Summary:

"What is it about you specifically that inspires such vitriol among the other teams’ fans?” Ilya shrugs easy with one shoulder, tries to make sure the pull of his lips strikes the right balance of contrite and nonchalant. What do they even want him to say? He leans closer to the microphone shoved towards him, starts. “I don’t know, maybe…" He considers his next words. Imagines his coach’s reaction. What his teammates will say. The headlines the media will pick. He says them anyway. --- On Ilya and Shane and their different media strategies, set to the backdrop of their slow- moving romance.