Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

M/M

Fandoms:

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

Relationships:

Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau & Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov

Characters:

Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau, Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander, Hayden Pike, Boston Bears | Boston Raiders Team Ensemble (Game Changers), Ottawa Centaurs Team Ensemble (Game Changers), Troy Barrett

Additional Tags:

Humor, POV Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau, Bisexual Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau, Married Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Cliff Marlow | Cliff Marleau, Fluff, Friendship, Dumb Hockey Boys, Implied Sexual Content, (only two sentences or so)

Language:

English

Stats:

Published: 2026-04-01 Words: 4,087 Chapters: 1/1

I’m not gay (but if I was)

Summary

“Nah, Roz wouldn’t hold that against him. The guy’s a dick but he’s fair. Glad he doesn’t have to hide anymore now, they seem like a good couple. Both hot as fuck too. That wedding is gonna be fucking insane, I can’t wait.” It isn’t until Cliff finishes tying his skates and looks up, he realises that the entire locker room has fallen silent and is looking at him. “What’s up?” He asks with a confused frown.

Cliff Marlow is a proud ally. And maybe not entirely straight.

Notes

equal rights by the lonely island is literally cliff’s personal anthem.

this work now has a russian translation!
thank you so much to createworldswithwords for translating <3!

For decades Boston has been known to be the problem child of the MLH. It’s an unwritten rule that you have to familiarise yourself with the penaltybox after joining the Bears. There is not one player that still has all of their original teeth - they play dirty and are proud of that. Last year they broke a record for most fights started on the ice, a title that they’re sure to take home this season as well. To this day they’re the only team in the MLH to get a game suspension because of fighting a mascot. Twice.

That being said, they are also a team that does not stand for bigotry. Cliff makes sure of that as their captain. So when the Fanmail video gets leaked and the news comes out that his best friend’s decade-long hookup turns out to be a man, he texts Ilya first. He tells him that he’ll be there for him no matter what. Asks him if he can do anything, if Hollander is okay and ends it with the promise of always having his back. Then, at practice the next day, Cliff shouts through the locker room to get everyone’s attention.

“We’ve all seen the video so I’m putting an end to this high school gossip. I better not hear anyone make a fucking joke about this. Rozanov is one of ours, that is still our captain that got us the cup. He dragged our asses into the play-offs nearly every single fucking year since he joined. Ilya Rozanov has brought us more victories than any other Bear ever has. So if you have the audacity to disrespect his name, you disrespect this team and everyone in it,” Cliff’s voice bounces off the walls and echoes through the room.

The air shifts, except there isn’t any tension in it. A wave of adrenaline bursts through instead - as if they’re on the point of walking out to a sold-out stadium. Multiple players agree loudly, slamming their hands against the wall and yelling Rozanov’s name.

Cliff’s face holds a serious expression. His eyes are darting through the space to see if anyone dares to go against him. “Don’t say shit to the media. No talking to reporters or journalists about it. And if you hear another team use homophobic bullshit as chirps, I expect to see teeth on the ice. That fucking penaltybox is going to be your new home.”

Louder cheers accompany Cliff’s words now. The promise of dropping gloves gets an enthusiastic reaction out of everyone, even those that aren’t necessarily the definition of supportive. The Bears are loyal to their ex-captain and take any excuse to show that.

“Alright, that’s it. Anyone who isn’t on the ice in five minutes is staying behind for bagskates. I have all fucking day, so you’ll be here for a while.” With that, Cliff gestures for everyone to hurry up and grabs his skates.

Next to him sits Carmichael, who shakes his head with a laugh. “Shane fucking Hollander. I always thought he kept that girl because she didn’t watch hockey or some shit. Turns out it could not be further from that,” he says whilst tying his laces. “That’s crazy, man. Good for him. Haven’t seen him this happy in years.”

“Yeah, for sure. Remember how much he sulked when Hollander dated Rose Landry? Think I still have a fuck ton of blisters from those practices. And when they finally made up, Marlow just had to put his boyfriend in the hospital,” Connors adds from the other side of the room. He puts his phone away and walks over to them. Cliff groans at the memory, kicking him in the shin. “At least you didn’t out them like Pike. You think he’s still alive?”

