Which is why Shane is now sitting in the Hunter-Gradys’ living room in a t-shirt two sizes too small, with one too many shots of tequila in his system. There is definitely one thing that reminds him of these types of parties during his own teenage years: the awkwardness he feels. 

Luckily, Ilya is there to make up for some of it. In his backwards hat and black tank top, he definitely looks like he could be Shane's teenage crush. 

They sit next to each other in this circle on the floor, which hilariously reminds Shane of story time at kindergarten. On Shane's other side, there's Luca and his boyfriend Yannick, the youngest members of their weird little gay Hockey club. Next to them are Ryan Price and Fabian, Ryan dressed in all black while Fabian is in a hello kitty crop top tight enough that Shane can see his nipple ring (even though he's trying very hard not to look) and matching pink eyeshadow. They're holding hands on Ryan's thigh. Next to Fabian, the birthday boy Scott Hunter himself is sitting awkwardly with his long legs crossed, a throw pillow under his butt which earned him a vicious chirp from Ilya earlier. Then comes Kip, the one responsible for this whole ordeal. And, lastly, Harris and Troy, who are on Ilya's other side, complete their circle. Troy, who went full emo for the authentic teen look (including eyeliner), looks skeptical while Harris, who has thankfully shed his horrible purple checkered flannel, looks delighted. The only couple missing are Eric Bennett and Kyle; they're somewhere in Greece at the moment, unbothered. Shane is mildly jealous. 

“Okay!” Kip places an empty wine bottle in the middle of their circle; Shane recognizes the brand. One bottle is 130$. “Are we doing it truth or dare style?”

Shane thinks he knows what this means, but he's too afraid to ask if he's got the correct idea. 

“Obviously,” Fabian drawls. 

“What's the price for refusing a dare or refusing to answer?” Yannick asks. The Austrian accent he used to have is almost inaudible now that he's lived in New York for a while. 

“Take off a piece of clothing and take a shot,” Kip says and gives the bottle an experimental spin. 

“We will all be naked by the end of this,” Ilya smirks by Shane's side, and Shane gives him a wide-eyed look. Ilya winks at him and hooks a finger into Shane's belt loop reassuringly. 

“I'm scared,” Scott comments with a wry smile. Kip leans over to him and briefly kisses him on the mouth. “It'll be fun, don't worry.” Then, he moves to spin the bottle in earnest. 

They all watch it spin in circles, the glass clinking on the hardwood floor. They all watch in revered silence while Britney Spears plays in the background. The bottle slows down, then stops, landing on Troy who lets out a loud groan. 

Kip gives him a reassuring smile. “Truth or Dare?” 

“Truth,” Troy mumbles, shifting. There is, however, a small smile on his face. 

Kip makes a show of tapping his index finger on his lower lip as he thinks. “Okay. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure tv show?” 

Harris lets out an amused “Ha!” while Troy hums. 

“Well, it was the one my ex-boyfriend is on,” he says acerbically, “Now it’s probably Ice Road Truckers or something.”

Shane nods to support Troy, but he has no idea what he’s talking about.

Harris is smirking, and nudges Troy’s thigh. “Don’t lie. It’s not Ice Road Truckers.”

“Is!” But Troy is blushing.

“”Uh-oh,” Fabian purrs from the other side of the circle, leaning in with interest. 

“Come on, bud, it’s cute.” Harris gives Troy a reassuring, supportive thigh-squeeze. Shane still thinks it’s weird to call your husband ‘buddy’. Like he’s just your friend. Or worse, a little child. 

“It’s, um.” Troy pulls a face, looking down at his hands, “It’s Bluey.”

“Bluey!” Ilya exclaims immediately through the chorus of “Awww”s. “Bluey is the best, is so cute! We watch it with Pike’s kids.” He gestures between Shane and himself. Shane does actually remember that show; it’s the Australian one about the Cattle Dog children. 

