Summary:

Maybe if the video ended there, Shane thought, it would be okay. Okayish. Still incriminating. Still a fucking disaster. Still embarrassing, to have his breakup with this beautiful actress filmed and disseminated on Reddit of all fucking places, but not a nail in his coffin, burying him alive. But the video didn’t end there.

“Can I ask if you’ve ever been with another guy?” she had to ask.

And he, tears visible in his eyes, had to nod.

Just once. Just a single nod.

Why did he have to nod?

“Have you ever told anyone that before?” He shook his head. “Was it different? With a guy?”

“Of course.”

Of course.

“Was it better?”

“Yes.”

+++

Shane’s conversation with Rose is secretly recorded. Months later, after the All-Star game and Ilya’s confession in Russian, the video gets leaked online. Shane is outed to the world while Ilya is in Russia, and must now finish the 2016-2017 season with the entire world in on his secret.