Page 74 of Dark, Forbidden, & Taboo

Eastin chuckles as he reaches for my cigarette again, and this time I hand it over to him willingly.

“Can I ask you a really strange question?”

I nod.

“Are you in his will?”

I turn my face toward him, an inquisitive look prominent and he laughs.

“I know—it’s none of my business, but I’m kind of curious is all.”

“I don’t know,” I reply with a shrug. “We don’t talk about that stuff.”

“Hm.”

Eastin glances at the washing machine when the buzzer sounds loudly, hops off the windowsill, cigarette clenched firmly between his teeth again. I watch as he moves the load to the drier, then empties his hamper into the washing machine and turns it on again.

“You’re supposed to separate those,” I tell him quietly.

“Oh.” He scratches his head before he shrugs and comes back to sit on half of my favorite perch. “As long as they’re clean, right?”

I reach for the cigarette but he jerks back away from my hand and shakes his head.

“I’ll finish this one. I’m going to my room. Just knock when my clothes are done and I’ll come out and get them. See ya later!”

He walks out of the laundry room with the only guilty pleasure that I’m allowed firmly in is possession and I wonder how many more hours, if days I’ll be able to last like this.

Chapter

Six

I’m patiently waiting outside of Eastin’s door, hamper on the floor between my feet. I’ve knocked twice and while I hear him inside, he hasn’t responded yet.

When he finally opens the door, he leans out with a smile on his face and I take a step back.

“Sorry about that. I was just moving shit around. Come in,” he says, stepping back and allowing me to enter the sanctity of his room.

I shuffle in and set his hamper down next to his bed before I turn to walk away, but he’s standing in the doorway blocking my exit with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Don’t you put them away too?” he asks curiously.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me in here longer than I had to be, but I can,” I say with a shrug as I go back to the hamper.

“So,” he says as he goes back to his bed and lies down. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he picks up a video game controller and begins to expertly push buttons, “How old are you?”

“Twenty-five,” I answer as I move away from the bed and toward the dresser next to his entertainment center. In the few seconds that I’ve been in here, I’ve noticed that his room is incredibly … him. Dark art hangs on most of the walls, he lets no light in to shine, and everything seems to be carefully placed throughout. His bed, while large, is not as big as Holden’s but seems just as comfortable to sit in its own proper place.

Everything in this room is just as much an enigma as the young man that inhabits it.

Another puzzle I have no interest in solving.

“Jesus, they get younger every time,” he mutters under his breath.

I glance at him over my shoulder as I pull open one of the drawers and arch an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he replies dismissively as he goes back to focusing on his video game.

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