“Yes, it’s really cute,” Shane agrees. Troy seems to visibly relax, a little grin on his face. 

“Best episode is where they go camping,” Ilya says fondly. Then, he furrows his eyebrows (he’s definitely had one too many as well), and looks past Shane at Luca. “Haasy, will you draw me a Bluey tattoo?” 

“I don’t know if that’ll get you in copyright trouble,” Luca replies mildly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay Troy, now you spin,” Kip tells Troy, who reaches out and spins the bottle as instructed. It lands on Scott. 

“Truth or Dare?” Troy asks flatly.

Scott rubs his hands together in anticipation. He’s in a varsity jacket, and Shane has to admit it looks really, really good on him, giving him a real jock air. “Let’s do this. Dare.”

Troy thinks for a moment; Ilya uses the opportunity to shout out “Take out your dentures!”. Scott groans over the others’ snickering and rolls his eyes. 

“My fake teeth are all built-in now,” he tells Ilya, baring his teeth into the circle. 

“How many have you had replaced?” Yannick asks with genuine interest. 

“Not that many, luckily,” Scott tells him, “Just two. Some guys have to have a whole fake set. Pricey is probably the only enforcer I know who didn’t.” 

Ryan just hums in reply. Shane knows Ryan doesn’t like talking about the things he used to get up to on the ice, especially in front of his boyfriend. Shane doesn’t get it, because even though he’d never admit it, he loves seeing Ilya punch someone in the face. It’s hot, the way his- 

Okay, he’s definitely had too much tequila.

Shane sees Fabian look up at Ryan with a tenderness in his eyes, and lean against his massive biceps as if to comfort him. Ryan dips his head to kiss his hair. 

“Okay,” Troy says, “Read the last text you sent aloud.” 

“Ugh, this will be booooring,” Ilya complains; Shane slaps his knee. “Stop heckling!”

Ilya gives him a smirk and a wink, and Shane feels himself blush.

With a groan, Scott shifts to pull his phone from his back pocket, unlocking it. 

“Wait, show us your lockscreen!” Harris demands. Scott turns his phone around; it’s a photo of Kip and him on their wedding day, gazing at each other lovingly. 

“Aww, that’s beautiful,” Fabian smiles. 

Scott’s grin broadens, and he goes back to looking for the last text he sent. “...it’s probably going to be something super boring for real, work stuff-”

Kip, who has been suspiciously quiet for the past minute, snorts next to Scott as he looks at the screen over his shoulder. 

Scott blanches, and Kip starts cackling. 

“What is it?” Harris demands.

“Nope!” Scott shakes his head violently while Kip laughs, covering his face. “I can’t read that-”

“Aww, come on!” Luca grins.

“Boooooring!” Ilya cups his hands around his mouth to yell it. 

“No, absolutely not!” Scott shakes his head violently, he’s actually blushing. Shane really, really wants to know what the text says. 

“You have to take off an item of clothing if you don’t read it!” he tells Scott, and Scott immediately sheds the jacket- which is a shame, really. 

Well, the sight of his muscular arms makes up for it. 

There’s whistling and hollering, and Scott makes a show of flexing for the audience. 

“Okay, round of shots!” Kip jumps up and returns a moment later with shot glasses and the damned bottle of tequila. Shane pulls a face when it burns down his throat, settling hot in his stomach. 

Scott spins, and it lands on Luca, who blushes even before anything is said. “Um, dare?” 

It’s very obvious that Scott doesn’t want to give Luca a mean dare, so he says, “Do a dance.” 

Luca giggles, covering his face, and Yannick laughs, nudging him. “Come on, do the TikTok one-”

Luca stands up, and everybody cheers. Harris, whose phone is connected to the sound system, plays the song Luca requests. Shane doesn’t recognize it, but cheers and claps with everyone else while Luca does a little harmless dance. 

“Bravo!” Yannick whistles, and when Luca sinks down onto the floor next to him once he’s done, pulls him into a kiss. 

