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A great victory for the New York team, congratulations to Hunter and the Admirals on this wonderful win.
Casey's house was filled with people, just as Casey liked it. Back in the kitchen, Rossi and Leandros were sitting at the kitchen island, drinking from their beers in sync, because those two shared the same brain cells. Silvia was helping herself, pouring more chips into some bowls. Ackerman just came out of the bathroom, walking towards Ramsay. The captain gave him his beer back.
Casey was sitting on his sofa, basically all wrapped up around Landon's long arms and legs. The rest of the sofa was covered with a bunch of other couples. Anton was petting Kat's leg, Ross was talking to Mandy, not even paying attention to the end of the game.
Landon patted Casey's leg a couple of times and gave him a kiss on his blond hair. "Okay, time to finish dinner."
Casey grabbed Landon's hand and took a hair elastic that Landon normally would wear on his wrist for those cases. Casey pulled his hair up in a little bun and let go of his man, watching Hunter pick up the Stanley Cup.
He was annoyed that they got kicked out in the second round. There was nothing else he wanted than to win the fucking cup with his boyfriend and his team. Next season must be the one, he thought, watching Hunter hand the cup to Carter and skate towards the penalty box. Weird. He was waving to someone sitting nearby.
A boy walked down the stairs. A cute boy. As far as he knew, Hunter didn't have a wife or family, so maybe he was bringing a friend to the ice to celebrate. For a second, he felt a bit of pity. Feeling alone is the worst feeling in the world, he knew that so well. He couldn't even imagine what Hunter must feel not having someone to celebr…
"Oh my god!" Casey yelled.
Anton almost spat his beer, Theresa screeched like a chipmunk, and Rossi and Leandro snapped their necks again in weird synchrony. Hunter was kissing that boy, just there, in the Stanley Cup celebrations in the penalty box.
Casey stood on the sofa with his knees. "Landon! Landon, come here!"
Landon was cleaning his hands with a cloth, standing behind him, "Aww, that's cute."
"I would never guess that Hunter was gay…" Antton mumbled.
"Come on. We cannot be the only ones." Casey said out loud.
Anton shrugged. He knew Andersson from the Admirals, because both attended training in Helsinki and Stockholm before, but Andersson was way younger than Antton, and if they dared to gossip, they would probably get their passports removed. There was some mumbling in the kitchen, people talking about whether anyone had any idea. Nobody was really friends with anyone from the Admirals.
Casey thought for a second; they had been in the All Stars together last year.
"You mean I could have hit that?" He said out loud, and felt a slap on the back of his neck. He looked up at an upset Landon, who was not saying anything but didn't need it. "I mean, before meeting you."
Landon kept an angry face. Casey giggled, fully standing on the sofa so he could see Landon eye to eye, and kissed him. "You look so hot when you are jealous."
Landon shook his head, pushing him back to the sofa, while people started getting over the not-so-shocking event for Calgary, because they already had their home gays. On the screen, the celebrations continued. The boy who looked like Scott Hunter's boyfriend was walking carefully in the hands of one of the wags. Casey was about to switch the TV to some music when the commentator started talking.
Good for Scott Hunter, the first hockey player to come out in the NHL.
"The WHAT?!" Casey yelled.
"Wait, what did they say?" Theresa asked.
"Did they just say that Hunter is the FIRST out player in the NHL?" Casey stood up on the sofa again. "I've been out all my life! I don't even remember when I came out."
"You never did, Hicks," Ramsay said, sipping his beer. Rossi and Leandros giggled behind the captain.
"I've never…. did?" Casey thought about it.
Bates, the goalie coach, walked to stand by the captain.
"Once I heard you talking about how the color of the tape actually makes pucks hit different, then you said something about how you fucked some dude the night before, and in the same beat, changed to some rant about armadillos…" He said, and the rest of the team laughed. "That was your coming-out story for me."
