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1
Hayden feels the loss of Shane having moved to Ottawa, even after having had months to adjust. He feels it on the ice, but even more than that he feels it at home when the kids ask why Uncle Shane couldn’t make it to dinner that weekend, or when he doesn’t have a buddy to play video games with, or when Jackie automatically takes out an extra plate and has to put it back.
So getting to catch up with Shane after a game in Ottawa is fantastic. Hayden can’t even be upset at having lost, not when Shane scored a beautiful goal and smiled like he rarely ever does, and Rozanov punched Comeau when he shouted a slur. Hayden prays to god his trade request to ‘anywhere that isn’t Montreal’ goes through.
Shane comes back from his and Rozanov’s kitchen and hands beers to Hayden and J. J. who are sitting on the sofa across the large windows looking out over the river.
Shane drops onto a free armchair with his ginger ale. “So,” he says. “How are you guys?”
“We miss you,” Hayden says. “Jackie and the kids say hi.”
Shane smiles. “Say hi back. Next time we play you guys in Montreal, I’d love to see them. Ilya would, too.”
“Sure,” Hayden says. “We’ll have dinner. Jackie’s been trying new recipes that she wants to show off.”
“And you, J. J.?” Shane asks.
J. J. shrugs. “Molly and I are still getting on well, but I’m shitting my pants about Valentine’s Day. She gave me a really nice watch for Christmas, and I only had chocolates for her. I need to do better. What are you getting Jackie, Hayd?”
“Same as every Valentine’s Day,” Hayden says. “Flowers, chocolates, and I find a babysitter so we can go out for dinner.”
“That’s so lame,” J. J. says. “And I already told you I felt bad about giving her chocolates for Christmas.”
Hayden gives him the finger. “Wait ‘till you have kids. You’ll see that this is the best gift ever.”
“What do you give Rozanov for Valentine’s?” J. J. asks Shane.
“Oh, nothing special,” Shane says. “Just a day where he can do what he wants.”
“What do you mean, he can do what he wants?” J. J. asks. “You don’t nag him about shit, or what?”
“No, not like that,” Shane says. “All day he can, you know. Take whatever he wants. Whenever and wherever he wants.”
Hayden hastily gulps down more of his beer. No, no, no. “Shane,” he says. “Are you – no. No.”
J. J.’s holding his bottle in mid-air, frozen. “You give him a day of free use? What, every year?”
“I mean, not only once a year,” Shane says. “Like, yeah, for Valentine’s, obviously, but also his birthday, or my birthday, or when he scores a goal, or when he tidies the living room. Things like that.”
“Oh my god,” Hayden says. “Stop talking. Shane. No. I don’t want to fucking know this.”
“Hollzy,” J. J. says, laughing. “What the hell! I never would’ve thought it of you!”
Shane says, “Well, it works for us.”
“If I gave Jackie a day of getting to have sex with me whenever she wants as a thank you for tidying the living room, I think she’d divorce me,” Hayden says.
“Nah, man, she’d kill you,” J. J. says, which is probably true.
Shane shrugs. “That sounds like a straight people problem.”
Hayden is truly glad that the times of Shane torturing himself by being in the closet are over. But. Well. This conversation is kind of making him miss those days.
Thankfully, the sound of the front door opening saves Hayden from having to find a way to respond to Shane.
Rozanov joins them a few moments later. “Hi,” he says. “Is Shane giving you alcohol so you can forget us humiliating you?”
Shane doesn’t laugh out loud, but he does smile, and tilt his face up for Rozanov to kiss him. Rozanov obliges easily and then disappears into the kitchen, coming back with a beer and sitting on the arm of Shane’s chair.
Hayden avoids his gaze. He can’t look him in the eyes. Probably for the rest of time.
“What are you talking about?” Rozanov asks, beginning to stroke Shane’s hair with the hand that isn’t holding his beer.
“Valentine’s Day,” Shane says.
“Oh, yes?” Rozanov grins. “Is always a good day.”
“Stop,” Hayden groans.
“J. J. doesn’t know what to give his girlfriend as a present,” Shane says. “We were trying to help.”
“Trying is the right word,” J. J. says.
Rozanov sighs. “Why do you have problems with this? Is so easy. You take her to her favourite jewellery store. You say, ‘Take anything you want, I give all of it to you.’ You say, ‘Do you want a new dress for the nice dinner we will have tonight? You choose, I will pay.’ You book the nicest restaurant in town. Those things.”
