Page 131 of Heated Rivalry 1
“Oh.”
“I have been thinking...” Ilya said. He’d never said any of this out loud before. He maybe hadn’t even formed it altogether in his head before. “I am a free agent, after next season.”
He definitely had Shane’s full attention now. “You’d leave Boston?”
“I have just been thinking. Maybe...a Canadian team.”
“Holy shit, really?”
“Yes.”
“Like where?” Ilya could see the thoughts play out on Shane’s face like a movie:What if we played together in Montreal? No. Montreal couldn’t afford both of us.
“Not Montreal,” Ilya said gently.
“No. I know.”
But good god, now Ilya was imagining that. Playing together, living together,beingtogether.
It was never going to happen.
But it was a nice thought.
“I could marry Svetlana,” Ilya said, out of nowhere. It was the following night, and they were playing pool.
Shane frowned at the three ball that just missed the side pocket. He would have made that shot if Ilya hadn’tjust casually dropped his worst nightmare on him.
“Oh?” Shane asked calmly.
“She is American, so it would mean American citizenship, but she would do it.”
“Would she?”
“I think so. Yes. She is Sergei Vetrov’s daughter. Did you know?”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. She would help me.”
Shane watched Ilya sink the twelve ball. And then the fourteen ball. He felt like snapping his own cue over his knee.
“Do you—I mean—is she someone that you would...want to marry?”
Ilya straightened his posture and looked at him. “I like Svetlana, yes. But it would be for citizenship.”
“But,” Shane said. He had to say this next part. It had been eating away at him for too long. “You want to get married, right? To a woman, I mean. You’re not...like me. You like women. And I’m sure...Svetlanais gorgeous and fun and...all that stuff. Right?”
“Yes,” Ilya said. “I do. She is. But.”
“But?”
Ilya shrugged, and he looked like he was possiblyblushing. “I have this problem,” he mumbled.
Shane waited.
“I like women. I always was thinking that to get married would be nice. Kids. All of that. Someday. But...this problem will not go away.”
Shane bit his lip. “Tell me about this problem.”
