Chapter Text
Shane woke up to a kiss from his husband, abruptly waking him from the dream he was having. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled into the kiss, returning it. He closed his eyes again, breathing in Alex’s cologne.
“Bye honey, remember the new pool cleaner is coming today at 11. I already paid so you’ll just have to let him into the backyard,” Alex said.
“Okay, I love you, have a good day,” Shane replied with the morning in his throat.
“I love you too,” Alex smiled, planting a kiss on Shane’s forehead before padding out the bedroom.
Shane sighed happily and rolled over, grabbing his phone off the nightstand. This was his normal routine; wake up to his husband leaving for work, catch up on notifications from his friends, and then get ready for morning yoga. Shane had a few friends at his yoga studio that were always telling him they could never do the same thing every day like he did, but the routine was soothing to him. He let up a lot of control of his life being a stay-at-home husband; his routine grounded him, kept his head clear. Not that he really had much to think about–sure he kept the house clean, did the shopping, and always cooked dinner but most of the day he did whatever he wanted. Usually that something was working on a painting.
Shane scrolled through his notifications, skimming the few texts he had received, the latest from Alex with another reminder about the pool cleaning. Alex’s need to remind Shane had always annoyed him, but it was such a little thing that he had never brought it up, not wanting to fight about such a trivial thing. He left a heart reaction on the message, his usual response to any reminder from Alex. Shane opened his texts with Jackie, her messages from last night after he fell asleep mostly complaining about her husband Hayden’s snoring. The newest one, sent this morning, was asking him out to lunch after yoga class.
Shane sighed; of course Alex set the appointment for the pool cleaning at 11. Alex didn’t hate Jackie but she certainly wasn’t his favorite person– he thought she was a bad influence on Shane, keeping him out late when they had wine nights. Alex had been scheduling more things that required Shane’s attention during the day. He wasn’t quite sure if it was on purpose or just a matter of convenience; Shane could generally be home all day to take care of these things and he was usually happy to. Alex still respected Shane’s schedule–he never scheduled anything during an appointment on their shared calendar–so it would be ridiculous to even think this was on purpose. He’d never even tried to keep Shane from seeing Jackie anyway, so it was a ridiculous thing for him to think.
Shane sent Jackie a quick text letting her know he couldn’t do lunch and then hopped out of bed and started getting ready for his day. He took a shower, did his skincare routine, and put on his yoga shorts and tank top. He looked himself over in the mirror. His shorts clung tightly around his ass, cutting off right at mid thigh, and his tank top showed off his sculpted pecs and biceps. Shane thought he looked incredible so he snapped a picture and sent it to Alex.
Alex: You shouldn’t be sending me pictures when I’m at work.
Alex: You look great though
Shane rolled his eyes and dropped his phone on the bed, walking to the kitchen to make his morning smoothie.
Shane and Alex had met 7 years ago through a mutual friend that neither even talked to anymore. They had both been invited to a gallery show and immediately hit it off. Alex was three inches taller than Shane with a chiseled jaw, olive skin, light brown hair that was shaggy with loose waves, and a body that showed he definitely went to the gym regularly. Shane couldn’t stop looking at him the entire night and he noticed that neither could Alex. They dated for two years before getting engaged while they were on a trip to Italy. Shane had mentioned how much he wanted to go to Florence to see the Uffizi Galleries and Alex planned a whole trip for them. He proposed to Shane in front of The Birth of Venus, one of his favorite pieces of art. They got married the year after at a vineyard in California, a relatively intimate ceremony with family and close friends in attendance. A few months after they got married Alex received a huge promotion at work–the only problem was they would need to move to southern California.
Shane wasn’t thrilled at moving away from his family and friends but it was such a great opportunity for Alex, plus his new salary meant Shane could stay at home and focus on painting full time. It had been almost four years since they moved here and they’d quickly settled into their life. The first week after moving in Shane had spent the entire week unpacking and decorating the house; the second week was when he realized that he was really lonely when Alex was gone. Alex’s promotion had him spending even more time at work, leaving Shane with a ridiculous amount of free time. Shane found a yoga studio close to their house that had classes every morning; the first week he attended classes he met Jackie. She had quickly become one of Shane’s best friends–something about her just made Shane feel at ease.
***
Shane made it to the yoga studio fifteen minutes early, which was borderline late for him.
