Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories:

M/M, F/M, Other

Fandoms:

Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV)

Relationships:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, David Hollander/Yuna Hollander, David Hollander & Ilya Rozanov, David Hollander & Yuna Hollander & Ilya Rozanov

Characters:

Ilya Rozanov, David Hollander, Yuna Hollander, Shane Hollander, Original Male Character(s), Original Characters

Additional Tags:

Father Figures, Found Family, David Hollander & Ilya Rozanov Bonding, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Good Parent David Hollander, Established Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Post-Book 2: Heated Rivalry (Game Changers), Post-Episode: s01e06 The Cottage (Heated Rivalry), POV Ilya Rozanov, Board Games, No Smut, No Beta We Live like Ilya, board game night, Soft Hockey Boys, Crack Treated Seriously

Language:

English

Series:

Part 13 of Just Game Changer things that my brain needs to write

Stats:

Published: 2026-03-26 Updated: 2026-04-21 Words: 9,651 Chapters: 2/?

David 'I’m bringing my son’s friend to game night' Hollander

Summary

When David invites Ilya to game night with his old college teammates, Ilya expects poker. Instead, he finds a lineup of board games he doesn’t yet know, five old friends who still argue about things from thirty years ago, and increasingly interesting revelations about the Hollanders.

Or, David Hollander tries to fix Ilya’s daddy issues one board game at a time.

Or, the author tries their best to fit board game recommendations, an obsession with David Hollander and a love of writing Ilya Rozanov into one fic.

Chapter 1: No Thanks!

Chapter Notes

I first talked about this fic in an author's note in early January and started writing it soon after, but I couldn't decide which direction to go in and had so many haphazard notes that didn't tie together, and instead wrote about ten fics for the Hammersmith/Sebbin rareship and talked about this board game fic in a bunch of them lol. All this finally made sense to me today, and I decided I wanted it to just be fun and board games, with Ilya finding out bits and pieces of David and Yuna.

This fic is set after the very angsty The Words We Cannot Take Back. It isn't required reading or anything, but if you do read it, it might make you cry. This fic will not make you cry at all though, so enjoy!

“Hollzy used to be a fucking animal on the ice, you know?” Who Hollzy? It couldn’t be Shane, so David? Which David? The David who didn’t even make sudden movements? The David who held Yuna’s hands like she was the precious china, even though she was the bull in the china shop?

“David?” Ilya couldn't line up his image of David with what they were telling him, so maybe Ilya would have to see it to believe it. He was sure these men would have videos, or photos, or something of their time in college, where David had told him they had all first met. He made a mental note to ask Yuna later for proof if they refused, though Ilya suspected David did not like his past as a defenseman. He had said as much to Ilya once, so he didn’t think David would want to dwell on old hockey glory. Ilya would have to be discreet.

The boys, as David called them, had finally found an evening Ilya could join them on game night, but Ilya didn’t see a round table, a pack of cards or any poker chips anywhere. Maybe they would bring it all out later?

Ilya was a good guest, so he had brought a bottle of his favourite vodka as a thank you, and had hoped David wasn’t springing him on them. David most definitely had.

“You are all drinking crap? I brought good vodka.” Ilya had set the bottle on the table with a thud when the group collectively goggled at him.

The ‘boys’, who all seemed to be in their fifties, had looked at him like he was the second coming when Ilya had walked through the door with David. Shane’s father had all the playfulness Shane and Yuna totally lacked, and loved being a little shit as much as Ilya did, which was probably why he had told his friends he was bringing someone along, but had neglected to mention who it was.

“I’m just bringing a friend of Shane tonight, he said.” Robert ‘Robby’ Malone mocked David when Ilya smirked at them, and David grinned so wide that Ilya had to look away from the brightness of it. Malone, who had told Ilya to call him Rob, was a former goalie, though he was now a civil engineer, whatever that meant. Ilya googled it under the table and wondered what Rob was working on now. What did engineers do besides build bridges and complain about budgets?

“Well, he is a friend of Shane’s,” David said, doubling down on proving he hadn’t lied. David had totally lied, but Ilya could see how much fun David was having.

“Little Hollzy joining us today?” asked Mike ‘Donny’ Donahan, like Shane wasn’t an almost six-foot professional athlete. Had this man ever babysat little Shane? Ilya couldn’t wait to tease Shane about being called little, though everyone here stood shorter than the almost seven-foot Donny. Ilya had felt small when Donny had stood up to shake his hand earlier, a shark grin on his face. This man had definitely been a defenseman.

“Not today,” David waved Donny off, “Shane’s in Montreal anyway, and you know he’s just as competitive as Yuna.” Maybe Yuna and Shane were a bit competitive, yes, but this big, wide defenseman would have nothing to be scared of, right?

Robby shuddered a bit more dramatically than Ilya thought he needed to. “Yuna almost killed me the last time she played with us. I can’t even imagine playing with the woman again, as much as I love her.” Well, maybe Yuna and Shane were a little too competitive. Shane had almost smothered Ilya the last time they had played a silly card game, not to mention his cute kitten face when they played hockey.

David slapped Ilya’s shoulder, and Ilya was glad he was paying attention because it would be a terrible impression to fall flat on his face from the blow. Where was David getting all this power from? Ilya didn’t even move when someone slammed into him on skates sometimes, but David had almost felled him. David usually ruffled Ilya’s hair, so Ilya hadn’t noticed how built David was. Did he still work out?

“But Ilya here,” David said, shaking Ilya with the hand on his shoulder, “is competitive enough for us, without always having to abide by the rules like Shane.”

“Your boy likes rules a bit much,” grumbled Alan “Richy” Richmond, the former right winger who apparently owned a jewellery store in the city. Ilya had wondered for a hot second if Richy was rich when he had been introduced to him, but the four rather thick gold rings the man had been sporting on his hand when he wrung Ilya’s hand had rid him of any doubts. Man was richy rich.

Ilya laughed with them. “Hollander and rules, yes.” Shane's love of rules was a bit of an understatement, if anything.

“Just little Hollzy. How did he not get the taste for violence from you, man?” Donny wondered out loud, and it must not have been the first time because no one bothered to answer the rhetorical question. Violence from who? David? “And lord knows Yuna is just as violent, if not more.”

Rob snorted and turned to Ilya. “Yuna once broke Donny’s nose with a solid right hook because he punched Hollzy. It was so hot I would have legit hit on her if she hadn’t been Hollzy’s girl already.” Ilya understood the urge. If Yuna weren’t Shane’s mother, and if she had been Ilya’s age, Ilya also would have hit on her.

