand and leads him to the only sectional in the lounge. The lounge is still mainly empty apart from someone lounging in a loveseat reading a book a few feet away, and two people studying at a small table by the window.

Ilya puts the bag with two extra soda cans next to the sectional then lays down on the long part of the couch, reaching for Shane to join him. Shane sits down on the couch next to him then Ilya pulls Shane’s legs to him, laying them half on top of him. Shane scooches down to lay next to him, getting closer to him. 

Ilya drapes his arm over Shane’s legs on him. “This is so comfortable,” he says, looking at him. 

“Yeah,” Shane agrees. They continue to chat for a while before Ilya walks Shane back to his dorm room. Shane wants him to come inside, he just hopes Hayden isn’t there with Jackie.  

He opens the door and sees that it’s empty, he turns back to look at Ilya and asks without overthinking it, “Do you want to come in?”

“Yes,” he says, smiling softly.

Shane made sure to grab the bag before Ilya could, so he puts the cans inside his fridge to keep them cold in case either of them want one. Shane stands back up, meeting Ilya where he was watching him still mostly near the front door. 

Ilya steps closer in a way that makes Shane turn and walk back toward the door to remove the distance between them. Ilya’s hand comes up to touch Shane’s face gently before leaning in and kissing him just as softly. Shane kisses him again, more forcefully this time, and they both moan into it. Ilya’s tongue slips inside his mouth easily, moving languidly against his. He wonders how Ilya’s tongue feels on other parts of his body. He also wonders what Ilya tastes like on his own tongue. 

Shane reaches out to grab Ilya’s sides pulling him closer as both of Ilya’s hands hold Shane’s face and back of his neck. Ilya’s hand moves from the back of his neck over to the side before he slowly wraps his hand around Shane’s throat.

Shane moans deeply at the feeling. 

“Fuck,” Ilya says against his lips before he tightens his hand on his throat for a moment. 

Shane’s hands are on Ilya’s waist so he starts to work his jeans open, both of them pulling away from the kiss for a moment. Shane manages to open Ilya’s jeans enough to put his hand down the front of his jeans, wrapping his hand around Ilya’s cock.

“Fuck, Hollander,” he says, kissing him again, his hands sliding under his shirt, wanting to pull it off. 

Shane kisses Ilya's jaw and neck as he pulls his hand out of his jeans before getting on his knees in front of him right by the front door. He takes Ilya’s hard cock out of his jeans and wraps his lips around the head.

“Да, like that, Shane,” Ilya tells him when Shane takes more of him into his mouth, twirling his tongue around his hard length, feeling the veins with his tongue. “Okay, okay,” Ilya says after a few moments, so Shane gets up with Ilya’s help.

“Was that okay?” Shane asks when he’s standing in front of him again. 

“Yes,” Ilya says, smiling sweetly, his knuckles coming up to graze across his mouth, wiping away any saliva. “Too much, too good,” he reassures him, leaning in to kiss him softly on the lips. “You do not suck cock like someone who has never done it before,” he teases, his lips grazing the soft spot where neck and jaw meet right by his ear. 

“I—” he stutters before just saying it. “I have a thing.” Well, sort of saying it. 

“A thing?” Ilya asks as he tucks himself back into his jeans. 

“A dildo,” he admits, turning a dark shade of red, he’s sure.

Ilya’s face completely lights up, “What color?” he asks.

“Fuck off,” Shane says, smacking his chest. 

“Is big?” 

“I’m leaving,” he says.

“You live here,” Ilya says back. Shane rolls his eyes, making Ilya laugh. “So you have dildo. You practiced sucking cock with it.”

Ilya doesn’t ask, he says it like he knows it’s true—it is. “Yes, a couple of times,” he admits. 

“That’s so hot,” Ilya tells him, his hands finding their way to Shane’s hips, gripping them tighter. “Have you ever used it on this perfect ass of yours?” he asks, grabbing handfuls of his ass.

Shane grinds up against him, not expecting Ilya to grab his ass like that. “Yes,” he tells him, his hands sliding up his chest to his shoulders, running his fingers into his hair at the back of his neck. “I’ve fucked myself with it a few times, but it just doesn’t—”

“It’s not enough for you,” Ilya says, his eyes dark with desire, hands gripping onto his hips, holding him close against him. 

“No.”

“You need something bigger and better to fuck that tight little virgin hole of yours, don’t you, sweetheart?” Ilya says, making Shane’s cock twitch and leak in his pants. 

