The Finall Play novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Sunday Session

Elliot cleaned his apartment for three hours on Sunday morning.

He told himself it was because the place was a mess.

It was a one-room apartment above a bakery, with a bed in the corner and a yoga mat rolled against the wall.

He had never needed it to look like anything before.

At two o'clock a knock came on the door.

Tanner stood on the landing in jeans and a gray hoodie, holding a paper bag.

"Cinnamon rolls," he said. "From downstairs. The lady said you eat two every morning."

"She talks too much."

"She told me about the humming, too."

Elliot stepped aside.

Tanner walked in and looked around, and the whole room seemed to get smaller.

"It smells like sugar," he said.

"It always smells like sugar."

"I like it."

They ate the rolls standing at the counter, licking icing off their thumbs.

Neither of them said what they had come to do.

"Okay," Elliot said at last, and wiped his hands. "Floor. Shirt off."

"That's a line."

"It's a stretch protocol. It's strictly professional."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Because you're annoying."

Tanner peeled off his hoodie and shirt and lay back on the yoga mat with a groan, his hair spread out over the floor.

Elliot knelt beside him.

In the afternoon light the room was soft and gold, and dust floated over Tanner's chest.

"Arm up," Elliot said. "Slow."

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