Page 142 of Time to Shine

Casey was waiting for him in the hall outside the locker room. When Landon saw him, he sped up his walking, resisting the urge to run into his arms.

He’d needed to go straight from LAX to the arena so he could dress for the game that night. It had been a long day of flights and a delayed connection, but he was here now, and Casey was smiling at him.

“Oh my god,” Casey said, and wrapped Landon in a hug. “It’s really you.”

“It’s really me.” Landon assumed they weren’t kissing here, but he let himself bury his nose in Casey’s soft hair. He’d missed his smell. He’d missed everything about him. “Is Antton—”

“He’s okay. I mean, no. His arm is broken and I’m sure he’s mad as hell about it, but he’s back in Calgary now.”

“Yeah. Fuck. How’s everyone else doing?”

Casey huffed. “Not great. Antton getting hurt is a pretty huge blow.”

“No shit.” He released Casey and stepped back. “I don’t expect anyone to be excited to see me.”

“Well, I am. And the rest of the guys will be too. We need you, Stacks.”

Landon nodded. “How’s Morin?”

Casey immediately grimaced, probably without meaning to. Then he said, “More playing time will probably help. I sure wish we had Antton tonight, though.”

Landon knew how important tonight’s game was. L.A. was one point ahead of Calgary in the standings. A win tonight would put Calgary in the number one position, which would be a much-needed confidence boost right now.

“I should get in there,” Landon said, nodding at the locker room door. “Is there food? I’m starving.”

Casey smiled. “There’s food. And also, I really missed you and I’m fucking psyched that you’re here. And I love you.”

Landon smiled back at him. “We’re going to the playoffs together.”

Casey glanced around, then gave Landon a quick kiss. “We’re going everywhere together.”

By the end of the first period, the score was 3-0 for L.A., and Landon was surprised the score wasn’t even higher, the way Morin was playing. After the third goal, Gilbert had attacked his goalposts with his stick, so it was fair to say his head wasn’t in the right place tonight.

Now Gilbert was hunched forward in his stall, head in his hands as everyone gave him space.

Landon decided to take a chance, and crouched in front of him. “Hey.”

“It’s not working tonight,” Gilbert said, unnecessarily. He tapped his head. “It’s all fried.”

“I get it. It happens.”

“Bad timing, though.” Gilbert sighed. Then shook his head miserably. “I don’t know, Stackhouse. I don’t know.”

Landon was pretty sure Gilbert’s uncertainty was about more than just tonight’s game. He’d only wanted to come back from injury and finish his career with some dignity, backing up Antton. Now he had to be Antton, and he hadn’t been anything close to that for years.

Pep talks weren’t Landon’s strength, but he tried. “My dad still moans about that save you made on Davidson in OT. Stopped Toronto from going to the next round.”

Gilbert smiled at that. “That was a great moment.” His smile faded. “But it was a long time ago.”

Okay, Gilbert clearly wasn’t up to stopping pucks tonight. Landon was exhausted after a day of travel, but he was also riding the high of being here. Of being back.

“If you need me to go in,” Landon said carefully, “I can go in.”

Gilbert raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t you just get off a plane?”

Landon fixed him with a steady, determined gaze. “I can go in.”

Gilbert held his gaze for a moment, then glanced at something over Landon’s shoulder. “Coach is coming over.”

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