Carmichael snorts at that and shakes his head. But Cliff knows better, making a disagreeing sound. “Nah, Roz wouldn’t hold that against him. The guy’s a dick but he’s fair. Glad he doesn’t have to hide anymore now, they seem like a good couple. Both hot as fuck too. That wedding is gonna be fucking insane, I can’t wait.” It isn’t until Cliff finishes tying his skates and looks up, he realises that the entire locker room has fallen silent and is looking at him. “What’s up?” He asks with a confused frown.

The months following the video are normal and different at the same time. For Cliff it doesn’t change a lot. He still texts Ilya daily, except the messages he gets in return aren’t as vague anymore. They hang out and play videogames whenever their schedules align, but Ilya now says the name ‘Shane’ at least thrice every five minutes. His face lights up every time he says it. At the wedding Cliff thinks about the night Ilya passed out drunk in his arms after a game years ago, sobbing so hard he threw up. Suddenly the shock of the video isn’t there anymore.

Hanging out with Shane Hollander is maybe the biggest change. Because where Cliff had expected him to be uptight and - as his best friend always puts it - boring, Shane turns out to be one of the funniest guys he knows. He sheepishly tells him that when they’re at a basketball game together and gets a loud laugh in return. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before. The league used to be very concerned with me maintaining that image. Can’t imagine why they aren’t anymore.”

When the game starts again, Shane gets back to immersing himself in it. He fits in perfectly with the energetic crowd - shouting after a foul, cheering when someone scores and complaining about the game strategies. Cliff texts Ilya that he now understands why he married him. He gets a text back with ‘lol yeah he’s the biggest sports nerd’ that is followed by ‘stop flirting w my husband’.

“Man, being gay sounds awesome,” Cliff sighs into the phone later that night. Ilya, who is on the other side of the call, audibly chokes on his drink. “You’re literally just buddies doing fun shit and you get to have sex. That’s a win-win, dude. Shane told me about the camping trip you guys have planned and I almost got jealous. Going fishing, working out and you’re also in love? Bro. That’s the dream.”

For a few seconds they both stay silent. It gets interrupted by Ilya taking a deep breath. “Marly, are you coming out to me?” He asks.

“Good one, Roz,” Cliff snorts - not hearing the frustrated mumbling that unleashes after he laughs. “Hey, are you up for some Call Of Duty?”

After the new season starts and the Centaurs defeat the Bears on home ice, Cliff gets invited to go out with them. An hour later he sits in a booth at a bar called Monk’s. He is two beers in and his cheeks hurt from laughing so much. Luca Haas is wedged between him and Zane Boodram. Across from them are Ilya, Shane and Troy Barrett - who has another man seated in his lap that introduced himself as Harris earlier. Wyatt Hayes sits on a chair next to them.

“You’re bullshitting,” Barrett laughs, “I don’t even want to believe that. Seriously, Hollzy? You gave in just like that? Normally fucking heart eyes over here is the first to fold. Don’t look at me like that, Roz, you know I’m right.”

Shane’s cheeks get even redder. “That’s not- quit it, Ilya. That’s not entirely how it happened,” he says whilst pushing Ilya’s face away, successfully avoiding the attempt at a wet kiss. “Originally we were supposed to film separately. Then my mom got an e-mail about CCM wanting to show off the newest MLH rivalry, so I’d be filming with Ilya there as well. We shot the video and started talking. Turns out, Ilya pitched the idea of filming together to CCM because he wanted to talk to me.” Harris’ face softens at the same time Hayes nearly spits out his beer from laughing.

“Yes, yes, I am very romantic. Gave Shane many hints but he did not get any of them, so I did what anyone would do. Shower right next to him and jerk myself off,” Ilya grins proudly. The entire booth breaks out in a mix of groaning and laughter. Shane swats at Ilya’s hand on his thigh but can’t manage to bite back a smile.

Laughing along, Cliff catches Ilya’s eye and frowns a bit. “Okay, so he saw your dick and got hard. But how did you know that meant he was gay?” He asks with genuine curiosity. Slowly the snickering around him dies down when everyone realises it’s a serious question. Cliff looks around and gestures vaguely with his bottle. “That happens all the time. Fucking annoying to get dressed with a raging boner, but we’re all used to it by now, right?”