“See,” J. J. says. “Those seem like much better ideas.”
“If you say so,” Shane mumbles, sounding almost petulant.
Hayden buries his head in his hands. Hopefully, Shane won’t try to come up with any other gift ideas.
“I think I’ll do that, actually,” J. J. says. “Molly is really into this independent jewellery store that we’ve walked by a few times. She’d probably love going on a shopping spree in there. Thanks for the suggestion, Rozanov.”
Hayden slowly lifts his head from his hands. Okay. They seem to be moving on safer topics.
“No problem. Shane is very good at giving gifts for Valentine’s Day, too,” Rozanov says. “But those maybe will not work for girls.”
“Yeah, we got that,” J. J. says.
Rozanov grabs Shane’s jaw to tightly it looks like it should hurt, and kisses him fiercely. Shane doesn’t protest whatsoever.
Hayden gets up and beelines towards the kitchen for another beer.
2
Nick finishes his plate of delicious barbecue and takes a long pull of his cider. Always good to be at Bood’s for a party.
“How’re Selena and the kids?” Boyle asks from next to him.
“They’re really good,” Nick said.
“Tell them hi,” Hollander says from where he’s sitting at angles to Nick and Boyle. The space next to him that belongs to Roz is empty. Roz announced a minute ago that he was going to get more chicken. Nick thinks he’ll have to be lucky for there to be any left.
“Will do,” Nick says. “You and Alice still going strong, Boyle?”
Boyle sighs. “We had a really bad fight earlier today, that’s why she refused to come to this.”
“Aw, shit,” Nick says. “Sorry to hear that. Want to tell us what happened?”
Boyle pushes a bit of potato salad around his plate. “She’s been getting really into DIY, and she wanted to paint her ceiling pink. She asked me to help her, and I said I didn’t want to, but I’d be happy to pay for someone to do it for her. She got really pissed, saying she wanted us to do something creative together. But, like, this season’s been so tough, and I just want to relax with her on our days off, not paint a fucking ceiling pink, you know?”
“But she asked you,” Hollander says. “So you should do it.”
“Yeah, she did ask,” Boyle says. “But I don’t want to.”
Hollander blinks. “But she asked.”
“Okay, but I don’t have to do it just because she asked.”
“Oh,” Hollander says. “Yeah, I guess. But wouldn’t you want to do whatever she asked, because she asked?”
“Hollander,” Boyle says. “You can’t just expect your partner to do whatever you want.”
Hollander blinks at him again. “No?”
“No! Does Roz do whatever you want?”
“Yes,” Hollander says.
“What? Everything?”
Hollander looks pensive for a moment. Then he says, “Yeah, everything.”
“That’s insane,” Boyle says. “That can’t actually be true.”
Roz appears back at their table, triumphantly holding up a chicken thigh. “I fought Hazy for the last one,” he says, sitting down next to Hollander. “I cannot wait for this, delicious.”
“Ilya?” Hollander says, turning to him. Then he does something fluttery with his eyelashes that makes Nick uncomfortably aware that this is a very attractive man, objectively speaking.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“That looks really good.”
“Do you want it? I will get something new for myself.” Roz puts the piece on Hollander’s plate and wipes his hands on a napkin. “Do you want anything else? Some salad, or dessert, or a drink?”
Hollander grins and kisses the corner of Roz’s mouth, putting the chicken back onto Roz’s plate. He says something in Russian that he says very frequently. Nick thinks based on Roz’s usual reactions, it probably means I love you, or potentially fuck me when we get home.
“But you wanted this,” Roz says. “Sweetheart, you take it, please.”
Hollander runs his fingertips up and down the inside of Roz’s forearm. “Ilya, I was just making a point to the guys. Eat your chicken.”
Roz looks suspicious, but says, “Okay,” and starts to eat.
Hollander leans into his shoulder until Roz wraps an arm around him. Soon Roz is feeding him little pieces of chicken, kissing him on the nose between each forkful.
Nick catches Boyle’s eye. He just tries to imagine what Selena would do if he attempted to feed her off his fork like a baby bird or some shit.
Boyle looks resigned. “I’m gonna get broken up with, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, man,” Nick says. “But look at the upside, next time you can give Hollzy’s advice a go.”
