Shelly Pardy

“I love you.” Shane froze. And then Ilya froze. “Holy shit,” Shane whispered. It wasn’t how he had meant to respond. “I...” Ilya’s eyes were so wide and so scared. “I love you too,” Shane said.”
― Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry

“Do you think we looked like that to them?” “What, sexy? I probably did.” “No, like...in love?” Ilya seemed to consider the question before answering. “We are very good at pretending to not be in love. Maybe we are bad at showing it when we are allowed.”
― Rachel Reid, The Long Game

“They had lots of reasons to keep their relationship a secret, but those reasons seemed extremely unimportant now. What if Ilya had died? What if he had fucking died?
Shane would have died too. Alone, and secretly, and for the rest of his life.”
― Rachel Reid, The Long Game

“Ilya nodded to the ring.
"Yes," Ilya said again. "I am saying yes, Hollander."
"Oh." Then Shane’s lips spread into a wide grin. "Yeah?" He scrambled to his feet and into Ilya’s arms.
They kissed, and Ilya said, "Yes." They kissed again, and Ilya said, "Of course."
They kissed some more, and Shane said, "I love you."
By the time they finished kissing they both had tears streaming down their cheeks. "Is this because I almost died?" Ilya teased.
"No. It’s because I almost died."
Ilya brushed the tears on Shane’s face with his thumb. What could he even say to that?”
― Rachel Reid, The Long Game