“Fuck, Ilya—yes,” he says, pulling Ilya’s face so close to his, it feels like they’re sharing the same breath, their foreheads pressed together. 

“A virgin and you’re such a desperate little cockslut, hmm? You need me to fill you up?” 

“Yes, please,” Shane moans just as desperately as Ilya says he’s being, not even one bit ashamed of it either; he’s so fucking turned on.

Finally, Ilya kisses him hard, shoving his tongue down his throat, both of them moaning deeply into it. Ilya reaches down to lift Shane up into his arms and walks him over to his bed. He lets him down just in front of it before they both start to undress.

Ilya is quick, stripping everything off and leaving it on the floor before he’s sitting on the bed, leaning back against the bedframe, watching as Shane takes off and folds each article of clothing he has on. He watches him with a big smile on his face and Shane can’t help but blush. 

Ilya makes room for him to get on the bed too before turning his head and kissing him. Shane moves him back so that he can get between his legs and take his cock back into his mouth. Ilya moves so Shane can get comfortable, wrapping his mouth around his hard length. 

“Better than your dildo?” he teases. Shane looks up, meeting his eyes as he takes more of him into his mouth, moaning around his length, nodding yes as best he can with his mouth full of cock. “Fuck, Shane,” he moans, threading his fingers through Shane’s hair and grabbing onto it lightly.

Shane moans again, doing his best to take as much of Ilya as he can but he is big—much bigger than his dildo—and he can’t help but gag on it a little. Ilya seems to love it because soon he’s pulling Shane’s mouth off of him and stroking himself a couple of times before cumming all over his hand and a bit on his thigh. 

Shane watches the entirety in awe, that is the hottest thing he’s ever seen. Ilya then pulls Shane’s head up while also leaning down, kissing him hard on the lips. He cleans himself up then says, “Wow, damn good for a rookie,” winking at him. Shane rolls his eyes at him when Ilya then covers him with his body, getting in between his legs. “Now, let me show you how it’s done, котёнок,” he teases before leaning down to kiss him softly on the lips.

Shane tries to chase his lips but Ilya’s already kissing his neck and down his chest. He looks up at him, and Ilya’s fingers touch the chain on his neck, eyeing it. 

“It was my dads, he wore it the day he met my mom,” Shane finds himself saying, not really sure why he would tell him that. 

Ilya grins and Shane wonders with how close he is to his chest, can he hear how fucking hard his heart is beating right now? Then Ilya swirls his tongue around Shane’s nipple and all he can do is moan. Ilya teases his nipples before kissing down his stomach then taking his cock into his mouth.

Shane moans, “Shit, Ilya,” his arms coming up over his head, feeling overstimulated already with how fucking good it feels. Ilya’s mouth is perfect the way it works up and down Shane’s cock, taking him all the way down his throat. Shane’s also big, maybe slightly smaller than Ilya but still bigger than the average guy so he can see that Ilya knows what he’s doing by taking his entire cock in his mouth.

Shane grabs onto Ilya’s hair when Ilya moans deeply around his cock. “I’m so close, Ilya,” he tells him. Ilya goes harder until Shane can’t hold back and cums hard into his mouth.

When he’s done, Ilya removes his mouth from him and smacks Shane’s stomach softly once. He leans over him to kiss him on the lips then laying on his side between Shane and the wall, facing him. 

“That was—” Shane says, letting out a soft laugh.

“Yes,” Ilya agrees, smiling at him. Shane turns to kiss him softly on the lips. 

Suddenly the door swings open and Hayden walks into the room to see them both laying on the bed, Shane’s soft cock laying against his thigh and a naked Ilya laying next to him. Shane is quick to cover them when Hayden covers his eyes and groans loudly at the sight of them.

“Man, what the fuck?!” he yells out, turning around so he doesn’t see anything else. 

“You don’t knock?” Ilya says.

“I live here, jackass,” Hayden says. “Shane, dude, you gotta put a sock on the door if you’re gonna be—you know—”

“Having gay sex?” Ilya asks, making them both groan.

“Ilya,” Shane warns. Ilya smirks beside him like the menace he is. “We weren’t—”

Hayden finally turns around and before opening his eyes fully, peeks and sees that they’re covered so he opens them and says, “Buddy, I don’t need to know, just put a sock, yeah?” 

“Yes, yeah—sorry,” Shane says, slightly embarrassed. 