Ilya opens his mouth but seems to be at a loss for words. He stares at Cliff, looks at Shane, then looks back. Harris takes that as his cue to slam both hands on the table and asks if he can get a fill for anyone. The subject gets changed, but throughout the entire night Ilya keeps shooting weird looks at Cliff.

They say their goodbyes not long after that. Since he is staying at their house, Cliff gets into an Uber with Shane and Ilya. He plays with an overjoyed Anya for half an hour before he feels his eyes getting heavier. When he’s sure they’re alone in the livingroom, he ushers Anya up the stairs to the guest bedroom. “Don’t tell your dads,” he whispers to her. She jumps on top of the bed, flops onto her side and starts snoring within ten seconds.

In their own bedroom, safely on the other side of the house, Ilya is two fingers deep into working Shane open when he suddenly thinks of something. “I think Marly might like guys as well,” he says, more so to himself. Shane freezes on the spot. Ilya looks up at his husband and grins at him. “No worries, lyubimyy, he is not going to burst through our door.” It earns him an unimpressed look. His hand gets pushed away, fingers slipping out with a soft sigh. He pouts at the distance created between them. “You do not want to multitask? We can talk about Marly being bisexual whilst I am fucking your brains out. Is very time-efficient.”

“I don’t want to hear about Marlow when my dick is out, Ilya,” Shane groans, making a point out of getting under the covers. Ilya looks at him with a knowing grin and raised eyebrows. If the mood had been killed and they would call it a night, Shane would shower or at least wipe away the lube. Instead, he now tries his best to casually mask the uncomfortable feeling of wet skin against the bedsheets. “You think he’s bisexual? I thought he told you he wasn’t.”

“And you told me you were straight even though you are super gay.” The scoff Ilya gets in return makes him laugh. “Is true, no? Besides, he probably does not realise he is bi. He keeps saying shit starting with ‘I’m not gay but-‘. No straight person says that.”

Shane makes an indignant sound. “That’s a perfectly normal thing to- oh. No, wait, I get it now. I used to tell myself that as well. Oh wow, that obvious, huh?” He rolls his eyes at the look his husband gives him, a grin tugging on the corners of his mouth. “Maybe just give him time? Surely he will realise it eventually. Or you could talk to him about it and try to hint at it?”

“Hint at it? Have you met Marlow? He is dumb as rocks. Rocks are smarter than him. They can at least build walls, Marlow can not even build furniture.” Annoyance seeps through in Ilya’s voice. It almost turns into frustration, until he remembers what they were about to do. “Okay, sure, I will talk to him. Can I please get back to eating your ass if I promise not to bring him up again?”

The next time Cliff goes out with Ilya, it’s after the Bears win from the Centaurs in overtime. Ilya agrees to join the Bears in clubbing on the condition that they won’t try to stop him from leaving early. Despite some loud protesting his old team agrees. When asked why, he tells them that Shane runs ‘a tight schedule’. To prove this he calls his husband on speaker, but immediately gets outed by Shane asking if he needs to send a fake-text later. Ilya pretends he doesn’t hear the cackling laughter and gets into an Uber.

About an hour later most of them are nursing a drink in the private section of the club. Connors takes the spot next to Cliff and nods towards the entrance “Think your curfew just arrived, Roz,” he says. Ilya frowns at the ‘oooh’ coming from St-Simon and Carmichael, but breaks into a smile the second his eyes follow their gaze. Shane makes his way through the overcrowded room with Barrett behind him.

“Ah, yes. Shane Hollander, notorious party animal. It is becoming a real problem,” Ilya sighs. He pulls Shane into his lap - who immediately scoots off and takes a seat next to him. The rest of the guys greet him and Barrett by raising their glasses.

“Yeah, well, you know me. Just can’t stay away from the alcohol and drugs,” Shane says dryly. “Connors messaged me how miserable you looked and I didn’t want you to miss out on spending time with your friends. So uh, I hope this is okay?”

Knowing nobody is going to disagree, Cliff still speaks up just in case. “Good to see you, man. You as well, Barrett, too bad your shots were so shit.” He laughs at the middlefinger trying to taunt him and makes space for Barrett to sit down instead. There are some more enthusiastic responses reassuring Shane it’s fine, giving Cliff the chance to sit back and relax again.

