Bonus Story
Ilya opened the door of Shane’s house to greet Hayden and his wife (Jessica?). He could have waited for Shane to finish washing his hands in the kitchen so he could join him at the door, but this was more fun.
“Oh god,” Hayden said, as soon as he was faced with Ilya, “I don’t think I can do this.”
Ilya smiled, and stepped aside. “Please come in.”
Hayden moved past him, his wife following closely behind. She, at least, offered Ilya a friendly, and possibly apologetic, smile as she handed him the bottle of wine they had brought.
“Shane!” Hayden called out. “Don’t want to alarm you, but Ilya Rozanov is in your house.”
Shane emerged from the kitchen, drying his hands with a dish towel.
He was wearing dark pants and a blue button-up shirt that was open at the collar.
Ilya was struck, not for the first time that night, by how good he looked, and by how right this all felt.
Shane and Ilya, at home, having dinner with friends.
Even if the friends sucked a little.
“You promised you weren’t going to be an asshole, Hayd,” Shane complained.
“That’s true,” Hayden’s wife confirmed. “You did promise that.” She offered Ilya her hand. “I’m Jackie, by the way.”
“Jackie,” Ilya repeated. “Is nice to meet you. Your husband I am not sure about yet.”
“He’ll behave.” Jackie was a beautiful woman with long, dark hair, sparkling green eyes, and an athletic body. She was much too good for Hayden.
Shane directed them all to the spacious living room.
Ilya went to the kitchen to deposit the gifted wine and to get the (better) wine he had already opened.
He definitely needed wine. When he entered the living room, things were already looking dire; Jackie was making small talk with Shane about his electric fireplace while Hayden was looking at the floor with his hands clasped between his knees.
Ilya set four wineglasses on the coffee table, then immediately plucked one and filled it generously.
He handed it wordlessly to Hayden, because he looked like he could use it.
Hayden accepted it with a wary nod and, because he had no class at all, took a giant gulp.
After he’d swallowed, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, made a move to place the glass on the table, then seemed to think better of it and brought it back to his lips for another mouthful.
“I was just telling Shane how beautiful this house is,” Jackie said.
Ilya handed her the next glass of wine, which she thanked him for before taking a small, sensible sip. “Yes,” Ilya agreed. “We should give you a tour. The master bathroom has a very good shower.” He looked directly at Hayden and winked. “Big enough for two.”
Hayden’s jaw clenched as he reached for the wineglass he’d only just set down.
“How are the kids?” Shane asked quickly. “How’s Amber?”
“Great!” Jackie said brightly. “She’s into everything, of course, now that she’s walking.”
Ilya considered his options for where to sit.
Shane and Jackie were occupying the two armchairs closest to the fireplace.
Hayden was sitting at one end of the sofa that faced them.
Ilya could sit at the other end of the sofa, but he chose the more obnoxious option of perching on the arm of Shane’s chair.
Instead of handing Shane his wine, Ilya draped his arm around Shane’s shoulders and hovered the glass in front of his lips.
Shane tilted his head back to give him a look that was more annoyed than charmed, then took the wineglass.
“I would love to meet your kids,” Ilya said. “Shane has told me lots of stories about them.” It wasn’t really true. Not the stories part, anyway. Ilya did legitimately like kids, though, and the Pikes had more than enough of them. He smiled warmly at Jackie, who beamed back at him.
“That’s sweet,” she said. “Maybe next time you’re in town we can have you guys over in the afternoon. The kids love their uncle Shane.”
Ilya nudged his boyfriend. “Uncle Shane.”
“I haven’t been a good uncle lately,” Shane said. “I’ve been so busy.”
“My fault,” Ilya confessed.
“Jesus,” Hayden muttered.
Jackie shot her husband a pointed look, and Shane stood. “Maybe we should eat.”
Hayden stood just as quickly. “Yup. Definitely. Let’s eat.”
As Ilya made his way to the dining room, Shane tugged on his arm to hold him back. “Stop doing that,” he hissed.
“Doing what?” Ilya asked innocently.
“You’re intentionally bothering Hayden.”
“Am not. I have not even asked his wife what she sees in him! I am being very good.”
Shane’s face got stern and adorable. “Behave,” he warned.
In response, Ilya kissed his forehead. “Always, moy lyubovnik.”
He took a moment to enjoy the flush that always appeared in Shane’s cheeks when Ilya used Russian terms of endearment. He would definitely need to keep Shane’s wineglass full tonight. He wanted him to loosen up and enjoy himself, and then get all snuggly in bed later.
