Page 96 of Time to Shine

“It is,” Mom said cheerfully. “Lots of brown sugar, right?”

“You got it.” Casey made brief eye contact with Landon, who was probably staring at him with naked desire. Casey didn’t return the look, which was understandable; before bed, Casey had tried to kiss him goodnight, and Landon had dodged him. Landon had regretted it for hours afterward, but not enough to go to his room and apologize. Or to give him the kiss they both wanted.

They all ate oatmeal and drank coffee at the kitchen island, chatting pleasantly. Casey did most of the talking, excitedly describing local restaurants and attractions the Stackhouses should check out.

“Tomorrow we have an optional skate, so you guys should come along and we’ll give you a tour of the place,” Casey said. “The rest of the day is free, so we’ll show you the city.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Mom said. “I think today we’re just going to walk around downtown a bit.”

“That’s cool. You should take my car. I have two.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” Mom said. “We can take a taxi.”

“Why, though? My car is just sitting there. It’s got winter tires and all-wheel drive. My mom did a bunch of research into the safest cars for winter driving.” He paused. “Don’t tell her I almost never drive it.” He paused again, and this time his eyes widened with horror. “Oh god. Sorry. I shouldn’t be talking about unsafe driving. I’m so sorry.”

Landon’s stomach clenched, but Dad smiled at Casey. “That’s nice of you to think of that, but don’t worry about it. You don’t need to tiptoe around what happened to our daughter.”

Mom nodded. “We did that for a long time.” She met Landon’s gaze. “It wasn’t doing any of us much good, I don’t think.”

Landon was stunned to the point where he wasn’t breathing, but then he gave a slow nod. Under the table, Casey tapped his foot against Landon’s ankle.

By the time breakfast was over, Casey had convinced Mom and Dad to take his car, and to go wherever they liked in it. Landon jogged upstairs to grab his phone and his wallet, and to brush his teeth. When he stepped out of his bathroom, Casey was standing by his bed, looking uncharacteristically anxious.

“Am I doing okay? With your parents?”

Landon didn’t understand. “Of course.”

“Yeah? I really want them to like me.” He looked adorable, the way he was nervously twisting his sleeve cuff.

“I think they love you,” Landon assured him.

Casey’s lips formed a tentative smile. “Good. I want them to think I’m good enough for you. I know they don’t know about...whatever. But still. I want them to like me. And I want them to know that I really like their son.”

Landon’s heart thudded against his ribs, then he crossed the room before he’d realized he was moving. He took Casey in his arms and kissed him. Casey responded immediately, kissing him back and sighing happily.

“I missed you last night,” Casey whispered.

“Me too.”

“So tonight, could we maybe—”

“I don’t know. My head is still a mess right now. My parents being here on top of...this. It’s a lot. And we’ve got to get to practice now, and focus on the three games this week, okay?”

Casey sighed as he stepped away. “Got it. Let’s roll, Stacks.”

“This is going to be weird,” Landon said.

Casey removed his coffee from the cupholder between them. “What is?”

“Practice. Seeing everyone.” Landon couldn’t believe he needed to explain this. In a few minutes they would be seeing their teammates for the first time since the Christmas party two nights ago. For the first time since Landon and Casey kissed.

Casey took a sip of coffee and returned the cup to the holder. “It won’t be weird.”

“You’ve hooked up with a lot of your teammates, then?”

Casey took his eyes off the road for a moment to look seriously at Landon. “No. Never.”

“Because,” Landon explained slowly, “hooking up with a teammate is weird.”

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