Page 141 of Heated Rivalry 1
Well, there was no going back fromthatword. Shane could only wait for the aftermath.
“But...you hate him,” Mom said.
“No, I... I don’t. I mean. Sometimes I do, kinda. But mostly I...love him. Actually.”
“You...what?”
Shane’s heart was racing. “Can we just...sit, maybe? I’m sorry. I know this is a lot at once. I didn’t want this to be how I told you. At all.”
No one said anything for a moment, then his father nodded and gestured to the living room furniture. His parents sat together on the couch. Shane and Ilya sat in separate chairs facing them.
“Shane...” Mom began. “I think we both...suspected...that you might be...gay.”
“You did?” Shane had not been expecting that.
“Yes, well. We didn’t know for certain, obviously. We just thought it might be a possibility.”
“Geez. I had no idea you thought that.”
“We know you pretty well,” Mom said. She gave him a small smile, and that one tiny gesture made Shane want to weep with relief.
“What we didnotsuspect,” Dad added, “was that you were...friendly...with Mr. Rozanov here.”
“Ilya,” said Ilya.
“Ilya, then.”
“It’s...a long story. And it doesn’t even make sense to us,” Shane said.
“None,” Ilya agreed.
“When did this happen?” Mom asked. “Wait, was it the All-Star Game? You were on the same team—”
“No,” Shane said. “It was...already going on then.”
His father blew out a breath. “You sure fooled us. And...everyone else.”
“So when?” Mom asked. She seemed desperate to figure out the timeline of this thing. Shane could see her mentally replaying the past several seasons in her head.
“Since, um, our rookie year,” Shane mumbled.
He didn’t think his parents could possibly lookmoreshocked than they already had, but they definitely lookedmoreshocked at this news.
“You can’t have been...since yourrookie season?” his mother gasped.
“No,” Ilya said. “That’s not right. Was before that.”
Not helping, Ilya.
“Beforethat?” Mom asked.
“A little before,” Ilya clarified. “Summer before.”
“You’ve been...inlovethis whole time?”
“No!” Shane said.
“God no,” Ilya said at the same time.
