Chapter Text
Casey woke up the day after getting home from Saskatoon feeling rested and still so happy. He and Landon had facetimed the night before, and he’d slept well in his own bed for the first time in weeks. He checked his phone and found a good morning text from Stacks. It would have been better to wake up with him, but it was enough for now.
His good mood carried through his drive to the arena and morning skate, which went a lot better than most of his recent practices had. Apparently, not having half his brain focused on a broken heart really helped.
“You’re back man,” Petey said as they entered the dressing room, giving him a clap on the back. “Whatever you did to cheer yourself up. Don’t change it, okay?”
“Definitely.” Clint chimed in. “We were getting a bit worried about you.”
“Sorry, guys. I know I haven’t been at my best.” Casey admitted. “I think I’ll be good now, though.”
“Glad to hear it. So what did you do over the break that cheered you up? Somehow, I don’t think it was the skills competition.” Casey sighed. He’s been waiting for someone to chirp him about that. It had been pretty embarrassing. But he didn’t care about that now, and everyone had at least said he’d been a very good sport about it. “No, it definitely was not that.” He agreed.
“Come on, Case, you have to tell us in case we need to cheer you up next time.”
“I might have stopped in Saskatoon on my way home from Raleigh,” Casey admitted, blinking and looking around when the volume in the room suddenly dropped, and everyone suddenly seemed to be very invested in his and Clint’s conversation.
“And?” Gio demanded after a long moment. “You can’t just say that and leave us hanging. You went to see Stackhouse, right? What happened?”
Casey felt a blush creeping up his neck. He and Landon had said they wouldn’t hide their relationship, but he hadn’t planned on announcing it to the whole team like this, right away, but what the hell. He took a deep breath and announced. “I officially have a boyfriend. We’re going to try to make things work even with the distance.”
The room erupted with cheers and congratulations and a few groans as well.
“You couldn’t have waited,” Clint moaned, pulling his wallet out of his locker, digging out a bill and slapping it into Petey’s outstretched hand.
What…” Casey trailed off, looking around the room, seeing several other men doing the same. His eyes followed Tanner crossing the room to, “ANTTON!” He yelped. The goalie had his hand out, and a large collection of bills was being deposited not just by Tanner but by several of his teammates. “You were betting on us?” Several of the guys just grinned and shrugged. “Wait, how many of you bet against us getting together?” He demanded the pile in Antton’s hands, making his stomach drop.
“Oh, no one bet against you, Hicks,” Antton said calmly. “That you and Stackhouse would get together was a forgone conclusion. The bets were for WHEN it would happen.”
“Yeah.” West huffed. “And through his psychic goalie powers or something, Nisk over there said before the playoffs. Most of us figured in the off-season or maybe training camp next fall.”
“Not psychic,” Antton said smugly as he counted his winnings. “It was just logic. Hicks was playing like shit. Either Lee or the coach was going to have an intervention before the playoffs. Then Hicks would have to deal with the issue, which would mean talking to Stackhouse. And like I said, it was a forgone conclusion at that point.”
More groans rang out around the room, and a few towels were thrown in Antton’s direction.
“It was that bad?” Casey asked, cringing a little. He knew he hadn’t been at his best, but Antton’s blunt assessment stung a little.
“It was pretty bad.” Ross tossed out. “We got it, but we do need you at your best, and I think some of us might have even missed the endless talking. It was kind of quiet in here without it.”
“You guys are going to be sick of my voice again in no time.” Casey grinned. He couldn’t wait to tell Landon about this. They had such great teammates. Well, he had them for now. But with any luck, next season they would both have them.