Page 48 of Time to Shine

Landon nodded, once, gaze fixed on the TV.

“Just men?” Casey asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Oh. Have you, like...”

Landon could lie, or simply change the subject. He could pretend he didn’t understand what Casey was asking. There were plenty of ways to avoid revealing the truth to the man Landon was almost certainly crushing on. Plenty of ways to avoid letting Casey know exactly how weird Landon was.

He chose honesty.

“I haven’t. No.”

There was a long silence, and then Casey said, “I think maybe I’m not understanding you right. I get confused easily. Are you saying—”

“I’ve never.” Landon locked eyes with him. “Had sex.”

More silence. Casey’s brow furrowed like he was translating the words. “At all?”

“It’s not impossible to go without sex, you know,” Landon mumbled.

“Yeah, but—”

“I really don’t think about it very much.”

“Jesus. I do.”

“I know.”

“But you like guys.”

Landon nodded. His face felt so hot. He stared longingly out the window at the gently falling snow.

“So if you see a hot guy, do you just, like, not think anything about him?”

“I find people attractive. Men, mostly. I get, y’know, crushes sometimes.”

“Like on Antton,” Casey teased.

“No! Absolutely not on Antton. Fuck you.”

Casey laughed, then said, “So is it like, casual sex that you’re not into or—”

Landon had reached his limit. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

Casey flinched. “Sorry. I won’t ask about it anymore. I think I’m gonna work out a bit in the basement, if that’s okay.”

He hopped to his feet, ready to move on completely from their conversation, and Landon wanted to hug him for it. “It’s your house. Of course it’s okay.”

“Yeah, but it’s, like, your zone.”

Landon stood too. “You’re allowed in my zone.”

He wished he’d phrased it differently, especially after all the sex talk. Casey just smiled, though, and said, “Hey, I booked that shopping thing at Holt Renfrew for Tuesday.”

“Okay.”

“I was thinking you’d look good in a dark floral print.”

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