The Long Game: A Gay Sports Romance (Game Changers Book 6)

July

“What do you think?” Shane asked.

Ilya couldn’t think. He didn’t have a thought in his head because he was full to bursting with happiness. It was a week before their wedding, and Shane was standing in front of him in an Ottawa Centaurs jersey and ball cap. He knew that Shane had gone to the team offices to sign the contract today, but seeing him now, wearing the uniform, in Ilya’s house, was overwhelming.

“You make that stupid logo look so good,” Ilya said.

“It is stupid, right? It’s not just me?”

“No. We all think so. Come here.” Ilya wrapped him in a tight hug. “I cannot believe this. Is too much. I am too happy.”

Shane laughed against him. “Me too.” He pushed away. “God, I can’t wait to play with you! I know we’re both centers, but I’ll bet we’ll be on the power play together. This is going to be so awesome!”

“And,” Ilya added, “no more hiding.”

“No more hiding. Everyone I met in management was so great. Oh! Harris was there too. It was nice to finally meet him. I guess he’s getting promoted to Senior Director of…something. Communications?”

“Good. He deserves it.”

“The owners actually booked us a table at some fancy restaurant downtown tonight.”

“With them?”

“No. Just the two of us. They said it was a welcome-to-the-team thing, but also…” Shane’s cheeks flushed. “They said it was an early wedding present. Can you believe it?”

“Yes.” Ilya had known the owners—three siblings from an old money Ottawa family—for years, and they’d always been decent to him.

“I was stunned. I barely remembered to thank them.”

“Maybe I should have gone with you after all.” They’d decided that Shane would go alone to sign the contract, just so the press about it wasn’t all about them.

It probably would be anyway.

“So, dinner tonight?”

Ilya smiled. “A date. Yes. Can you wear that jersey?”

Shane laughed. “No.”

“Can I take you to bed now, then? And you wear only that jersey?”

Shane leaned in and kissed him. “Is this a hazing thing?”

“Yes. I do it to everyone.”

“Shut up.”

“Troy was incredible.”

Shane shoved him with both hands. “You’re the worst. Come ravage me.”

Ilya grinned and chased him up the stairs.

Ilya ran a hand over his cheek as he examined himself in the mirror. It felt weird, being so clean-shaven, but he’d thought it would look sloppy to leave stubble on his face. He wanted to look perfect.

It was his wedding day, after all.

“Sheesh,” said a voice behind him. Ilya turned and saw David standing in the door of Ilya’s bedroom. “I was going to offer to help you with your tie or something, but you clearly don’t need my assistance.”

Ilya smiled at him, then pulled his own cuff links out. He held out the round gold and mother of pearl studs to Shane’s father. “You can help me put these in.”

David chuckled as he stepped forward and took the cuff links. “I appreciate you trying to make me feel useful.”

“Shane doesn’t need help?”

“Yuna’s got him,” David said, which they both understood meant Shane had all the help he needed.

Ilya held out his left wrist and David held it carefully in one hand. A surge of jumbled emotions rose in Ilya as he watched him carefully thread the cuff link through the crisp white material of Ilya’s dress shirt. There was no way Ilya’s father would have been there, even if he had still been alive—and Ilya wouldn’t have wanted him to be—but having David here, helping him get ready, was nice. More than nice.

“We could only have one child,” David said quietly. “We thought about adopting, but we decided in the end to just focus on making Shane the best person we could. I think we did an okay job of it.”

Ilya smiled at the understatement.

“We couldn’t be prouder of the man he’s become,” David continued. “I don’t have any Stanley Cup rings, but I have Shane.”

Ilya swallowed. “I’ll take care of him.”

David smiled up at him. “I know.” He finished the first cuff, then took Ilya’s right hand and got to work on that cuff link. “What I’m trying to say, and Yuna’s always been the better speaker, is I’ve always felt so lucky to have a son as wonderful as Shane that I never expected to be blessed with a second one.”

David’s hands, and Ilya’s shirt cuff, turned blurry. Ilya blinked rapidly, refusing to cry before the wedding even started. David glanced up from his work, and Ilya could see the tears in his eyes too.

“It’s not fair that you don’t have your family here on your wedding day,” David said, “and I’m not trying to overstep, but—”

That was all Ilya let him get out before he engulfed David in a tight hug. “My family is here,” he said simply, and with surprising steadiness.

It seemed impossible that anything in Ilya’s life was real; that he was about to marry Shane Hollander. In front of people. That they would be teammates next season. That Ilya was about to officially become a part of Shane’s family, and that he and Shane might start their own someday. It was too staggering to think about, so instead he hugged Shane’s father and tried not to cry.

After a long moment, they released each other, and David took a step back. He sniffed once, then said, “Well. You look good.”

Ilya wiped hastily at his eyes. “Usually, yes.”

David shuffled a bit awkwardly, probably unused to wearing his emotions so plainly, and glanced out the window. “Anya’s keeping the Pike kids busy in the yard.”