“Stay in your lane, Robby.” David could be territorial? Tonight was opening Ilya’s mind about David and Yuna in a way that he hadn’t expected. Ilya liked knowing more about the Hollanders, even though everything didn’t feel like enough.

Donahan—Donny—pointed a long finger at David. “I only punched you a little bit, and your girl totally overreacted.”

“That was because you punched Hollzy after the whistle,” Robby said. This man was clearly the instigator for most of their arguments. Ilya could see him not even trying to suppress his glee as Donny and David took the bait.

“I hit him during the whistle, don’t lie!” Donny retorted, pointing his finger in David’s face, the argument well-worn from the eye rolls he got. David didn’t look the least bit riled up, more amused.

David slapped Donny’s finger down from where it was poking at his nose. “During the whistle isn’t even a thing.” Of course, during the whistle wasn’t a thing. What did that even mean? How quickly could Donny punch?

Ilya watched them argue with a kind of fascinated amusement. These were fully grown men with mortgages, professions and children, arguing about whistles from three decades ago like teenagers in a locker room. Ilya loved it. He hoped he could be like these people when he retired. Maybe not with Shane, however. Ilya loved Shane, but Hollander would probably spend their retirement doing yoga and researching how they could live forever. Ilya couldn’t wait to retire with Shane, but wondered if he could convince some of his Bears to move to Ottawa eventually so they could do something similar.

Ilya poured vodka into the nearest empty glass without asking whose it was. The glass disappeared into Donny’s giant hand as he continued to argue.

“Kid pours expensive,” Richy said, stealing the glass from Donny and taking an approving sip, squinting at the bottle like he needed glasses. He probably did need glasses, but he still wouldn’t be able to read the Russian on the bottle.

Rob leaned toward Ilya conspiratorially. “You might want to hide that before Richy finishes it.”

“I heard that.”

“You were meant to.” Maybe David liked that he could act like his college self around these ‘boys’. Ilya could see it was an escape for them from the boredom of their adult jobs and financial issues, and the humdrum of everyday life.

Ilya tilted the bottle slightly out of Richy’s reach anyway. The vodka was a gift, yes, but not a sacrifice as far as Ilya was concerned.

“So,” Rob said, leaning back in his chair with a freshly poured glass, “are we actually playing tonight, or are we just drinking the kid’s vodka?”

“Both,” Richy said immediately, reaching across the table for the bottle again.

“Both,” Donny agreed, laughing at Richy, who was already through his first glass. What the fuck? Even Ilya didn’t go for vodka that fast.

David pushed a battered cardboard box toward the middle of the table, and Ilya leaned forward curiously. Ah finally!

The cardboard on the box was peeled off to reveal a chaotic mess of cards held together with rubber bands, plastic chips, and something that might once have been a rulebook but now looked like it had survived several floods. Ilya leaned forward, studying the cards with interest. The cards just had big, ugly numbers. Wasn’t this poker night?

“This is not poker?” Ilya asked cautiously. Did game night mean something else to Canadians?

“Not poker,” David confirmed, whispering conspiratorially to Ilya, “Poker got banned thirty years ago because someone cried.”

“Cried?” Ilya had seen his fair share of men cry over poker, but it was no reason to ban a whole game. Why the fuck were these men crying over poker anyway? What was this set of cards and chips for then? Why were there small black chips at all?

It was Donny again. “I didn’t cry!”

“You definitely cried.” Robby threw a piece of something small at Donny’s back as he came back with a big bowl of popcorn from the kitchen. Donny picked up the popcorn Robby had thrown at him and popped it into his mouth.

David started shuffling the cards, as Robby and Donny continued arguing. Ilya was so engrossed in hearing them that he didn’t notice the man barreling into the room until the man was in front of Ilya, stopping mid-rant about a call from the previous night’s game. “If the refs had eyes, Rozanov would’ve been in the box by—what the fuck is Rozanov doing here?” Would Ilya have to leave? Ilya hadn’t considered that some of David’s friends wouldn’t want him there.

“So you are not Centaurs fan then?” Ilya asked with a forced laugh when the silence became too much for him. Donny dragged the new entrant into a chair beside him, letting him continue to bluster about Ilya’s presence at their game night.

“Say hi to little Hollzy’s friend Turny.” Okay, so Donny was a little shit too. Ilya could see how Donny and David had made a great pair of defensemen. They reminded him of Seb and Hammer, and Ilya had a brief pang from missing the Bears, whom he should reply to soon. The little worriers would wind themselves up and show up at his doorstep if he didn’t reply, but Ilya was in his second season with the Centaurs, so he should also really give his new teammates more of a chance at some point.

Frank ‘Turny’ Turner shook his head at Ilya. He hadn’t told Ilya what he did for work. “No, no, we’re Centaurs fans, kid, we’re just not fans of you yet.” Fair enough.

Ilya couldn’t let that go, at least not in front of the other hockey players. “You will soon be a fan, yes? Since I am Hollander’s friend and everything.”

“Hollzy did say it was not a PR thing,” Turny glared at David, who shrugged and continued to shuffle the cards, which were probably on their way to being in order with how long David had been shuffling them, ”obviously, I didn’t believe little Hollzy was friends with you of all people.” Ilya told himself never to call either Hollander Hollzy because that would cross too many wires in his brain.

Turner, because Ilya was not going to call a grown man Turny, made Ilya want to mess with him, bringing all that drama to the table, even as David glared at Turner on Ilya’s behalf. It was sweet of David, but Ilya could fight some of his own battles. “I contain multitudes?”

David stopped his glaring to laugh at Ilya’s use of the word. “Multitudes is his word of the day,” David explained when Robby raised his eyebrow. David had explained the word to him in the car on the way here when Ilya admitted he hadn’t understood what it meant.

“Is good use, yes?”

“Yes, Ilya, it’s a good use,” David grinned at Ilya, “and don’t mind Turny, he just needs to squawk his feelings out.” If David could tell Ilya was worried, Ilya needed to be more aware of his face, but still, it made Ilya unbearably glad to know Turner was just dramatic and didn’t really hate Ilya.

“Are we playing now?” Ilya couldn’t watch David shuffle the cards another time.

Richy clapped his hands and leaned forward. “No thanks!” Ilya was so confused. Why did Richy look so enthusiastic if he didn’t want to play? Was there gold involved?