“Hi Shane,” the receptionist chirped.
Shane smiled, “Hi Sage, is Jackie here yet?”
“Not yet, you’re the first one here today,” she smiled back, a kindness granted to him by not mentioning that he generally was the first one there.
Shane walked into the studio room and set up his yoga mat. He sat down, legs crossed like a pretzel, and started his breathing exercises. Shane had started doing yoga years ago, the mindfulness and gentle movement helped him quiet his mind when his anxiety was particularly intense. That was part of the reason he quickly found a yoga studio to attend when they moved here; his anxiety had returned with a vengeance when Alex had received his promotion, the long hours apart tugging at his insecurities.
A few minutes later, Shane felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see Jackie grinning down at him, her eyes glittering. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a bun and she had on a matching yoga set. She laid her mat out and sat down on it facing Shane.
“Hi!” she squealed. “What’s up with not being able to make lunch? You never have anything going on.”
“Alex scheduled our new pool cleaner to come at eleven,” he frowned.
“Why do you have to be there for that?” Jackie retorted. “Just give him your gate code.”
Shane frowned and scrunched his nose, “I don’t like giving out my gate code, especially when I’ve never met the person. What if they’re a serial killer?”
“Oh come on, the pool cleaner wouldn’t kill you, that’s bad for business,” she giggled.
“You know what I mean,” Shane scoffed. “It’s weird just giving that to someone random… they could get in at any time.”
Jackie rolled her eyes, “You watch the news too much.”
Suddenly quiet music started playing and the yoga instructor clapped her hands. “Hello everyone! Take a seat on your mats facing me.”
***
The hour-long session was exactly what Shane needed today. He felt refreshed, his mind at peace for the first time in a week. Alex’s hours at work had been extra chaotic recently, often leaving Shane alone until the late evening. It wasn’t abnormal for him to work long hours but the frequency had made him feel uneasy. Usually Alex would check in, at least to let him know he wouldn’t be there for dinner so the leftovers could be put away sooner, but the past week Alex had been forgetting to do this. This sudden forgetfulness had been nagging at Shane–he trusted Alex but wished he would just give him that extra reassurance he needed sometimes.
“Hey, do you think we could have a wine night tonight?” Shane said to Jackie as they were walking out of the studio.
“Yes! It’s been so long, I need to see drunk Shane again,” Jackie said, giggling at the thought.
“Well don’t get too excited, you won’t be seeing drunk Shane tonight either,” Shane huffed. “I just need a relaxing night with you.”
“What, staying home all day and doing what you want isn’t relaxing enough?” Jackie laughed.
Shane frowned, “We just… haven’t had a wine night in a while.” This was the truth, but really Shane didn’t want to tell Jackie why he wanted to have one so bad. He’d probably talk about it after a glass of wine anyway, but he just didn’t want to get into it right now.
Jackie gave him a knowing smile, “I’ll let Hayden know he needs to be gone tonight, it’ll be just us.”
Shane exhaled a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, “Great, just text me when I can come over.”
Jackie smiled at him, “Will do! See you later.” She turned and waved, walking to her black Range Rover.
Shane checked the time on his phone and saw three texts from Alex, each more frantic.
Alex: I’m so sorry, I put the time wrong in the calendar. The pool cleaner is coming at 10:30 not 11:00
Alex: Did you see my text? Please respond
Alex: Hello??
Shane’s stomach sunk. It was already 10:30 and he hadn’t even left the yoga studio parking lot. He rushed to his car and raced home, hoping the pool cleaner hadn’t left already. He pulled into the driveway and saw a white truck with the words Marlow’s Pool Services on the side. He sighed in relief at the sight, opening the door to his car and hurrying over to the parked truck. He knocked once on the window, startling the man inside. He looked up, his hazel eyes shocked to see someone standing right outside his vehicle. The window rolled down.
“I’m so sorry for being late, my husband told me the wrong time and I was in a class,” Shane breathlessly said.
“Ah, is no problem. You are not too late,” the man replied. The man rolled his window back up and opened the door to his truck, stepping out of it. He had an accent Shane couldn’t quite place–maybe Russian, he thought. He was also extremely hot. The sight of him was not helping Shane catch his breath.
“I’m Shane,” he said, putting his hand out for the man to shake.