Luca’s face is beet-red, but he’s laughing. “That should have been a dare for you,” he tells Yannick, who just shrugs. 

They go a few more rounds: Harris has to show the last photo in his camera roll, which is, predictably, one of Chiron; Ryan recounts the first time he met Fabian, which causes more ‘Aww’s; Ilya does fifty push-ups with ease and then five more one-handed and Shane has to shift to cover his semi-boner. 

“Okay, you all are boring,” Ilya reaches out and spins the bottle, “This needs to be more, what is word? …naughty.”

“Yes, agreed!” Fabian smiles, his beautiful dark eyes on Ilya. Shane feels a surge of something, and doesn’t know if it’s jealousy or something else. 

Coincidentally, the bottle lands on Fabian next, and Fabian stretches like a cat, giving Ilya a provocative smirk. “Dare.”

Ilya hums. “Because I am so nice, I say, give Pricey a kiss.” 

Oh, that’s surprisingly mild; Shane isn’t sure what he expected Ilya to say. 

“Oh, gladly!” Fabian claps his hands together once, and then he’s in Ryan’s lap immediately, straddling him, cupping his cheeks. Almost reflexively, Ryan’s hands wrap around Fabian’s waist, and wow, they’re so large on it, almost circling it entirely. 

The kiss Fabian gives Ryan is downright pornographic, and Shane can’t look away. The others whoop and Ilya whistles, and it occurs to Shane that he has never, never seen another gay couple kiss like this in public. Or, well, outside of, ahem, a screen. 

Ryan’s hands wander, cupping Fabian’s ass and squeezing, and the whooping grows louder. Fabian pulls back, breaking the kiss with a laugh and winking at them over his shoulder. “Does that count, Rozanov?”

“Yes, counts,” Ilya tells him with a smirk. 

Fabian wiggles to turn around in Ryan’s lap so he can face the circle, and then stays there, sitting in the basket of Ryan’s massive thighs. Behind him, Ryan grins, clearly satisfied. Shane remembers the concert, remembers seeing Ryan smirk at the idea of everybody in that room having the hots for Fabian, and something about Ryan clicks in his head. 

Still waters, et cetera. 

Fabian has settled in, and it looks comfortable. Shane can’t help the little pang of envy; he’s sure Ilya would let him sit in his lap like this, but Shane weighs about 180 pounds, so Ilya’s legs would fall asleep instantly and it wouldn’t be comfortable for either of them. 

“Shane!” 

“Huh?” Shane startles out of his thought process to discover the bottle pointing at him. 

“Truth or Dare?” Fabian asks, his beautiful eyes leveled on Shane in a way that makes Shane blush. 

“Uh,” Shane says stupidly, “Truth?” 

Fabian bites his bottom lip, and it does something complicated to Shane’s stomach. Why do all of their friends have to be so hot? “Do you bottom or top more often?” 

Shane blinks, tequila making his thoughts slow and his mouth too quick. “I don’t… more often?”

Next to him, Ilya is clearly trying to hold back laughter. 

“Yes, I mean… is it 50/50, or…?” Fabian, too, is trying not to laugh. “Gosh, your face. You’re too cute.” Shane feels his cheeks burn hotter with every passing second. 

“I-” Shane looks around the circle. “50/50?!” 

“Do you not switch it up?” Kip asks, amused. 

“No?” Shane’s voice breaks embarrassingly. “Do you?!”

There’s nodding all around the circle, and Shane can’t believe it. His mouth falls open. Of course he’s heard of people being vers; he doesn’t live on the moon. But if he’s honest, it always sounded kind of fake to him. Shane himself certainly never felt the urge. 

“I mean, not 50/50-,” Yannick see-saws his hand in the air, “But maybe 70/30.”

“We’re probably 60/40, hm?” Kip asks Scott, who pulls a thoughtful face and nods.

