Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid

Relationships:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Troy Barrett/Harris Drover

Characters:

Shane Hollander, Troy Barrett, Ilya Rozanov, Harris Drover

Additional Tags:

Texting, Sliding Into DMs, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Only slight canon divergence, Book 5: Role Model (Game Changers), Spoilers for Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers), Fluff and Humor, Jealous Ilya Rozanov, Beautiful Shane Hollander, Written before Heated Rivalry (TV)

Language:

English

Stats:

Published: 2025-07-05 Words: 1,813 Chapters: 1/1

I'm only cryptic and machiavellian ‘cause I care

Summary

It was a Tuesday morning in late December, and Shane was mid-protein smoothie when his phone buzzed with a surprising notification. A direct message from Troy Barrett, who he had never met or talked to. But he followed back when Troy followed him, mostly out of curiosity. And it was definitely weird to be getting a message from him.

Remember when Troy thought about asking for Shane's phone number? What would have happened if he actually acted on it?

Notes

A silly little mental tangent that I couldn't let go of. This consists of Instagram DMs, texts, and regular exposition.

Thank you princebutt for planting this idea in my head and helping with Ilya's dialogue!!

And just because, let's pretend this is a prequel to my other (much more explicit) fic featuring my two favorite couples: putting on a show

Title is from Mastermind by Taylor Swift. (Ilya is the mastermind.)

It was a Tuesday morning in late December, and Shane was mid-protein smoothie when his phone buzzed with a surprising notification. A direct message on Instagram from Troy Barrett, who he had never met or talked to. But he followed back when Troy followed him, mostly out of curiosity. And it was definitely weird to be getting a message from him.

troybarrett17: hey

shanehollanderhockeyplayer: Hey?

troybarrett17: sorry to randomly dm you, i know we haven’t met, but i wanted to tell you how cool i think it is that your hockey camps with rozanov are so inclusive. that’s really needed for kids who maybe feel unwelcome in hockey. so yeah, thanks

shanehollanderhockeyplayer: Oh wow, thanks Barrett. That’s really nice of you to say.

troybarrett17: and hey congrats on your cup win last season. better late than never?

shanehollanderhockeyplayer: Sure, thanks, I appreciate it.

troybarrett17: see you in montreal next month

shanehollanderhockeyplayer: Yeah, see you then.

*****

“Hello solnyshko, I did not expect you to call until tonight. I am in the car driving to practice.”

“Well, the weirdest thing just happened, and I had to tell you. Troy Barrett just messaged me on Instagram.”

“WHAT? He slid into your dms? I will kill him.”

Shane rolled his eyes. “Ilya no, it wasn’t like that, it was way weirder actually. He said he wanted to tell me it was cool that our camps are so inclusive because it’s important for kids. And then he congratulated me for winning the cup last season. And that was it.”

“Yes, that is very weird. He is strange guy, I think.”

“Has he talked to you about the camps?”

“Sure, Wyatt and Bood, too. He said it is cool and everything like that. But why does he need to tell you that? He does not even know you.”

“I know that’s what makes it so weird. But I guess it’s nice?”

“Hmmmm,” was all Ilya said in response.

“What?”

“I have a suspicion about Barrett…” Ilya trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

“And? What is it?” 

“He is… very attentive when I am getting undressed.”

“Are you saying you think Troy might be gay? Or bi or something?”

“Is a possibility. Maybe I do need to kill him after all.”

“Ilya, you don’t need to kill him. It was a totally harmless message.”

“I am still suspicious.”

“Please don’t kill your new teammate. If Ottawa has any chance of winning, you need him.”

“Now I am going to kill you .”

Shane laughed. “No you’re not. I love you.”

“Yes yes, I love you too. I am going to talk to Barrett though.”

“NO!” Shane yelled probably too loudly. 

“Why no?”

“If you talk to him about it, he’ll know that I told you immediately after the fact. That will be suspicious.”

“He knows we are friends.” Shane could hear the air quotes around “friends.”

“Ilya, just leave it. If I knew you were going to confront him, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

“Fine fine. But I’m keeping my eye on him.”

“You do that. Have a good practice. Call me later, okay?”

“Yes okay. I love you, Shane.”

“Love you.”

*****

A few weeks later

troybarrett17: hey!

shanehollanderhockeyplayer: Hey, Barrett. What’s up?

troybarrett17: since we’re playing in montreal next week, i wanted to ask if maybe you wanted to get a drink after the game, loser pays?

(seen 47 minutes ago)

*****

Shane: I think you were right

Ilya: I know

Ilya: What was I right about?

Shane: Barrett

Ilya: WHAT

Shane: He just dm'd me to ask me out for a drink after our game next week

Ilya: I WILL KILL HIM

Shane: You can’t! What reason would you have to be angry about him asking me out?

Ilya: I do not care. He will be dead, so it does not matter.

Shane: Ilya

Ilya: What? Did you respond? Are you going out on a date with Barrett instead of getting fucked into the bed by your boyfriend after our game? 

Shane: No! I want to…. see you… of course.

Shane: I didn’t respond.

Ilya: Do not respond. I will talk to him.

Shane: I don’t think that’s a good idea. I can just politely turn him down.

Ilya: No, I will do it. You do not message him again.

Shane: 🙄fine 

Shane: BE NICE

Ilya: I will be nice after I kill him

*****

“Hey, Barrett!”

