Page 112 of Time to Shine

“I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Awesome. But we should probably be at the game tomorrow night.”

Landon smiled at him and stroked his hair. “We’re gonna win.”

“Obviously. It’s going to be the best game ever.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

It was just a game.

Landon had been repeating that in his head for the past five minutes as he waited in the tunnel with the rest of his team. He tried not to think about the fact that his parents were here to watch him play for the first time in his professional career. He tried not to think about Casey’s family, who Landon still hadn’t met, being here. Their flight had been delayed, so they’d barely made it to the arena in time for the start of the game, but Casey had happily announced that they were here when he got a text from them.

But anyway. It didn’t matter that Casey’s parents and grandmother were here. It didn’t matter that they were sitting with his own parents, meeting them. He needed to try not to think about any of that now.

He needed to not to think about how this would likely be the last game he started for the Calgary Outlaws this season, and possibly ever.

None of that mattered. What mattered was beating Washington.

“Hey,” said Landon’s favorite voice in the world. “I’ve got good news and bad news.”

Landon smiled behind his mask. “What’s the good news?”

Casey poked him in the chest with a gloved finger. “This is gonna be the best game ever.”

“That’s a relief. What’s the bad news?”

“I can’t kiss you properly with that mask on.”

Would Landon ever get used to Casey just saying stuff like that? “Does that mean you’d kiss me right now if I wasn’t wearing it?”

“Probably. But it would serve you right for flaunting your super-cute face.”

Landon shoved him lightly. “You’re so weird.”

“Nope. Just lucky.”

Scientifically speaking, Landon knew it wasn’t actual sunshine that was filling his chest, but it sure felt like it.

Landon was still smiling when he stepped onto the ice. He automatically looked to where his parents were sitting. Casey had made a show of waving to both of their parents during warm-ups. There was no doubt that the broadcast would be showing Dougie Hicks sitting in the stands at least once, and Landon wondered if his own parents would be visible next to him. Dad would definitely get a thrill from the boys back home seeing that.

By the time the national anthems had finished, Landon felt settled. Washington had opted to start their backup goalie, Mats Norberg, for this game, too. Landon knew Mats from a goalie training camp they’d both attended in the summer. He was a nice guy, and Landon was happy that he’d become Washington’s main backup goalie. Good for him.

Landon also hoped that Mats would get lit up tonight. Nothing personal.

The puck dropped and Landon needed to make a big save almost right away. He stopped the dangerous wrist shot with his chest, managed to keep control of the puck, then passed it to Lee. It was a good save, a solid save. The kind that showed his teammates that he was dialed in, and he would do his job so they could do theirs. If this was his last game in Calgary, he was going to put on a fucking show.

The first period was tough. Washington was relentless, with shots coming from all angles. Landon had scrapped his mantra of this being just a game and was playing like the whole world was riding on Calgary winning. Like winning this game would mean Landon could stay on this team, in this city, in Casey’s bed.

His teammates were playing hard, too, as if they knew what this game meant to him. Despite the efforts of both teams, the period ended 0-0.

Landon’s teammates knew not to speak to him about how the game was going in the locker room, but he definitely noticed Casey beaming proudly at him. Landon rolled his eyes as his heart bounced around.

In the middle of the second period, still scoreless, Washington got a breakaway. One of their star forwards, Garth Fraser, streaked toward Landon, with West close behind. West reached out with his stick and hooked Fraser’s hand with the blade. Fraser went down, probably with more gusto than necessary, and Landon swore under his breath.

Penalty shot.

Landon glanced up to where his parents were sitting, and saw his mom covering her mouth with one hand. Dad had a hand on her shoulder.

---