Shane stares at Harris and Troy, surely-

“No, buddy.” Clearly, Harris sees the outrage in Shane’s face. 

With his mouth hanging fully open now, Shane turns to his last hope: Fabian and Ryan. Surely, they must-

“No, honey,” Fabian tells him apologetically. Behind him, Ryan gives Shane a sheepish little smile. 

By Shane’s side, Ilya’s shoulders are shaking with laughter. 

“And you enjoy that?!” Shane asks, hearing how accusatory and disbelieving it comes out. He can’t help it. 

A resounding “Yeah!” echoes back from the group, and Shane turns to Ilya, giving him a wide-eyed look. 

“Sweetheart, is okay. You are my little pillow princess bottom.” He leans in and presses a kiss to Shane’s slack mouth. His words twist in Shane’s stomach and land hot and heavy in his groin. He doesn’t mean to, but he chases Ilya’s lips when their kiss breaks, momentarily forgetting they’re not alone in the room.

“Case in point,” Troy comments in a low voice, sending snickering around the room. 

Shane tries to get himself together when he reaches for the bottle. 

“Do you have to process this first?” Fabian asks, and there’s this tiny little edge of condescation in it, this miniscule, 1% humiliation that brings the blush right back to Shane’s cheeks. 

“Yes, maybe!” Shane tells him with a scoff. He spins. It lands on Kip, finally. 

“Truth,” Kip says with a grin. 

Shane feels warm all over now, tequila making him loose and maybe a little bit reckless. He’s still not over the fact that, apparently, he’s the only person in this room who doesn’t ever top. 

“When was the last time you had sex?” It comes out of his mouth before he can think too much about it, and it immediately makes him blush. At the same time, it feels fun and daring, and like retribution for his Truth earlier.

Kip laughs, glancing at Scott, who just looks at him with a grin. 

“Earlier today,” Kip admits. His voice always sounds like he’s smiling, which he is, and now that he’s talking about this, it’s kind of… sexy. “This morning, right after waking up, still cozy in bed…” He sighs happily at the memory; Scott reaches over and rubs his thigh and Kip leans into his touch. 

Now that Shane has it, he doesn’t know what to do with the information. However, there is one thing that his mind is hung up on, so he blurts it out. “Did you brush your teeth before you did it?” 

Everybody starts laughing. 

“What?!” Shane asks, holding out his hands. “Morning breath!”

“I get it,” Luca tells him, nodding. 

“Thank you!” Shane says, with emphasis. 

“There’s plenty of positions where you’re not breathing in your partner’s face,” Kip laughs. 

Shane still frowns, but refrains from explaining that just knowing morning breath is present is distracting for him. He assumed this is one of those things other people can’t relate to. 

“I am learning a lot about everybody today,” Harris says, clearly delighted. 

Kip spins; it lands on Ryan and Fabian, and Fabian ducks out of the way. 

Ryan lets out a low laugh. “Truth.”

“How big?” It comes out of Kip’s mouth faster than a bullet, making Shane snort. He can’t pretend he isn’t curious about this one, too.

Ryan groans, rolling his eyes with a laugh. “I don’t know, I’ve never measured.” 

In front of him, Fabian’s grin turns into a huge smirk. 

“Okay, but roughly,” Kip pushes. 

“Big enough that I’ve had partners who couldn’t take it,” Ryan answers sheepishly. 

Kip lets out a low “Wooow.” 

There’s a brief moment of silence, until Troy dryly says, “We’re all thinking about your dick now, Pricey.”

Ryan blushes furiously, covering his face and laughing into his hands. It’s oddly cute.

“Welcome to the club,” Fabian says dryly, then turns back to his boyfriend. “You have to spin, babe.”

Ryan does; this time, it lands on Harris. “Truth.”

“Who was your first crush?” Ryan asks after a moment of thinking. 

Harris giggles. “Okay, this is embarrassing because it makes me sound sooo old.” He covers his face, laughing. “Brandon Fraser in The Mummy.” 