Ilya’s voice boomed across the gym at their practice facility. Troy was on the stationary bike with his headphones on, but he slowly pulled them off, a slight look of fear on his face. Every other head in the room turned to Ilya.

“What’s up, Roz?” Troy asked cautiously. 

“Everyone else get out, I need to talk to Barrett.”

The rest of the guys didn’t hesitate, not with that look on Ilya’s face.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?” Troy asked, slowing to a stop while everyone walked out.

“Yes, everything is fine. I just needed them to go away, so I had to be angry to get them to leave.”

“Uh… sure. So, what’s up? Why do you need to talk to me alone?”

“You slid into Shane Hollander’s DMs.” 

Troy blushed bright red and his eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out for at least 30 seconds. Ilya just stood there with his arms crossed, waiting.

“Um… is that a question?” Troy asked. 

Ilya sighed. “ Why did you slide into Hollander’s DMs? I think I know, but want you to tell me.”

“Why do you care?”

“I am your captain. I care if you are trying to go on a date with the captain of a rival team.”

“W-what? I’m not… I didn’t… what??” Troy was stuttering stupidly, looking anywhere but at Ilya.

“Barrett, is okay. You do not need to hide. I will not tell anyone. Just tell me. You asked Hollander on a date, right?”

Troy looked like he might hyperventilate and it took every ounce of restraint Ilya possessed to not roll his eyes. He handed Troy his water bottle and let him take a couple of sips before speaking again.

“Troy,” Ilya placed his hand on Troy’s shoulder, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, despite the simmering anger he felt. “Shane is gay. I know you have heard the rumor. Is true. I am telling you this because I hope that you will feel comfortable to tell me what I think you have to tell me. Okay?”

Troy’s eyes were wide again, but he was looking at Ilya. He took a deep breath and said, “I’m gay.”

“Good.” Ilya nodded matter-of-factly. “Thank you for telling me. I promise I will not tell anyone, you can trust me. I have not told anyone about Hollander except you, because I suspect you already knew.”

“Uh yeah. Well, I heard, and yeah. I thought, I don’t know, maybe it was stupid. But I mean, he is a total babe, so I thought…”

Ilya’s hand tightened on Troy’s shoulder so much that Troy flinched, and he pulled his hand back quickly, snapping out of the blind rage that had almost taken over.

“I suppose I could see how you might feel that way, even though he is very short and boring.”

“Hey, he’s taller than me! And it doesn’t matter anyway, he never responded. I guess I freaked him out, because he went and told you about it.” Troy shrugged a little dejectedly.

“Is for the best. Hollander is boring. The two of you would be so boring together. Would never leave the house, in a boring way. No spark. You don’t want a boring boyfriend, Barrett."

“I mean, I never said anything about a boyfriend . He’s just… cute.” Troy blushed again and it was all Ilya could do to not burst out laughing. This poor kid was just trying to get laid. Well, he wasn’t going to get what he wanted from Shane, that was for sure.

“Barrett, you’re not his type.”

“Really? How do you know? What’s his type?”

“He likes a big, strong top. Tall, lots of muscles.”

“I’m strong and have lots of muscles!”

“Just leave it, okay? You don’t want to deal with Hollander, trust me, I know him.”

Troy sighed. “Whatever. Yeah, you’re right. God this is embarrassing.”

“No, no, do not be embarrassed. We will find you someone who is better for Troy Barrett. Maybe a certain social media manager?” 

Ilya waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Troy blushed yet again. And Ilya knew they were in the clear.

*****

Several months later

“Hey, Harris, how does this message sound?” Troy called out to his boyfriend from the couch to get his professional opinion on the Instagram message he was about to send to Shane Hollander. 

He and Ilya had just been outed in a spectacularly disastrous fashion, and Troy wanted to show his support not just for Ilya, but for Shane too. He knew what it was like to be on an unsupportive team, and he wanted to offer some solidarity where he could.

“Let’s hear it babe.” Harris stood next to him.

“Okay, it says, ‘Hey, Shane. I just wanted to say I’m so sorry about everything that’s going on. This is so messed up, you and Roz deserved to come out on your own terms, and you deserve a supportive team. I’m here for both of you, and so is Harris. We’ve got your back.”

“That sounds great!” Harris bent down to look at the message on Troy’s screen and then halted.

“Wait! Troy! Oh my god!” Harris gasped, and Troy realized a moment too late what Harris had seen to elicit that reaction.

“You asked out Shane Hollander like a month before we hooked up???” Harris’s mouth was hanging open, laughing. “You’re such a slut! I can’t believe this!”

Troy threw his phone down on the couch and buried his face in his hands.

“Oh my goooood, you were never supposed to see that!”

“Why, do you still have a crush on him?” Harris niggled at him.Troy jumped up from the couch and reached his hands out for his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Harris, no! No way! I don’t know why I did that, I was so horny and lonely and I heard Hollander was gay, so I thought maybe, but no! I swear, I already had a crush on you at that point, I just thought you were way too good for me and didn’t deserve a guy like me and—”

Harris cut him off with a kiss. 

“It’s okay, babe. I know. I’m just teasing. And I will probably continue teasing you about this for at least six months to a year.”

Troy sighed and dropped his head on Harris’s shoulder. 

Harris patted him on the back and said, “Go send your message to Shane. He might even respond to this one, eventually.”