Page 7 of Time to Shine

“Hicks thinks dragons are real.”

Ross’s brow furrowed. “Like, fire-breathing dragons?”

“I don’t think dragons are real!” Casey was desperate for this conversation to be over. “I just thought...forget it. Fuck you guys.”

Ross shrugged and walked away.

“Hey,” West said, “if it isn’t too much trouble could you help me rack this fucking barbell, Hicks?”

“Right. Sorry.” He grabbed the barbell and eased it into the rack. He wasn’t embarrassed exactly. After years of unintentionally saying stupid shit to basically everyone he met, he was more or less immune to embarrassment. He only wished he was better at keeping the random stuff in his head in his head.

West sat up and swung his legs to sit sideways on the bench. “You doing another set?”

“Uh,” Casey said. His gaze had fallen on a treadmill in the corner of the room where Landon Stackhouse was running at an impressive clip. Landon stared straight ahead, stone-faced and focused, seemingly ignoring everyone around him.

He was wearing shorts, and his legs looked a mile long.

“Hicks?” West asked, breaking the hypnotic state Casey had been entering watching Landon run like he was punishing himself.

“I’m good,” Casey said. “I’m gonna...” He walked away without finishing his sentence, and kept walking until he was standing next to Landon’s treadmill. Landon didn’t seem to notice him, or if he did, wasn’t interested in turning his head to acknowledge him. That was fine since Casey had no idea why he was standing here.

He got on the stationary bike next to him, just to appear normal. Now he could see Landon’s reflection in the mirror in front of them. He tried to meet his gaze, and offered a smile, but Landon kept staring straight ahead, lips pulled tight in a frown. It was intense—he wasn’t even wearing earbuds.

Casey pedaled for a while, and did his best not to stare at Landon’s reflection. He wasn’t sure why he found the man so fascinating to look at. He was handsome, but most of the guys in the room were. Maybe it was simply the novelty of Landon being new. Of being someone who didn’t know how stupid Casey was yet.

Landon didn’t seem stupid at all. Casey would bet he read books for fun and kept up with the news and shit.

After about ten minutes, the pounding of Landon’s sneakers slowed to a walk. He exhaled loudly, but he didn’t seem as wiped as Casey would certainly be if he’d been running at that pace. Casey was in great shape, but distance running was definitely not his thing.

“Did you catch him?” Casey asked Landon’s reflection.

“Catch him?”

“Whoever you were chasing. Running like that.”

“Oh.” He sniffed. “Funny.”

Casey stopped pedaling and turned to face him. “You get some sleep? In the hotel?”

“Some.”

“That’s good. I sleep well in hotels usually. Not sure why.” He knew exactly why: hotels were full of people, and the rooms weren’t cavernous spaces full of dark corners. “Hey, you excited for your first NHL roadie?”

Landon stopped the treadmill. “Sure.”

“Sweet. This one’s not that cool, but the next big one we go to Vegas and that’s always fun. You ever been to Vegas?”

“No.”

“Oh, man, you’ll love it. It’s exactly like in all the movies. It’s all lights and people and fun. It’s awesome.”

“I’ll probably be back in Saskatoon by then.”

Shit. “Yeah. Right. I guess probably.” Casey wasn’t sure why that made him feel sad. It’s not like he was hoping Morin’s injury was serious.

“I’m going to do my stretches,” Landon said, then stepped off the treadmill.

“Of course. Yeah. Gotta keep that goalie body all bendy.”

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