“I’m gonna give you some privacy to say goodnight before coming back,” Hayden tells them before grabbing his shower caddy and leaving the room. 

“Where were we?” Ilya teases, covering Shane with his entire body. 

Shane laughs, letting Ilya pin him down again. He kisses Ilya, his hands coming up to hold his face as he explores his mouth. 

They both pull away after a couple of minutes of slow, sensual kissing. They untangle themselves from the sheets and each other, getting out of bed. Ilya puts his clothes back on and Shane puts on his blue plaid pajama bottoms and a clean white tank top. 

Ilya smiles at him, pulling him closer by his waist, and says, “You look so cute,” before kissing him softly on the lips. Shane blushes as Ilya looks down, his eyes noticing something. He moves past Shane to take Shane’s glasses off of his nightstand. “You wear glasses?”

“Only for reading,” Shane tells him, taking them from him.

“Can I see? Please?” Ilya asks, putting his hands together in prayer. Shane laughs softly but indulges him by putting them on. “Fuck,” Ilya says softly, pulling him back into him to kiss him again. Shane moans into the kiss, his hands running up into his hair. Ilya’s hands sliding underneath Shane’s tank top. 

Shane slows them down, pulling away and looking at Ilya with a soft smile. “Goodnight, Ilya,” he says. 

Ilya groans. “Right, okay,” he says, making Shane giggle. He walks Ilya to the door, leaving the glasses on since he seems to like them so much. They kiss again at the door then Ilya says, “Goodnight, Shane,” as he opens the door. 

Shane watches Ilya head towards the stairs then look back at him with a big smile. He heads upstairs and Shane retreats back into his room. That was the best first date. Shane’s never felt this sense of giddyness before in his life. He really likes Ilya—he likes him a lot.

Ilya texts Shane the next day to say good morning before asking him to meet him in the dining hall. Shane had already gone for an early morning run so once he’s showered and dressed in his Montreal Metros blue crewneck sweater and gray sweatpants, he meets Ilya.

Ilya laughs when he sees Shane, pulling him into a massive hug. “You are brave to wear Metros merch on a Boston campus, моя любовь,” he tells him. 

“Whatever,” Shane rolls his eyes. 

Ilya pulls back enough to kiss him softly on the lips, only then does he realize a few of their friends are at the table behind Ilya because they start cheering. 

Shane blushes, hiding his face in Ilya’s chest. Ilya’s fingers run through his hair, and gently caresses the back of his neck. They sit side by side at the table with Hayden, Jackie, Harris, Troy, Rose, Svetlana, Wyatt, and Luca. 

“We were just talking about how Hayden walked in on you guys last night,” Rose tells him.

“Oh great,” Shane says, sarcastically, blushing some more.

Ilya wraps his arm around Shane’s neck, pulling him into his side as he kisses his temple. He’s wearing black track pants and a black t-shirt that fits him very well. 

“Not like that,” Ilya reassures him, his other hand landing on his thigh. Shane’s never had so much physical contact with someone like this in public—he can’t say he hates it all that much. He likes knowing that people can see that Ilya is touching him. “When I got back to my room, I caught these two—” he says, nodding to Harris and Troy sitting at the end of the table across from them.

Shane looks over at them to see Troy blush and Harris grinning from ear to ear. “Oops,” he says, like he doesn’t really care that they were caught, which makes everyone laugh. 

“Cassie also walked in on us,” Jackie tells them.

Wyatt laughs loudly and says, “And I walked in on Cassie and Bood.”

Everyone laughs at the absurdity of it all then Luca says, “You all need to learn the concept of a sock on the door.”

“Or I can make us a schedule,” Shane finds himself saying. 

Ilya’s smiling at him curiously like he’s something intriguing and it makes Shane blush. “You want to make a fuck schedule?” Ilya teases, squeezing Shane’s thigh, knowing it’ll make his face burn in embarrassment.

“Well if that’s what you want to call it,” Shane says, rolling his eyes. 

“What would you call it?” Ilya asks, smirking at him.

Shane might have a permanent blush with how much he’s heating up during this conversation and Ilya’s hands on him. “It doesn’t matter,” he says, looking away from him. “Do you want me to or not?” he asks the rest of their friends who are all enthusiastic to see what he comes up with. 

Later in the day, after he’s gone to the gym with Ilya and showered, Shane studies in the lounge with Ilya, Troy, Harris, Rose, and Svetlana. Shane is sitting with Ilya on the couch, and Ilya’s writing in a book looking so cute—and hot wearing a loose gray tank top, jean shorts, and a baseball cap. Ilya’s biceps flex every time he writes something else down and Shane’s finding it hard to focus on his own work. 

