Page 9 of Can't Stop Now

“Paying somebody else to do it for you?” Will said, wiping sweat from his forehead. Those boxes were heavy, and Will was an artist, not a bodybuilder.

Jacob laughed. “I was thinking more along the lines of beer.”

“Now you are speaking my language,” Will said.

“Let’s go grab some,” Jacob said.

They headed back out into the beautiful day, this time going the opposite direction down the block, toward the liquor store. They purchased a couple six-packs and started back home again.

The short walk back was mostly silent, but Will felt totally comfortable. They slowly sauntered down the tree-lined street, the sun growing golden in the late afternoon.

An old woman was walking toward them, using a walker and rolling it slowly as she went along. She got just past Will and Jacob as they walked along and she turned back.

“You two just make such a lovely couple,” she said, smiling.

Will turned and smiled back at her, and a second later heard a thud and a clink coming from his side.

“Owwww! Damn!”Jacob cried out. He’d tripped, falling on his knee. The beers he was carrying had fallen out, and one had burst open on impact.

“Jacob! You okay?” Will said, bending down next to him.

“Is everything alright? Should I call someone?” the old woman said, turning slowly on her walker.

“No, no ma’am, I’m totally fine,” Jacob said, slowly standing up. “Definitely gonna have a sore spot on my knee, though. Think I might have pulled a muscle in my calf, too. But I’ll be okay.”

“Thanks so much ma’am. I’ll make sure he gets home okay. We’re just a couple blocks from his house,” Will said.

“Okay then. You take care of him, now,” the woman said, slowly continuing on.

Will and Jacob started home again, this time much more slowly.

“You sure you’re okay, Jacob? That knee looks pretty banged up,” Will said.

“It looks a lot worse than it is. My calf muscle doesn’t feel great, but it happens. I’ll try to work on it later tonight,” Jacob said, attempting a smile. Will wondered how Jacob had tripped just from walking down a sidewalk.The guy plays soccer, shouldn’t his balance be perfect?

They made it back home, finally. Jacob washed his knee in the tub and wrapped a thin piece of gauze around it.

“All better. And Idefinitelyneed a beer now,” Jacob said, giving a small laugh.

“Okay, I’ll allow it. Just make sure you keep your balance!” Will said, raising his eyebrows and grinning.

They cracked open a couple beers and headed back into Jacob’s room to start packing. They got a couple boxes done, but after a few beers, it quickly devolved. Jacob turned on music, sitting down on his bed.

Will had to admit that he’d become tipsy. He sat down on the floor, looking through some of Jacob’s stuff that he’d taken from a drawer.

“What’s this?” Will said, holding up a metal contraption.

Jacob looked over. “That would be a mortise lock. It’s a slightly complex one to pick, but I do it to relieve stress sometimes,” he said, taking a swig of beer.

“I still don’t get the appeal of lockpicking if you don’t just want to break into places,” Will said, staring up at Jacob. Jacob was perched on the edge of his bed, looking down at Will on the floor. Will liked the feeling of Jacob being above him like that.I’m tipsy, and I’m leaving town soon anyway, he thought, allowing himself the fantasy. He pictured himself slowly crawling over, inching nearer to Jacob until he was between his legs at the foot of the bed. Will bit his bottom lip gently.

“Criminals don’t really take time to pick locks anyway, they just break them. Lockpicking is like a game. It takes skill, it takes patience. I work it slowly, from the inside, until the end when you feel that satisfyingclickas it releases,” Jacob said, staring down at the lock in Will’s hand.

“Sounds pretty rewarding,” Will said, letting himself stare at Jacob’s plush lips for a second before looking back down at the lock.

Jacob finished his beer, and got up to go toss the bottle. He grabbed another one from his dresser.

“Ahhh…” he quietly whispered, wincing at the pain in his leg.

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