Page 124 of Time to Shine

Brooke face-palmed herself. “Seriously, Casey?”

“They’re nice underwear,” Casey insisted earnestly. “Super soft. Remember how soft you said they were, Landon?”

Landon nodded, gaze fixed on the three pairs of underwear and not on anyone else in the room. “They are. Soft.”

“Oh, hey,” Dougie said. “Those are nice. I wear those too.”

“Yeah,” Casey said cheerfully. “You’re the one who told me about them.”

Landon was in actual hell. This was hell. Everyone was either laughing or talking very enthusiastically about the underwear he was holding.

“Thank you,” he said, hoping to end this. He put the underwear on the couch beside him. Honestly it was a thoughtful gift, and he’d certainly never owned underwear half that nice before. And maybe it was a little thrilling, getting a somewhat sexy gift from his...guy. But not in front of so many people.

Casey sat next to him, pressing against him again. He leaned in close and whispered, “Sorry. I should have thought that one through.”

Landon’s lips twitched. “It’s okay. I’m being weird. It was a nice gift.”

“I guess it’s sort of a selfish gift,” Casey said with a cute little smile. “I just wanna see you wearing them. And I thought, when you’re gone...it would be nice to think about you wearing them sometimes.” He frowned. “Okay. This sounds stupid as I’m saying it.”

Landon put his hand on Casey’s forearm and squeezed. “No. You’re right. I’ll wear them all the time.”

“And think of me?”

Landon couldn’t help himself. “Or your dad.”

It started snowing late in the afternoon, and kept snowing through dinner. The beef tenderloin roast had been delicious, and there’d been lots of teasing and laughter and wine. A typical Hicks family Christmas.

Now Casey was lounging on the couch, gazing at the tree, capping off his meal with a bowl of Christmas Cap’n Crunch.

“How is it?” Landon asked as he entered the living room. He looked so beautiful, backlit by the tree.

“So fucking good,” Casey said with his mouthful of sugary cereal.

“Isn’t it just regular Cap’n Crunch but with food coloring?”

Casey swallowed. “No, Landon. There are stars and trees.”

“Yeah but...” He smiled. “Never mind. You look cute, by the way.”

Casey had changed into the fleece onesie Brooke had given him. It was basically a panda costume, complete with ears on the hood and a little tail. “She thought this was a gag gift, but joke’s on her: I fucking love it.”

Landon kept smiling at him.

Casey put his bowl on the coffee table and sank a little deeper into the couch. “Wait, is this doing it for you? Are you into this?”

“What? No!”

Casey slowly pulled the zipper down a few inches. “How about now?”

“Oh my god.” Landon covered his face with his hand. “Stop.”

“Too sexy?”

“Too weird.”

Casey laughed. “Wanna get in the hot tub with me?”

“It’s snowing.”

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