The entire night goes smoothly in a way that he feels it buzzing under his skin. Of course he had not expected any trouble out of Barrett showing up alongside Shane, but the lack of awkwardness is a pleasant surprise. Cliff barely knows the guy himself and yet he feels a bit protective over him. Barrett reminds him of Ilya in his rookie years - though a bit more put together. Maybe that’s why the rest of the team makes sure he doesn’t get left behind in their conversation.

“Always these straws,” Ilya says as he hands Shane a glass. He puts the rest of the drinks on the small table in front of them. “Says it is better for his teeth, as if they have not been chipped and knocked out already.” Then, in a softer voice but still very audible, he grins at Shane. “I think you just want something to su-“

“Boooo!” Carmichael shouts, throwing his own straw at Ilya. “Leave Hollander alone. Preferring straws doesn’t mean he wants to suck your fucking dick, Roz. Your head’s so big with that inflated ego, bet you can just do it yourself.”

That sparks a glint in Ilya’s eye. Before he can open up his mouth and share something incriminating, Shane leans against him and whispers something in his ear. The glint grows even bigger but the silence stays. Carmichael watches the entire thing and nearly loses it when he sees the change in Ilya’s posture.

Meanwhile Cliff is a few beers in and has missed most of the conversation. Which is why his mind pauses at ‘suck’ and picks back up from there. “Hey, you know who’s also fucking insane at giving head? Acosta. Dude’s a beast.”

Once again the whole group looks at him in confusion. “How’d you know that?” Barrett asks, one eyebrow raised. There is a clear hint of a warning in his tone. Though he doesn’t show it on his face, he is more than ready to shut the conversation down.

Cliff, however, seems to be completely unaffected and shrugs. “From experience, of course,” he explains. Seeing the wide eyes around him, he takes it as a sign to go on. “Yeah, we were drunk in a hotelroom during a roadie and thought it’d be funny. Turns out he’s fucking great at it! We stopped halfway through because he just wanted to try, but I had to jerk off in the shower after. Fucking crazy, right?”

Laughter breaks out. Cliff grins as well, thinking back at the memory of it. “Marly, you are so funny,” Ilya snickers and takes a sip of his beer. The confused frown he gets in return makes him lower the glass slowly back on the table. “Wait, what? It is not a joke?”

The All-Star Game invitation brings Cliff to Los Angeles. This year East against West makes a return, now with the four teams format. Meaning that in a weird twist of fate, he is now a part of the first Team East and has Shane Hollander as his captain. Luca Haas being one of the alternate captains is the result of a fan-vote - one that Cliff finds absolutely hilarious since the kid looks like he’d rather faint than face a ref.

“Not even a C, huh?” Cliff grabs Ilya’s shoulder and shakes him dramatically. “You’re falling off, man. How’s it feel to be one of the normies this year?” They’re sitting in the hotel lobby, waiting on a couple other guys they invited to get dinner.

“I do not give a fuck about A or C, Marly. Put me in goal for all I care,” Ilya sighs dramatically. He throws his hands up as if all is lost. “My problem is being on a team with Pike. I swear this is MLH punishment for being too good. They are pissed that fans want me here, so they think ‘how can we make sure Rozanov will not return?’ and put Pike on my team.”

Pike has been chosen by the MLH for the probable reason of being the only Voyageur that will not cause a riot. His stats aren’t bad by any means, but he isn’t exactly a star player either. “God, it would be perfect if Hunter was your captain. Too bad he isn’t playing this year,” Cliff says and manages to dodge an annoyed smack.

“He is not playing because his controversially younger boyfriend has put him in a care home, probably. About time.” Another tragic groan escapes Ilya’s mouth. Behind the theatre of it all is genuine annoyance. The second East Team has a few players he is friendly with, but it mostly has younger guys that take it way too seriously. “Only fun part is that I get to play against Shane. And beat your ass, of course.”

Cliff laughs at that. “Yeah, your team’s way too much, dude. I’m glad I have Hollzy. Good luck with Rybakov as captain, at least he’s Russian.” Emil Rybakov is the new Washington star centre and the captain of the second Team East. Picked third in the draft two years ago, he is quickly becoming more and more popular within the MLH.