“Good. And thank you. For helping me with my shirt. And for…” Ilya couldn’t possibly put into words how grateful he was for Yuna and David’s support, and the easy love they had for their son, and seemingly also for him. For raising Shane to be the man that he was, and for believing Ilya was good enough for him. He finished by saying, “Everything.”

David nodded. “Thank you for making Shane so happy. You’re good for each other.”

Ilya smiled. “Yes. It is time for the world to see how good.”

“Holy shit,” Shane said.

He’d pulled back the curtain in the guest room he’d gotten dressed in, and could not believe how many people were in Ilya’s backyard.

Our backyard, he reminded himself. They lived together now.

“Are you surprised?” Yuna asked as she fussed with his boutonniere. “You’re both very popular.”

“I haven’t felt very popular lately.”

“Well, you are. Deal with it.” She stood back and gasped. “You’re so handsome!”

“Yeah? I look okay?” Shane turned to examine himself in the mirror. He was wearing a light gray suit, not a tux, with a pale blue tie, and he was sweating already. He’d gotten his hair trimmed, but it was still fairly long, and he was wearing it down.

“You look like Kit Harington,” Mom assured him. “If Kit couldn’t grow a beard.”

Shane huffed. “Thanks, Mom. Is Dad helping Ilya get ready?”

“Yes, but you know that’s just an excuse for the two of them to hang out.”

Shane smiled at that. He wished Ilya could have had family here today, but he was glad he’d grown so close to Shane’s own father.

“Well,” Mom said, beaming at him, “we should probably get down there. Do you have the ring?”

Shane patted his pocket. “Yep.”

“And your ringer is turned off?”

“I’m leaving the phone in the house. But yes.”

Mom peeked out the window again. “Oh! Ilya’s out there.” Shane tried to go to the window, but Yuna stopped him. “You’ll see him at the ceremony! It’s bad luck to see him before then.”

“Mom. I saw him this morning. We woke up together, had breakfast.” He left out the third thing they’d done.

“Just indulge me. My only child is getting married! I’m allowed to be nuts.”

Shane smiled and hugged her a bit awkwardly because they were both trying to avoid crushing the flowers that were pinned to their chests. “You are seriously the best mom in the world.”

“Well,” she said, with a slight tremble in her voice. “You made it easy.”

They walked downstairs together, then through the living room that was, as of a few weeks ago, full of framed photos of Ilya and Shane together. Shane still felt the urge to hide them in drawers, but he loved seeing them. Loved knowing there was nothing to hide anymore.

When he stepped through the back door, he was stunned all over again by the crowd. There had to be close to a hundred people crammed on the lawn between the house and the river.

He spotted Hayden and Jackie and their kids. Farah and her husband were chatting with Leah and Max. Wyatt Hayes and his wife were laughing with Ryan and Fabian. Troy and Harris were talking to Ilya’s coach—Shane’s coach now—and a woman who was probably Coach Wiebe’s wife. Rose waved to Shane from across the lawn where she was talking to Ilya’s friend Svetlana, who Shane had met for the first time yesterday when the three of them had lunch together. There was a small cluster of Centaurs players who were surreptitiously staring at Rose. There were, in fact, a lot of Centaurs players.

The only Montreal player there, besides Hayden, was J.J., and Shane felt a little choked up just seeing him. Their friendship was back on solid ground, but it still meant a lot to Shane for J.J. to be here.

Then, Shane found Ilya in the crowd, talking to Zane Boodram. He looked incredible, of course, in his burgundy suit. Anya was at his feet, freshly groomed and wearing a burgundy bow on her head.

Shane wasn’t sure if he was allowed to approach Ilya. This whole thing was very loose; there weren’t even chairs.

Ilya turned, and their gazes met. Ilya gave him one of his easy, sexy smiles, and Shane felt like his body was turning to stone.

We’re getting married.

There was a gentle tap on his elbow, and he turned to see the justice of the peace they’d hired to perform the ceremony. “Ready?” she asked with a warm smile.

Shane glanced at Ilya again and mouthed, Now?

Ilya nodded.

Shane exhaled. “Yeah. Ready.”

“Do you have the ring?” Shane whispered as they stood across from each other, in front of everyone.

Ilya barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “Why? Is it important?”

Shane glowered at him, and the justice of the peace—Nancy—got things started.

She said a bunch of words that were probably very nice, but Ilya was only focused on Shane. He looked so handsome and so happy. It was hard to believe this was the same person Ilya had tried to ignore in a Saskatchewan arena parking lot thirteen years ago.

Except the freckles were the same. The dark, intelligent eyes and long black lashes. The adorable little nose, and the soft, enticing lips. Those were all the same.

The way Ilya’s heart went fucking bananas when he looked at him was the same.

“Ilya?” Nancy said gently.

“Hm? Sorry.” He heard laughter all around him, and he smiled sheepishly.

“You can take out the ring now.”

Right. Yes. Wedding.

He removed the ring from his coat pocket and waited for instruction. They didn’t write their own vows because, well, neither of them was particularly eloquent.

