Page 20 of Can't Stop Now

He heard the shower turn off, and a few minutes later Jacob came out, with his towel around his waist.Control yourself, Will said to himself, vowing not to stare.

“Hey! G’morning. I didn’t wake you when I came in last night, right?” Will said.

Jacob didn’t look up at him.

“Nope, slept through the night,” he grunted, going over to his suitcase and getting clothes. “Got up this morning around 6 and went to the gym.”

“Wow, that’s dedication. I think I got back around 2:00 am or something. Those guys I met wanted to stay out doing shots but I wasn’t feeling that, especially since we’ll be driving today,” Will said.

There was silence afterward, and Will looked out the window for a few more seconds.

“Ok, well I’m gonna go shower and then I guess we’ll head out, yeah?”

Jacob gave a smallmmhmm.

Guess he must still be tired, Will thought, shrugging it off.

He went to the bathroom, which was still warm and fogged up from Jacob’s shower. He turned it on, and while waiting for the water to heat up, he got naked and looked down at his body, examining it. He compared his own chest to Jacob’s, which he had just glimpsed. It definitely had far less bulk, but it had some definition, at least. He flexed his biceps, but they certainly looked nowhere near as impressive as Jacob’s.

He got into the shower, thinking about today’s drive. It wouldn’t be too far, and they were headed for Chicago today. Will had never been there, but had always heard it was like New York City’s little brother. And he knew a lot of people who thought it was even better than New York. He was excited. Maybe if they got there early enough, they could explore the city some.

He showered and then got out, toweling himself dry.Shit, I should have brought my clothes in here, he thought. But he was gonna have to walk out there in front of Jacob in his towel after all.Hope he doesn’t think I look like some weakling. Here goes nothing, he thought.

He went out into the room and found Jacob on his bed, looking at his laptop. He stole a glance in his direction but didn’t make eye contact. It seemed as if he wasn’t looking up at him at all. Will grabbed some clothes and made his way to the bathroom to put them on, then headed back out into the room.

“Okay, I’m ready. Wanna go down and see if they have free food here? Or head out and see if we can find a diner?” Will asked.

“I think they have some bagels and muffins downstairs, we can just grab some and go,” Jacob said. Will thought he really did seem like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.Maybe some food will cheer him up, Will hoped.

They went downstairs and found the bagels. They had cheap coffee as well, and when Will took a sip it was so sour he had to stop himself from spitting it back out. He chugged it just for the caffeine and tossed the cup. Jacob grabbed a bagel, and Will grabbed a jumbo muffin, and they ate quickly at a tiny table downstairs.

“Hey, you ok Jacob? You seem, I dunno, tired or something,” Will said, trying not to pry too much.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine, just wanna get on the road,” Jacob replied. Will thought he only must have looked up once during the whole morning.

Will decided to leave Jacob alone. Maybe the guy was just being moody. As long as he could drive the car, it was fine with Will.

They headed back upstairs, grabbed their bags, and went back down to check out of the hotel. They climbed into the car, again starting with Jacob driving first.

About two hours passed with total silence from Jacob. He didn’t sing along like he had yesterday, didn’t request any particular music, didn’t comment on anything. Most of the road was the same the whole way, just swaths of green grass on either side of the car, and no real landmarks to speak of as they drove through northern Ohio.

Will decided to try to break the silence, because he was starting to get annoyed and a little worried.

“So, did you find any cheap hotels for tonight yet or do you want me to check out the app now?” Will said.

“I actually found one this morning. Seems similar to last night’s, nothin’ fancy.” Jacob replied, staring out at the road ahead of him.

“Cool! That sounds great. When we get there I’ll send you half of the money,” Will offered.

Jacob said okay, then once again silence filled the car.

“So, what did you do last night after you got back? You get anything good for dinner?” Will asked. He was on a mission now, either to get Jacob in a better mood or find out what was up with him.

“Got a burger at a place nearby, came home and fell asleep. Nothin’ special.” Jacob paused for a few seconds. “What about you and… whats-his-name,” he added, stealing a slight glance over at Will.

“Mark. Well, we went to a pretty cool bar, like an old pub, and met with his friends. They were alright, all artists. That guy who was waving that baton with fire that we saw was actually there,” Will said. “But overall the night kinda sucked. They kept wanting to do more and more shots, and I just wasn’t into it.”

“Oh, gotcha,” Jacob said. “So you just stayed at the bar the whole time?”