Page 78 of Encounter

With a heavy, paralyzing sensation at the bottom of my stomach, I glanced at him.

“Wow,” I whispered. “Itiskind of stupid that I keep complaining about my situation, considering how much worse it—”

“No. I already told ya—you’re allowed to feel whatever you’re feelin’.” Chast seemed a little disgruntled by my reaction, but I could sense he meant well. “I was just tryin’ to let you know I understand is all.”

It was strange seeing Chast with that confident, proud demeanor down. His eyes were soft, and the way he spoke wreaked havoc on my insides.

“We lived in this shitty-ass desert town, filled with shitty-ass, simple folk. Took my father a while to get those backward white degenerates to even give his business a chance,” he said, shaking his head. I had to glance around us to make sure no one was listening, and to assure myself I wasn’t dreaming. “He was a construction worker—did all sorts of things to do with that. Suppose it wasn’t as bad back then, before nine-eleven and all, but they still didn’t look too kindly to a big, burly Turkish man.”

“I can imagine...” I said, but immediately realized my words must’ve sounded stupid to him.

Can I really? I’m a trust-fund baby, living in a big city, in a fancy house. I can hardly understand Chast or his struggles.

“Don’t mean to sound whiny,” he said, looking at me briefly with an awkward smile, still fidgeting with the now ruined cigarette. “I did what I could to fit in, and it didn’t even take that long. Was always pretty tall and strong, and used to takin’ hits, so whoever wanted to fuck with me quickly realized they were the ones who should be afraid.” With a devilish grin, like he was remembering some fond childhood memory, Chast leaned forward and rested against his knees. “Well—I don’t know what I was tryin’ to say by all this... It won’t feel like this forever, I guess. You’ll feel like you belong, like yourself, at some point. Trust me.”

When our eyes met, I already thought my heart was going to explode. I didn’t know why I was overreacting so much, why what Chast said meant so much to me.

Trying to collect myself, I flashed him an awkward smile and nodded.

“C’mon, let’s shower. You’ll get a cold if you go out drenched like this,” he said, tapping my shoulder and swiftly standing up.

Shower? Together?

Before I got time to ask, Chast was already walking toward them. Nervously glancing around us, I gulped. It looked like everyone still only paid attention to themselves, so I stood—nearly falling over because of how unexpectedly jelly-like my legs felt—and followed.

I knew I was probably the only one who saw it as something awkward, so I pushed through, got naked, and walked into the large open area of the showers where Chast was already showering in the corner.

Am I supposed to go closer to him? Am I supposed to stay far away? Is he going to think I’m weird if I keep away? Shit. Shit, shit!

When he opened his eyes and moved his face from the current of running water, he found me and smirked. Tilting his head, he signaled for me to come to him—at least I hoped that was what he meant.

I did my best to focus on anything but his body, which was harder than I thought. As he stood there facing the wall, he looked like one of thoseDiscobolusGreek statues. His ass was firm and would probably make most of the girls in my class jealous, not to mention his muscular thighs and impressively toned abs...

Stopping at the shower next to him, I finally realized I completely failed at what I was trying to do, and Chast was very much aware of it. Feeling the heat pooling in my cheeks, I was met with his playful, cheeky smile. Oh, how Ihatedthe way his eyes were when he did that—so flirty and alluring.

It made my heart skip a beat.

Instead of scolding me for glaring at him in a public shower, he chuckled and turned on the shower above me, sending cold water my way. I yelped and jumped away while Chast laughed, but the truth was, Ineededthe cooling down.

We stood there as the water slowly warmed up. Exhaling deeply, I turned around and let it run down my tense, aching neck and back.I’m definitely going to sleep well tonight.

Besides the distant clanking of metal, it was quiet and peaceful, with only the running water and my heartbeat occupying my mind. For the first time today, it was empty, and it was glorious.

Checking my surroundings, I caught Chast’s gaze.

Making my cheeks tug and burn, he brazenly ran his eyes over my body, and I couldn’t help but remember the night in his apartment. Holding in a shaky breath, I forced myself to not face away, and wondered if he thought about it too. If he remembered what he did, what we did. If it kept coming back to him like it did to me.

I’m not shying away from him because... I want him to touch me again?

Chast’s sudden chuckle made me jerk. Instead of doing any of the perverted, messed up things I was painting in my mind, he looked away—a faint smile mostly obscured by his thick beard—and let the water run over his face again.

Right. He said it would be best if we don’t do anything like that.

Swallowing to wash down the taste of disappointment, I stepped back to position myself under the shower nozzle, too.

It was probably for the best.

?

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