Shane had really gotten into audiobooks. The drive from Montreal to Ottawa was a little over two hours, sometimes more depending on the traffic. Shane knew he’d make this trips countless times, so he diced that an audiobook membership would be worth the time. He could listen to his hockey books, or whatever nonsense he enjoyed, int he car. It helped him pretend the drive wasn’t as excruciating as it is.
There’s no traffic tonight. Not at 1:30 am. There’s no audiobook playing, either. Just the constant hum of Shane’s Cherokee as it raced down the highway, going well over the speed limit. Usually, Shane is one to respect the limit, often times getting on Ilya for speeding. But tonight, Shan had somewhere he needed to be.
The automated voice from his car spoke louder than Shane had expected, reading out an incoming call from Rozanov.
“Hey, hey,” he stammered as he answered the phone.
“I’m on my way, I’m sorry it’s later than I thought.”
“There is traffic?” His voice was the same, as monotone as ever, but Shane couldn’t understand what he was getting at.
“What? No, it’s like the middle of the night.”
“No, Ilya.” Shane was frustrated… not really at Ilya. Well, yeah, kinda at Ilya. Frustrated because his boyfriend was all the way in Ottawa. Frustrated because he had a stupid monotone sarcasm Shane could hardly understand in person, let alone over the phone. And frustrated that this is how things had to be, driving in the middle of the night for just a night with his boyfriend. His boyfriend that no one else was allowed to know about.
“So no traffic? Why aren’t you here?”
“I’m on my way, Ilya,”
“I watch game. I know when the game end.”
“Ilya, I am on my way.” Shane rolled his eyes, even if he knew Ilya couldn’t see.
“I know I won, Ilya,” Shane said, reminding himself how much he loved Ilya. Because at the moment, he was struggling to remember. He absolutely loved Ilya, with every fiber of his being, but Jesus fuck could he be an annoying asshole.
“Then why are you so mad?”
“I’m mad because I have another fucking thirty minutes in this car and you fly out at nine in the morning tomorrow!”
“Only half of that is my fault. Game ended hours ago. You should be here.” And for a moment, Shane could hear it drop, there was something different in Ily’a voice. And maybe, as Shane sped down the freeway, left leg bouncing with stress, he considered the idea that maybe Ilya wasn’t much better off.
Maybe Ilya wasn’t lounging around the house, carless and sexy and unbothered. Maybe he, too, was sitting in stress. Staring at the clock, knowing every minute that passed was a minute he couldn’t spend with his boyfriend.
“I’m sorry.” Shane said, finally. “I got caught up with Hayden and,” Shane stopped when he heard Ilya’s scoff. “Are you serious, Ilya?”
“I hang up now.” Only Ilya could find a way to immediate erase whatever sympathy Shane was feeling.
“You are late to time with your boyfriend because you were with your boyfriend?”
“Ilya,” Shane couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. Ilya wasn’t really jealous of Hayden. He had a wife, for god’s sake. But they definitely didn’t get along and in retrospect, Hayden was probably the worst person to make Shane late. “I’ll be there in 23 minutes, okay?”
“Hm. Is Hayden coming, too?”
“You know what? I could ask him. I’ve always thought about a three-way.” Shane said. Maybe if Ilya heard it from Shane’s mouth he could finally hear how crazy he sounded.
Instead he scoffed. “I am hanging up now! I hate you.”
“Mkay, I’ll see you soon.”
“With Hayden.” Shane couldn’t help but add, which caused Ilya to promptly end the call.
Despite Ilya getting on his nerves, and Shane getting on Ilya’s, he managed to find himself far more calm than he had been before the call.
i'm back bitches !! part 2 otw