Oh, he kind of remembered that dude, because he didn't moisturize, and he had the skin of an armadillo. At least he was good at sucking dick, and when was that? His rookie year? That was years ago.
"Dude, you talk so much you said it one day, but it got hidden under three hours of fun facts about beavers."
"Beavers are cute!" And so was the guy in L.A., an architect. "They are the architects of the animal world. Do you know their teeth never stop growing? That would be very convenient for us… Imagine if we could just grow teeth."
"That would be actually disgusting," Landon said, bringing some wings to the table. "Imagine having baby teeth." He made a disgusting face and gave Casey another beer.
"We already lost him…" Ramsay said to Bates.
"Stacks' fault, he is an enabler."
"It's like having a sequoia and a fucking squirrel in the team."
"A match made in heaven." Both men laughed.
The men and wives walked around the kitchen, grabbing wings, nachos, and all the different food they could now eat, after all the season was gone, and it was vacation time. No diet today.
The TV changed to a board of commentators. The main topic should have been how the Admirals did that season and their progress, but all they talked about was Hunter having a boyfriend. The first gay couple in hockey.
"What? NO!" Casey yelled again. "WE are the first gay couple in hockey! I'm going to call ESPN and tell them I've been fucking my goalie publicly from like… a year."
"WHAT?" Landon yelled this time. Everybody laughed; it's not a normal occurrence for Landon to ever raise his voice.
"Please, Hicks," His coach pleaded, "don't tell me you have been fucking Stacks in public…"
"NO!" Landon was trembling like a wet greyhound, then he took two long strides towards Casey, taking the phone from his hands. "You are not saying anything to ESPN."
"But they think Hunter is the first one!"
"Jesus… It doesn't matter, it's not a race!"
"Then why am I losing it!"
"Casey," Landon called out, leaping over the back of the sofa. With his long legs, it was more of a stride than a jump. Anton shoved his wife a bit, pointing her toward the sofa to clear it, and so did Ross and Mandy. Everyone moved a bit, giving them some space.
"You are not losing anything."
"I'm going to fucking kiss you in the ice," Casey said with a grouch.
"I will punch you," Landon said, seriously. "I will rather go to some remote town in South America and have Alpacas for the rest of my life than do anything close to whatever the hell Hunter has done."
Casey took a deep breath. Of course. Landon has been better this season with the boundaries, and Casey was very proud of him. At the beginning, he was even scared of too much contact in front of his teammates, and right now, Landon would embrace him and give him small pecks in a room full of people. He kept pushing himself to be better for Casey.
"Do you know Alpaca wool is hypoallergenic?" He said, nesting even more between Landon's arms.
"No, I didn't know that." Landon smiled back at him, petting his cheek.
"When they eat, they don't pull the roots from the grass, so they are very nice to have around."
Landon looked behind the sofa for a second, where the people were gathering. "I need to finish dinner."
"We take care, Stacks." The captain said, "Your job now is to keep this guy chill."
Landon nodded and focused on the nervous and upset blonde in his arms. He was still confused, as much as Casey. They are public, if someone asks him. They live together, they do everything together, and sure, Landon was not the biggest social butterfly. God no. However, he had done better lately, or at least he thought, but the mere idea of doing like Hunter. No. Nope. Nada. He cannot do that.
"Why are you upset? You really want to go… super public?" Landon asked him softly. "Is not like we are hiding or anything."
"The last time anybody wrote an article about us, they said 'Hicks and his housemate Stackhouse,' and the picture was us holding hands. HOLDING HANDS! What? Do I need to suck your dick in a park or something?"
"Please, don't do that," Landon said, but to be honest, he kind of shivered. Maybe not in a park, but maybe… in their yard?
"Not really, I'm kind of pissed about the Atlantic coast…" Casey turned around to look at him while playing with his shirt. "The other day, someone called me 'The Hollander from the Pacific Division, ' and now Hunter is being all celebrated."
