Page 8 of Time to Shine

Landon’s dark eyebrows pinched together. “Right.” He began to walk away, then paused. He took a step toward Casey, then bent so their faces were close and quietly said, “Dragon lizards exist.”

It took Casey a moment to realize Landon wasn’t making fun of him. Then another moment to get over the shock of learning that Landon had been listening to the whole dragon conversation while seemingly being focused on destroying a treadmill.

Finally, Casey smiled and said, “Dragon lizards! Right! What are those?”

Landon’s lips curved up slightly. “It’s type of lizard. There are a bunch of different kinds. Like Komodo dragons and bearded dragons.”

“Bearded dragon,” Casey repeated as an image of a lizard with a Santa beard filled his head. “Dope.”

Landon hovered for another moment, his big brown eyes locked on Casey’s, then turned and walked away.

Chapter Four

Landon was trying really hard not to look like a total bumpkin, but he was probably failing.

Between the private plane, the fancy food that was served on the plane, and the luxurious hotel the team was staying at, Landon was a little overwhelmed. No long bus rides on icy highways, no stops at a Subway for dinner, no off-ramp-adjacent cheap motels. It had also been the first time Landon’s legs had actually fit in front of his plane seat.

He could get used to this.

The roommate he’d been assigned, a second-year defenseman named West Ackerman, seemed less impressed. “None of the outlets have USB ports? Jesus, nice hotel, St. Louis.”

Landon, who had never been to St. Louis in his life, turned from where he’d been staring out their twenty-fourth-floor window. “I brought a plug you can borrow.”

“I have one,” West said grumpily as he grabbed his backpack off the floor. “Somewhere.”

West wasn’t quite as tall as Landon, but was much broader with wide shoulders and huge muscles everywhere. His blond hair was short, and neatly styled, making him look like an all-American superhero. He was, in fact, American, which Landon decided to try as a conversation topic.

“Are you from...near here?”

West didn’t look away from his backpack. “What? No, I’m from Hartford. Where the fuck is that plug?”

End of conversation.

Landon sat on his bed and stretched his legs out. It was a nice bed. Firm, and not creaky at all. On roadies with his usual team, Landon always roomed with the other goalie, Felix Lavoie. They had a good thing going because they were both quiet, had similar routines, and gave each other as much space as possible. When they did talk, it was mostly about goaltending and never got too personal. It was perfect.

Landon’s phone lit up with a message, and it seemed West’s phone did the same. Team group chat, then. Landon hadn’t contributed to the Outlaws group chat yet, still mostly focusing on the Saskatoon Bandits one. Not that he had much to say in that one either.

Casey: whos in? The text was followed by a link to a local bar’s website.

West huffed out a laugh. “That didn’t take him long.”

A new message popped up, from West: I’m in. But no shots this time.

Casey: totally chill. game tmrw

Lee: It BETTER be chill. I’m staying in, and I don’t want any of you idiots to be hungover tomorrow.

More messages flooded in. Landon noticed that it was mostly the younger players who were agreeing to go out.

“This happens a lot?” Landon asked. “Hicks planning stuff?”

“Yeah,” West said. “He’s the social director for sure. Don’t know why he bothers inviting anyone. He always finds someone to hook up with in like two minutes. Hicks lives a charmed fucking life.”

“Does he?” Landon asked, even though obviously, yes.

“Are you kidding? He basically grew up in this league. His dad is a legend, and loaded. All of this—” West waved a hand around “—is, like, normal for Casey. Like it never occurred to him that he wouldn’t play in the NHL.”

“Right.”

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