‘Heated Rivalry’: 8 Hottest Moments of Season 1 So Far, Ranked
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Heated Rivalry Season 1 Episodes 1-2]
Cue up your favorite ice melting pun because Heated Rivalry is here, and no ice rink or smoothie shop is safe! Crave’s adaptation of Rachel Reid’s steamy romance is now streaming in the United States on HBO Max, and it is one of the hottest series in years.
The enemies-to-lovers saga of rival hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie) doesn’t skimp on the sex, the skin, or the swoonworthy moments from Reid’s book. Almost every bit of the novel’s NSFW story is in the new series, which hails from Letterkenny cocreator Jacob Tierney. The third episode introduced fans to a new love story, the one between hockey hunk Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and smoothie king Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.). Naturally, there were some steamy Skip moments that will hold us over until Shane and Ilya come back into the picture next week.
As the series rolls out, we are ranking all the hottest moments that left us dabbing ourselves with some ice to cool off. Check out our post-Episode 3 ranking below, and be sure to check back in after each episode drops to see where the latest sexy moments land on the list.
Heated Rivalry, Season 1, New Episodes, Fridays, HBO Max
8. Scott and Kip's First Time
“Do you want the house tour now… or?” Scott Hunter knew exactly what he was doing when he finally brought Kip Grady, the cutest smoothie server, back to his apartment and asked this question — sans shirt. When Kip takes the second option (understandably so!) and the two tumble into bed together, it feels like fireworks, given just how long these guys have been dancing around this moment. Rachel Reid does love a very slow burn. But the very tender scene that follows, with Scott telling Kip he is “so beautiful” as he kisses up and down his chest, and Kip blushing over just how much Scott likes him, is very sweet, even if it feels like watching a PG movie compared to Shane and Ilya’s scenes. But these two are the acrobatic twosome, so we appreciate the change in pace, for now.
7. May 2009 – NHL Draft
The life-changing moment when Shane and Ilya are the top two picks in the National Hockey League draft is a competition itself, the tension from which is only escalated hours later when they unexpectedly meet in the hotel gym and try to outrun each other on stationary exercise bikes in a late-night workout. Breathless and panting on the floor, they stare almost silently at each other until Ilya offers — or rather, commands — that Shane drink his water to rehydrate. Shane can only obey, as he will do many times in the future. The sexual tension between them, even in this first moment, is unbearable, and Storrie’s silent mouthing of the word “more” and Williams’ immediate obedience is oh so hot. Reid’s final word on that night in the book is ringing in our ears after watching this scene: “For the rest of his life, Shane Hollander would have to live with the fact that he had ended his NHL draft day by getting himself off to thoughts of Ilya Rozanov.”
6. Nashville – All-Stars Game Press Conference
While everyone has their clothes on in this one, it’s an important moment for Shane and Ilya, directly from the book. When Ilya gets hit with a deep question from a reporter, one he only catches every other word of through his Russian language barrier, Shane jumps in to help communicate their respective challenges as the faces and leaders of their teams. Under the table, Ilya touches Shane’s foot, and Shane reciprocates, a tender, supportive acknowledgement of their bond that is just for them. With so much time and space between their encounters, this sweet gesture is a leap forward for our Russian ice queen. However, the subtlety with which they support each other in the press conference is abandoned that night when they act like feral animals the second they get in a room alone. Sure, it’s hot like all their other scenes, but the way in which Williams and Storrie just casually touch each other as they talk, rest their hands on each other’s bare skin, and entangle themselves together is so overwhelmingly affectionate. It’s maybe the hottest intimacy in the show.
5. Scott's Honest Moment
This might be controversial, but the morning-after conversation between Scott and Kip following their first night together is among the sexiest things we’ve seen so far in this series. Some may see Scott’s honesty as manipulative – he is saying that he wants Kip more than anything in the world while also telling him he has to be his secret. That will be a key to why they face trouble in the coming episodes. BUT, hear us out on this: Scott telling Kip he wants him to be there when he gets home from practice and when he gets home from his game is impossibly romantic. Scott has stuffed this side of himself down for so long that he can’t hide how important it would be to have someone waiting for him at home. The way Arnaud trembles and can’t hold eye contact just shows how difficult it is for Scott to admit any of this, and yet, his attraction to Kip begs him to do it. For everything that comes next, we love ourselves a Scott with his heart on his sleeve. And a Kip who embraces what he wants from Scott, too.
4. May 2010 – Part 1
The shower scene! Like a predator playing with his food before he consumes it, Ilya taunts Shane by joining him in the shower after their joint photoshoot. They can’t help but trace each other’s bodies with their gaze while the other one is lathering up. After Shane’s unintended arousal starts to show, Ilya turns toward him, locks eyes with Shane, and starts playing with his, er, hockey stick. It is pure, undiluted Ilya at his horniest and proudest, completely in control of both his desires and Shane’s.
3. May 2010 – Part 2
Wisely, Shane diverts Ilya’s shower cruising to his hotel room, where they share their first kiss and, let’s say, first taste of each other. And these two boys are hungry! Shane barely gets through the door before he has Shane up against the wall with his lips on him. Shane wastes no time getting his hand in Ilya’s pants and onto his knees. By the time they reach the bed, it doesn’t take long for either of them to get a mouthful of exactly what they want. But it only leaves them wanting more.
2. Summer 2014 – Las Vegas
Many Heated Rivalry fans have waited years to see this particular scene. After Ilya wins MVP of the Year at the NHL Awards, he gets to claim the reward he and Shane bet each other — even though Shane agreed to it without knowing what he was putting on the line. When he comes to Ilya’s room, the evening is fraught with tension outside of their relationship, specifically from Ilya’s father. For that reason, it doesn’t take the top spot because it doesn’t end on a good note (the elevator texting scene is heartbreaking, by the way). But everything up to the end is so freaking hot. Ilya drags a chair to the foot of his bed (we gasped a little) and makes Shane play with himself. The control and dominance, the selfishness of sitting there with a cup of vodka just enjoying the show at his discretion, like the cheeky masochist he is, remains one of the hottest interactions they ever have. But it only works because, while hesitant at first, Shane sees what it does to Ilya, so he goes all in. The image of his face down on the bed, his face buried in the pants Ilya is stripping off, will be seared into our brains for the foreseeable future.
1. Montreal 2013
So much can be said about the first time Shane and Ilya have sex. The constant care Ilya takes, knowing this is Shane’s first time. The way in which you can feel Shane giving himself over to Ilya’s expertise and evident hunger for him. The show’s willingness to linger on the thrusting, the grunting, the moaning. It all works. But the real moment that solidifies this is the comfort they have with each other in the afterglow of their first time. The assurances they share with the other. The way Ilya asks if it was worth the wait, and the way Shane responds by kissing him softly, and then again on the forehead. Even though they have only met a few times, there is an undeniable familiarity that comes out when all their walls have been broken down like this. That last kiss freaks the commitment-phobic Ilya out enough that he quickly announces he has to leave, but it is for all the right reasons. He feels himself sinking into something deeper with Shane, and he doesn’t yet know what to do with it.