“Please repeat after me,” Nancy said. “I call upon these persons here present…”

Ilya repeated the words, somewhat clumsily. Was his accent worse than usual? He sounded ridiculous.

“To witness that I, Ilya Rozanov…”

Oh, good. She remembered not to use their middle names. Ilya didn’t want any part of his father here today. He repeated the words.

“Do take you, Shane Hollander, to be my lawful wedded husband.”

Okay, maybe they should have written their own vows. These were bleak. Completely stiff and devoid of emotion. Who would ever feel anything from these bland vows?

Ilya’s voice cracked before he even got to Shane’s name. Which made Shane’s whole face scrunch up in an effort, Ilya guessed, to keep himself from crying.

“I’m sorry,” Ilya whispered.

Shane just shook his head, lips tight. With some effort, he got through his turn to repeat the vows. Then Nancy gave them some more words to say as they exchanged rings.

“With this ring, I shall love, honor, and cherish you. And this ring is the symbol of my love,” Shane said.

“Gross,” Ilya muttered, which made Shane snort and start laughing. Which made everybody else laugh.

Shane slipped the newly resized ring onto Ilya’s finger, and Ilya smiled goofily at him.

Nancy said some dull stuff that ended with “do hereby pronounce you, Shane and Ilya, to be married. You may celebrate your marriage with a kiss.”

Oh hell yes. Ilya grabbed Shane, dipped him, and planted one on him. Everyone cheered.

Shane looked dazed after the kiss, but Ilya held their joined hands in the air and said, “We are married!”

Ilya had no idea where they were supposed to go now. There wasn’t an aisle or anything, and this was their house.

“Um,” Nancy said quietly, “you still have to sign some paperwork.”

“Oh, right,” Shane said. “Inside, then?”

“Yes,” Ilya agreed. At least now they had a destination. To the crowd he said, “We have to sign some things, but we will be back to party!”

More cheering. Evan Dykstra called out, “You need a DJ?”

Ilya pointed to him. “No.”

They walked quickly toward the house, hands held tight, as their friends cheered all around them.

“This was not the real wedding,” Ilya assured Ruby as they both enjoyed some cake. “The real one was the one you did. This was just for show.”

Ruby smiled at him, then nudged her sister Jade. “I told you.”

Evening was closing in, and someone had turned on the strings of lights that Yuna had insisted on draping in rows across the backyard. It looked very nice. Magical.

Ilya’s neighbor’s kids, Willa and Andrew, approached and pulled Ruby and Jade away to play some game that seemed to involve a lot of running.

“So,” said a voice behind Ilya. He glanced up from where he was sitting on the grass and saw Hayden. “You stole my best friend.”

“Yes. But you outed us in a FanMail video, so maybe we are even.”

“Look, I’m really fucking sorry about that. I—”

Ilya laughed, and stood up. “I am kidding.”

“Oh. Well, I’m happy for you guys,” Hayden said glumly. “And I get why Shane left Montreal. But I’m going to miss having him around.”

“You should sign with Ottawa. Your contract is probably cheap, yes?”

Hayden shook his head. “You’re a hard guy to like, Rozanov.”

“That is not what Shane thinks.”

“What doesn’t Shane think?” asked Shane, sneaking up behind Ilya.

“Nothing,” Ilya said, smiling like the love-struck fool he was at his brand-new husband.

“So…” Shane said nervously. “Mom has it in her head that we need to, like, dance. In front of everyone.”

“Oh?”

“Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about it, but I guess that’s a wedding thing, right?”

Hayden looked gobsmacked. “Yeah, it’s a fucking wedding thing, you moron. Did you guys not even pick a song?”

“Shane does not know any songs,” Ilya said.

Shane was apparently too nervous to acknowledge Ilya’s quip. “So, like, do we just get whoever is in charge of the music to play a song and we, like, slow dance in the middle of the lawn? I don’t really know how to dance.”

“Come on,” Ilya said, and extended his hand.

It turned out that Harris had taken over the music duties and had his phone connected to Ilya’s wireless speakers, which someone had brought outside.

“Harris,” Ilya called from the middle of the yard. “Play something romantic.”

“You’re letting me choose?” Harris sounded terrified.

“Just put on whatever. Is fine.” Ilya glanced at Shane’s anxious face. “Something short.”

Ilya held out his hand to Shane.

“Oh, are you leading?” Shane asked.

“Yes. Because you can’t dance.”

Shane huffed and took his hand, then placed his other hand on Ilya’s back as the opening vocals of Rihanna’s “Diamonds” started playing.

“This sounds like a weird choice,” Shane said.

“No,” Ilya said softly. “Is perfect.”

They danced—well, rotated—under the lights and surrounded by everyone they loved as Rihanna sang lyrics that, secretly, had always made Ilya think of Shane.

“Oh,” Shane said, halfway through the song. “I’ve heard this before.”

Ilya laughed. “I love you so much it sucks.”

Shane beamed at him. “That’s too bad, because this is as good as it’s going to get.”

“No,” Ilya said fondly. “I don’t think it is.”