“You do not want to play this game?” Ilya blinked sideways at Richy. Ilya could hear Turner still muttering to himself on the other side of the table from Ilya.

“No, no,” Rob said, counting out loud, eleven chips each in little piles, “No Thanks! is the name of the game.” Well, it definitely wasn’t poker.

Turner stopped muttering to stop Rob from giving out the piles of chips. “Nine each now that they are six of us.” Was that a bad thing? No one seemed to bat an eye when Rob removed two from each pile.

Ilya reached across to grab his nine counters and picked one up, rolling it between his fingers. It had neither the weight nor the quality of a casino chip, but he rarely saw markers like the ones from places he used to frequent anyway. Donny flipped a card up onto the table with unnecessary force and suddenly stopped to look at Ilya. Was he supposed to do something? “Rules for the new guy.” Ah, he didn’t know how to play yet.

“Each of us starts with nine chips,” David said from beside Ilya. “When a card is flipped, you either take the card or you say ‘no thanks’ and put one of your chips on it.”

“If you take the card,” Rob continued, “you can also take all the chips that people put on it.”

Ilya nodded slowly. “But I do not want to take cards?” What was a game that didn’t want a player to collect the cards? How did he win then?

“Yes, you don’t want the cards.” That told him nothing! What did they mean by Ilya could put a chip instead of taking a card, but he could also take cards with chips on them? It all seemed contradictory.

“How bad are cards?”

Turner pointed at the twenty-eight Donny had flipped up. “Very bad. The numbers are from three to thirty-five, in case you were wondering, and there is one of each.” That was going to be Ilya’s next question.

“Unless the others make it worth taking by always using their chips,” Donny added, juggling a few chips, “like it’s worth it to get punched if your team gets a power play.” Donny must have gotten punched a whole lot from what Ilya saw, but Ilya understood the game a little more now, the risk versus the reward.

“If you have eighteen, nineteen and twenty, for example,” David explained, “it only counts as an eighteen.”

“Oh.” Ilya nodded again. That was a clever rule, and Ilya liked loopholes.

Rob pointed at Ilya like it was a warning. “Keep your counters hidden, kid, so no one knows how many more you can afford.” Did that mean Ilya could count theirs? This should be fun.

Ilya kept his shark smile hidden, saving it for when he won, and he would win. “Highest score is asshole?”

“Richy loses a lot,” Donny said helpfully and dodged the popcorn Richy threw at him.

David grinned when Turner grumbled about bringing a shark to their table. Rob tapped at the twenty-eight again, “Alright, Turny, old man, you first.”

Turner looked at the card, then at his chips, then at the card again, and flicked a chip onto it. “No thanks.”

Donny barely glanced at it, but he seemed to have taken the time to think. “No thanks.”

Another chip landed from Rob. “No thanks.”

David did the same, as did Ilya and Richy, and the pile of chips on twenty-eight grew when it went another round.

Richy groaned when it was his turn again, and there were eleven chips on the card now. “Damn it, I’ll take it.”

Rob won the first game by the sheer number of counters he collected from the cards in the thirties, which had cancelled each other out because they were consecutive.

David shuffled the cards again, and Ilya helped by counting out the chips. “Why do you play these games?”

“Couldn’t play poker back after college, and not just because of Donny’s sobbing,” Rob said, jerking his thumb at Donny.

“Fuck off.”

Ilya pushed the little piles of chips toward each player again, after carefully counting out nine for each of them.

“Back when we started, all of us with student debt, some being from blue-collar homes, nearly washed out of hockey, we were broke as shit.” Richy twisted a ring around his pinky, his stubby fingers barely holding onto the gold. It was earned gold then. “We didn’t want to bet money we didn’t have.”

“Speak for yourself,” Turner muttered.

“You lived in my basement,” Richy shot back.

“Temporarily!”

Donny laughed loud enough to shake the table again. “For two years, man.”

“Short games made it easier,” David interrupted the argument, sliding the newly shuffled deck onto the table, “someone had to leave early, someone had a kid to watch, someone’s wife texted.”

“Someone’s wife yelled,” Donny corrected.

“Just yours, Donny.” Rob tapped the table and looked away from the newly flipped nineteen to Donny before dropping a chip onto the card. “No, thanks.”

The game went around the table while Donny and Rob argued about a call from their junior year that neither of them remembered correctly, with David occasionally interjecting when they veered too much off reality.

Ilya waited for a thirty-one to run four rounds before he took it. He would have liked to let it run another, but Ilya knew Donny only had one chip left, so he took it with twenty-two chips. It meant he actually only took a nine, and Ilya shrugged. It was a good haul.

The next number was a thirty, which would reduce Ilya’s points by one, and he couldn’t let it run a round because of Donny, so he took that too. Donny barked out a laugh loud enough to make the popcorn bowl jump when he caught the look Ilya shot him. “The kid caught on fast.”

Ilya immaturely poked his tongue out at Donny and flipped a twenty-seven next, letting a chip go for Rob, who had a twenty-eight from the first round. “No, thank you.”

Ilya was getting the hang of this.

“You are trying to trick me.” Ilya leaned back in his chair and folded his arms when twenty-nine arrived near the bottom of the stack, and David showed his empty hands to make it clear Ilya wouldn’t get the card if he let it go another round.

Ilya supposed it depended on how much David wanted to win compared to how much he wanted Ilya to lose, but Ilya knew David had at least two chips, probably hidden in his pocket. Even if David didn’t have any chips left, he would lose if he had to take the card, so it would be a win-win for Ilya. He let it go another round. “No thanks.”

“Not me,” Richy said and dropped a chip on the card, “but I might have to give up a ring if you let it go another round, kid.” One of his gold rings? Ilya hadn’t known it was an option.

Turner made a clicky noise when he saw Ilya’s pondering expression. Turner already had twenty-six and twenty-seven in front of him. “Nothing but a chip is an option, Rozanov.” Well, Ilya tried.

“Ugh, why?” Rob groaned after Donny dropped a chip like he had plenty left, adding one of his own to the growing pile on the twenty-nine.

David rubbed his face like he was trying not to smile. “You can take the card,” David said mildly.

“I know!” Ilya knew David had a chip or two in his pocket, and he had been right.

“Take it,” Rob said sweetly, his grin directed at Turner.

Turner pushed the last card away with a finger as if it were contagious. “You take it.”