Shane invited Hayden and Jackie to sit at the dining room table before rushing off into the kitchen. Ilya topped off their guests’ wineglasses before saying, “Sorry to leave you alone, but I should help him.”
“Of course,” Jackie said. Hayden nodded through a mouthful of wine.
Ilya went to the kitchen, but paused a moment to lean against the entryway and watch as Shane dipped a spoon into the large pot on the stove and brought it to his lips to sample.
He blew gently a couple of times before sinking the spoon into his mouth.
His brow furrowed in concentration as he worked to determine if it was good enough to serve his best friends. It was cute, and Ilya loved him.
“How is it?” Ilya asked, moving away from the entrance to stand unnecessarily close to Shane in the spacious kitchen.
“I think it’s good,” Shane said, though he didn’t sound sure. “Do you think it’s too salty?”
Ilya kissed him, tasting only the barest remnants of the coq au vin on his tongue. “Tastes perfect,” he said when he pulled away.
“Don’t be stupid,” Shane said unsteadily. He cleared his throat and said, “Taste it properly.”
Ilya rolled his eyes and grabbed a fresh spoon.
He dipped it into the pot, then made a show of dragging the sample into his mouth with his tongue.
He slipped the spoon between his lips and hollowed his cheeks, moaning wantonly as he sucked and savored the rich flavor of the broth.
The stew was fine. The plain arousal on Shane’s face was delicious.
“Is good,” Ilya said after he pulled the spoon from his mouth with a wet pop. “Where is the parsley I chopped?”
Cooking was something that he and Shane had gotten into together.
It was enjoyable, finding recipes and learning new kitchen techniques.
Working together on something, rather than competing (not that it was never competitive).
Plus, there was delicious food to eat when they were done.
And Ilya was pretty sure that the feeling of accomplishment made Shane horny. Win-win-win.
They ladled the stew into white bowls, Ilya wiping any stray drops from the rims with a towel. He artfully sprinkled the parsley on top of each one, then stole a quick kiss before carrying the food out to their waiting guests.
“Wow!” Jackie enthused when Ilya placed one of the bowls in front of her. “You guys made this?”
“We did,” Ilya said. Looking at the food now, he felt a little bit proud. Shane brought the remaining two bowls out, then darted back to the kitchen to grab a basket full of bread he had purchased at a bakery that morning.
“What is this?” Hayden poked at the stew with his spoon like he suspected Ilya may have dropped some razor blades in it.
“Coq au vin,” Shane said proudly (and perfectly) as he returned with the bread.
“That’s French,” Ilya added helpfully. Hayden glared at him.
They all ate without speaking for a few spoonfuls. Ilya wondered who would crack first. Not surprisingly, it was Shane.
“Did you hear about that McFarland suspension?”
Hayden’s eyes shot up, and Ilya could see the relief in them. “Yeah! Holy shit, right?”
They gossiped with each other about the latest off-ice conduct suspension, and Ilya took the opportunity to offer Jackie a sympathetic smile. She smiled back, and rolled her eyes. When Shane brought up the proposed new rules regarding defensive line changes, Ilya decided to step up and be the hero.
“Let’s not talk about hockey tonight,” he suggested mildly.
“Thank you,” Jackie said.
Unfortunately, no one seemed to have an alternate topic to discuss, so the four of them fell back into awkward silence.
“Well, we need to talk about something,” Shane complained after a minute had passed.
“We could talk about how Hayden is eating around the mushrooms like a five-year-old,” Ilya offered.
Hayden put his spoon down with a loud clank. “We could talk about what the fuck Shane sees in you.”
“Hayden,” Jackie scolded.
“Ah.” Ilya nodded sagely. “You are jealous.”
“What? No!” Hayden sputtered. “I’m not jealous of you. I’m not—Shane, I love you. You know that. But I’m not—” He turned to Ilya, who was now thoroughly enjoying himself. “Jesus, my wife is right here, you fucking asshole. And you know that’s not what I meant.”
Ilya just shrugged. He hadn’t actually meant it, but now he was starting to wonder.
“The food is delicious,” Jackie said, probably wanting to steer the conversation away from whether or not her husband had a giant crush on Shane. “I didn’t even know you cooked, Shane.”
“He’s full of surprises,” Hayden grumbled.
Ilya could see the tension in Shane’s jaw and in his eyes.
“I got into cooking this past year,” Shane said. He took a sip of water, and Ilya noticed a slight tremor in his fingers as he set the glass back down. “It’s something we’ve been doing together, when we get the chance.”
“That’s sweet,” she said, and sounded like she meant it. “We should cook together some time, Hayden.”
“I suck at cooking.”
“You suck at hockey,” Ilya pointed out. “But you still play it.”