Page 67 of Time to Shine

That made Landon laugh too, just a little.

They cleaned up the kitchen together after dinner, which Landon knew was also a learning moment for Casey, but they both pretended it wasn’t. Landon stealthily rearranged the dishes Casey had dumped haphazardly into the dishwasher.

“So,” Casey said once everything had been put away. “Movie? Unless you want some alone time, which I totally get.”

Landon found, surprisingly, that he didn’t. “Movie sounds good.”

Much later, they were in bed together.

The lamp was still on because Casey was sitting up, texting his sister. Landon was curled on his side, facing away, trying not to wish he could be doing the same.

He wondered if Erin would have been able to help him with his inconvenient crush. Would they have had that sort of relationship, as adults? Maybe Erin would have traveled the world, like she’d always talked about, and Landon would have barely seen her. Maybe they would have drifted apart as adults.

He was still lost in thought when, a few minutes later, Casey asked, “You still awake?”

“Mm.”

“Brooke is excited to meet you.”

Landon couldn’t imagine why. And also, what on earth had Casey told her about him? “Why?”

“Why wouldn’t she be? She knows you’ve been living with me, and I told her you’re cool and funny and smart.”

Wait. Landon rolled over to face him. “Casey. Are you trying to set me up with your sister?”

Casey’s brows pinched. “What? No. Of course not. You don’t even like girls, do you?”

“I don’t know, but don’t set me up with men either.”

“No, I’m just confirming—you’re a hundred percent gay?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

Landon had reached the end of his patience. “How do you not know how to cook? Maybe I need to put some effort into learning.”

That awkward statement hung in the air between them for a few seconds.

“That makes so much sense,” Casey finally said.

“It really doesn’t. Forget I said that. Sorry.”

A long moment passed where they just looked at each other. Landon suspected Casey was working up the courage to ask something, and that suspicion was confirmed when Casey said, “When you say you’ve never had sex...do you mean you haven’t done...anything?”

“Right.”

“Because Brooke says virginity is a myth and—”

Landon raised his head. “Were you talking about my virginity with your sister?”

“No! Stacks, I swear, no. I would never do that. But she gets on these rants sometimes about, like, sex...stuff. Like, society, y’know? And women?”

He looked so panicked and desperate to explain something he didn’t quite understand that Landon took pity on him. “Okay. I get it.”

Casey smiled with obvious relief. “Cool. So, yeah. She said virginity isn’t real.”

That was a nice thought, if a confusing one. Landon traced one of the thin stripes on Casey’s bedsheet with his fingertip. “It feels pretty real. Sometimes.”

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