“Not my turn.”

“Oh, this is bullshit.” Turner slapped the table and took the card, which, to his terrible luck, was a thirty-three.

Ilya sipped his vodka and waited for the men to count the score. He knew he would win by a landslide, and he was right.

“You should come back, kid,” said Turner, clapping Ilya on the back. The others were shrugging into their jackets, ready to head out. Ilya was going to take it as a compliment that the man who had come in saying Rozanov like a swear word had warmed up to him.

“Thank you for having me.”

Ilya was definitely going to come back.

Chapter End Notes

I don't know these characters well enough yet, but I'm setting them up to eventually do more David/Yuna backstory, as heard by Ilya, through the rest of the hockey men? I think Ilya is the kind of romantic who would appreciate knowing bits and pieces of the story to put it all together, and think it's so very romantic.

> The David who held Yuna’s hands like she was the precious china, even though she was the bull in the china shop?
My favourite line in this chapter! <3

The plan isn't to focus on any of the characters more than the others, just to hear about board game night from an Ilya POV occasionally. If the characters don't sound like Canadian men in their fifties, it's because I don't know what they sound like, sorry! Ilya isn't going to attend all of their board game nights, considering he's an active hockey player who will also prioritise Shane, and this is set during the Long Game. It's going to be light-hearted and fun, and detailed descriptions of board games you probably did not want to know about, but I promise these will be good recommendations if you're in the market for a new game, or two, or more!

FYI, the card game played in this chapter is No Thanks!: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12942/no-thanks It's the loveliest, simplest filler that friends ask to play again and again, super easy to explain and a quick game with so much replayability.

Thank you so much for reading, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 2: Rebel Princess

Chapter Notes

I was playing Rebel Princess at an event last week and wrote the start of this chapter at 2 AM on a Wednesday night, somewhat passed out, because I love the game so much. It took me over a week and 6k words, almost double the last chapter, because I really went for every unnecessary detail from the game I could fit in haha, but worth it I think. Enjoy!

Ilya was wearing a sparkly gold party crown.

He had been offered silver, but he didn’t like how pale it made him look, and he knew he looked fantastic in gold. Ilya was even wearing some gold rings on his hands because he had come straight to the Hollander’s house after a meet and greet, and he had his mother’s gold necklace, so he felt on top of the world, even if the crown was a cheap plastic from Dollar Tree that Rob had thought would go great with this new game he’d found. Rob had brought a few packs of plastic crowns and a game called Rebel Princess, which he said had been a gift from a Spanish consulting colleague who raved about it.

Ilya hadn’t been to game night in two months, busy with a string of away games that left him exhausted and desperate to see Shane even when he was back in Ottawa. They seemed to play every two weeks or so, but Ilya couldn’t find any routine to it. It seemed like they played when their schedules aligned, and considering Ottawa had little else to do and all of their children were in their twenties, these men had more free time than most.

“Hm hmm,” Turner hummed under his breath as he ran a finger down a page of the rulebook like he was looking for a word instead of reading it, but he also looked like he understood. Could anyone really read that fast?

“Turny reads very fast.” Donny must have caught sight of Ilya’s astonished look, because he laughed. “He works at a publishing company and reads a lot for work, so we let him read all the rulebooks.”

“Excuse me,” Turner glowered at Donny, “what do you mean, let me?”

Rob snickered. “So do you want me to read it instead?”

“No!” Turner pulled the rulebook closer to himself even though no one had made a move to take it from him. Ilya thought it was an unhealthy obsession with reading, but what did he know? If he had more access to Russian literature, or a rulebook or two in Russian, Ilya would also want to read more.

Donny pointed at Turner and mimed. “See what I mean?”

Ilya couldn’t help but laugh at this silly man, whom he liked more than the rest, except David. David was the best of them in Ilya’s opinion, letting Ilya join him and his friends when he didn’t have to, and acting like he always wanted Ilya there, which Ilya appreciated more than anything else. He was here because it was fun, but he was mostly here because David wanted him to be here, and it was worth a lot in Ilya’s world.

David and Richy were off in the kitchen bringing them everything David made, and Ilya had been looking forward to the little meat pies David was bragging about.

“It’s a trick-taking game!” Turner exclaimed, flipping a page. What the fuck was trick taking?

None of the others looked like they’d heard those words for the first time, so Ilya sighed, and Rob took pity on poor little Ilya. “A trick is one round,” Rob said, settling a sparkly silver crown similar to Ilya’s on his head, “we go in order, and each person puts down a single card.”

“And then what?”

“If I play a heart first, for example,” Rob attempted to snatch a card from Turner’s tight grip, “hearts are the suit that everyone has to play—is this a fucking frog? Why does the frog card have skulls?”

Turner won the tug-of-war they were playing with the frog card. “The suits here are princes, queens, pets, and fairies, one to twelve of each.”

Ilya pushed his gold crown back up from where it had slipped down his forehead. “So everyone always has to play frog if the first person plays frog?”

“The eight of pets is the only frog,” Turner lifted his head for a quick second to qualify.

“Yes, fine,” Rob said, “and if you don’t have a pet, you can play any card you want. It’s a good way to get rid of cards you don’t want. Is there a trump card?”

Turner only shook his head, nose stuck firmly in the rulebook, and Rob waved away the question on Ilya’s face. “Turny says this game doesn’t have it anyway.”

“Okay, okay,” Ilya nodded, “so everyone plays one card. Who wins the trick?”

“If a pet is the starting card, then the highest pet card wins the trick.” Donny furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to decide between a gold and a silver crown, both without sparkles.

Ilya could be helpful when he wanted to be. “You are warm tone, yes? Gold will look nice on you, Donny, but obviously not as nice as me.”

Donny rolled his eyes and plopped the gold crown on his head. “Thanks, Rozanov.” It was too small for the big guy, but Donny tugged it down as much as he could.

David walked back into the room with a bowl of crisps, and Richy carried a jug with what looked like lime water. Ilya’s contribution had been a dozen doughnuts, which they were already halfway through because everyone had grabbed one straight through the door.

The group wasn’t drinking today and was playing on a Saturday afternoon because some of them had evening plans they needed to be sober for, as did Ilya. Shane was driving from Montreal, and Ilya needed to be home in about two hours. He wouldn’t have come, except Ilya would have gone stir crazy trying to count the seconds until Shane would be home, and he figured this would distract him from the desperation he felt for Shane to be in his arms again.

