Page 37 of Worth Fighting For

James looks smug. Shang narrows his eyes, probably wondering what I’m up to.

“I think I would like to take a second shower now,” I say. “Excuse me, gentlemen.”

I march off toward the farmhouse once more, holding my head high, but once I’m out of sight, I veer away before going inside to give myself time apart from everyone else. It’s not just the fact that James sabotaged the whole thing that infuriates me, but also the fact that before he interfered, I had been doing fine. Great, even, especially given that it was my first time shearing sheep. Not to mention poor Geraldine. I cringe as I recall how Geraldine jerked in my arms. At the end of the day, it was my fault. I hurt Geraldine through my inexperience. I take a few deep breaths, fortifying myself mentally, and head toward the house.

When I get inside, I find the bathroom locked. “I’m going to be quite a while,” Mushu says from behind the door.

“Oh! Sorry, yeah, okay!” I hurry away, hugging a set of clean clothes to my chest.

Should I look for another bathroom? The farmhouse is massive; surely there will be a different bathroom I can use. I wander down the hallways until I locate a different bathroom, but find this one occupied by Uncle Jing.

I am about to give up and just change into dry clothes without showering when Auntie Jiayi spots me.

“Ah, Zhou,” Auntie Jiayi says, eyeing my disheveled state and the change of clothes in my arms. “Are the bathrooms all taken up?”

I nod.

Auntie Jiayi shakes her head. “At our age, everything takes an extra-long time to process, including digestion.”

“Uh…okay. That makes sense.” I have no idea what else to say to that, and begin inching away, desperate to get out of my wet clothes.

“Ah, why don’t you use the outdoors shower? It’s very pleasant. We keep it clean.”

“Oh?” The thought of an outdoor shower doesn’t particularly appeal to me, but then again, I don’t have much of a choice.

“It’s nicer than you think,” Auntie Jiayi says, reading my mind. “I would have suggested it after you got covered in cow dung, but I didn’t want cow poop all over the shower floor. Out the back door and to the right.” She smiles and ushers me away. Is it my imagination or does Auntie Jiayi’s smile look more cunning than usual?

I trudge out through the back door, as suggested. Outside, I let out a long, heavy sigh before making my way along the path. I’m exhausted. It isn’t so much the disastrous activities of the day, though they certainly didn’t help, but mostly the way that I have had to play a role. Even though I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember, having Shang’s mother call me Zhou still feels really bad, a reminder of my deceit.

Lost in my gloomy thoughts, I fail to notice the outdoor shower until I am standing right in front of it. I also fail to notice that the shower is turned on, and that there is someone standing underneath it. What I do manage to notice, finally, is the fact that the outdoor shower is basically a large cubicle with a very small door. A door that barely covers the upper half of anyone inside and leaves very little to the imagination. A door that is doing the bare minimum to cover Shang as he stands under the showerhead with his head tilted back and his eyes closed.

For a second, I freeze. Is it possible to do anything but freeze in this situation? After all, my mind has been torn apart, with one side shrieking:Oh mygod, naked man, get out of here!And the other side shouting:Oh my god,gorgeousnaked man, stay here!And he truly is gorgeous. Clearly, he is one of God’s favorites. That face of his, those eyebrows and those cheeks and that straight nose. And his hair! This is the first time I’m seeing his hair down. It’s long enough to graze his shoulders, and draws the eye to his ripped shoulders and huge pecs. His body looks like it’s been sculpted lovingly out of marble, and the sight of the water sluicing down his dark hair, dripping down those high cheekbones and that strong jaw before sliding down his muscular chest—

Then my senses slam back into place and I duck out of sight, practically leaping away before Shang can see me. I move with the kind of speed I never knew I had, landing on hands and knees before going into a roll. Fortunately, the soft grass stops me from hurting myself. I’m clambering up to my feet to sprint off when Shang’s voice slices through the air.

“You dropped this.”

Oh god. A pit has opened in my stomach and all my insides are falling through it. Slowly, painfully so, I turn around, my eyes shut so I won’t see anything I’m not supposed to see.

“You can open your eyes, I’m decent.” There is no denying the hint of amusement in Shang’s voice.

I do so.Decentis clearly up for debate. Shang has a towel wrapped around his waist, which means his abs and pecs and shoulders and arms are very, very bare. And very, very wet. And very, very—

Damn it, focus! Focus on the thing he’s holding out to you.Which is…

My bra. Because of course it would be my bra. And of course it would be the most unflattering bra I own, because the universe is clearly punishing me for deceiving his family. My toxic trait is keeping comfortable underwear for years beyond their lifespan, and this bra is one of my ancient treasures, a cotton bra I bought my sophomore year at Princeton. It had fit me so well and been so comfy that wearing it felt like I wasn’t wearing a bra at all. And now, years later, this same bra, graying and tattered at the edges, a sad piece of underwear clearly past its prime and begging to be retired, is in Shang’s outstretched hand.

I get it, universe. You are giving me a sign. Start refreshing my wardrobe. Okay. Message received, loud and clear.

I reach out and snatch the bra from him. My scalp feels like it’s grown way too tight for the rest of my head. Somehow, I manage to bite out a terse “Thank you.”

“Shower’s all yours,” Shang says, stepping out and standing in front of me. He’s so close to me that I can see each individual water droplet on his tanned skin. Why is he standing right in front of me, just staring down into my eyes?

I swallow, and the sound is painfully loud between us. “Um—”

“Do you mind?” Shang says.

“Oh!” With a start, I realize that the reason Shang’s been standing inches away from me for the past two seconds is because I’m blocking the pathway. My god, just when I thought I couldn’t possibly be more mortified. I hop to one side quickly and open my mouth to apologize, then close it again.Do not apologize. He is a potential business partner and he needs to see you as his equal.Argh. Honestly, there should be a law of nature that prevents business partners from being so hot.

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