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“Hi, this is Shane, and this is my skincare routine.”
“Are you seriously recording that?”
Ilya poked his head through the bathroom doorway, a teasing but affectionate smile already spreading across his face. He never missed an opportunity to make fun of Shane for spending twenty minutes on his skincare every morning and every night.
Without waiting for an invitation, he settled into his usual spot on the edge of the bathtub, crossed one leg over the other, and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Well… The Cut asked me to film it.”
“Maybe they don’t need a video of you standing shirtless in your bathroom for that,” Ilya replied, making himself comfortable.
Shane turned toward him, the corner of his mouth lifting into a grin.
“Are you jealous?”
“Jealous?” Ilya scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Russians aren’t jealous.”
Shane let out a soft laugh, though he couldn’t stop the warmth from creeping into his cheeks. Just the thought of Ilya being jealous made his heart flutter.
He would never get tired of the way Ilya looked at him.
He had never imagined he could be loved like this.
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Shane teased.
“Well, I’ll stay here and make sure you don’t show the camera too much.”
“It’s a skincare routine, not a sex tape.”
Ilya groaned dramatically, clutching his chest as if Shane had just crushed his dreams, which only made Shane laugh even harder.
“My dream is still for you to agree to make one.”
“Never in your life, Ilya. You can erase that fantasy from your memory,” Shane replied, trying, and failing, to sound stern.
Ilya mimed being stabbed straight through the heart. Shane simply shook his head. He was so dramatic.
“Alright,” Shane sighed with a smile. “Let’s start over. I’ll cut this part.”
“Can I stay?” Ilya asked.
He loved teasing Shane and watching him squirm in private, but he also knew Shane wanted to take this seriously. The last thing he wanted was to get in the way.
“Of course. This is what we normally do, isn’t it? I want it to feel as natural as possible.”
“Then I’m staying.” Ilya smiled. “You know how much I love watching you.”
Shane walked over and pressed a quick, gentle kiss to his lips. Ilya immediately wrapped his arms around him, stealing a few extra seconds before letting him go.
“You won’t be in the frame,” Shane murmured, “but you can still react. Just… act like we always do.”
“Deal.”
Shane leaned in for one last kiss before returning to his phone. Just before hitting record again, he glanced back over his shoulder.
“Do you want me to put a shirt on?”
He asked the question sincerely, wanting to make sure Ilya wasn’t actually uncomfortable with him filming shirtless. Ilya shook his head.
“No. Let them see what’s mine.”
Shane rolled his eyes, but a familiar warmth settled low in his stomach. He always reacted the same way whenever Ilya got a little possessive.
“Can they see my freckles?” Shane asked, glancing over his shoulder while absentmindedly biting his lower lip.
He waited for Ilya’s answer.
“Oh, definitely.”
A satisfied smile spread across Ilya’s face.
“You should casually mention they belong to me.”
“I’m absolutely not doing that.”
“Why not?” Ilya asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Because that’s a weird thing to say.”
“Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “But they’re mine, okay?”
Shane smiled softly.
“Yeah. They’re all yours.”
Ilya flashed him a wide grin, but his attention was quickly drawn to a sticky note taped to the bathroom mirror. As always, Shane’s products were lined up neatly on the side of the sink, perfectly arranged in the order he used them. The sticky note, however, was new.
“Shane,” Ilya asked gently, “why did you write yourself notes? You do this every single day.”
Shane tried to hide his grimace, but Ilya knew him far too well to miss it. He also caught the flicker of nervousness in his husband’s eyes.
“You know I’m not exactly comfortable in front of cameras,” Shane admitted. “I figured it would help me stay on track. I don’t want to start stuttering and make the whole thing awkward.”
Ilya immediately stood up. He stepped behind Shane, wrapping his arms around his waist before resting his chin against the crook of his neck. Shane shivered at the familiar touch.
“This video can’t possibly be anything less than perfect,” Ilya murmured. “Because you’re Shane fucking Hollander.” He pressed a soft kiss against Shane’s shoulder. “You’re adorable. You’re sexy. You’re confident.” Another kiss. “And you’re the best hockey player in the league.”