“So if pets are the suit,” Turner explained, “and the cards played are a pet seven, a pet ten, and a queen twelve, the ten of pets would win.” Interesting.

“Then I cannot always win, yes?” Ilya always wanted to win, and what was the point otherwise, but he was also a gracious loser as far as he was concerned.

“Winning every trick isn’t the point,” David chuckled at Ilya, “sometimes it means avoiding certain cards, but it usually means guessing how many tricks you’ll win beforehand, and losing points if you go over or under your guess.”

“Not this one,” Turner interrupted, glee on his face as he flipped the rulebook closed, “here you’re a princess trying to avoid getting proposed to.” Ilya wondered how Shane wanted to be proposed to, whether Shane remembered Ilya's suggestion of a sea of candles, and if Shane would think it was romantic.

Richy snickered as he tried on a silver crown, and Ilya wiggled his fingers at Richy. “You should wear gold to match your rings.” The flimsy plastic crown could never match the gaudiness of the multiple rings Richy wore.

David picked a silver crown for himself and pushed a gold one at Richy, who gave his silver crown to Turner. Turner unceremoniously shoved it onto his head and continued explaining the rules. “It doesn’t matter how many tricks you win or lose, as long as you avoid getting the prince cards, which are equal to one proposal each, and the eight of frogs, which is equal to five proposals.”

“So each of us is a princess, and the frog could also be a fancy schmancy royal?” Rob asked.

“This game has a gay proposal also?” Ilya tilted his head, considering that seriously. He supposed Spain was very queer-friendly, and he would want to move there if not for the fact that they didn’t play much hockey. “Very, how you say, inclusive game.” Ilya tried to sound as neutral as he could.

David looked up, halfway through shuffling the cards, clearly thrown. “What do you mean?”

“Like Tsarevna Frog, the princess?” Ilya gestured vaguely, then at the pile of cards Turner pushed to the middle. What was David shuffling if the princesses were already on the table?

“No, it’s from the Frog Prince,” Richy frowned slightly, “the frog turns back into a prince when the princess kisses him. That’s the reference.”

“No, no,” Ilya insisted, switching briefly into Russian under his breath, then slower, “Царевна Лягушка(Tsarevna Lyagushka) was a frog princess, and she runs away after the prince throws away her frog skin, and then he wins her back, yes?”

“Ooh,” Rob set his chin in his hands, elbows on the table, “tell us more about that.”

Ilya made a gesture with his hands, like he was compressing the story. “King tells his three sons to shoot arrows, and they should marry the one who brings the arrow back. Two sons get normal girls, and the youngest gets a frog.”

“Of course he does.” Turner snorted. Ilya didn’t particularly care if the man liked him, but he wanted to be invited back, and wondered if there was a way to win the man over.

“King makes son marry the frog anyway,” Ilya continued, “then there are tests, like who is the best wife, and Tsarevna frog wins, so others are jealous and cheat.”

The men all leaned in a little to listen to Ilya.

“Then the frog is not a frog,” Ilya said, “she is actually a beautiful princess, only sometimes a frog.”

Ilya paused for dramatic tension, and they all held their breath as if it were a thriller rather than a fairy tale. It was funny to Ilya how invested they had all gotten in the story. “Youngest prince sees this, thinks he is helping and throws away her frog skin. Idiot.”

Donny winced. “Even I know that’s a very big mistake.”

“Yes, big mistake,” Ilya agreed, “She leaves when she finds out, and he regrets.”

“Right,” Richy said, “and that’s where it goes wrong.”

“Prince gets help from strange old women on journey to find her,” Ilya made a small circling motion with his hand as if to show how long the journey takes, “then he finds her just before she marries someone else, and there is a chase, but the new groom cannot cross the Russian border, so it is okay. Happy ever after, yes?”

David made an encouraging noise. “Happily ever after, but yes.”

“Anyway, this game references the prince version, Rozanov,” Turner glanced down at the cards in his hand, then back at Ilya. How many sets of cards were there in this fucking game? “But what, you’re homophobic if it wasn’t?”

“No.” Ilya didn’t look at Turner. He wanted so badly to tell Turner off and gloat that he was in love with the Cosmopolitan Hottest Man in the NHL, but maybe in a few years, Ilya could make Turner eat his words.

Turner raised an eyebrow, as though he was about to push it, but David cut in. “He said he’s not,” David said, starting to deal, “and I know he isn’t, so let’s play. Do I deal all the cards?”

“Yes, deal them all, and fine, I’ll continue with the rules,” Turner narrowed his eyes at Ilya and pointedly looked away, “Where was I?”

Donny, either oblivious to the tension or uncaring, offered, “Each prince is one proposal, and the frog is a five.”

“Right, and other than the princess and proposal theme,” Turner said, looking through the cards in his hand, “it’s standard trick taking without a trump card, and we play five rounds, each with a special rule.”

“Let’s play a round for Rozanov with no other rules first.” Ilya could kiss Donny, who was basically what Seb would be like when he was older. He couldn’t wait for the two to meet and have the weirdest conversation possible.

They all pulled the cards closer to themselves, and Ilya began sorting through his. He had two tens, but one of them was a prince, and the rest were five and under, so maybe that meant Ilya wouldn’t win princes?

“I’ll start,” Richy said, putting down a two of fairies. Ilya considered arguing, but he didn’t know how to play yet, and he could always make an argument for being the youngest next time.

Turner followed it easily with a six of fairies and Rob an eleven, then Donny grinned at Rob as he laid down a nine of princes.

Rob glared at Donny. “Fuck you.” Ilya made a mental note of the fact that Donny didn’t have any fairies.

“I don’t want a prince,” David scrunched his nose, “I’ll play a seven.” David looked so much like Shane when he did that with his face. Ilya couldn’t wait to go home and see Shane in the flesh, hopefully with one of his own nose scrunchies.

Ilya didn’t want a prince either, so he played a ten of fairies, good riddance to a ten. Rob’s eleven was the highest of fairies, so he pulled the winning trick of cards towards himself and turned them over.

“Oh, and also,” Turner raised a hand, “you cannot start with a prince unless someone has already played one.”

“You can play a prince if you don’t have a fairy like Donny did,” Richy explained, and Ilya nodded because he got that part, “and so now that a prince has been played, from the next round, anyone can start with a prince.” Oh, okay.

