Page 75 of Time to Shine

Landon began to move again. His long torso rolled in time with the beat, and he tipped his head back to gaze at the ceiling, exposing his throat. Casey didn’t look anywhere except directly at Landon, even though it meant fighting a small war with himself to keep from touching him.

He moved in closer, only slightly. Only enough that their bodies brushed against each other accidentally from time to time. Only enough that he could smell what was left of Landon’s bodywash, and watch a droplet of sweat trail into the open collar of his shirt.

But not close enough that Landon could feel how hard Casey was getting.

Okay, his personal mission, Operation: Stop Being Horny for Landon, was not going great.

Landon rolled his head back down and locked eyes with him. Casey’s breath caught because he’d never seen this expression on Landon’s face before. He looked...hungry. He watched Casey with burning eyes and parted lips, and for a moment Casey really thought he was about to get kissed. Or devoured.

Then, in a blink, Landon’s face changed. His lips pressed together, jaw tight, and his eyes extinguished.

“Stacks?”

Landon turned and began squeezing through the mass of dancers, seemingly trying to make as quick an exit as possible. Casey watched him leave, momentarily stunned and still reeling from that heated look Landon had given him. Then he followed, because there was no way he could let Landon leave like that.

He caught up with him as he was climbing the stairs that led back to their private booth.

“Stacks! Wait.”

Landon didn’t stop, or even look back. Casey followed him back to the booth, which had emptied out quite a bit between the guys on the dance floor and the guys who had probably left already.

Casey put a hand on Landon’s forearm, but Landon pulled away like he’d been burned.

“Stacks?”

“Just don’t. Don’t touch me. Not right now.” Landon closed his eyes, then sighed. “That was a lot of people.”

Casey put his hands behind his own back. “I know. You okay?”

Landon opened his eyes. He looked exhausted. “I’m going to go back to the hotel.”

“Okay. Yeah. Just give me a second to—”

“No. You stay. Find someone to dance with, okay?”

Casey almost said that he’d already found someone, but he bit his lip instead.

“You shouldn’t walk back alone,” he tried.

“It’s really not that far. And this street is like the brightest place on earth.”

“That’s why I like it so much.” Casey smiled. “It’s never dark.”

Landon’s eyes softened, and Casey wanted nothing more than to walk him home and tuck him into bed. Or crawl into bed with him.

“Have fun,” Landon said.

Casey was still processing the fact that the tucking-Landon-into-bed scenario was more appealing than finding someone to have actual sex with.

Lee interrupted the processing. “I’m heading out,” he announced. “I tried to keep up with you kids, but I am old.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Landon said quickly.

“Cool.” Lee glanced at Casey, asking a silent question with his eyes that was probably something like Are you boys fighting or flirting? Casey ignored him. Landon was leaving and Casey didn’t like it and also a woman he’d been chatting with earlier—Claudia—was making eyes at him from one of the bench seats and he did kind of like that but not as much as usual.

He was just really, really confused.

Landon noticed him looking at Claudia. He smiled, just slightly, and said, “Have a good night, Casey.” Then he walked away, following Lee to the exit.

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