The rest of the day is spent with Ilya and Shane manages to create a chart for who should use which dorm room when they want to be alone. The only way it works is if Bood or Wyatt swaps rooms with Troy so that way they can follow Shane’s chart.

Shane and Ilya— Shane and Hayden’s dorm

Harris and Troy— Harris and Luca’s dorm

Hayden and Jackie— Jackie’s dorm

Wyatt and Lisa— Wyatt and Troy’s room

Bood and Cassie— Bood and Ilya’s room

And well, Luca will have to find something else to do when Harris and Troy need the room. Hopefully he can find someone he likes and go to their dorm. There’s also Svetlana and Rose but they share a room already and Shane’s hopeful that Rose will tell Svetlana how she feels.

That Tuesday, B.U. has their first hockey game of the season and Shane is very excited—and slightly nervous. He does his full pre game routine before getting onto the ice. He’s on the same line as Ilya, looking to his right. 

Ilya smiles at him sweetly through his helmet and Shane can’t help but match it. Neither of them say anything but he knows exactly what Ilya’s telling him. You got this. We got this. We can do it. We’ve been training for this moment. We will win our first game of the season on the starting line. 

When the game ends and they win 2-1, Shane and Ilya scoring, he knows he is going to celebrate with his team tonight and he cannot wait. That was the most fun Shane has ever had playing hockey and he knows it’s because of Ilya—and this team they have. 

Shane caught the puck every time Ilya passed it to him. Ilya was there every time he wanted to pass back to him like he knew where he’d be before he got there and vice versa. 

Ilya kisses him hard on the lips in front of everyone in the locker room, Shane completely leaning into it, wrapping his arms around his neck. He hears everyone cheering over their win and maybe even over this kiss because fuck, this kiss. 

Shane pulls back to look at Ilya smiling back at him. “Congratulations,” Ilya says, grinning.

“You too,” Shane blushes, laughing softly. 

They sit on the benches removing their gear when Harris—who has taken over the social media page for the school's team—comes into the locker room. He spots them and walks over. 

Harris groans, claiming they look hot after winning and needs a picture for the socials. Ilya is quick to grab Shane by the back of his neck and pull his face close to his, pressing their cheeks together. Ilya’s leaning his face closer to his as Shane tries his best to look good before Harris is walking away satisfied by how they look, walking over to some of the other guys. 

Shane gets undressed and heads for the showers. They’re all pretty quick so that they could get dressed and go out to celebrate the win. He and those who live in his building go back to drop their gear back off. 

Shane puts on a blue long sleeve Harley Davidson shirt, blue jeans, a brown belt and a black baseball cap that says something about cowboys—his dad got it for him, he thinks it looks good with this outfit, plus he doesn’t feel like styling his hair.

Shane and Hayden meet the guys—Ilya, Luca, Harris, Troy, Wyatt, Bood—by the stairs near the door. They’re still waiting for all the girls before heading to the frat that Scott, Cliff, Eric, Carter, and Ryan are all a part of. Dykstra and J.J. are trying to pledge this year. 

Shane walks over to Ilya who looks him up and down before pulling him into his arms. Ilya’s wearing black jeans, dark gray tshirt, and a jean jacket with black fur trim—he looks so fucking good. He kisses him softly on the lips and Shane blushes in his arms. 

“You look good enough to eat,” Ilya whispers hotly into his ear, his arm still around his waist. Shane blushes even more, and finally the girls make their way down to meet them. 

The party is in full effect when they arrive so they all break off into the party—Shane is dragged away by Rose who wants to grab a drink and ask him questions about him and Ilya. 

Shane’s eyes find Ilya throughout the party whenever they’re not around each other, Ilya usually already looking back at him when he does, and always with a small smile. It’s only been a week that he’s known Ilya but it feels like forever with how comfortable he is with him and how reactive his body is to his.

At some point during the night, Ilya takes Shane’s hand and leads him upstairs. They find a bathroom and make out for a while with Shane sitting on the counter and Ilya between his legs. When someone knocks on the door, they break apart, Ilya letting Shane down from the counter.

They look themselves over in the mirror and Ilya suggests they take a picture real quick. It comes out nicely and Ilya texts it to him before they leave the washroom to see a few girls waiting in a line that has now formed, eyeing them both as they leave. Shane is now beet red.  