“I get to start because I won the trick,” Rob said, and played a three of pets with a few bunnies and a fox on the card. Cute, but also, what was up with the pets in a princess story?

Donny put down the eight of pets with the frog and five skulls.

“Jesus, Donny, that’s a terrible choice,” Turner said, putting his cards down on the table and gesturing wildly with both hands.

“Eh,” Donny replied, “I’m sure someone will have no choice but to play a higher pet.” It wouldn’t be Ilya.

Or David, who pulled out a six of pets. “Won’t be me.” Ilya then played a two of pets, and Richy followed up with a four. Guess everyone had a pet to play, and Donny would be winning the five proposals if Turner didn’t have a card with a lower number.

“Ugh, Donny,” Turner complained and showed a ten of pets before flipping the whole stack face down in front of him. He would have played a lower number if he had one, or a higher one to get rid of it, so it was likely this was Turner’s only pet card.

Turner started the next trick with a two of princes and picked up his crown from where it had fallen when he’d been indignant with Donny for playing the frog.

Rob played an eleven. “I hope someone’s playing that twelve.” Ilya figured it meant eleven was the only prince Rob had.

That someone was Donny because he pouted at Rob and put down the twelve of princes. Why hadn’t he played it instead of the nine he had played in the first round?

Richy asked him the same question, and Donny shrugged, “I forgot.” Forgot? Ilya definitely couldn’t assume everyone was playing their best card then.

David laughed at Donny and played an eight. Ilya pulled out his ten of princes, glad the eleven and twelve were both on the table, and that was all of his high cards!

Richy laid a three of princes on top and pushed the cards to Donny, who groaned as he took them. Donny now had six princes all to himself, Rob had one prince, and Turner had five proposals from the frog.

Ilya was just happy he was done with all of his big numbers.

Ilya wasn’t happy when he won the second to last trick with a four. A four!

David had started the round with a three of fairies after winning a trick with all queens and no proposals, and Ilya knew Donny didn’t have any fairies left, but he was fairly sure one of the others would have one. Ilya had played a four of fairies, but no one else had, leaving him with a five of princes, which Turner added to the pile of cards with a smarmy smile.

They played one last trick with the remaining cards, giving Richy his one proposal, and when they counted at the end of the round, David was the only one with no proposals. Ilya, Richy and Rob each had one, Turner had five from his frog, and Donny had eight from terrible strategy.

Ilya wondered if Hayes would be up to play this Rebel Princess game, obsessed as he was with comics and characters. Wouldn’t all that nerdiness extend to board games? Ilya could buy the team pretty crowns, maybe a real one for himself, and Harris could put the pictures up on the Centaurs’ socials, and it would be a win-win for everybody.

“Why did you really move to Ottawa, Rozanov?” Richy asked Ilya as David shuffled the cards for the next round.

Ilya dithered, eyes fixed on David’s hands and unwilling to lie to their faces, especially if he would have to see them for as long as he was with Shane, and he intended to be with Shane for the rest of his life, and more if he could. “I wanted a challenge?”

Turner snorted loudly. “Bullshit.”

“Come on, we won’t tell,” Donny said, holding his little finger out across the table, “pinky promise.”

Ilya huffed a small laugh and hooked his own pinky around Donny’s, before looking out around the table. A chorus of promises went around except for David, who looked apprehensive as he dealt cards out again, and Turner, who looked mutinous, as if Ilya was questioning his honour. Ilya sent David what he hoped was a comforting look, because he wasn’t planning on outing himself or Shane tonight.

“Fine, I’ll fucking pinky promise,” Turner growled when Rob nudged him, “It’s for a girl, isn’t it?”

Ilya shrugged because it was as close to the truth as any. “Yes, her name is Jane.”

David choked on a laugh, and his shoulders relaxed when he realised where Ilya was going with it. David had found out about Lily and Jane during Ilya’s first Christmas at the Hollanders and had been making fun of Ilya for the unimaginative names ever since. Ilya’s reply was to imagine how stupid their teams would feel when they found out. Still, neither of them told Shane because, as wonderful as Ilya’s boyfriend was, he was also neurotic enough to spiral over the fact that their names were uncomfortably close to the pseudonyms. Ilya was thankful no one had pointed it out to Shane yet.

“And she lives in Ottawa?” Rob would, of course, ask that question. How did the man instinctively know which question would cause the most drama?

“She travels a lot for work,” Ilya said, neatly side-stepping the question, “but Jane’s parents live in Ottawa, and she comes back here whenever she can.”

“Wow,” Richy raised his eyebrows higher than Ilya thought was safe, “if she travels so much, how was moving here any better?”

“In Boston, I saw her maybe five or six times a year, very long distance,” Ilya answered as he sorted through his cards for the second round, “but here it is better, I see Jane every few weeks, and I go if she is in Montreal or Toronto.”

“Enough about Rozanov’s love life,” Turner interrupted, and Ilya was thankful enough that he promised himself he would ignore the next bait from Turner tonight. There was only so much of the truth he could share before it became too much of the truth. Turner was flipping through the rulebook again. “This actually recommends playing the first round without additional rules for the first time.”

“Okay,” Ilya said, “what is the rule for the next round then?”

“I’m getting to it, Rozanov,” Turner grumbled, and Ilya let it go, though Turner had made it less than five minutes, and Turner sifted through the cards to find one called Masquerade Ball. “Everyone except the first player plays their cards face down, and we flip the cards to find the winner.” Ilya couldn’t count cards reliably that way, so he supposed it was up to luck, and he had it on good authority that he had a good chunk of that.

Donny leaned over to get a better look at the special rule card. “And what is this arrow with the number one?”

“Ah, I forgot,” Turner nodded, “it means we should pass one card we don’t want to the left.” Ilya had that terrible eight of frogs and needed to get rid of it, so he passed it off to Richy immediately.

“I’ll start since I’m leading,” David said smugly and placed an eight of queens on the table. Ilya had a twelve of queens, and he hoped no one was going to give a prince in the first round. This was the best he could do with the twelve.

Ilya let out a relieved breath when they flipped to reveal their cards, and he won the trick. Everyone had played a queen, so no proposals for Ilya yet. Richy got two princes in the next round from Rob and Donny, who didn’t have a pet card, and Ilya had started with a one, so someone else had to win. A few tricks later, Rob got a whole set of princes except for a fairy from Richy when he tried to start with a prince, which was a terrible move in Ilya’s opinion.

