Free Final Encore by Scotty Cade Page A

unlacing.
    “Okay, this is it,” Bily said.
    “Go for it,” Ian replied, and Bily started to pul
    the boot off.
    Bily’s heart was breaking as he saw the pain on
    Ian’s face, but Ian didn’t say a word. He closed his
    eyes and pressed his lips together and held on to the
    arms of the couch.
    Ian’s right boot didn’t give way any more easily
    than the left. When the boot finaly skidded off, Ian and
    Bily both took deep breaths, and Ian finaly relaxed his
    grip on the couch and tried to smile.
    “That wasn’t so bad,” Ian said as a single tear
    slipped out of his left eye.
    Bily reached up and wiped the tear away with his
    thumb.
    “I’m realy sorry, Ian.”
    “No need to be sorry,” Ian said. “It was my
    decision not to go to the hospital, remember?”
    Bily just shook his head. “One more step,” he
    said, and they looked at each other as they
    simultaneously said, “the sock.”
    With the boot now gone, Ian’s ankle immediately
    blew up like a baloon. His sock was stretched as tight
    as a sausage skin, and Bily doubted he could get it off
    without realy hurting Ian.
    “Wait, I have an idea,” Bily said.
    “I’m waiting,” Ian responded.
    “Do you have any scissors?”
    “Yeah, in the office, top left drawer of the desk,”
    Ian responded.
    Bily was there and back in seconds and began to
    cut the sock away. He started at the top and worked
    his way down, puling the sock apart as he went. As the
    cloth fel away from Ian’s ankle, Bily could see the
    purple and yelow coloring starting to work its way up.
    He stopped cutting when he reached Ian’s toes and the
    wet sock fel to the ottoman.
    “Genius,” Ian said, and it was Bily’s turn to smile.
    With the boot and sock off, Bily could see how
    bad the sprain realy was.
    He took the bag of ice and lightly placed it on the
    top of Ian’s ankle. “Twenty minutes on and twenty
    minutes off, no more, no less.” Ian winced once more
    but kept his foot stil.
    “It’s a good thing you were wearing lace-up
    boots,” Bily said, “or we would have had to cut the
    boot off as wel.”
    “Tomorrow, I’m buying stock in Justin Boots,”
    Ian laughed.
    “We’ve got to get you out of these wet clothes.
    Put this on,” Bily said as he handed Ian the dry T-shirt.
    “Now the pants, and no wisecracks this time.” Ian
    laughed and started to unbutton his jeans.
    Bily motioned for him to lift up just a little, and
    Bily slid Ian’s pants down over his thighs to his ankles.
    He removed the icepack just long enough to slide the
    pants over the now totaly black, blue,and very swolen
    ankle. He replaced the icepack and slid the other leg of
    Ian’s pants over his left foot.
    When Bily looked up, Ian sat in a T-shirt and
    underwear. His bare legs were thick, long, and
    muscular and were covered in soft blond hair. Staring,
    Bily was startled when Ian said, “Now what?”
    “You know what,” Bily responded. “The
    underwear, but I’l give you some privacy for that
    move. Do you think you can manage?”
    “I think so,” Ian replied. “But you need to get out
    of your wet clothes too.”
    “Okay,” Bily said. “I’l be back in a flash.”
    Bily ran downstairs to Ian’s SUV to gather the
    clothes and sneakers he’d brought from the ranch. He
    went to the half bath he’d seen earlier and changed out
    of his wet clothes. When he returned to the living room
    in bare feet, dry jeans, and a T-shirt, Ian had his
    underwear changed and had managed to slip on his gym
    shorts.
    “Good job,” Bily said.
    “Hey, I had a lot of help,” Ian responded.
    Bily grabbed a chenile throw from the back of
    the couch and threw it over Ian’s legs.
    “Now,” he said, “let’s get a fire going to warm
    you up.”
    “I know of another way I can be warmed up,”
    Ian responded.
    “Al in good time,” Bily said with a sly smile as he
    kissed him lightly on the forehead. “Now that I have
    you secure with no chance of escape, I can take my
    time and torture