Ah, Landon understood now. The Atlantic division is a bunch of super-star behavior divas. All the drama they made with Hollander and Rozanov was proof of that. Soon there would be films about them. There are probably a couple of producers frothing from the mouth about making a hallmark movie about Hunter right now.
"Atlantic people are show-offs."
"I'm bummed."
Casey looked down, frowning. Landon felt pain in his heart. Casey never saw himself; he doesn't know how wonderful he is, always comparing himself to his dad, to Hollander, to Rozanov. All the others saw only the goofball Hicks, always smiling and joking, but in reality, he was still so insecure. Landon couldn't imagine how Casey still had that much energy left after spending so much putting himself down.
"You are one of the best players in the NHL, and the second hottest hockey player."
"And still people don't take me seriously, because I'm an idiot."
"You are not an idiot." Landon picked up his chin to look at his beautiful blue eyes, "Who told you that you are an idiot, uh? One of those guys?" He pointed to the kitchen.
"Since you got into the team, nobody." A little dimple appeared on his face. "They are scared of you."
"No, they took you for granted, and I kind of reminded them who the fuck you are." Landon smiled at him, caressing his face, "You are the best wing from the NHL, you are so hot, everyone loves you, and I fucking love you so much."
Casey scrunched his face, cheeks flushing.
"And you don't believe me. Ok, see this. Guys!" Landon yelled to the guys behind them. "Guys, how much do you love Hicks?"
"Pfff," Ackerman snorted, "We love him, of course, we love him."
"We love you, Hicks," Rossi yelled.
"What the fuck is that question?" The captain said, "Of course, we love you, you dumbass." Landon looked at him. "Sorry…"
"Casey, you are way more fun than Hollander. Imagine a party with him, boring as fuck." Leandros added.
Bates finished his beer, left it on the counter with a strong thump. "The goal race, who is always there with Rozanov and Hollander? Uh? Because it's always between the three of you."
"I won the last goal race…" Casey said in a whisper.
"Yes, of course you did. And you are not an asshole like Rozanov." Landon insisted. "You are way funnier than they are, including Hunter."
Casey rested his head over Landon's chest. He was not convinced at all; those two guys, Rozanov and Hollander, played as if they were playing a different kind of hockey. It kind of stinks that the public was so focused on their rivalry that the third-best guy… that sometimes was first, when those two had some bruised rib or something.
But he had Calgary and Stacks. He looked upwards to his beautiful man and couldn't stop smiling at him. The best thing that happened to him was that long-ass goalie.
"Can I kiss you?"
Landon's eyes crinkled with happiness, and he kissed him.
"Awwwww," Theresa yelled, while the rest giggled.
A flash made them look away. Rossi was in front of them, laughing, and took a photo with his phone.
"I'm going to post it."
"NO!" Landon stood up, but Casey fell to the floor with an Ouch! "Jesus, fuck, I'm so sorry." He said, picking up Casey from the floor with one hand and grabbing Rossi's shirt with the other.
Rossi tossed his phone, which landed perfectly on Leandros' hand, and he pressed some buttons.
"Too late, Stacks."
Leandro walked by, showing a post on Instagram from Rossi's account of them kissing, with the caption: "Calgary is also in the mood for some smooching."
Casey snapped the phone from his hand. Few messages were already showing up in Rossi's phone, and both Landon and Casey looked through them.
@catonthefence: Lol, these guys always joking….
@amarla: You know, it's so nice to see such good friends
@failingrose: Calgary is always pulling the funniest jokes
@ReignCloud #FriendGoals
@Alani251 Can we get Rossi and Leandros kissing????
Rossi looked at Hicks, THE Casey Hicks, angry. He was red in the face, but not in a cute, sweet way. He was fuming. Rossi slowly took the phone from his hand. Not even Landon dared to move a muscle.
"I'm making a secondary Twitter account just to start rumors…." Casey pulled his phone again and walked away to a corner of the living room.
"Does it count like rumors if it's true?" Rossi whispered to Landon.
He just shrugged. "I tried."