“Yes, good choice!” Scott exclaims, snapping his fingers. 

Shane sees Luca glance at Yannick in a manner that makes it obvious that he has no idea. Yannick pulls his phone from his back pocket, and shows Luca a photo on it a second later; Luca nods politely. 

“Okay, my turn!” Harris claps his hands together, then leans in to spin. This time, it lands on Yannick, who gives Harris a sweet grin, cupping his own cheeks. “Dare, be nice to me!” 

Harris’ expression turns more mischievous than Shane has ever seen. It kind of makes him look a bit like the Grinch. But a nice Grinch. The Grinch of Summer.

“Hot Grinch Summer,” Shane whispers to himself. 

“What?!” Ilya asks, frowning at him. 

“Nothing.” Shane quickly shakes his head, embarrassed. “Just talking to myself.” 

 “So,” Harris says to Yannick, stretching the word out into three syllables, “you know how I’ve been catching up on your whole cinematography?” 

“Oh god,” Yannick whispers, covering his face in anticipation. “Fuck.”

“No no no, wait!” Harris holds out both hands. “I recently watched that German crime show you were in-”

Luca lets out a noise which sounds very close to a startled mouse, making everyone laugh. 

“You mean the episode where I played a stripper?” Yannick asks. He’s not blushing, but Luca is already blushing for two. 

“Yes, exactly!” Harris beams at him across their little circle. “So I dare you to give Luca a lap dance.”

“Me?!” Luca squeaks. 

“Who else?” Ilya asks, leaning forward with a smirk. “I am sure someone will volunteer-”

“No, I’ll do it!” Luca is on his feet immediately. 

Kip produces a chair from the dining room table, and Luca sits down, white-knuckling the seat. 

“Come on, Haasy, loosen up! We’ve all seen him fondle you on camera!” Troy shouts. He’s definitely getting more drunk now as well. Luca flips him off. 

“Okay, wait-” Yannick leans over Harris, telling him which song he wants. In the brief moment of set-up, Ilya catches Shane’s eyes, reaching out for him, cupping Shane’s cheek. Shane leans into the touch, closing his eyes for a moment. The room is swaying around him. 

In Russian, Ilya asks, “Are you okay, my love?” 

Shane nods, smiling. 

“Are you having fun?” Ilya’s thumb caresses Shane’s bottom lip, and Shane briefly nips at it before nodding again. 

“Tequila makes me feel slutty,” he mumbles, giggling. 

“I like slutty Shane,” Ilya whispers back, in Russian again. 

A loud, sultry beat interrupts their little conversation. They all cheer and clap when Yannick unbuttons the top button of his shirt before he begins to give Luca the requested lapdance, grinding on him to the music. 

It looks much more graceful than Shane could imagine; then again, Yannick literally does this for a living. Well, not lap dances, but… dancing. Performing. Whatever. 

Luca is still white-knuckling the chair, and his cheeks are a color never before seen. Yannick, mid-grind, grabs Luca’s arm, loosens his fingers from the poor chair, brings them to his mouth and sucks two of them between his lips, causing them all to cheer and whistle over the music while Luca himself looks like he’s about to die from overheating. Or high blood pressure. Or his dick exploding. 

After about thirty seconds of this, Yannick snaps himself out of his performance, dissolving into laughter in Luca’s lap, sitting down heavily, gesturing for Harris to turn down the music. They applaud him accordingly and he does a little bow before sitting back down on the floor, tugging on Luca’s hand. Luca seems glued to the chair. 

“Do you need a minute?” Scott asks jovially. 

Luca blows out a heavy breath. “Some cold water, maybe,” he says sheepishly. Kip grabs a glass for him; when Luca sits down next to Yannick a minute later, his face is just slightly less red, even if he still looks frazzled. 

“Sorry,” Yannick laughs, leaning over to kiss his cheek. 

“You reset him to factory settings,” Harris jokes. 