“I don’t think I have the energy for this,” Boyle says, watching Roz and Hollander.
Hollander turns to look at him, so Roz’s next kiss lands on his ear. He smiles and threads his hand into Roz’s curls.
“Well, that’s why, unlike Ilya, no one’s going to thank you on their knees tonight for being such an amazing husband,” he says.
Then he turns that bright smile back to Roz, who abandons his chicken to pull him into his lap and hug him against his chest.
3
Wyatt sits down with his beer and hands out the rest of the round. LaPointe drinks from his beer immediately, Hollander pops open his can of ginger ale, but Holmberg just sits there yawning.
“What, are you that tired already? You had hardly any ice time,” LaPointe says to him.
Holmberg glares at him and sullenly takes a drink of his beer. “I’m barely sleeping. Chiara woke me at five in the morning.”
“What, with sex?”
“Yeah,” Holmberg says. “I can’t take this any more. I’ve been taking naps in breaks and drinking coffee all day. I want eight hours’ uninterrupted sleep. Is that so much to ask for?”
He takes a mournful swig of beer.
LaPointe seems incredulous. “Dude, you are not honestly complaining?”
“You try going without sleep like this,” Holmberg says. “It’s too much sex. She wants to go each morning.”
“There’s no such thing as too much sex,” LaPointe says.
“Not true,” Hollander throws in.
“I can’t believe you of all people are saying this, Hollzy,” Wyatt says. “We’ve all had to room next to you and Roz at some point.”
“I didn’t say a lot of sex isn’t a good thing,” Hollander says. Then he continues, seriously, to Holmberg. “Just make sure you know how to deal with things, like if you pass out or something.”
“Pass out?” Holmberg says. “What, from like choking?” He sounds slightly scared.
“No, no,” Hollander says. “That’s much more serious, you need to be really careful with that. I just meant, if you’re fucking for an entire day, you know, and it’s a lot.”
“Fucking for an entire day,” Holmberg says, sounding numb.
“Yeah, you need to hydrate, and have a snack, and ideally make yourself take a break at some point,” Hollander continues earnestly.
“Okay,” Wyatt says. “Wow. Um.”
He considers his and Lisa’s sex life to be pretty healthy. When he’s not on the road, they have sex every other day or so, which compared to his other married friends is pretty solid. Due to unfortunately thin hotel walls, everybody on the team is well aware that Roz and Hollzy have a very active sex life, but still. They’re not twenty, how are they having sex all day long until they apparently actually pass out? That’s superhero stuff right there.
“This one time, the first time I passed out,” Hollander says. “We hadn’t really prepared for that happening. So Ilya was freaking the fuck out until I woke up, obviously.”
“Obviously.” La Pointe echoes faintly.
“So all I’m saying is, make sure you take good care of each other if you have sex that often and that long,” Hollander says.
“No, we – uh, it’s not quite like that,” Holmberg says. “She’s just really into morning sex.”
“Oh, well, that’s no problem then, I guess,” Hollander says. “You can go for a run together after.”
Hollander’s phone buzzes. “Ah, Ilya’s done with the video he was shooting with Harris, he’s outside to pick me up. Bye, everyone, have a good night.”
“Bye,” they chorus.
Once he’s left, Holmberg says, “Running after morning sex? What the fuck? I just want to sleep! That’s all I want!”
“Bro,” LaPointe says. “I hate to say this, but I think maybe you and Chiara just weren’t made for each other.”
“Yeah,” Holmberg says. “I guess I’ll have to talk to her about it.”
Wyatt grins. “Maybe you should ask Hollzy for some tips. He was on a roll.”
“I think I’ll handle it myself, thanks,” Holmberg says. “Imagine him trying to talk me through how to best break up with her.”
Wyatt loves Hollander, but he shudders to think of it.
4
Kate leans back in her chair in Ilya and Shane’s garden. It’s really beautiful out here. Her house is nice, of course, and the garden, too, but the river running right by makes Ilya and Shane’s place something else.
Willa and Andrew are playing with Anya on the grass, laughing and running around. It’s nice to be somewhere they can play with a dog. They ask for a pet a lot, but Kate can’t commit to taking care of one right now.
“So, how have you been, Kate?” Shane asks her.
“Oh, you know,” she says. She can feel herself blush a little. “I went on a date the other day.”
“Very good for you,” Ilya says, uncorking a bottle of wine. “Who is the guy?”