Shane is then corralled into taking a shot when they get back downstairs. Svetlana pulls Ilya away and Shane can’t help but want to keep his eye on them. He knows their history and he knows that Ilya told him that they are just friends and nothing more, but he’s only known Ilya for a week and has only kissed him for the first time a few days ago—he has no idea if he and Svetlana are still sleeping together or not. He tries to not overthink it since he can see that all they are doing is talking and having a drink. Ilya even looks over at him and winks at him which makes Shane blush. 

He should maybe have a conversation with Ilya about what they are now that they’ve gone on a date and thinks that they’re still dating with how things have been going since their date. He doesn’t want to just assume anything and he doesn’t want to get hurt. 

Shane’s been thinking a lot about having sex with Ilya and he wants him to be his first—he’s already his first kiss and first blowjob—but he doesn’t know if he can keep dating him if they aren’t going to be exclusive. He doesn’t think he can handle sharing Ilya with anyone else, even if it is with Ilya’s best friend. 

Shane tries to ignore them, chatting with Luca as he sips on a beer that he was handed by Dykstra after the shot they had all taken. They're still in the kitchen with a few other people and Shane can see Ilya make his way into the kitchen by himself, leaning against a counter as he sets his cup down on top of it. Caitlin has effectively distracted Dykstra so Shane walks over to Ilya.

Ilya watches as Shane hops up onto the counter, sitting right by where Ilya’s standing. Ilya easily moves between Shane’s legs, leaving his cup behind to run his hands up Shane’s thighs. Shane drapes his arms over Ilya’s shoulders, one hand running up the back of his head. Ilya smiles sweetly at him, asking, “Are you having fun?”

Shane tries to hide a grin as he nods once, “Mmhm,” he hums, meeting Ilya’s eyes. “Are you?”

“Better now, I think,” he says, smiling as he leans in to kiss Shane softly on the lips. 

Shane’s quick to chase his lips for another but Ilya resists for a moment until he’s the one to lean back in for another kiss. Shane resists the urge to wrap his legs around him. If he had any more to drink he might have totally forgotten they weren’t alone. 

They pull away, keeping their PDA to a minimum. Ilya’s hands squeeze Shane’s thighs as he looks at him—it feels like he can see right through him. “What?” Shane can’t help but ask.

“I just want you all to myself,” Ilya says, looking into his eyes.

“Oh,” Shane says, blushing. “We can go,” he finds himself saying out loud to Ilya and not just thinking it.

“We don’t have to if you want to stay longer,” Ilya tells him, smiling at him softly.

“I don’t want to stay longer. I’m ready to go.” Shane already isn’t a huge fan of parties and knowing that Ilya wants to spend alone time with him, it’s all Shane wants to do now.

Ilya steps back, giving Shane room to hop off the counter. Ilya then takes Shane’s hand and leads him through the frat towards the door. Thankfully, their friends seem otherwise occupied and no one stops them on their way out. 

They get back to Shane’s dorm where he puts a sock on the door just in case, though with Shane’s chart, he and Ilya get this room. The second the door is closed, Ilya is kissing Shane up against the door. Shane moans into the kiss, his hands reaching out to grab onto Ilya’s jacket, pulling him closer to him. 

Ilya moans, his hand coming up his body to wrap around his throat gently. Shane presses himself harder against Ilya while Ilya runs his free hand up Shane’s shirt, his fingers grazing his stomach. Shane pulls back from the kiss, his hands coming up to Ilya’s shoulders, trying to take it off of him. Ilya helps him take it off before they make their way over to Shane’s bed. Like the last time they were in here together, Ilya quickly strips then waits on the bed, watching him get undressed and fold his clothes before joining him on the bed. 

Unlike last time, this time they move slower. Shane’s laying back on the bed with Ilya above him, laying between his open legs, kissing him sweetly and slowly, really taking his time. Shane suddenly remembers wanting to have a conversation before letting Ilya take his virginity. 

“Wait, wait—” Shane starts to say, and Ilya immediately pulls back, looking him over with concern. 

“Are you okay? Did I—” 

“No, no, I just—” Shane stutters, shit, now he feels like an idiot. “I just wanted to maybe talk before you—before I lose my virginity,” he says, stammering through that and hoping Ilya doesn’t want to leave now.

Ilya smiles softly at him, laying back on him and his right hand coming up to caress Shane’s cheek, his thumb moving across in soft patterns. “What did you want to talk about, котёнок?” he asks him gently.

