Page 20 of Time to Shine

“Aw, you don’t have to—”

“Please.”

Casey could tell this meant a lot to Landon, so he nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

“And could we stop at a grocery store? Or maybe a Walmart? I need some things.”

Casey laughed, because Landon needed more than a few things. “I’ve got an even better idea. Where’s Nosey?”

What was supposed to be a quick stop into a store for Landon to get a few groceries and some extra socks and underwear ended up being a group outing to Costco after practice. Apparently Clint Noseworthy had a membership and loved any excuse to go there.

“Why is this place exciting?” Landon asked as he pushed a very large shopping cart down a very wide aisle.

“Dude, look at how huge it is. It has everything,” Casey said with his arms spread wide.

“And it has free food samples,” Pete Leandros said. “Have you never been to a Costco before?”

“Once or twice.”

“Oh fuck yes,” Clint said, and then dumped a giant Nerf gun set into his cart. “For my kids. For Christmas,” he explained.

“Sure,” said Pete.

In total, there were six of them: Landon, Casey, Clint, Pete, Gio, and West. Landon noticed they were getting a few stares from other shoppers, but so far no one had approached them for autographs.

“So what do you need?” Casey asked.

“Clothes, mostly,” Landon said.

Casey wrinkled his nose. “This is not the place.”

“Are you kidding?” Clint said. “This place rules for clothes. Cheap, functional, totally nice stuff.”

“If you want to dress like a divorced lumberjack,” Casey chirped. Gio, Petey, and West laughed, and even Landon smiled because Clint was currently wearing sweatpants, a plaid shirt unbuttoned over a T-shirt with the Caterpillar logo on it, and a mesh ball cap.

“Eat shit, Hicks,” Clint said.

“I just need some basics,” Landon said. “I’m sure I’ll find something here.”

In no time at all, the cart he was sharing with Casey was full. Some of it was the clothing and groceries Landon had grabbed, but most of it was a random assortment of whatever had caught Casey’s eye, including a bunch of Christmas decorations.

“I need them,” Casey argued. “My house doesn’t have any. It’s sad. Ask Nosey, he’s the Christmas king.”

Clint grunted in agreement from where he was carefully considering a pair of heated work gloves.

“It’s true,” Gio said. “His house looks like Santa’s fucking workshop.”

“I have kids,” Clint argued. “When you guys are adults, you’ll understand.”

“I’m not even getting that much stuff,” Casey said. “Whoa! What’s a hot chocolate bomb and why does that sound amazing?”

“It’s just chocolate that melts into hot milk,” Landon said. “To make hot chocolate.”

“I gotta see that!” Casey said, and tossed the package of—good grief—eighteen hot chocolate bombs into the cart.

Landon needed to get back on track. “Does this place sell deodorant and stuff?”

“It sells everything.”

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