Page 97 of Time to Shine

Casey’s face relaxed into an easy smile. “Yeah, but. This is us. It’s different.”

“Why? Because I’m not really on the team?”

“You’re on the team, Stacks. And no. It’s because we didn’t hook up.”

“Then what did we do?”

“I don’t know.” Casey sounded irritated. “Because someone doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Landon took a sip of his own coffee. The arena came into view ahead of them. “I do want to talk about it. But later. There’s enough going on this week already. And, obviously, we shouldn’t tell our teammates about it.”

“Got it,” Casey said. “It’s just...some of them know already, probably.”

“Well. West does. But he was pretty drunk. Maybe he forgot.”

“I mean, everyone knows how I feel about you.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I think I was pretty obvious about it. The guys have been teasing me.”

“Oh my god,” Landon moaned. “This is going to be so weird.”

“Nah, I’ll play it totally cool. No tongue.”

“No kissing at all, you fucking doofus.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I won’t even talk to you. Won’t look at you. Who are you, even?”

“Thank you.”

They pulled into the players’ parking lot. “Except,” Casey said, “I’m totally going to be ogling you during practice.”

“Ogling.”

“Yep. Great word.”

“I’ll be wearing full goalie gear.”

Casey waggled his eyebrows. “But I know what’s underneath.”

So now Landon had a new and exciting reason to be awkward at practice.

Practice offered bigger problems than who was saying what about Landon and Casey. For one thing, Coach Patrick was gruffer than usual, stressing the point that the Christmas break hadn’t started yet, and they still had three games to win. He worked them hard, especially for a game-day practice.

For another thing, Gilbert Morin was there. He’d cheerfully announced that he’d been cleared to start practicing again, and that he was feeling almost normal. He proved it by making some solid saves in practice, and generally showing that he could move quickly and fluidly. He really did look game-ready. Landon wanted to be happy for him, but fuck.

At least no one said anything to Landon about Casey. As usual, Landon mostly kept to himself in the locker room, while Casey chatted it up with everyone. It was all very normal, besides Morin being there. Some of the guys still seemed to be recovering from the party, so Landon had a pretty easy time making saves. It didn’t bode well for the game that night, though.

When Landon wasn’t battling Morin-related dread, he battled parents-related dread. He needed to talk to them. Soon. And maybe that small revelation at breakfast was the open door that would lead to a bigger conversation. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t realize which shower stall he was in until he heard Casey yell, “Stacks! No!”

The warning came too late. Landon was pelted with what felt like ice-cold pebbles. Or sandpaper? Or acid? “Ow, fuck. What the fuck?”

Casey slid into the stall, completely naked, and grabbed Landon’s arm. He hauled him to safety, then bravely went in the stall and turned off the tap.

“I told you!” Casey scolded. “Don’t use this one!”

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