Page 146 of Beau and the Beast

“Whatever. You had fun. You’re glad you went out with me.”

“Ugh. Check in with me about that when I’m fighting a hangover tomorrow morning.”

Lincoln laughed and tripped over his own feet, jumping a few steps forward before he’d regained his balance.

“Walk much?” Noah teased.

“Fuck you,” Lincoln said affectionately. “You’ve got a cane—you don’t know what it’s like to try and walk home drunk.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Noah said, deadpan. “My cane gives me lots of huge advantages over you. It’s all becoming clear now.”

Lincoln held the door to the apartment building open as Noah crossed the threshold.

“Fuck,” Noah said, stopping in his tracks. Hung on the elevator was a giant “OUT OF ORDER” sign. Lincoln lived on the sixth floor.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lincoln said. “I’ll carry you.”

“You most certainly willnot.”

“I probably bench twice what you weigh.”

“Great. You’re still notcarrying me.”

“Get on my back,” Lincoln said, bending down.

“Thisisn’thappening.”

“Listen, you can climb six flights of stairs till your joints ache to prove a stupid pointoryou can get on my back and we’ll be upstairs in, like, two seconds.”

“I got it. Seriously.”

“Don’t be a stubborn asshole. No one’s even looking.”

Lincoln smiled and held out his hand to take Noah’s cane.

“I swear to Christ, Lincoln, if youdropme—“

Lincoln laughed. “Nobody’s dropping you! I’ll be careful.”

Noah sighed, handed over his cane, and with Lincoln’s help, he climbed up onto the other man’s back. Lincoln looped his arms under Noah’s knees easily and Noah held him tight around the neck. They both laughed hard as Lincoln moved to mount the stairs. He reached out to grab the railing to steady himself and dropped one of Noah’s legs.

“Come on, man, you at least gotta help,” Lincoln said, tapping Noah’s leg. “Loop em up, let’s get this show on the road.”

“I feel like a fucking koala right now,” Noah said, squeezing his legs around Lincoln’s middle.

“I always dreamed of having a chill koala roommate,” Lincoln said.

“Really?”

“Not at all, bro.”

They made it all the way to the fifth floor, their laughter echoing up and down the stairwell, before their paths crossed anyone else. There was a young woman coming down from a higher floor and she stared at them openly like both of them had lost their minds.

“Yo Melissa,” Lincoln said, smiling at her. “What’s shakin?”

“Uh, not much,” she said, turning her nose up at him as she hurried down the stairs past them. And then, under her breath: “Yikes.”

“This is just the tip of the yikesburg, babe,” Lincoln called after her. She didn’t respond but her footfalls went faster and Noah had to bite down a laugh.

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