Then things took a bad turn for Turner towards the end of the round when he played a queen card, but no one except David and Rob had queens, so Turner ended up with the eight of frogs from Richy, and a prince each from Ilya and Donny. Ilya got three remaining princes in the last round, which was totally unfair.

The second round ended with David in the lead again, no proposals in tow, so they all booed him. “Boooooo, Hollzy.”

“Boooooo, David.” Ilya had four proposals, only worse than Richy, who had three. Rob had six, and Donny had eight, and Turner complained loudly when he found out he had an even dozen and was losing quite badly.

Turner had informed them that the third round was also to be played without an additional rule, and redeemed himself by not gaining any proposals.

Ilya got the eight of frogs, which was the absolute worst, but at least he hadn’t won any princes. Fucking frog. Donny had deserved it in the first round with his bad choice of cards, but Ilya understood Turner’s irritation at the end of the second. It left Ilya with nine proposals, David with two, and Richy with six more when he started with a nine of princes, assuming someone would play a higher card, leaving him with nine proposals, the same as Ilya. Rob and Donny had levelled out with two each, so Rob had eight and Donny ten to end the round. Ugh, Ilya had more proposals than Rob.

“Funny Hollzy has the fewest proposals,” Rob said, and Ilya knew it was going to start a heated discussion from the look on Rob’s smug face, “considering he got laid the most in college.”

“Oh?’ Ilya couldn’t wait to needle David about this and grinned at Rob. He would take back everything he ever said about Rob as long as he told Ilya about David’s wild ways in college.

“Definitely not as much of a man whore as you were, Rozanov,” Turner snarked, and Ilya rolled his eyes, “but Hollzy was pretty popular for a little more than two years until he met his attack dog of a wife.” Ilya could imagine Yuna as an attack dog, and she would be so fucking good at it.

David only laughed at Turner, “I can’t wait to see her chew you out over your parking skills when she comes in.” Turner only scowled back, and Ilya laughed some more. He loved that David appreciated all of Yuna’s qualities, like Ilya loved all of Shane’s, never mind that it didn’t make sense to anyone but them, and Ilya loved that he and David had that in common.

“No, no, they started dating at the end of the third year, remember?” Richy clarified for Ilya’s sake, “Yuna only agreed to date him after a whole year.” A whole year? David impressed Ilya more each time he learned something about him.

“I only asked her out once, and didn’t pester her when she said no,” David defended, “but we were in the same study group, and spent a lot of time together.”

“Yeah, and at the end of the year, she said she might as well date him, seeing as how she spent so much of her time with him anyway,” Rob supplied, “it was hilarious, and she said it in front of the whole hockey team too!”

David smirked at the lot of them. “It got her to date me, didn’t it?”

“Aye aye, captain.” Donny saluted David, and they all laughed.

The fourth round, as Turner explained it, basically introduced a trump, something Ilya knew nothing about.

“A trump is a suit that always wins the trick, no matter what the starting card is,” Rob explained, “and if there is more than one, the highest value trump wins.” And the queens were the trump this round.

They also had to pass three cards to the right under the special rule called Royal Decree, and David explained what the word decree meant as they decided on the cards. David had been helpful, but he was also winning, so Ilya took the chance to give David all three of his queens and got two for his effort from Richy.

David was in the lead, so he started with a twelve of queens, and everyone had one, so he won the set. David went with a ten of fairies next, but Donny ended the trick with a one of queens, taking the stack that had a single prince from Rob. Ah, that’s what a trump meant, because Donny had won the trick even with a low queen over the high fairy numbers. Ilya had played a twelve of fairies, fairly sure he would win the trick, as useless as it would be.

Donny tried to be smart with a three of princes, and he was because Turner groaned when he had to play an eleven, and begged Rob to play a twelve so he wouldn’t have to take Richy’s eight of frogs.

“Revenge for giving it to me in the first place,” Richy cackled when Rob played a fairy since he didn’t have a prince, and Turner twisted his mouth as he gathered his impressive nine proposals in a round. It was the highest anyone had gotten in a round yet!

At the end of the fourth round, Ilya had picked up two proposals, the same as Richy, leaving them both at eleven. David had taken three princes after being forced to play a queen, while Turner avoided any more princes for the rest of the round, not that it helped with his score of twenty-one. Donny only picked up one from the first trick, and Rob avoided them entirely, staying at eight and edging closer to David’s lead at five proposals.

David grinned at the group and waved like he was a queen at coronation, adjusting the silver crown on his head. Ilya idly wondered if Shane would enjoy being fucked by Ilya while he was wearing the crown, and had a brief flash of Yuna and David doing the same that he quickly shooed away.

Rob shuffled the cards for the fifth and last round, and Turner flipped through the rulebook again, mumbling to himself. How many times would he read it? Even Ilya knew the rules, and he hadn’t even touched the book. He supposed Turner could be looking for the special rule this round.

“Uh, it says whoever won the last trick starts the new round,” Turner said, “not the person in the lead.”

“It’s still Hollzy, so not much of a difference there,” Richy shrugged as he picked his cards up and drummed his fingers on the table, gold rings tapping out a steady beat, “so what’s the special rule this round?”

“Ooh, I like this one,” Turner said, smiling a smile that Ilya was starting to think of as his evil one. “At the beginning of each trick, every player plays a card as usual and also places a card down that will be given to the winner of the trick, and yes, any card is fine.”

“So we only play four tricks?” Ilya figured it would be a quick one, but extremely dangerous, and if Ilya managed to get Rob and David some extra proposals, he could win.

“Yes,” Turner nodded, “and we have to pass one card to the left.”

The front door opened, its sound carrying easily into the living room over the low murmur of the group deciding which card to give the person on the left.

“Shoes,” Yuna called out to no one in particular, already halfway inside. Ilya supposed none of them had lined their shoes up against the wall, thinking it too much of an effort to do so, and Ilya doubted David did either unless Yuna or Shane stared at him until he did.

Turner didn’t even look up from his cards. “You’re early.”

“I live here,” Yuna shot back as she stepped into the living room, shrugging out of her coat in one smooth motion. Her eyes swept over the table, cards and snacks, crowns, and then landed on David. “Oh, you look good with a crown.”

David didn’t blink, but he leaned back in his chair as if to show Yuna himself in all his glory. “Tell me how much you like it later.” He also shot a quick, scandalous glance at Ilya like Ilya hadn’t heard flirting before, and Ilya strangled the laugh that had risen in his throat, unsure if David would appreciate it.