Yannick gives him a wink, then reaches for the bottle. This time, it lands on Kip. 

“Me again?!” Kip throws his hands in the air. “Okay, uhm, truth.”

“Who here, other than Scott, do you think is the hottest?” It comes out so fast that Shane wonders if Yannick had that pre-loaded. Kip gasps, scandalized. 

“Ooooh, I like this!” Fabian smirks. 

“Hey, now-” Scott holds out a hand towards Kip, “You don’t have to answer-”

Kip ignores him. “Do I have to say it out loud?” 

Yannick thinks on it for a second, then shakes his head. “You can whisper it to me.” 

“Aww, come on!” Ilya gestures, “Is unfair.”

“I agree with Rozanov!” Scott exclaims. 

“Always a good choice!” Ilya blows him a kiss across their circle, and Shane thinks he can see Scott blush just a tiny bit. 

“Nope, you’re gonna have to stay curious!” Kip leans into the middle of the circle, and so does Yannick, turning his head so Kip can whisper in his ear. From where he sits, Shane can see Yannick’s delighted face. He’d lie if he said he wasn’t curious as well. 

When Kip pulls back, the two of them share a grin, and Yannick gives him an appreciative nod.

“Wait, can I know, too?” Fabian asks. Kip leans over to whisper in his ear as well, accompanied by immediate protest. 

Fabian laughs prettily, throwing his head back. “Girl-” 

Shane, suddenly, feels oddly disappointed about not getting to know as well. Maybe Kip would tell him, too, if he would ask. But he’s too shy to do it. 

Truly the real teenage experience. 

There’s a lot of protest now; Scott, Ilya, Luca, Troy and Harris all talking over each other about how unfair it is that Fabian got to know. 

“Okay, this is treason, I am your husband-” 

“Too late!” Kip shuts Scott up with a kiss, then reaches for the bottle. 

 He gives it a healthy spin; it rotates and slows down in a manner that makes Shane scared it’ll land on him yet again; instead, it catches Ilya, who barks out a laugh. 

“Dare,” he declares, and Shane groans, wishing he’d chosen Truth. 

Kip hums, biting his lip. “Demonstrate your favorite position in bed.” 

Shane loudly gasps. “That’s unfair, it includes me!” 

“That’s the fun of it!” Kip teases, giving him a wink. 

“Ilya could take his shirt off instead,” Fabian purrs, and Shane narrows his eyes. He doesn’t want that. 

Next to him, Ilya is already getting on his knees, smirking at Shane with a glint in his eyes. Shane looks up at him, feeling his cheeks heat up violently. 

“Well?” Ilya asks, reaching for him. 

Shane huffs. “I’m only doing it if everyone else is doing it too!” It’s clearly the tequila speaking, but there are a few agreeable murmurs in response. 

“Yeah, sure,” Kip himself says lightly. Shane’s head whips around to look at Ilya; he didn’t think they’d agree.  

Ilya laughs. “Now then.” He grabs Shane by the waist, letting himself drop back. 

“Wait, what are you-” Shane asks, then yelps when Ilya pulls him into his lap as if Shane is riding him. “This one?!” he asks incredulously. 

Ilya laughs. “I like when you are cowgirl!” 

Shane’s mouth drops open. “That’s not…!” 

“This is what is my favorite,” Ilya reiterates with a huge grin. “I know it isn’t yours.” 

“You can’t say that without telling us which one’s Shane’s!” Kip protests. 

“I will show you once you,” Shane points around the room, climbing off, “-show off yours first!”

“Okay, okay!” Kip grabs Scott’s hand. 

“Wait, seriously?” Scott asks, but before he can protest any further, Kip has already pushed him onto his back, climbing on top, settling on Scott’s lap. Scott’s hands, as if by muscle memory, go to Kip’s hips. 

“I’m with Rozanov on this one,” Kip declares. For good measure, he grinds his hips just once; Scott yelps, rolling them over, throwing Kip off. 