“I—” Shane sighs, looking into Ilya’s eyes and feeling nervous but also somehow safe, like he can say it and Ilya won’t be annoyed. “Okay, I’m just gonna say it—I know we only went on one date and it’s only been like one week of knowing each other but I really like you and I want to keep dating you. I really want to have sex with you, a lot, but I’m also kind of scared that you’re still fucking Svetlana or like—I don’t know if there’s anyone else, and that’s the point. I want to know everything about you because you’re really special, Ilya, and you make me feel happier than I’ve ever really felt. I guess I’m asking—what are we?” he finally says.

Ilya’s grinning at him and Shane can’t help but blush under his gaze. “Mmm,” he hums, “We are boyfriends,” he says back.

“Boyfriends?” Shane asks, needing to make sure he actually heard that word.

“Yes, I think so, probably,” he teases, then he leans in and kisses Shane gently on the lips. 

“So you’re not—” Shane starts to ask, referring to any other romantic partners. 

“No,” Ilya tells him. “I think you’ve had me since the moment you walked into the locker room. Yes, only been one week like you said, but you are also very special, Shane Hollander. There is no one else I want to sleep with or be with more than I want you.”

“Oh,” Shane says softly, feeling overwhelmed with so many emotions—all so good. Ilya kisses him again and this time Shane deepens it, needing to show Ilya how much he likes him and wants this—wants him. His hands are in Ilya’s hair, pulling him closer as he wraps a leg around him. 

Ilya moans into the kiss, their hard cocks sliding against each other between them. Ilya pulls away from the kiss to say, “I’m going to make this so good for you, моя любовь,” before moving his lips down his jaw to his neck. His lips trail up to his ear, sucking his earlobe into his mouth. He says hotly in his ear, “I’m going to make you feel so good, going to ruin you for anyone else, all you’re going to beg for is my cock,” he punctuates before shoving his tongue back into his mouth. 

Shane moans loudly, trying to grind up against him, needing more friction between them. He wants that—he wants everything Ilya just said. He only wants Ilya. 

As Ilya kisses down his neck to his chest, Shane tells him that, “I only want you, Ilya. Only want your cock filling me up, fuck,” he moans when Ilya bites his nipple softly. 

“You want this big cock to fill that tight, little, virgin hole of yours, hmm?” he says, taking his cock in his hand and slapping it against Shane’s leaking cock. 

“Yes, please,” Shane moans desperately. 

Ilya’s hands spread Shane’s legs wider apart before taking his cock into his mouth, swallowing him down his throat. “Shit, Ilya,” Shane moans, his right hand coming down to run his fingers through his hair, gripping on. 

Ilya looks up at him and winks. He fucking winks at him, mouth full of cock. That might be one of the hottest things he’s seen Ilya do so far. Until he lets go of his cock and pushes his knees up to his chest and licks across his hole. 

“Oh my G—” his moan is cut off by the feeling of Ilya’s tongue pushing past his rim. 

Ilya teases him with soft licks, going slow and gentle before pulling away to ask Shane where he keeps his stuff. He points to the drawer so Ilya takes out the lube and a condom then goes right back to eating Shane’s ass. 

Ilya slicks up his fingers and slowly adds one inside of him. Shane’s a whimpering, whiny mess as he rocks back onto Ilya’s finger while Ilya sucks a dark hickey right into his inner thigh. Ilya adds another finger, scissoring him open as he looks up at Shane with dark eyes, mouth slick with saliva. 

Shane easily grinds back down onto Ilya’s fingers and Ilya moans, “Fuck, Shane, look at you. You’re so tight, so perfect, so greedy the way you’re riding my fingers.”

“Please,” Shane begs. His cock is leaking and Ilya’s fingers are touching him in all the right ways but he needs more. “Need more, baby, need your cock inside me,” he moans. 

The pet name slips out without Shane meaning to but the way Ilya looks at him when he says it makes Shane want to keep saying it. Ilya pushes his fingers in once more, making sure to graze his prostate and Shane moans louder, unable to keep silent or worry about any of his dorm neighbors. 

“Fuck, Hollander,” Ilya moans, watching as Shane’s back arches. “You are going to look so good taking my cock,” he tells him before slipping his fingers out of him. Shane watches him put the condom on himself then add a little more lube to his cock. “Are you sure you’re ready, Shane?” he asks him, looking into his eyes, most of his weight on him.

