Page 2 of Time to Shine

Landon was glad he’d be busy. He knew himself, and if he wasn’t kept busy, he would spend every hour not at the arena alone in his hotel room. The travel would be good for him.

So far Landon had been met with polite greetings and nods by his temporary teammates; the exact sort of welcome one could expect from coworkers who knew there was no point in trying to get to know you. In the locker room now there was chatter and laughter and the easy camaraderie of men who were together nearly every day and night. Landon had made a beeline for his own stall when he’d first entered the room, keeping his head down, letting everyone here know that he was here to do a job, and didn’t mind being ignored.

As he was fastening the straps of his right leg pad, a pair of skates with neon pink laces stepped between his wide-spread legs. He glanced up and saw the smiling face of Casey Hicks, Calgary’s young star left winger.

“Hey, Stacks. Good to see you again,” Casey said, as if they were old friends instead of two guys who had barely spoken to each other during training camp. “How’s Saskatoon been treating you?”

“Uh. Good. Team’s had a strong start.”

“Thanks to you.” When Landon’s face must have shown surprise, Casey added, “Yeah, I follow that shit. I’ve got lots of friends in the AHL. I saw that epic save you made last month. The one where you were all—” Casey stretched his arms out and lifted one leg. Landon knew the save he was talking about, and it had looked nothing like that.

“That was a tough one,” Landon agreed.

Casey put his arms and leg down and kept smiling at him. Landon went back to fastening his straps.

“What’s your wingspan?” Casey asked. “It must be like a mile long, right?”

“About six-nine.”

“Nice,” Casey replied automatically, then laughed. “For real, though. That’s killer.”

Casey had dimples when he laughed. Combined with his shoulder-length dark blond hair, unusual blue-green eyes, and pink lips, it was understandable why he was a fan-favorite for reasons beyond his hockey skills. He was...cute.

“Thanks,” Landon said, because he wasn’t sure what else to say.

Casey nodded. “Well, welcome to Calgary. Everyone’s cool here. I heard the postgame meal is gonna be subs. Try to grab one of the chicken parm ones. They go fast, and they are fucking awesome.”

As if Landon was going to elbow his way to the front of the food line on his first night with the team to get the good sandwiches. In front of players who had actually played.

“Oh, and avoid the third shower stall on the right because it’s all fucked up.”

“Okay.”

Casey’s tone turned gravely serious. “No. For real. Don’t use it.”

Landon stared at him. “I won’t.”

The easy smile returned to Casey’s lips. “Cool. Let me know if you need anything, ’kay?”

Landon couldn’t imagine what he could possibly need from Casey Hicks. If he required anything at all during his short stay in Calgary, he could probably find someone more appropriate to ask than an all-star.

Even if the all-star in question was a year younger than Landon.

Still, though. The offer was nice. “I will. Thanks.”

A few minutes later the team took to the ice for warm-ups. Antton Niskanen dropped to the ice in his usual spot to stretch, and Landon found a spot far away from him. He knew Antton didn’t like to talk before games. He knew everything about him. Landon didn’t like to talk much either, so he stretched in silence and tried not to be obvious about the glances he was stealing of his idol. Antton’s mask was a new variation on the same design he’d had for years: a team of demonic horses breathing fire, mounted by skeletons wearing cowboy outfits. This year the mask had “NISK” written like a brand on the chin of the mask, the letters still smoking. It looked dope. Landon was wearing his Saskatoon Bandits mask, which thankfully matched the Calgary team colors.

Lee Ramsay took a knee on the ice beside Landon. “Hey, I didn’t get a chance to welcome you earlier. Sorry. I was getting some treatment.”

“No worries,” Landon said, because he was totally chill and not at all starstruck. Lee was in his fourteenth season of an incredible career, and had been Calgary’s captain for seven of those seasons. He was often described as a natural leader, the kind of captain every team wants. He was also often described as handsome, which he absolutely was with his warm brown skin, tall, muscular build, and his Hollywood smile.

“You know anyone here?” Lee asked him.

“I’ve met some of the guys before at training camps.”

“Gotcha. So no friends on the team?”

“Uh no. Not yet,” Landon said, as if he would be making friends any minute now.

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