“Yes, very good choice!” Ilya agrees. 

“Cowgirl’s always a winner!” Harris nods. 

Scott still looks worked up, like he needs to recover from this, his cheeks red. Kip reaches across him, poking Fabian’s arm. “Tag, you’re it.” 

“Me?” Fabian puts on an innocent face, looking back at Ryan, who just gives him a tiny smirk. Again, still waters. 

Harris gasps. “Wait, can you hold him up?!” 

“Um, yeah,” Ryan says, that little smirk still present. 

“Easily!” Fabian’s clearly bragging a bit, but now everyone is curious. Ryan rises to his full 6’7 height so they all have to look up to him, and pulls Fabian up by the hand, then easily lifts him up. Fabian’s legs wrap around his hips, and Ryan holds him up, huge hands covering Fabian’s entire ass and thighs. 

“Like this?” Ryan asks, his deep voice not even strained. 

“We don’t really do that often,” Fabian argues. He, too, must be pretty fit, Shane thinks, considering how easily he’s holding onto Ryan. 

“How long can you hold this?” he asks, meaning from an athletic standpoint, but immediately realizing how it comes across when everybody else starts laughing. 

“However long it takes!” Fabian leans back until his head is upside down, giving Shane a huge grin. Shane feels himself blush. Ryan, clearly loosening up as well, bounces Fabian twice, as if… 

“Okay, enough!” Upside down, Fabian’s laugh quickly devolves into a cute snort which makes them all laugh even harder in turn. Shane realizes his cheeks are hurting from laughing so much. 

Ryan sets him down, and Fabian does a little bow before zeroing in on Luca, who groans. “Please, I’ve only just recovered from earlier!”

“I mean, I think you’ve all seen it on video before,” Yannick bargains. His cheeks, too, are now a little pink. Luca looks at him, and Shane doesn’t miss the split second his teeth graze his lower lip. Yannick’s grin broadens, and he reaches out to push his hand into Luca’s hair, pulling his head down towards his crotch. It’s kind of harmless compared to everyone else, but somehow, it feels much more intimate. Yannick lets go after a second, and when Luca comes back up, he’s gasping for air, his glasses slightly fogged. Everyone cheers. 

“...that or missionary.” 

“In another life, you two do OnlyFans,” Harris comments. 

“One million subscribers!” Ilya grins.

“They almost did in this one,” Troy adds. 

“Your turn now, Troy,” Luca says, fixing his glasses, shooting his teammate a look. 

Troy, despite his best effort not to show it, is blushing too. Harris and him exchange a silent look; Harris shrugs with a light little smile and eyeroll. 

For some reason, Shane is insanely curious now. 

Troy rises to his knees, shifting towards Harris, who lies back on his back, letting his bent knees fall to one side so it puts them into a sort of spooning variation that Shane has never considered. He shoots Ilya a brief look; Ilya meets it, giving him a tiny wink which makes Shane’s face heat up. 

“...and then you can do this-” Harris puts his hands up over his head, “...or roll over for doggy, or he can lie down so you can spoon… You can look at each other…”

Troy and him share an intimate little smile. 

“Romantic,” Scott grins.

“Shane, are you okay?” Kip asks from the other side of their circle. 

Shane snaps out of his stupor, giving him a wide-eyed look. “Yeah. Yes. Why?” 

“Nothing.” Kip smiles back at him, and it’s not mocking, just sweet. Kind. “...you don’t have to, you know, take your turn if you don’t want to.”

“I want to!” Shane says way too fast, making everyone laugh. “No, I mean… It was our deal.”

“My Shane, so honest.” Ilya reaches out to squeeze Shane’s neck reassuringly. “Come on.” He taps Shane’s hips, and Shane… well. 

Shane, in front of all of his gay friends, gets on all fours while Ilya kneels behind him, and prays to God that his boner isn’t too visible in his jeans. 

