Page 47 of Encounter

Snorting, he hung his head back and sighed.“I... I’m sorry for lying to you about that. I know you know I did, so... no point in denying, huh? I got so low I felt like I couldn’t possibly muster the energy to do it, that I would be too annoying and horrible, but today at school... I was talking to my friend, Zola, and... I had thisepiphany.” Tilted back, he rested his flexed arms behind him on the boxing ring floor. “I thought about how I can't live like this anymore. It can't go on forever, this... depressing cycle. And then your words about it came back to me.”

A smile appeared on my lips, completely out of my control.

“That when you called me?” I asked, focusing on his moving Adam’s apple as he swallowed, and his chest as it slowly went up and down.

“Yeah,” he admitted, voice gruff. Lowering his eyes—but still making sure he didn’t meet my gaze—he pressed his lips together, and I noticed how long his lashes were. “I told myself... Change is always painful, isn’t it? I’m familiar with pain, so I just have to get used to this kind of it. This blunt, twisting kind, as I try to push out the borders of my little comfort zone.” Right when he finished speaking, something shifted. His body tensed up and his eyes widened, as if he realized he said something he shouldn’t have. “Anyway, I— I get really overwhelmed. I guess I don’t really m-manage stress well. Dad keeps pushing me to do flawlessly at school, and sometimes it’s all too much,” he murmured, so fast his words blended together.

For once, I was the one lost in thought, so he spoke again before I could.

“When it gets like that, I can’t even focus on playing my piano. Usually, it’s the only thing that calms me down. Makes me forget.”

Why do I keep feeling so close to him? This feels... nostalgic.

“The only thing, huh?” I asked. Something dangerous brewed in my lower belly as I moved my boot next to his twitching foot. Galen held his breath once I carefully rested my hand on his knee.I’m only trying to help. Him, or me? I don’t really know...“I take back what I said,” I continued in a taunting, deep tone, slowly moving my palm across his leg and toward his crotch, carefully watching for his reaction. “You thinkin’ too much isn’t the problem—it’swhatyou think about... How you let it take over.”

My fingertips buzzed as I squeezed Galen in my hand through the thin fabric of his shorts. He didn’t let out a sound, but I could sense the pressure mounting in the air.

I pressed my shoulder against his, smirking.I wasn’t this hungry for something like this in a good while.

“I can’t really help you solve the crap in your life,” I whispered, “but I guess there issomethin’I can do.” Using my pinkie, I lifted the elastic of his shorts and slid in.

The muscles on Galen’s stomach flexed, and his eyes shut as I took him in my hand and squeezed him firm.Damn, he’s almost hard. And I’m only getting started.Heat and sweat and electricity mixed between us. Once Galen finally let out a moan, grabbing onto my wrist, I exhaled with satisfaction, licking my lips.

“Chast,” he cried out, still holding his eyes closed like he was in a dream he didn’t want to wake up from.

I kept stroking him, trying to focus on releasing all of his problems, while I got more and more pent-up, and his cock got more and more rigid. His skin burned, and I felt the vibrations of his heartbeat through it. Every so often, my finger brushed over a place on his thigh that felt different, rougher.Are those scars?“Want me to stop?” I asked, putting my lips closer to his ear.

“No!” He shook his head urgently. “Ke-keep going,” he begged, breathy and erotic.

God, this is making me crazy.

“Figured,” I murmured. As more sounds came out of his mouth, filling the empty room, my thoughts became hazier. I was slowly forgetting why I started doing what I was doing in the first place. “Damn... You sound so lewd.”

Judging by the way he kept squeezing my wrist, he was getting close. The pain his long, lean fingers sent through my arm only made me go faster, harder.

“Chast...”

That’s it.

“Chast!” His weight pushed against me, and his feet pressed into the floor. Galen clung onto me like a cat to a tree as his cock twitched. For that moment, I wished I could’ve seen both it and his face at the same time. I had to swallow the saliva overflowing my mouth as his cum ran through my fingers.

Like someone flipped a switch, Galen let go of me the second his brain turned back on. He moved away, staring at me. “I— I’m sorry,” he whispered, exhaling deeply.

“It’s fine.” I chuckled and took my hand out of his pants. All messy and sticky, I held it up while I stood. Galen finally got the courage to meet my eyes—something I figured would’ve taken him longer—so I smiled to calm him down. “Relax,” I said while slowly walking toward the changing rooms. “Sit here. I’ll get some tissues to clean up.”

Fast, rhythmic beats still echoed in my ears as I made my way there, and I wasn’t sure if they were of my heart or his. I glanced down at my open palm.

He was bigger than I expected... How long has it been since I touched a man, anyway?

Lowering my gaze even further, I finally realized what the pressure bubbling in my abdomen was. “Fuck,” I groaned, hanging my head back. Grabbing onto the shelf next to the changing room’s entrance, I rubbed my clean hand over the erection.Shit. I need to calm down before he thinks I’m tryin’ to throw myself at him or something.

Shaking my head, I reached for the box of tissues on the shelf, next to the first aid kit, and took a few out.

I was just horny. Nothing more to it. He couldn’t fault me for that.

I walked back and offered Galen the tissues while using some on my fingers. I hoped he wouldn’t notice—still looking pretty dazed by the orgasm and all—but he did. He sure did... Opening his mouth, he stared at my crotch, which forced an awkward, playful laugh out of me. “It’ll go away in a bit,” I said, trying to make it sound like not a big deal.

Galen finally accepted the tissue and started cleaning the inside of his shorts. The problem was that when he looked up at me again, he didn’t seem any less tense or stressed than before.

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