Casey Hicks, the twenty-three-year-old star left wing for the fictional Calgary Outlaws, is one of two central characters in Rachel Reid’s 2023 romance novel Time to Shine. As the novel opens, Casey’s world revolves around hockey, casual relationships, and keeping things light — until the arrival of Landon Stackhouse, a reserved backup goalie called up from the reserve team, challenges his carefully constructed persona.
Casey maintains warm relationships with his parents, grandmother, and especially his sister Brooke, though his demanding schedule limits their time together. Described on the book jacket as “endlessly charming” and “completely laid-back,” Casey fills locker rooms with his unfiltered humor, whether joking about Christmas-themed cereal or defending the pink laces on his skates. His tendency to speak without filtering his thoughts occasionally backfires — most memorably when he muses aloud that dragons “aren’t alive…anymore,” earning him good-natured ridicule from teammates. Yet it’s this same openness that endears him to Landon, who responds not with mockery but by suggesting Casey research bearded dragons — a moment that sparks their unlikely connection.
Beneath Casey’s gregarious exterior, however, lie vulnerabilities he shields from the world: a paralyzing fear of the dark and a private conviction that he’s stupid. These struggles remain hidden even from teammates who know him best, contrasting with his openness about his bisexuality. In a pivotal scene aboard a flight to Seattle, Casey casually mentions an upcoming date with a man to Landon, adding, “I’m bi. Everyone on the team knows.” Landon assures Casey that it’s not a problem. Though Casey doesn’t fully believe Landon at first, Landon begins gently teasing Casey again in Chapter Ten, which sets Casey’s mind at ease until Landon is ready to discuss his sexuality.
While Casey’s active dating life with both men and women might align with the “promiscuous bisexual” trope, Reid deliberately avoids reducing his character to a stereotype. His sexuality in the novel is not directly linked to his bisexuality; instead, he’s just a guy who happens to enjoy sex with women and men.
As the novel progresses, his relationship with Landon deepens, shifting the narrative’s central tension from “will they, or won’t they?” to a more nuanced question: Can two people with opposing personalities — Casey’s extroversion and Landon’s quiet intensity — build something lasting when Landon’s temporary position with the Outlaws hangs over them?
Through Casey, Reid crafts a protagonist whose humor and vulnerability resonate with equal power. While his bisexuality forms an important part of his identity, Casey ultimately demonstrates that bi individuals are as wonderfully diverse as anyone else — and that this diversity is something to celebrate, not stereotype.