Ilya’s hands land on his hips, squeezing in that familiar way, and Shane can feel something in his body settle and respond. He lets his head fall forward, his chest sinking down to the expensive hardwood floor, bracing himself on his hands, ass up. One of Ilya’s hands moves from his hips to the space between his shoulder blades, pushing him down even further.

For a split-second, while everyone is stunned and silent, his brain forgets that they’re not alone, his eyes falling shut, a tiny, embarrassing noise tumbling out of his mouth.

Someone gasps, then everybody is hollering and cheering. Shane forces his eyes to open. 

“Oh my god, you are a bottom!” Fabian exclaims. 

Shane sits up so fast that it makes him dizzy, his body bumping into Ilya’s solid one behind him. Ilya’s arms wrap around him; Shane can feel Ilya’s bulge against his back, which is not helping at all. 

“Did you think he was lying?” Ilya cups Shane’s chin from behind, and Shane feels like someone pressed the off-button on his spine. He can feel every pair of eyes on him, and the blood is thrumming in his ears. 

Ilya lets go of his chin, and Shane slumps against him before righting himself. When his vision re-focuses, he can see them: Troy, his ears red like tomatoes, avoiding his gaze; Harris, looking absolutely shook with his mouth hanging half-open; Scott with his lips pressed together into a line, his eyes wide; Ryan and Fabian, less shocked and much more… entertained?; Luca, who gives him a strangely solidary smile, and Yannick, whose eyes are on Ilya instead of Shane. The last person Shane looks at is Kip, who gives him a little smile and nods towards the kitchen. 

Shane gives him a grateful nod, shakily rising to his feet. “I’ll… uh… I need some water.” When Ilya tries to stand up as well, Shane gestures for him to stay seated. Instead, Kip comes with him. 

It’s cooler in the kitchen, and the water Kip pours him comes from the fridge and is ice cold, which feels good. 

“Thank you,” Shane mumbles. 

“No problem.” Kip smiles at him. “So, that was hot.” 

Shane groans. “It was too much!” 

“Sorry I dared you to do that,” Kip says, sounding genuinely apologetic. 

“No, it was… it was fine, I guess,” Shane sighs. The water makes him feel better. “Ilya says tequila makes me slutty.”

Kip laughs. “Maybe he’s right.” He reaches out, carefully hovering a hand over Shane’s upper arm. “May I?” 

Shane usually doesn’t like strangers touching him, but Kip isn’t a stranger, is he? And he’s sooooo nice. So Shane nods. Kip’s hand wraps around his arm; it’s comforting. 

“I’m sorry if this all made you uncomfortable.” 

“It didn’t,” Shane says honestly, surprised at himself. “It’s just… uhm… I guess I’m not used to this much…” He trails off, lacking the correct word. 

“Gay?” Kip supplies, making them both smile. 

Shane nods. “Yes, maybe. I’m… I spent so much time trying to hide being gay, being around all these… straight guys…” 

“Eugh.” Kip fakes a gag, making Shane laugh again. “No, I’m joking, some of my favorite people are straight. But I get it, it can be overwhelming. I think it was like that for Scott, too, in the beginning. Whenever he was around my friends.” 

Shane can’t look at him when he nods, staring down at his glass of water. 

“But this is why we’re doing this, right?” Kip asks softly, “So you can… you know, be a little free, in a space where nobody will judge you, because we all do that, too. You don’t have to hide.” 

Shane takes a shaky inhale. Maybe it’s because he’s drunk, maybe it’s because Kip is so nice to him, but he can feel tears stinging in his eyes. “...I was jealous, earlier, when you whispered your answer to Fabian but not… me.” He feels silly admitting it. 

“Oh, really?” Kip rubs his arm a little, then lowers his voice. “Do you want to know? I’ll tell you now.” 

“Really?” Shane asks, feeling himself blush with the warmth of friendship. 

Kip nods; Shane leans in, turning his head.