Of course she had, was Chuxi’s first thought. Like when he turned the corner on a particularly difficult physics problem, it all fit into place. Julie had suffered the ultimate indignity, and now she was visiting that same pain on him. While it didn’t completely justify her mistreatment of him, it moved her bizarre behavior into the realm of things that made sense.

A glance upwards revealed his gigantic tormentor in all sorts of distress. Chuxi cast about for something to say that would cheer her up, but ultimately came up empty handed. “I’m so sorry,” he said lamely.

Julie stared ahead blankly, clearly in a different time and place. “I really liked him at first,” she spoke, her voice forlorn. “I first met him freshman year – hard to believe that was almost two years ago.” The words started to pour out of her, still with a raspy edge. “Objectively, he’s gorgeous – unbelievable abs. And those eyes.

“I wasn’t a virgin. I had just broken up with my high school boyfriend when I arrived on campus, so I guess I was ready to jump into something new. My first boyfriend was nothing like him.

“We went on a few dates. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but the fact that he even bothered to take me out to coffee, to the freshman prom, whatever – well, I felt like I was doing it right. We eventually had sex, and I’ll be the first one to admit that it was consensual. It was amazing.

“Maybe too amazing – because we had sex like six times a day, but when I got tired of it, he actually got mad. He said there was something wrong with me, told me I ‘wasn’t normal.’ I didn’t even think it was coercion at the time, exactly. I just of thought he was right and did my best to please him.

“He wasn’t outright oppressive at the start. It was more of a gradual thing. For instance, he would have me blow him after he worked out, but before he showered. He insisted it was ‘better’ immediately post-workout, ‘like a protein shake.’

“It was awful. His cock would be still coated in sweat, and of course he never shaved his pubes. I did it only once or twice a week at first, but then it became an everyday thing, his ‘workout BJ.’ It wasn’t until much later that I let him cum on my face after each one as well. Honestly, I don’t even know how he convinced me – I never thought I’d ever be that girl.

“Shit got progressively weirder after that. One day when we were taking a shower together he asked to piss on me. When I said no he basically exploded, just on the verge of physically violent. I would’ve run away, but by this point he lived in a fraternity and we were naked in one of the communal showers. So I let him piss on my face, and even swallowed a bit of it too. We cuddled in the bed afterwards, and fuck me if I didn’t convince myself that it was all okay.

“It wasn’t until midway through spring semester that I found out he’d been cheating on me. Of course he had. I was devastated, but I let him talk me out of breaking up with him.” Julie snorted. “I gotta hand him that, he really knew how to talk. And somehow he was getting handsomer by the day. Really growing into his body, I guess. And fuck, maybe part of me actually enjoyed being humiliated. Like I was getting some kind of sick thrill from it. I hated myself as much as I hated him.

“He didn’t stop cheating on me, I later found out, and of course the depravity continued. It really became too much when he started with the choking. I don’t know why that in particular. Over the course of a month I’d probably drank gallons of his piss, but I guess something about not being able to breath made me snap.

“I broke up with him finally, just before summer vacation. I still don’t know how I did it. It was then that Haley and I got really close. I mean, we were friends before, but she was really there for me. At some point I just broke down in front of her and told her everything. The best thing about her is that she didn’t judge me for one millisecond. Not one. She urged me to report him, but just the thought of it made me nauseous. There was zero chance I was gonna say something. She didn’t judge me then, either.

“He was abroad the next fall, and the next spring I had an internship off campus. I had finally begun to feel whole again.

“But then we were both on campus over the summer taking classes. I saw him at a party. I wanted to seem cooler, stronger – prove to him that I was past him. None of that mattered. I’m more embarrassed than anything how easy it was for me to hop back into bed with him. I mean, sure he was nice at first – he always is. But something must just be fundamentally wrong with me, like my brain is wired the wrong way.

“When he convinced me to video-tape us fucking, he had me wrapped around his dick for life. I have no idea where that file is, but it’s been pretty much back to how it was for the last few weeks. He probably still cheats on me, and I’m still his ‘cum dumpster.’” Julie took a deep breath. She looked visibly tired. “Haley doesn’t know about anything that happened over the summer.”

They lapsed into silence. Chuxi felt a distinct sensation of horrific claustrophobia, as if the room was being pumped with poison gas. Julie’s account felt like a knife in the chest.

“I’m not trying to justify myself at all, Sushi, but when I saw you under my sock that first day, that disgusting sock that I had just run in for miles, I almost had an orgasm right there. I guess whatever sick pleasure I get from being controlled by him goes both ways. Also, he always hated my feet – somehow that made it even better – so I guess that’s where all the weird feet shit comes from. Sometimes I’d imagine you were him. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Really, really sorry.”

Chuxi tried his best to smile, but it was a struggle. He tried to crack another joke, but nothing came to mind. He went with a different tack. “Julie, listen to me,” he said in a deathly serious tone. “I completely, unequivocally, categorically forgive you. As far as I’m concerned, we’re friends, and I’ll always be there for you. Always.”

This didn’t have the intended effect: tears slid down Julie’s cheeks as silent sobs wracked her body. “I don’t… I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Sushi,” she managed. “Thank you so much.” Without warning, she snatched him up and pressed him against her cheek, the closest equivalent to a hug that she could manage. Her cheek was still moist from crying, soaking the makeshift robe Haley had fashioned for him. She drew her hand back, and Chuxi got a close-up view of her movie-screen face. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“Well, you know, I didn’t really do anything.”