“Ilya”, he responded with a smirk, shaking Shane’s hand firmly, his eyes quickly flicking down Shane’s body.
“I’ll uh, let you into the back,” Shane said, still breathing a little heavier than normal.
“Thanks, let me just grab some things, okay?” Ilya responded.
Shane watched the man grab his supplies from the back of the truck. His eyes raked over Ilya’s body, taking in the shape of his ass in his shorts and the way his t-shirt stretched across his pecs and biceps. Shane forced himself to look away from his body, settling on staring at the back of his head. His dark blond curls were spilling out of the back of his hat, his neck was lightly damp from the morning sun and he could see his gold chain just peeking out. Ilya turned back around and gave a polite smile. Shane’s mouth suddenly felt really dry. God, this man could be a model, he thought.
“Okay, all ready,” Ilya said.
“Uh, j-just follow me,” Shane stammered. He turned toward the gate, punching in the code quickly, Ilya following just behind him. He led Ilya to the patio in his backyard, acutely aware of every single step the man was taking. Shane looked at him and said, “Well let me know if you need anything, I’ll just be inside.”
“Thanks,” Ilya responded, already moving to do his work.
Shane walked into the house, still trying to catch his breath. He took out his phone to send a text to Alex, at least partially motivated by the guilt of his reaction to the hot as hell stranger cleaning their pool.
Shane: Sorry I was in yoga class. I made it back in time though and he’s out there cleaning so everything is all good. I love you
Shane had planned to prep dinner while the pool was being cleaned, but the view from the kitchen was distracting. His kitchen looked directly out to the backyard, giving him a perfect view of Ilya. His muscles strained against his shirt while he skimmed the pool and Shane could see the gold cross hanging from his neck. He had turned his hat backwards, likely to pull his hair off his forehead, and Shane could see the sweat running down his temples. Before he could think about it he had grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and was taking it outside.
“Hey, I uh– have a bottle of water for you, if you want it?” he said hesitantly, striding up to Ilya.
“Thank you, that is very kind of you,” Ilya responded with a smile. He opened the water bottle and drank half of it in one gulp, his eyes never leaving Shane’s gaze.
“I just thought it was maybe hot outside and you’d like some… water,” Shane rambled. He couldn’t get his mouth to stop talking. He really needed to get back inside before he really made a fool of himself, but he couldn’t stop looking at Ilya’s handsome face and hazel eyes.
“It is not too bad outside. I appreciate the water though, most people just ignore me out here. Usually they just send the gate code too,” Ilya smirked at Shane, his eyes shimmering.
Shane blushed at the reminder of his quirk and scrunched his nose. “I just don’t want someone I don’t know here without me, they could be a serial killer.”
“Is bad for business, no?” Ilya laughed in response.
Shane smiled, “That’s what my friend said too.”
“Smart friend,” Ilya said, returning the smile.
“Well I’ll let you finish up, you’re probably already behind because of me.”
“I already told you it is no problem, I have more than enough time,” Ilya replied earnestly.
“Good, good, I’d hate to get you in trouble,” Shane said quietly.
“I don’t mind a little trouble,” Ilya said, cocking his head, a smirk just breaking on his face.
Shane’s cheeks flushed again and he flicked his eyes to the ground. “Uh just let me know when you’re done so I can show you out.”
He didn’t trust himself to continue to carry on this conversation, his thoughts spiraling with lust. He turned on his heel and practically jogged back into the house, the embarrassment of what he’d just done starting to seep into his brain. He walked into the bathroom, his hands gripping the counter, unable to lift his face. Finally, he looked up at himself in the mirror. His cheeks were flushed red, breathing still unsteady, and tears started to prick his eyes. How could he be so stupid? He turned on the cold water and splashed his face until he felt himself start to calm down. He grabbed a clean wash cloth and patted his face dry, taking deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth.
He sat down in the living room, avoiding the kitchen knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep his gaze inside. He grabbed his book off the coffee table, attempting to distract himself. After reading the same paragraph three times he sighed and gave up. He opened instagram and scrolled through the new posts on his feed. Shane mostly followed other artists whose work he admired, museums, and art galleries. The scrolling was at least occupying him while he waited for the pool cleaning to be done.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the sliding door. Finally he’s done and I can forget about all of this, Shane thought. He walked over to the door, giving Ilya a slight smile.