“His name is Jared,” she says. She feels butterflies just thinking of that great first date. “He’s very sweet. A complete gentleman. He reminds me of you, Shane. We went bowling and he let me win.”
Shane recoils, nearly knocking over his glass that Ilya is filling with white wine at the moment. “He let you win?”
“Um, yes?” Kate says.
“Kate,” Shane says. “You really shouldn’t see him again.”
“What?” Kate asks. “No, he’s really great! I can’t wait to see him on Friday! He’s taking me to laser tag and then dinner!”
“What if he lets you win at laser tag, too?” Shane asks. “What are you going to do then?”
“E-enjoy dinner with him and hopefully see him another time?” Kate says.
“If Ilya ever let me win at something, I would – I would…” Shane trails off, clearly to horrified to contemplate the possibility.
Ilya is laughing. “Don’t listen to Shane, Kate,” he says. “Enjoy winning against Jared.”
“Ilya!” Shane looks outraged. “You can’t tell me you actually agree with this?”
Ilya steps behind Shane’s chair, presses the glass of wine into Shane’s hands, and wraps his arms around him from behind, kissing his cheek. “Sweetheart,” he says. “I will never let you win. I will always try and beat you. When I play against you, I want to destroy you and make you cry.”
Shane grins into his wine glass. “Those would have been good wedding vows.”
Ilya kisses Shane’s hair. “We can do renewal ceremony for our five-year anniversary and use them then.”
“Mhmmm.” Shane leans back into Ilya’s arms, sipping his wine. “Sounds perfect. I’ll write some as well. About how you have two fewer Cups than me.”
Ilya grins at Kate. “See? This is how it is for us. We do not let let each other win. But if you like Jared doing that for you, it’s great that you are seeing him.”
“Thank you,” Kate says, picking up her own wine glass while Andrew and Willa are giggling and throwing a ball for Anya to fetch. “If it lasts, we can have you over for dinner and board games.”
“Oh, no,” Ilya says. “Dinner would be great. But Shane is not allowed to play board games with anyone except me and his parents.”
“Maybe Kate and Jared would like my style of playing!” Shane says.
“Kate?” Ilya asks. “Do you like playing with someone who tells little children that they suck at games and will never beat him?”
Shane scoffs. “Jade and Ruby can handle it.”
“Yes, true,” Ilya says. “But still. Let’s stick to the dinner, okay?”
“Fine,” Shane huffs.
Kate smiles and drinks her wine. She can’t wait, board games or not.
5
Troy groans. “If only I’d made that shot -”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Barrett,” Bood says. “It’s happened to all of us.”
Troy knows it has, even to Hollander and Roz, but he can’t stop thinking about it. He could’ve won them the game, against Toronto of all teams, and he didn’t.
He downs his drink. “It was such a stupid mistake. Ugh.”
“Get Harris to punish you,” Hollander says. “You’ll feel better.”
“What do you mean, get him to punish me? Have him make me do dishes?” Troy asks. He doesn’t really see how that’ll help. “I already do that, we have a really equal -”
“No, not like that,” Hollander says.
“Make him sleep on the couch?” Chouinard says.
“No,” Hollander says, like they’re being unbelievably dense.
“I don’t want to be spanked,” Troy says. “If that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Not necessarily,” Hollander says. “Maybe just edge you until you cry so hard you can’t talk, or make you kneel on the floor until he says you can get up, or maybe tie you to the bed and jerk off on you but refuse to touch you and then leave you there while he goes out to dinner with you guys and only fuck you when he comes back hours later, or maybe -”
“Dude,” Bood says. “There are honest-to-god kids there.” He points his chin at Luca and Young, who are staring at Hollander like they’ve never seen him before.
“Oh god,” Luca says. “Is that where you are whenever it’s only Ilya at team dinners?”
Young is frantically but silently shaking his head in distress.
Hollander frowns. “I was their age the first time Ilya won MVP.”
“Don’t ask,” Bood says, just as Young asks, “What happened the first time he won MVP?”
“It wasn’t punishment as such,” Shane says. “And we didn’t really know what we were doing, nowadays he’d take care not to be in that state of mind with me, but -” He’s interrupted.
“Hi guys.” It’s Harris, looking at Troy with sparkling eyes. “Hey, buddy. I figured you might be drinking a bit much after the game, so I thought I’d come take you home.”