“Actually…” suddenly, Julie’s voice went from timid to sultry. Chuxi had almost forgotten how attractive Julie really was, but clearly she hadn’t. The college co-ed knew exactly what her appearance could do. “I think I know just the thing.” Her tongue snaked out from between her lips towards his crotch, which, to his dismay, stood completely erect.

“Hold on, Julie,” Chuxi protested weakly. “I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” she replied huskily, clearly working herself up as well. Chuxi watched helplessly as her tongue parted the front of his robe. When the wet, saliva-coated tip made contact, he groaned involuntarily. It didn’t even necessarily feel that good, but just the idea of what Julie was doing to him profoundly heightened the sexuality of the moment.

“Please don’t,” said Chuxi more firmly, his thoughts turning to Haley. “We shouldn’t.” Abruptly, Julie pulled back. Her expression said it all: how could he reject her? “Please don’t take this the wrong way,” he said, “but I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Julie seemed to deflate before his very eyes, almost as if she, too, was going to shrink. Getting rebuffed like this was probably the last thing she needed; he couldn’t leave her like this – what if she tried to hurt herself? He desperately searched for a way to fix this, but ultimately Chuxi could think of only one solution.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun,” he said slyly, injecting his words with a jovial air. “You know, I’ve kind of been holding back this whole time.” She gave him an inquiring look.  “I’m known from Hong Kong to Beijing for giving the best foot rubs.” Julie’s lips curled up at the corners. “This is a one-time offer though, got it, missy? It’s your last chance to get a piece of this.” He emphasized the last word by pointing at himself with both thumbs. “Whaddaya say?”

“You… you really want to?” Julie asked tentatively, but not totally able to hide how aroused his offer made her.

“Come on,” Chuxi played it off. “What’s a little foot massage between friends?”

Julie gave him a hungry grin, and Chuxi had a flashback to those malicious smirks she gave him all too often. But this one was different. He could see it in her eyes. He had zero doubts. “I’m gonna make you regret saying that,” she said playfully.

“Bring it.”

Chuxi spent the rest of the night at the mercy of Julie’s feet. Sure they smelled awful, particularly after a long night of dancing and walking, but Chuxi didn’t mind. In fact, and he honestly had no idea where the notion came from, but he almost enjoyed it a little – how quickly things change.

Julie wasn’t kidding earlier, either. It started slowly: she raised her feet up onto the desk and he gave her a simple foot rub. She tried to be discreet about it, but Chuxi couldn’t help but notice her hand sliding into her panties.

After a few minutes of that, she snatched him up, crossed one leg over the other, and brought him to her sole. Just before pressing his face into her flesh, she stopped – she was asking his permission! After everything he’d been through, the situation was downright absurd. Although if you got down to it, recently his life had been the definition of absurd. Chuxi could hardly suppress his laughter.

Julie scrunched her nose at him. “What’s so funny?” she growled.

“You wanna make a safe word?” he replied. She gave him a blank look.

“If I say ‘Beijing,’ you gotta stop whatever you’re doing,” he explained. “Otherwise, go for it.”

An ocean of gratitude stood behind Julie’s eyes. “Sushi… you are literally the sexiest person in the world.” Then that erotic expression returned. “Now stick out your tongue.”

He ended up licking practically every inch of her feet that night. When she shoved his head between her big and second toe, she came massively, an incredible, earth-shaking orgasm from both of their perspectives, really. At some point she put him inside her running sneakers and they had a redo of their first sexual encounter. Chuxi could hear the vibrator working away inside her vagina as her sweaty toes hugged him in a noxious embrace. It might have been his imagination, but he noticed decidedly less pressure this time around.

Later, she removed him from her shoe and placed him at her feet. “Worship me,” she ordered, her voice thick with pleasure. He hastily obeyed, kissing and licking her toes. Over the course of the night, their romp involved multiple pieces of her footwear, and her orgasms numbered in the double digits when it was all said and done.

Afterwards, she gave him a bath and thoroughly washed his robe. “Beijing! Beijing!” he shouted when she tried to peek at him naked. She froze instantly, and her fearful expression sent him into peals of laughter.

“Oh my God, you little shit!” she hissed. She made a mock swipe at him, but he was already safely in the tub. She sat on the toilet while he washed up, her eyes carefully averted. “How badly do my feet smell?” she asked suddenly.

“To be honest – really bad,” Chuxi confessed. “Honestly, it’s hard to reconcile someone so beautiful having such stinky feet.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” she asked it like a little girl being complimented for the first time.

“Well, of course,” he replied.

She tried to hide it, but Chuxi definitely saw her blush.

The sun was peeking through the windows when Julie finally stood outside of Haley’s door, Chuxi resting comfortably in her palm. They had exchanged good byes, as if he was going on a long trip, but it looked like Julie had one more thing to say.

“Yes?” Chuxi said archly.

Julie averted her eyes. “I know you’ve got a thing for Haley and all… but…” she returned her gaze back to him, a more familiar mischievous grin on her face. “Let’s just say I’m not giving you up without a fight.”

Chuxi stared at her, stunned. He was at a total loss for words, which only caused her smile to broaden.

 “And let’s face it – we fucked first.”