“I am all done. Your husband pre-paid so I do not need anything else from you,” Ilya said after the door opened.
“Uh okay well just follow me,” Shane said awkwardly, leading Ilya back towards the gate and his truck.
“Thanks again for waiting for me,” Shane said as Ilya loaded the supplies into the back of his truck.
“Really, it is not a problem,” Ilya said, shaking his head and smiling at him.
“I hope the rest of your day is good,” Shane said with a terse smile, turning quickly on his heel to go back inside.
“Yours too,” Ilya called out as the gate clicked shut behind Shane.
***
Shane’s phone vibrated, the screen showing a text message notification.
Jackie: You can come over any time!
Shane: On my way over now
Shane had been waiting all day to go to Jackie’s, even before embarrassing himself in front of his pool cleaner. He really needed to relax after…that. He opened his texts with Alex.
Shane: Going over to Jackie’s, there’s chicken and salad in the fridge.
He didn’t wait for a response and figured he wouldn’t get one soon anyway– Alex hadn’t even responded to his text from earlier.
It was a short walk over to Jackie’s house and Shane’s anticipation for the night made it even shorter. He knocked on the door, anxiously waiting to be let in. The door swung open, Jackie greeting him with a smile and a glass of wine. Shane stepped through the threshold, grabbing the glass of wine and taking a sip.
“Hi Shaney, we’re going to have such a good night. Hayden’s out of the house for a while so it’s just us,” Jackie said.
“I really need this, especially after my afternoon,” Shane responded.
“Was the pool cleaner awful? I’ve had some terrible ones,” she lamented.
“No… kind of the opposite. He was like a model, I could barely keep it together. I feel so guilty, like I did something to Alex,” Shane furrowed his brow.
“But you didn’t do anything, right?” Jackie looked concerned.
“The only thing I did was make a fool of myself. I was a mess. I couldn’t stop staring at him and he definitely noticed.” Shane gulped down half his glass of wine.
“Shane, that's not a crime, you can look at other people.”
“This felt like more than looking. Oh god, it’s so embarrassing. I brought him out a water bottle too just to be near him again,” Shane groaned. He drank the rest of his wine and poured himself another, taking a sip from the new glass.
“You were just being nice, once again that’s not doing anything wrong.” Jackie’s tone was much kinder than Shane thought he deserved. He had barely contained his lust for Ilya earlier.
“If Alex was home I never would’ve acted that way. I think he was flirting with me too,” Shane cringed. He took another gulp of wine, feeling a slight buzz already.
“Shane, you can’t control what other people do. So what if he was flirting with you?”
“Fuck Jackie, I liked it. I wanted to… flirt back.” Shane set his glass down and put his head in his hands. He could feel the tears welling in his eyes.
“Oh Shane, it’s okay. You still didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t act on your thoughts.” Jackie leaned toward Shane, gently rubbing the back of his neck. “I think you’re feeling this way because you need to talk to Alex.”
Shane felt Jackie's words drop through him like a lead balloon. He tilted his head to look at her, his tears starting to fall. His mind was racing–the fear, guilt, and alcohol an unholy mix. “I- I think… he doesn’t love me anymore,” he sobbed out, his tears flowing freely now.
Jackie wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back, soothing him like he was a child. “Hey, hey, that’s not true,” Jackie murmured. “You know that’s not true Shane. I’ve seen you together enough to know you love each other.”
Shane choked on a sob, “It’s just… recently… he’s not even home. He leaves in the morning, he kisses me, he tells me he loves me, but he’s not coming home for dinner. He’s not even texting me like he used to.” Shane sniffles, his tears no longer falling, and rests his forehead on Jackie’s shoulder. “I don’t know what to do Jackie.”
“Have you told him any of this?”
“Jackie, he's barely been home. I don’t…want to ruin the time he’s home,” Shane quietly said.
“Shaney, you have to talk to him, tell him how you feel. I’d be so mad at Hayden if he was doing that, but I wouldn’t let him keep doing that, I’d talk to him,” Jackie said sternly.
Shane groaned, “You’re probably right…let’s talk about something other than my problems though, what about your problems?” He grabbed his wine glass again, taking a big drink, and raised his eyebrows at Jackie.
