Page 50 of Time to Shine

“I guess.”

“We can do some Christmas shopping today too,” Casey said. “If you need to get your family some gifts. I haven’t bought any presents yet.”

Landon looked at him oddly. “What—” Then he shook his head. “Never mind.”

“Never mind what?”

“I just...what do you buy your parents? They’re so...”

“Rich?” Casey smiled. “You can say it. It’s not like it’s a secret. They are totally loaded. Mom came from money, too, so there’s plenty of it between the two of them. And now I’m making bank, so yeah. There’s way too much fucking money in our family. I know it.”

Landon didn’t say anything. His expression shifted from uncomfortable to interested, though.

“They give a lot to charity but—” Casey rolled his eyes “—I know. That’s such a rich person thing to say. Brooke, my sister, she full-time volunteers for an organization that helps low-income families in L.A.”

“That’s cool.”

“She moved out there for college and stayed. She seems really happy.”

“So your parents are alone?” Landon asked.

“Hardly. First of all, Grandma lives in their guesthouse, but also they’re super social. They’re always traveling, hosting parties, going to parties. They’re fun, y’know? They love people.”

Landon’s lips quirked. “Sounds about right.”

“I know. Wait until you’re surrounded by four of me.”

Landon took a sip of his coffee, put the mug down, and said, “Is that supposed to sell me on this cabin?”

“Obviously.”

Landon huffed and reached for more toast from the small stack in the middle of the table.

“I guess five of me if you count Grandma. She’s a little more chill, though. I think you’d get along great with her.”

“Wow. You’re comparing me to your grandmother.”

“I am not! I’m just saying she’s mostly quiet but she has a dry sense of humor that’s, like, deadly, and...okay. Yeah. You are basically the same.”

“And she’s single, you say?”

Casey laughed. “Yeah, but you’ll need a really nice shirt to impress her, so let’s go shopping.”

Landon had left the real world. He’d been transported, via valet parking and a personal escort, to a planet where shirts cost thousands of dollars. And people acted like that was normal.

Casey was behind a curtain, trying on his zillionth outfit. Landon was slumped on a plush purple sofa, trying to ignore the way Samir kept frowning at him.

There was a rack of clothes Samir had selected for Landon, at Casey’s request. Landon had no idea what Casey had told Samir in advance. Please find some clothes for my lanky roommate?

My lanky, virginal roommate.

Landon couldn’t believe he had shared that with Casey. He didn’t tell anyone that. If he could help it, he didn’t talk about sex at all. Not because he never thought about it, but because thinking about it vaguely and thinking about actually doing it made him feel very differently. He watched porn sometimes, jerked off, enjoyed sexual fantasies that didn’t necessarily involve himself. There was a sex drive there, but it was one he didn’t want to copilot. Sharing himself that way with another person terrified him.

Casey stepped out from behind the curtain and Samir actually gasped.

The suit was emerald-green velvet and shouldn’t have looked good on anyone, but Casey absolutely pulled it off.

“Good, right?” Casey said as he assessed himself in the mirror.

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