The next season of Heated Rivalry is going to wreck me if this is anything to go by. Damn. While Heated Rivalry was Shane’s story of his struggle to embrace who he is. The Long Game is Ilya’s story of his finally confronting the trauma of his childhood. We pick up with Shane and Ilya about three years after the end of Heated Rivalry. They are still in a secret relationship. Ilya signed with Ottawa, the worst team in the league, but it allows them to remain close. However, their arrangement isn’t starting to wear on them. They are both tired of hiding but also afraid to come out. Ilya is fighting depression and, for the first time, really dealing with the trauma of the death of his mother. I would argue that Shane is dealing with an eating disorder, but it’s not really treated as one in the story, so I might be reading too much into it. In the first book, it’s heavily implied that hockey is the villain of the story because it is the culture that is not only preventing them from openly coming out, but also Shane’s internalized homophobia that has prevented him from truly being himself. This one is no longer implying but coming right out and saying it. Shane is not out publicly but is to his team. Word has gotten back to the commissioner of the league, and he basically threatens Shane with never coming out while he is still playing. *Spoiler* Shane and Ilya are accidentally outed by Hayden when one of his videos goes viral. Ilya’s team is much more supportive, while Shane’s worries about coming out come true when his team not only isn’t supportive of him but blame him for losing a playoff game and accuses him of throwing it for Ilya. This is, by the way, the season after they have won the Cup for the third time. The unfairness of it all is crushing, but honestly, probably a more realistic outcome if this were to happen in real life. There is a very satisfying scene at the end of the book when Shane tells the commissioner off. This book was a lot more emotional for me than Heated Rivalry, and if the show adapts it as loyally as it did the first one, we are all in for a very emotional ride. I do think I should read Role Model before the new season, as it is rumored that the book’s main characters will be the B-couple, like Scott and Kip were in the last season. It makes sense because from what I gathered from this book, it takes place at the same time, and their plots intersect in a couple of key moments.