“So,” Rob said, looking up from his cards and passing one to Donny, a grin already forming, “why aren’t you in Hollzy’s lap yet? You’re usually so fast about it.”

David shot up straight and groaned. “Robby!”

“What?” Richy spread his hands, “We were all thinking it.”

“Not in front of the children,” David said flatly. Where were the children? Ilya realised he was the child David was talking about, and a chuckle escaped him.

“What children?” Donny leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table after sliding a card to David. “Is it because Rozanov’s here?” he asked, completely serious. “You’re keeping it PG?” Ilya nearly choked on absolutely nothing.

Ilya added David’s card to his cards and pressed his lips together, his shoulders shaking slightly because this was incredible. It ranked as one of the best days of his life, because even Yuna had a light flush on her cheeks and looked slightly embarrassed. Apparently, this was what happened with David and Yuna when Shane wasn’t around. Ilya was going to tell Shane everything, every single detail and watch him complain, maybe even get Shane to sit on his face to shut Ilya up.

David dragged a hand down his face. “Please ignore them.”

“I already do,” Yuna added, stepping further into the room. She stopped just behind Turner’s chair and glanced down at the cards in his hand. “Hm.”

“What?” Turner shifted slightly under the scrutiny.

“It’s like you’ve never seen a parking line before in your life,” Yuna said calmly, walking around the table to perch daintily on the arm of the chair David was sitting on, “I had to reverse twice just to avoid your car.”

Turner scowled. “It’s fucking fine.”

“It’s not fine,” Yuna said, “it’s been thirty years, and you’re still somehow terrible at it.” Ilya bit down on a laugh because he didn’t need Turner to be even more bitchy with him, but watching Turner get told off by someone who clearly had no intention of being gentle about it was excellent entertainment.

“Fuck off, Yuna.”

Yuna only raised an eyebrow, sure that she had won that round, and pecked David on the cheek, her expression softening slightly for a second before she straightened again. “Anyway,” she said, “I’m going upstairs. Try not to lose too badly.”

“I’m winning, love,” David said.

“Okay, winner, I’ll see you—” Yuna started to say, then cut herself off and turned away to go up the stairs. Had she been about to promise the winner’s spoils to David? Ilya really, really couldn’t wait to tell Shane.

Turner muttered something under his breath. “Can we start now?”

David looked down at his cards, smiling faintly, played a five of queens, and put a card facedown in the centre of the table. Ilya followed with a four of queens and placed the eight of frogs David had passed him facedown, since at least then he wouldn’t be stuck with it. Rob cursed when he won the round with a nine of queens, unable to play anything else but his one queen card, and flipped the stack to find Ilya’s eight of frogs and four princes. Well, Rob wouldn’t be winning anything now.

Richy won the next round and picked up three princes, pushing him into third place after David and Ilya. Donny took the one after that and collected three princes as well, and David won the final trick with an eleven of fairies, along with the last two princes, still leaving him at seven with fewer proposals overall than Ilya’s eleven. Turner had the worst score at twenty-one, even after managing to avoid proposals in two rounds.

David pumped a fist in the air, pleased with the win and, Ilya suspected, equally if not more pleased at the thought of collecting on Yuna’s implied offer from earlier. The sight of it filled Ilya with a sudden, aching urge to go home to his own boyfriend.

Donny was the first to be up, already checking his phone as he stood. “I’ve got to go pick up my wife from brunch.”

“Tell her I said hi,” David called after him as Donny carried their used glasses to the sink.

They had almost cleared everything when Richy started to take his crown off, but Ilya stopped him. “Wait, wait,” Ilya said, “we need a picture with the crowns, yes?”

Donny and Rob whooped in agreement, and there was a brief resistance that lasted about a second before Turner sighed. “Just take the picture.”

David stood next to Ilya, laughing at something Rob said, while Donny tried to angle Ilya’s phone for a selfie. Yuna appeared in the hallway on her way through, took one look at them, and held out her hand. “Give it here,” she said.

“Cheese,” Rob said as Yuna hit the shutter and sent it to the Hollander group chat before handing the phone back to Ilya. It made him unbearably happy to have so much to share with Shane when he got home, after Ilya fucked him stupid, of course.

Ilya stepped around Richy, who was trying to locate a missing shoe in the pile, and nearly bumped into Donny in the narrow space between the hallway and the kitchen. He had to sidestep Turner, who was attempting to stand up and tie his other shoe at the same time, to find his own shoes under the stand, though Ilya didn’t know how they got there. He ended up near the hallway mirror as the others filtered out ahead of him, and Ilya shook out his curls before placing the crown back on his head. He liked it.

Outside, coats were pulled on, and David and Yuna ended up on the porch, waving them all off. Yuna hugged Ilya briefly before he left, telling him to come back for dinner later in the week.

“I will,” Ilya said, and meant it. He lingered just long enough on the porch to watch Turner walk toward his car, which was parked in a space that could have fit two.

Ilya agreed with Yuna. Turner had terrible parking skills.

Chapter End Notes

Each player also gets an additional princess boon every round that can be used only once, and they're super interesting, but I skipped that detail since I wanted to keep the chapter from being cluttered with even more game details. And if you liked reading this, I think you'll like playing the game, so here you go: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/381249/rebel-princess (also, let's please suspend disbelief over the fact that the game was released in 2023, but this chapter is set in late 2019)

Have I mentioned how much I love David's character? There's so much complexity and story to explore, and mixed in with Yuna, it makes me want to rub my hands together in evil glee lol.

> There was only so much of the truth he could share before it became too much of the truth.
My favourite line! And of course, there is so much I love about this chapter, where do I even start? I love that Ilya knows about warm and cool tones, and gold and silver. I love having stumbled onto the Russian version of the frog prince(ss), because the story is so cool. I love that Ilya thought about Wyatt enjoying the game, and maybe I can write a short drabble about Centaurs' social media posts featuring the team wearing crowns. I love that David was respectful and didn't ask Yuna out again after she said no, and Yuna was the one who made the move when she was ready. I love the David/Yuna flirting, might have to do wayyy more of it. I love the beef between Yuna and Turner about the silliest things. I love that I want so badly to read about Donny and Seb meeting that I will probably end up writing a fic. What about you?

I've done my share of editing, but please let me know if you see any errors, and I'll fix them. Thank you so much for reading, and let the comments come at me, I love knowing what you think of this! :)