“The only problem I have is Hayden always wants to have sex and I hardly think that qualifies as a problem,” Jackie giggled, taking a sip of her wine.
“Well at least someone is having sex,” Shane sighed.
“See! You just need to have sex with Alex, I bet that’s half your problem,” Jackie squealed.
Shane threw his head back and sighed again. The wine was making him feel loose now. He blew out a breath and said, “Maybe after another glass of wine.”
“Well let’s get you that glass Mr. Mopey,” Jackie said laughing.
***
Shane’s walk home was much slower. He’d had four glasses of wine, much more than his usual zero, and was practically walking twice as far with all the lurching he was doing. He was in a much better mood now–Jackie always made him feel better. He made his way up to the gate of his house and typed in the code slowly, making sure he didn’t push any of the wrong numbers. The gate clicked open and he gave it a hard shove, stumbling through the open space. He turned and leaned into the gate, using his whole body to push it closed. He made his way to the front door, fumbling with his keys a minute before pushing the door open. Shane was careful to shut the door as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake up Alex if he was asleep already. He took off his shoes, placing them neatly on the shoe rack, and quietly crept into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and gulped it down.
“Hi,” he suddenly heard from behind him. Shane jumped and spun around to find Alex on the other side of the island.
“You scared me,” Shane said breathlessly.
“Sorry, I just heard you come in and thought I’d come down,” Alex replied.
“It’s okay, did I wake you up?” Shane slurred.
“You didn’t wake me up, I was waiting for you.” Alex walked around the island and pressed a kiss to Shane’s forehead, his hands lingering on his waist.
“Oh, you were waiting?” Shane looked up at his husband, his lips parting as his heartbeat quickened.
“I wanted to make sure you got home safe. You weren’t answering your texts,” he frowned down at Shane.
“I was having fun with Jackie,” Shane whined, leaning back from Alex.
“Yeah you seem to have a lot of fun with Jackie these days. I can’t believe she let you get this drunk,” Alex said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
“Jackie’s my friend,” Shane scowled, “stop acting like having some wine at her house is a problem. Are you having a lot of fun staying at work late every day?”
“Hey, you knew my work was demanding. It’s what pays for you to stay at home all day,” he spat.
“I don’t want to fight. Please don’t fight me,” Shane whispered, tears welling in his eyes.
“Fine, I’m going to bed anyway, it’s late.” Alex left Shane standing there, the dim light from the hallway masking the tears falling down his face.
Shane: i mad eit home. Wine didnmt woek :(
Shane laid down on the couch–he couldn’t handle being around Alex at the moment–and opened google. He typed in Marlow’s Pool Services and hit search; the page loaded and the first result was a website for the business. It was just your average business website with information on the services they provided, how to book, and a small summary of their history.
Cliff Marlow founded Marlow’s Pool Services in 2013. In 2017, longtime employee and good friend of Cliff, Ilya Rozanov became a partner in the company. Together they run Marlow’s Pool Services providing you with the best options for your pool maintenance and repair.
Ilya Rozanov–he had a name now. He scrolled to the bottom of the page and followed a link for the company’s instagram page. The first post was of Ilya standing in a tank top skimming a pool, his biceps rippling. Shane checked the tags on the post–rozanov81. He clicked on the profile, his eyes practically bulging out of his head at what he saw. Every picture on Ilya’s profile was him shirtless, his abs and pecs glistening, perfect. Shane quickly locked his phone; even his drunk, clouded mind knew that his half-hard dick was a problem. He put his phone in his pocket, the weight of it pressing against his thigh like it could burn right through him.
He quietly crept into the bathroom, Alex’s light snoring drifting in. Shane turned on the faucet to brush his teeth, hoping the mundane action would fix his problem. His brushing was methodical, clinical even– thirty seconds in the upper right quadrant followed by the upper left, lower left, then finally lower right. His mind wandered to the Instagram pictures and his dick twitched again. This is useless, he thought. He ran the cold water in the sink, splashing his face twice before pumping his cleanser into his hand. He washed his face, carefully wiping away the grime of the day, hoping it would wipe away his thoughts of Ilya as well. The attempt was futile.
Shane padded into the bedroom and stripped down to his boxers. He plugged his phone into the charger and left it face down on the night stand; he couldn’t trust himself not to scroll through Ilya’s pictures again. He climbed into bed and immediately fell asleep.