“He has Russian parents. He is still American from New Jersey,” Ilya says with a scrunched nose. “Keeps speaking in Russian to me during practice. I tell him that it is practice, entire team needs to understand it so we can work together. He does not listen.”

The cloudy expression breaks apart when the elevator doors open and reveal Shane. Cliff has to cough in order to mask a snort, not wanting to risk Ilya getting aggravated again. He greets Shane and the other guys before they all leave the hotel. On their way to the restaurant they get stopped a couple times, but still manage to get there on time.

Dinner is a chaotic mess in the best way. First one of the newcomers nearly gets decked by Ilya for asking Shane if he could order for him (‘I’ve never had sushi! He literally asked me if I wanted recommendations!’). A few minutes later Pike walks through the entrance and is forced to sit in the only empty chair next to Ilya. Then, after everyone has eaten way more than they should have, the restaurant owners come out with a special platter to thank them. They end up spending another hour and eventually split up in two groups. Half of them head to a bar, leaving the other half to go back to the hotel. Cliff, Shane, Ilya, Pike and four others all crash Haas’ hotelroom to watch a film.

“Didn’t know any name until three years in. If anyone came near Roz’s phone he’d get fucking pissed off. So when I saw ‘Jane’ on his screen and brought it up, he deadass punched me.” The loudest laughter comes from Ilya himself. It makes Cliff roll his eyes with a grin before he continues. “Eventually he started talking about Jane and kept saying how everyone else was ruined for him forever. Which sounded like bullshit to me at first, because there was no way he wouldn’t show a picture of her if that was true. But then it turned out he somehow pulled Hollander and he wasn’t lying after all.”

Everyone in the room cheers, not paying attention to the last part of it. Shane, however, narrows his eyes and stares at Cliff as if he’s trying to figure something out. “Thanks, I think?” He says. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

It isn’t until the first Irina Foundation hockey camp Cliff attends, he starts to notice people acting odd towards him. He tells Ilya that his new girlfriend broke it off but he doesn’t mind it that much. Instead of the usual joking and sarcastic comments, Ilya asks him about the new Boston player that recently came out.

Later that day Cliff gets cornered by Pike who asks him about the club he was photographed at a few days ago. He tells him the name and location, thinking Pike asked it because of that.

The next day Scott Hunter decides to sit next to him at breakfast and starts talking about how he plans to further protect queer MLH players. Cliff nods and tells him he’ll have his back, not too sure why Hunter wants him to know about it.

Then Barrett is walking towards him after lunch and it suddenly clicks. “Okay, I know what’s going on and I think it’s fucked up,” Cliff frowns before Barrett can open his mouth. “This is not cool. I don’t know what you guys all think of me, but I am not that. I never will be, either. Thought that much was fucking clear already.” He sees Ilya heading for them as well and decides he has had enough of it. “You’ve known me like ten fucking years, Roz. This is so gross of you. It’s disgusting that you’re all in on this like some big fucking joke.” None of them know what to say. Barrett and Ilya are staring at Cliff with huge, shocked eyes. “It’s just low of you to think I’m homophobic. We’re best friends, dude, I can’t believe you’d think that. I watch gay porn all the time, I’m literally an ally.”

“Marly!” Ilya actually shouts it at him. He grabs Cliff’s shoulders and shakes him violently. “Marly, you fucking idiot, we do not think you are homophobic. We think you are bisexual, you dumb fuck!”

A soft gasp slips out of Cliff. He backtracks his thoughts, goes through them once more and lets out an ‘ooooh’. “Dude,” he says, “I think I am. I didn’t want to say anything because it’s probably a huge shock to you. But I’ve been talking to a guy and I actually really fucking like him. Who would’ve thought?”

Barrett bursts out in wheezing laughter whilst Ilya looks like he’s on the verge of losing his sanity. It takes five minutes for both of them to fully calm down. “That is great, Marly. You will have to tell me everything about this guy you are interested in. I just need to go to the bathroom first,” Ilya says with a calm voice. He walks away until he’s out of sight. Five seconds later a string of frustrated Russian words gets yelled out.

“He’s probably just really surprised, y’know,” Barrett tells Cliff.