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12 min read

When hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) have sex for the first time in the steamy new series Heated Rivalry , you can feel the passion from the other side of the screen. The sexual tension between the two athletes is often so overwhelming that when the two finally go at it, it’s hot, energizing, and—according to the many viewers posting their reactions on social media—shocking.

But why is this level of queer intimacy so surprising? HBO Max and Crave’s Heated Rivalry, which zeroes in on the romance between hockey rivals Hollander and Rozanov, is gritty, graphic, and unfilt

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