“Is he invited on our date too? Are we breaking your no threesomes rule?”
Shane was already walking out the door, flipping Ilya off with a hand behind his back.
“What’s Shane’s problem?” Yuna asked.
Ilya glanced at the kitchen table, where Shane was staring miserably into the middle distance, the lower part of his face covered by his folded hands.
“Looks normal to me,” Ilya said dryly. He sprinkled some blueberries over the salad he’d made to go with the chicken Yuna had baked for dinner.
“Shane, what’s wrong?” Yuna asked.
Shane exhaled slowly, lowered his hands, and said, “Nothing. Just, y’know, replaying the entire day in my head. I can’t believe Ryan walked in on us again.”
Yuna turned away from the chicken breasts she’d been checking. “Seriously, guys?”
“We weren’t doing anything!” Shane clarified.
“Shane was about to,” Ilya said.
“I was not.”
“You were going to kiss me.”
“Youwere going to kissme.”
“Okay. Enough,” Yuna said. “It’s not such a big deal, right? Ryan’s gay, so he must be...” She rotated one hand in the air, searching for the right words. “Cool with it.”
“He looked horrified,” Shane said.
“Is fine,” Ilya said easily. “He has known for a year and has not told anyone. Where is the goat cheese?”
“I know, but it’s embarrassing. And unprofessional. And we’ve burdened the poor guy with a pretty huge secret,” Shane said. “Leave the cheese off my salad, okay?”
“Iknow.”
“I like Ryan,” Yuna said. “He’s a big sweetie.”
“Yes,” Ilya agreed. “We are going to ask about a double date with him and his boyfriend, maybe.”
Yuna placed her hands on Ilya’s shoulders and squeezed, once. “I love that idea.”
Ilya bit his lip to contain his smile. He really liked Shane’s family.
“You don’t think you could tell the rest of the staff about your relationship?” Yuna asked, returning to the chicken. It was a question Ilya had been asking himself a lot. He focused on getting the goat cheese out of the fridge and let Shane answer.
“Not yet,” Shane said. “Leah and Max would be safe, I think. But we don’t know them that well, so I don’t really see the point in telling them, y’know?”
“We could tell Wyatt, maybe,” Ilya said.
“You think?” Shane asked. Then he shook his head. “I don’t want your goalie to know. Too weird.”
“Hayden knows,” Yuna pointed out. “Why can’t Ilya’s teammate know?”
“Hayden is my best friend, and the only one of my teammates who knows. I’m sure as hell not telling J.J.”
“Can I tell him?” Ilya asked.
“Don’t even joke about that.” Shane sighed. “I love J.J., and he’s been really supportive of me being gay, but he’s not ready to hear about us. Trust me.”
