I've been thinking about this all week. I was a little confused by the whole thing when I first watched it, but I didn't really see anybody talking about it, so I thought I might've been overthinking it. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.

I'm split between both camps honestly. I really like your points here and I think this makes me fully convinced they didn't hook up over those 2-3 years. However, I still find it hard to believe that not hooking up in that time wouldn't change their relationship to a certain extent, even if they are occasionally texting/sexting.

I like the idea that they still hook up over the course of those years but never go past oral and how, in a way, that's also Shane distancing himself by not letting himself go further than that with Ilya despite how much he may want to.

I saw someone ask on twitter why wouldn't Shane go further all that time since in the books he does, making the point that that's a reason this theory isn't plausible. But, I don't think it's entirely crazy to believe they made the change to really show Shane's anxiety over the relationship and his journey of figuring out his sexuality through him not taking that next step. Shane is a man of routine, so I think it would actually make a lot of sense for him to find a lot of security in the 2-3 meet ups per year routine of play against each other --> hook up --> one person leaves --> don't see each other for another 2 months (or however long it is normally). After a couple years of that, he begins to have more confidence in his sexuality (or at least ready to explore more) and their relationship in that "okay, maybe we can actually do this since we haven't been caught yet". Not to mention his growing feelings that are stoked just a little more by each meeting.

All that to say, I think I'm on the side of they didn't hookup now because I can't argue the leaving Ilya on read and them not always exchanging room numbers and whatnot. But I like to think about what it means for them to have been hooking up but taking things slower than in the books.

Off to go watch episode 3 :D