Shane runs his hands up and down Ilya’s back soothingly. He smiles and says, “Yes. I’m very sure. I want it to be you. I only want you, Ilya.” 

Satisfied with that, Ilya lines himself up with Shane’s hole and slowly pushes the head of his cock past the rim. Shane’s holding his breath, feeling the burn of the stretch when Ilya’s fingers touch his cheek softly. “Look at me, sweetheart,” he says. Shane looks into Ilya’s eyes, and Ilya smiles as he says, “There you are. Keep your eyes on me, okay?” 

“Okay,” he says quickly.

“And breathe, Hollander,” he teases.

“Fuck you,” Shane laughs. 

Ilya’s able to push inside of him more when Shane finally relaxes, allowing Ilya to fill him up. Ilya’s lips are sweet and tender against his as he bottoms out. Shane moans into the kiss, feeling more full than ever before. “You feel so good, fuck,” Ilya moans, his face buried in the crook of Shane’s neck. 

After a couple of moments of this, Shane runs his hand up Ilya’s back and says, “You good, baby?”

“Fuck,” Ilya mumbles before pulling his head back to look at him. “Yes, I needed a moment so I didn’t cum right away. You feel too good, зайчик.” 

Shane blushes then moans loudly when Ilya finally pulls out and back into him. “More, baby,” he moans, wrapping his legs around Ilya.

“You keep calling me that and I won’t last very long,” Ilya warns him, fucking him faster and a little harder. 

“Fuck, you like that? You like being my baby?” Shane says, running his fingers through the back of Ilya’s head, grip tightening in his hair. 

“Yes,” Ilya says, looking into his eyes, snapping his hips. 

“Harder, baby,” Shane tells him and soon Ilya is fucking him harder, faster, going deeper than before then suddenly, Shane’s back is arching and he’s moaning Ilya’s name loudly.

“Shit, fuck, Shane, yes, scream my name. Let everyone in this fucking building know who you belong to,” Ilya says, fucking him over and over into his prostate, making Shane see stars. “You’re mine,” he moans before shoving his tongue into Shane’s mouth.

Shane throws his head back into the pillow, moaning, “Yours, Ilya, fuck, don’t stop. I’m so close.” 

“Touch yourself, let me see you cum all over my cock,” Ilya tells him.

Shane takes his cock in his hand, stroking himself to match Ilya’s thrusts. It doesn’t take long until he’s cumming hard between them and all over his hand, moaning Ilya’s name loudly. Ilya is right there with him, cumming hard inside of him in the condom as he moans deeply into Shane’s neck. 

Ilya kisses him all over his cheeks and lips before slowly pulling out of him. He removes the condom, tying it off, and then climbing off the bed. “Don’t move,” he tells Shane as he tosses the condom in the garbage bin under Shane’s desk then takes some tissues to help wipe Shane clean. He settles back on the bed beside him and says, “We will need shower to properly clean ourselves.”

“Soon,” Shane says, slowly turning so he could face Ilya. They’re both smiling at each other then Shane says, “That was really hot.”

“It was,” Ilya agrees. “Very good for first time,” he teases him. Shane blushes. “Was it worth the wait?” 

Shane knows Ilya means was it worth the wait to have sex, worth it to wait until now, until they’ve gotten a chance to meet in college before losing his virginity. “Yes,” he says confidently. “I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”

Ilya grins, leaning in to kiss him again. “Good,” he says into the kiss. 

The two of them hit the showers before making their way back to Shane’s dorm. Shane puts on a pair of shorts and also gives Ilya a pair to sleep in then they curl up together in his bed. Ilya sleeps over, cuddling him the entire night—Shane has never slept better.

In the morning, Shane wakes up first, his head on Ilya’s chest. He looks up to see his beautiful, peaceful face still sleeping. Shane then looks over to Hayden’s bed and sees it’s empty, so Shane lifts himself slightly so that he can leave kisses all over Ilya’s face and body, stirring him awake. Shane leaves a soft peck to his lips, not deepening it until they’ve brushed their teeth, then kisses down his chest and stomach to his cock that’s now fully hard and waiting for some love. Ilya moans softly, his fingers curling into Shane’s hair, “Morning,” he says with a deep, morning voice. 

“Morning, boyfriend,” Shane says with a smirk before taking Ilya’s cock into his mouth. Ilya moans, his finger tightening in Shane’s hair as Shane works his mouth around his hard cock. He plans on getting a lot of practice with Ilya’s cock so that he can be even better than Ilya is at sucking cock. He wants to make his man feel as good as he makes Shane feel. 

