Page 17 of Can't Stop Now

“Hey,” Jacob said, “don’t be so hard on yourself! You’ll be okay, Will. You’ll be more than okay. You seem like a great guy, and you’re obviously smart, probably smarter than me. I’m sure any gallery would be totally happy to have you work for them.”

“You’re too kind, Jacob,” Will said, sighing.

Jacob paused for a moment. Will thought he was finished, but a few seconds later he started up again.

“And don’t compare yourself to your brother. He might have success of his own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t too. We just got out of college. We’re starting our lives. The best is yet to come… and all that shit!” Jacob said, and laughed at his own mini-motivational speech.

Will laughed along with him.

“The best is yet to come? Now you’re just being cheesy,” Will said, but deep down he appreciated Jacob’s words. He really appreciated them.

“You said your friend Maya is studying Art History, right? Maybe she can ask some of her professors if they know anybody in the field looking to hire,” Jacob added.

“Yeah, maybe,” Will said, as he looked over at Jacob.Jesus, the guy is truly a kind person, he thought. He felt a pang of sadness in him, hopelessly wishing again that Jacob wasn’t straight.You’d be perfect for me if only you could ever love me back, he thought, looking over at Jacob’s kind smile as he drove.

Eleven

Jacob

Jacob hopped out of the driver’s side of the car, getting out and stretching his arms above his head as far as they’d go.

“Ahhhh, it feels so damn good to stretch,” Jacob said, tilting his head back and rolling it left to right.

He looked over at Will, who was stretching on the other side of the car. He was bent over, with his hands flat on the ground in front of his feet.Jeez, Will is flexible as hell, Jacob idly noticed. Will’s hair was windswept from having opened the window the last 20 minutes of the car ride, and it was going in tons of different directions but still managed to look good. Jacob’s stare lingered a little longer before he turned away, running his hands through his own short hair and stretching out his back some more.

They’d been on the road for a few hours and were stopped in Buffalo, New York for lunch. They’d found a great taco place thanks to an app on Will’s phone, and were parked outside. It was overcast in Buffalo and slightly chillier than it had been back at school.

Will stood back up and breathed in deep.

“You ready for some tacos? I’m ready for some tacos,” Will said, smiling at Jacob, and started to walk into the shop.

The place was decorated like a beach hut, even though they were still in upstate New York. There were surfboards on the wall, and tons of photos of beaches and surfers hanging everywhere.

“You better get used to this, Jacob,” Will said, looking at him as they sat down at a table.

“What, you mean because I’m going to San Diego?” Jacob asked.

“Yup. Although I’m sure the tacos there are even better,” Will said.

“I’d definitely hope so. Hey, so did you look up what’s going on in Cleveland tonight? It would be nice if we could do something other than just go sleep in the motel,” Jacob said.

“Actually yeah, I saw online that they have some sort of art festival going on tonight, I’d definitely check that out if you’re down for it,” Will suggested. He picked up the menu and started glancing over it.

“Yeah, totally. You just can’t make fun of my lack of art knowledge.”

Will laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you whatever you need to know.”

Jacob noticed that when he was talking about art, Will’s eyes did that thing where they got wider and seemed to sparkle a little bit. He glanced at them before looking back down at the menu.

They ate, and it turned out the tacoswereactually really good. Jacob ate four and Will ate three, and they were ready to get back on the road again. They got back in the car, this time with Will in the driver’s seat. After fueling up at a gas station, they were on the road again for a few hours until their final stop in Cleveland.

“This app is the best,” Jacob said from the passenger seat. “Just booked our 2-bed motel room for just 60 bucks.”

“Cool! I promise I won’t raid the minibar and add an extra $60 onto that,” Will joked.

“You better not, or I’ll fight you, Will. You know I could take you,” Jacob laughed, lightly punching Will on his shoulder.

“Jacob. …Jacob…”