“I missed a goal,” Troy says to his empty glass.
“Yeah, I know,” Harris says, taking Troy’s hand. Troy squeezes his fingers, and feels a little bit lighter.
“We were just thinking of ways you could make Barrett feel better,” Hollander says.
“That’s nice of you,” Harris says. “I’ve got a plan already, though.”
He pulls Troy up. Troy sways into him. He’s going to marry him. He wants to. He just has to make sure he doesn’t propose when he’s this fucking drunk.
“How about we go home, and I run you a bath, and make you a hot chocolate?” Harris says.
“You’re amazing,” Troy says.
“Is that along the lines of what you suggested, Shane?” Harris asks.
Bood laughs. Luca blushes hard. Young clings to his beer.
“Don’t listen to Hollander about this kind of thing,” Troy slurs. “Don’t tie me up and come on me and refuse to touch me and then go eat dinner.”
“Ah,” Harris says. “You know, I guess that makes sense. But let’s you and I stick to the hot chocolate, okay?”
“Marry me,” Troy says.
Harris kisses him quickly. “Yeah, buddy,” he says. “You’re gonna have to re-do that if you want me to say yes.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” Troy says, waving goodbye to the guys and letting Harris lead him home, where he’ll feel better.
+1
Rose managed to escape from the X-Squad shoot in the middle of nowhere to spend a day in Ottawa and see Shane and Ilya at a garden party they’re throwing.
She commandeers a bottle of rosé as soon as she arrives. She needs it. She’s pretty sure that she still has body paint in hard-to-reach places, and she sees the colour of a green screen whenever she closes her eyes. Thankfully, she’s only contracted for two more of those movies. She hopes they’ll give her a really cool death scene in the last one.
She sees Shane talking with Svetlana across the garden and makes a beeline for them, throwing her arms around Shane as much as she can holding her bottle and glass, and exchanging air kisses with Svetlana. She once tried to teach Shane how to exchange air kisses, and he’d looked so terrified that she resolved to never make him do anything so social again. She still regrets dragging him to that club that one time. She also regrets the horrendous sex they had afterwards, though she appreciates that Shane was trying his best for her. He’s really such a darling.
“So what’s new with you, Svetlana?” Rose asks once the greetings are done. She only spoke to Shane on the phone last week, so she knows his existence of marital bliss and generation-defining hockey is going just fine. She could tear up just thinking how much he deserves all of it after everything he’s been through.
“Nothing much,” Svetlana says. “Paul proposed.”
“Oh my god! Congrats!” Rose squeals at the same time as Shane says, “I hope you told him no.”
“Shane!” Rose says. “No! What? He was so nice when we met him at the gala!”
“No, Shane’s right,” Svetlana said. “It was a shame, but I had to decline.”
Shane nods. “Good for you.”
“Guys! What am I missing? I thought he was great!”
Svetlana shrugs. “He was hot, and good in bed, and kind, but he really wasn’t into hockey. I never expected him to want to marry me.”
Rose stares for a second, then takes another generous gulp of wine. “Please tell me this is a joke?”
“What is a joke?” Ilya asks, reappearing with a beer for himself and a ginger ale that he hands to Shane, along with a kiss.
“Svetlana turned down Paul’s proposal,” Shane says.
“Ah,” Ilya says, nodding seriously. “Yes, that is sad, but it was not going to work with you two.”
“You’re all insane,” Rose says. “Just because he didn’t like hockey?”
“Maybe that is why you are single, Rose,” Ilya says with a grin. “You have not learned that men who love hockey make the best husbands.”
He wraps an arm around Shane.
Shane smiles as though he still gets overwhelmed by his luck the way he seemed to on his wedding day in this very garden. He’s looking at Ilya in pure adoration when he says, “They really do.”
Rose sighs. “You all agree on this?”
“Yeah,” Shane says.
“Yes,” Ilya agrees.
Svetlana is nodding along.
“You think a hockey man is the answer to life’s problems?”
More agreement all around.
Rose cracks her back and refills her glass before passing the mostly empty bottle to Ilya. “All right. Svetlana.” She points at a group of Shane and Ilya’s teammates. “Wingwoman me.”
Svetlana gives a little salute and grabs Rose’s arm, steering her across the grass towards the gaggle of Centaurs.
Behind her, Rose can hear Shane and Ilya laughing, and the sound of another kiss.