Page 21 of Time to Shine

They followed the other guys into one of the snack food aisles. West was video calling his girlfriend. “Babe, what are the nuts that I like?”

Gio, Pete, Clint, and Casey cracked up.

“Oh god, West,” said the voice on the phone. “Did you just ask that in front of your teammates?”

West scowled at all of them. “Forget them. Was it the macadamia ones, or the hazelnuts? They’re both round.”

“Hi, Allison,” Casey called out.

“Hi, Casey,” the woman sighed. “Please be nice to my boyfriend.”

“I’m always nice. And we need closure on this nut situation.”

“Macadamia,” Allison said. “And get some olive oil while you’re there.”

“Okay, I love you,” West said, and it was obvious from the way he was smiling at his phone that he really meant it.

“Allison is rad,” Casey told Landon. “Clint’s wife, Theresa, is super cool too. You’ll meet all the wives and girlfriends at the team Christmas party.”

“When’s that?”

“I forget. Nosey’s hosting it. Hey, Nosey, when’s the Christmas party?”

“You weren’t supposed to know about it,” Clint chirped.

“Fine. Then I won’t give you the gift I got you.”

“Is it hot chocolate bombs?”

“Maybe. If I don’t like them.”

“The party is December 17. And that’s firm because it was a whole thing arranging for the kids to stay with Theresa’s parents that weekend.”

“Shit, that’s soon,” Casey said. “What’s the theme? We doing ugly sweaters? Semiformal?”

“I literally don’t care,” Clint said.

“Please not formal,” Gio groaned.

“The theme is getting drunk at Nosey’s house,” Petey said.

“Fucking right,” West agreed as he tossed three bags of macadamia nuts into his cart.

A team Christmas party sounded like a great place for Landon to be very, very awkward. He was already dreading it.

In the pharmacy section, Landon got deodorant, Advil, and probably more dental floss than he would ever use in his life. He was considering several gallons of mouthwash when he noticed Casey dump an enormous box of condoms into the cart.

“Holy shit,” Landon blurted out.

“It’s a good deal,” Casey said enthusiastically. “You should get some! Unless you need a special size, which maybe you do since...”

Landon managed to not drop the mouthwash, thus preventing a flood. “What—what are you talking about?”

Casey leaned into him and dropped his voice. “I wasn’t, like, looking, but I caught a glimpse in the locker room and, y’know. Damn, Stacks.”

Landon felt hot everywhere. “It’s not that big.”

Casey grinned. “I’ve seen a few dicks in my day, pal. That’s a doozy you’ve got there.”

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