“My boyfriend has such a pretty little mouth, especially when it’s filled with my cock,” Ilya teases him, moaning louder when Shane takes him deeper. He can tell Ilya’s close so he works him deeper, bobbing his head up and down as he looks up at him through his lashes. “I’m close, you might want to—”

Shane doesn’t let him pull out, making sure he gets to taste Ilya on his tongue this time. Shane does pull up slightly when he feels that first hit of cum in his mouth. He strokes Ilya, keeping just the head of his cock in his mouth as he cums hard. 

Shane swallows everything, not hating the taste whatsoever, before kissing his stomach and back up to his face. Ilya flips them easily and returns the favor, Shane lasting slightly less time than Ilya did. They do end up kissing even though they didn’t brush their teeth because well—they both just came down the other's throat so what’s a little morning breath between new boyfriends?

Ilya leaves, needing to get ready for class, and Shane needs to do the same. He’s smiling the entire way to class, excited for what the rest of the year is going to bring him and his new relationship with Ilya.

***

The past seven months feel like a blur to Shane. He’s spent his first year of college becoming a new man. Shane has an amazing boyfriend who is so gentle and kind to him, someone who loves him so much and continues to show him every day, someone who challenges him and gives him so much excitement in life, someone who he loves to compete against and play with because he thinks he might be the best player he’s ever seen. He got lucky meeting the man of his dreams in his first week of college. He doesn’t think he could have gotten through this year without Ilya. 

They spent Christmas break in Ottawa with Shane’s parents, which was really fun and sweet to see Ilya doing puzzles with his dad and watching Ilya scream at the TV with his mom when an NHL game was on. During that break from classes, in Shane’s childhood bedroom, in the dark and under the covers, Ilya told Shane that he’s in love with him. He said it in Russian before saying it in English and after Shane said it back, Ilya added, “I have only been in love with one person. You are my person, Shane.”

Shane nearly melted right there on the spot. He’s never loved someone this much in this way. The only love he’s ever held in his heart has always been for his parents. Throughout his life it’s only ever been him and his parents. He had a team that he liked but never any real friends or anyone for him to love romantically until he met Ilya. 

They both think they fell in love the moment they saw each other that day in the locker room. They might be right. Shane never really believed in that before or the concept of soulmates but being with Ilya, he doesn’t know how it can’t be real when it truly feels like he was put on this earth to love and cherish Ilya Rozanov. That he is his soulmate and the two of them have always been designed to fall in love. 

The school year went by quickly with many classes, practices, games that they’ve won a lot of, parties with friends, and amazing date nights with his boyfriend. Now that they’re finishing up their final exams, Shane’s very excited to spend his first summer with his boyfriend at his family cottage in Northern Quebec. His parents will be there most of the time, promising that they’ll give them two weeks alone while they go to Mexico on vacation. 

Next year, Shane and Ilya will room together, as they put in a request to be roommates before the deadline for next year. Everyone actually put in requests this time—Troy with Harris, Rose with Svetlana again, Hayden with Luca, Bood with Wyatt, Jackie with Caitlin, and Lisa with Cassie.

For now, Shane has packed up his dorm and meets Ilya by the front door. His parents are about to pick them up from school to go back to Ottawa for a night before they head up to the cottage. Ilya told him earlier that with his mom being gone and his father sick and dying, he moved in alone with no help from any family. The only family he had, that he’s always had, is Svetlana so they did have each other moving in, but it feels really good to be leaving school with Shane and his nice family that he loves very much. 

David helps pack the car with their things. It was a long drive for Yuna and David to get to Boston so Shane offers to drive back. His parents insist on sitting in the backseat so Ilya gets into the passenger seat. The radio is on and as Shane drives, Ilya takes his hand into both of his onto his lap. 

The next day, when they’re driving up to the cottage, Shane and Ilya sit together in the backseat. Shane falls asleep with his head on Ilya to the feeling of his fingers running through Shane’s hair softly. 

They spend the summer going for swims in the lake, cuddling on the couch, sitting by the fire pit, watching the sunrise and sunsets, hiking, going on runs, goofing around together, and fucking as much as they can get away with staying with Yuna and David. Those two solo weeks, they’re as loud as they want. It’s the best summer of his life and he can’t wait to see what the next three years of college brings him and his relationship with Ilya.