***
Shane woke up to a kiss from his husband, his eyes opening and then immediately squeezing shut; the sun was definitely too bright today for how much wine he had last night. Alex let out a huff of breath, clearly annoyed at the reminder of last night.
“I’m leaving for work, I love you.” There was a slight annoyance in his voice.
“I love you too,” Shane croaked out. He rolled over, pulling the blanket over his head to drown out the light.
“There’s a water bottle on your side table,” Alex said right before shutting the bedroom door, the noise making Shane jump.
Shane poked his arm out of the blanket and waved it around until his fingers met the water bottle. He grasped at it, the condensation wetting his fingertips, and then knocked it off the side table. Shane groaned, debating if he really needed any water. His headache told him that he definitely needed to grab the water off the floor or else he’d regret it, even more than he regretted yesterday. He slowly lowered the blanket and rolled out of bed, grabbing the bottle off the floor. He opened it and chugged half of it before getting up and walking to the bathroom–he desperately needed some painkillers.
Shane swallowed the painkillers and grabbed his phone–only three texts from Jackie, not bad–and unlocked it; the shock of seeing Ilya shirtless made him drop his phone. He scrambled after his phone, his heart racing. He looked back down at the screen, slightly less shocked at the picture this time. The fog on his brain started to dissipate and his cheeks started to flush, the embarrassment of last night overwhelming. He closed out of Instagram and checked his texts from Jackie.
Jackie: Oh honey, I’m sorry
Jackie: Are you feeling okay?
Jackie: No yoga class for me today, we had too much fun
Shane turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up–the temperature almost scalding by the time he decided it was ready–then peeled off his boxers and stepped in. As soon as the water hit him he groaned, the warmth helping soothe his headache. He thought about last night–he’d had a fun time with Jackie but everything after had been a disaster. He couldn’t figure out what was going on between him and Alex, the avoidance and tension were starting to get to him. He thought that whatever was going on with them was why he’d had such a reaction to Ilya. He couldn’t believe how he’d acted about Ilya yesterday–he really made a fool of himself bringing out that water bottle–and he especially couldn’t believe he'd found his Instagram and looked through his pictures.
Just the thought of Ilya’s pictures made Shane’s dick twitch. He ignored it–his dick didn’t understand things like his brain did–and started washing his hair. He grabbed his expensive shampoo, squeezed some into his hand, and started massaging it into his scalp. The strong scent of sandalwood and the sensation of his fingertips rubbing on his scalp made him involuntarily moan. He tipped his hair back into the stream of hot water–the images of Ilya flashing in his mind as the droplets gently massaged his head–rinsing out the shampoo.
Shane’s dick was fully hard now–his brain be damned–and he found himself sliding his hand down his chest, then his stomach. He cupped his balls with one hand and gently rolled them in his palm, groaning at the pressure. He took his other hand and slowly stroked his cock from the base to the tip, rubbing his thumb over his leaking slit when he reached the tip. He stroked down again, increasing his speed, letting out a small moan. Shane reached an arm up to brace himself against the cold tile of the shower, the speed of his stroking becoming almost punishing. He thought about Ilya: his soft curls he’d love to run his fingers through, the strong biceps he wanted to hold him down, his round ass he couldn’t stop thinking about grabbing. He threw his head back and moaned again as he kept stroking with a quick rhythm, his dick leaking strings of precome. Shane's breathing went ragged, his balls tightening with his rising orgasm. He stroked his dick twice more and then his orgasm was ripping through him, a loud moan escaping his lips as his hand slowed, stroking slowly as his come spilled over his hand.
Shane let his head drop down, his breathing still heavy. He stood there for a few seconds catching his breath then turned around and rinsed his hand. He grabbed his body wash and squeezed some into a washcloth; he scrubbed his skin until it was raw, trying to wash away the shame of what he’d just done. He grabbed his towel and stepped out of the shower, thankful for the steam covering the mirror so he didn’t have to confront himself at this moment.
Shane sat down on his bed, towel wrapped around his waist, and grabbed his phone. He had a notification for a new calendar appointment–Pool Cleaning with Marlow’s Pool Services in six days. The realization settled into Shane and his chest tightened; he’d be seeing Ilya in just six short days. He was so fucked.