Shane’s cheeks turned crimson once again, but his eyes never left Ilya’s in the mirror. Most of the time, Ilya loved joking that Shane was only the second-best player in the league. But whenever Shane needed reassurance, Ilya never hesitated to tell him what he truly believed. Shane melted back against him, allowing himself a few quiet seconds in the safety of his husband’s embrace.
“Come on,” Ilya said at last, giving him a playful smack on the butt as he stepped away. “Go show them how you get perfect skin.”
Shane laughed, shooting him one last smile before turning back toward his phone. He took a deep breath and hit record.
“Hi, I’m Shane Hollander, and this is my skincare routine for The Cut.”
Ilya quietly returned to his usual spot just outside the camera’s frame, watching his husband with unmistakable admiration.
“So many of you have been asking about the products I use,” Shane began. “So The Cut invited me to walk you through my skincare routine. It’s actually pretty quick, and there really aren’t that many steps—”
“That’s a lie!” Ilya interrupted from off camera. “It takes him almost twenty minutes, and in my opinion, there are way too many steps.”
Shane burst into laughter, tilting his head back in mock exasperation.
“If you’re wondering what my husband’s skincare routine looks like…” Shane continued. The simple word « husband » made Ilya bite back a smile. “…it’s basically just water and soap.”
Shane shot him an amused glance before continuing.
“I’ve tried convincing him to buy actual skincare products, but he refuses.”
“Russian men don’t do skincare.”
“Of course they don’t,” Shane laughed. “I did manage to convince him to use a proper facial cleanser, though. Before that, he was washing his face with body wash… or, even worse, shampoo.”
He looked genuinely horrified.
“What a tragedy,” Ilya deadpanned.
“Now he uses an oil-control facial cleanser,” Shane said proudly, holding up the bottle for the camera.
“You’re unbelievably sexy when you say ‘oil-control facial cleanser.’”
“Shut up,” Shane laughed, his ears turning pink.
Shane tried to focus again, carefully working his way through each product while explaining what it did and why he liked it. Ilya didn’t even pretend to look at his phone anymore. Apparently, watching Shane Hollander passionately explain serums and moisturizers was one of the most attractive things he’d ever witnessed. Now all Shane had to do was put on his glasses, and Ilya would be completely doomed. So instead, he simply watched. Every now and then, he interrupted just to make Shane smile.
“If you really want to know,” Shane said as he smoothed moisturizer over his face, “Ilya usually spends this part of my routine sitting on the edge of the bathtub playing Roblox.”
“And it’s my favorite part of the day,” Ilya admitted without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
Shane smiled toward the camera. He liked letting people see just how much his husband loved him. And how happy they were together. Coming out publicly, and everything that followed, hadn’t been easy. But people had gradually gotten used to it. Now they were finally able to love each other openly. Well… at least the parts they chose to share.
“And, of course, sunscreen,” Shane continued, holding up the bottle. “Never skip sunscreen.”
“He makes me wear it too,” Ilya sighed dramatically.
“You should be thanking me for preventing skin cancer, baby.”
Once again, Ilya had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling too much. He would never get tired of hearing Shane call him baby.
“Thank you for extending my life expectancy so I can spend even more years by your side, sweetheart,” he replied with exaggerated sincerity, leaning forward on his knees just to keep looking at him.
Shane set the sunscreen down before picking up a small tube.
“And finally… lip balm.”
“My favorite step,” Ilya announced immediately.
“Because it’s the last one?” Shane guessed.
“That too.” A grin spread across Ilya’s face. “But mostly because you always kiss me afterward… and I like the taste of your lip balm.”
Shane’s cheeks instantly turned pink.
“I hope all of you find someone as wonderful as Ilya,” he said, smiling warmly at the camera. “That’s it for my skincare routine. I hope you enjoyed it. Bye!”
The second he stopped recording, Shane lowered his phone onto the counter. Then, without a second thought, he threw himself into Ilya’s arms. Ilya barely had time to catch him before Shane was kissing him, smiling against his lips as though he’d been waiting for that moment since the beginning of the video.
“I’ve been waiting twenty minutes for that,” Ilya mumbled between kisses.
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
Shane laughed, resting his forehead against his husband’s.
“So…” Ilya murmured.
“So?”
“When are we filming the sex tape?”