Page 113 of Time to Shine

Time to show them what their son could do.

“Bring it,” Landon said as Fraser got ready at center ice. “Fucking try me.”

Fraser did the usual zigzagging when he started, trying to confuse the goalie. Landon stayed with him, and predicted that Fraser would cut left and shoot low. Fraser cut left, held the puck for as long as possible, and tried to shoot it into the bottom corner of the net. Landon extended his leg and stopped it easily.

He made it look good, though.

The crowd erupted, and there were even some sustained chants of “Stackhouse! Stackhouse!” for a minute or so after the save. Landon hadn’t heard that since Saskatoon.

It felt fucking great.

The next time Casey was on the ice, he skated up to Landon during a stop in play and said, “That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Shut it.”

“Seriously, Stacks. I’m hot and bothered right now. Gonna seduce the shit out of you later.”

“Go play hockey.”

Casey pointed his stick at him. “It’s happening. Consider yourself seduced.”

God, Landon liked him.

The game continued to be a goalie battle until the very end. When the siren blared to end the third period, there was still no score, and the shots on both sides were in the forties.

The two goalies skated to the opposite ends of the ice for overtime, but stopped briefly in the middle. “Good game,” Landon said.

Mats smiled at him. “No matter what happens, the goalies won tonight, baby.”

“Fucking right.”

Landon was running on pure adrenaline as overtime started. It ended up being a pretty easy five minutes for both goalies, exhaustion obviously affecting everyone. When no goals were scored in overtime, a shoot-out started to decide the winner.

Mom and Dad were certainly getting a show.

Shoot-outs were basically a series of penalty shots. Goalies hated them, and Landon was no exception. He’d generally done well in them back in Saskatoon, though, and tonight he felt invincible. Like the net was a tenth of his size.

He stopped the first attempt, and Mats did the same, stopping Casey cold. Then Landon stopped the second Washington shooter, and Mats didn’t even need to stop the Outlaws’ next attempt because Clint lost control of the puck.

Hoo boy.

It ended up going to a seventh round, when West got the puck just over Mats’s extended leg. The building went absolutely wild, and seconds later Landon was engulfed by his entire team.

Casey had got there first, of course, and had his arms and legs wrapped around Landon’s torso, forcing Landon to wrap his arms under Casey’s butt to support him. “Best game ever!” he yelled. “You fucking beast! What the fuck!” He kissed the side of Landon’s mask, then finally dropped his legs back to the ice.

“Holy shit, Stacks,” Lee said. “That was a fucking clinic. Beautiful.”

The crowd was chanting Landon’s name again, and everything kind of slammed into him at once: he’d recorded an NHL shutout. In front of his parents. This was his moment. Right now. He knew he would always look back on this exact moment for the rest of his life, no matter what happened.

Landon looked up to the rafters. “Did you see that, Erin?” He laughed, feeling overwhelmed by too many emotions at once.

It only got worse when Antton approached him, hugged him close, and said, “They’ll be talking about this one in Calgary for a long time. Legendary stuff, kid.”

Landon had to bury his face in his giant glove for a minute, trying to bring his emotions back under control. He registered Casey’s hand on his shoulder, and his husky voice saying, “You did so good. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Later, in the locker room, Landon was surrounded by reporters. It was a scene he wasn’t used to, but he didn’t hate it. He was modest, praising both teams, and especially the amazing performance by Mats Norberg. Then someone asked how it felt to have his parents in the crowd.

“It, um.” The lump returned to Landon’s throat, and he tried to swallow it down. “It really means a lot, that they’re here. I haven’t seen them in a while and I hope—” He paused as his voice cracked. “I hope I made them proud tonight.”

---