There was a commotion going on at the other side of the room, and everyone's attention shifted to the stunning view of Carter Vaughn reenacting a fight scene from his girlfriend's latest movie. As Shane turned in his seat and looked over Ilya's shoulder in Carter's direction, he steadied himself at the backrest of Ilya's chair. Ilya turned likewise, leaning back in his chair. Shane could feel the warmth of Ilya's body radiating towards his fingers, the memory of tracing his skin with them sending a shiver through him from head to toe. He tried to breathe steadily, guard his face, but suddenly the jacket felt itchy, and everything was too hot.
His thumb developed a life of its own and snapped forward—the tip just scratching the fabric of that ridiculous flower-covered Hawaiian shirt. Cool and silky, but full of life underneath. A promise. Carter still drew everyone's attention in the room, and Shane felt brave.
Silently, slowly, he brushed Ilya's back with the tip of his thumb. One, two slow strokes.
He could feel how Ilya stilled, how his muscles suddenly tensed, how his breath hitched. Careful and hyper aware of everything going on around them, he rested this fingertip on the spot he touched last. And after a blink of time that felt like forever, Ilya leaned back a little, his muscles relaxing, and his back reverting more in Shane's direction.
Sparks exploded from Shane's thumb and found their way directly to his heart. He could finally breathe again, and a giddy laugh escaped him involuntarily before he could help it. Lucky had it that in this exact moment, Carter almost fell to the ground because he miscalculated his own spin forces. As everyone was laughing out loud, Shane forced himself to finally take his hand from Ilya's backrest. But not before one final, long and more pressured stroke, stretching the touch as much as possible. Shane turned back in his own chair, avoiding looking Ilya in the eyes as he felt him turning likewise again, afraid that he otherwise would do something really, really dumb.
He took one deep breath, let the feeling of hope wash over him, and then faced Ilya again.
