Nate blinked。 Chuck Bass never did anything for himself。
“Glad you made it。 Let’s head inside；” Chuck suggested； gesturing toward the door。 Nate nodded dumbly as they whooshed through the revolving door and into the vaulted…ceilinged； marble…floored lobby。 Instead of turning left toward the elevator bank； Chuck perched on one of the low…slung black leather couches in the dimly lit lobby。 “Sorry。 It was fucking freezing out there。 I’m used to California。” Chuck smiled。 “But I’m not quite ready to head back upstairs。 Want to chill here for a sec？”
Nate gingerly sat on an ottoman。 “California？ What were you doing out there？”
“Deep Springs； my man。” Chuck nodded； his eyes glazed over as if in happy reminiscence。
“Deep what？” Nate parroted。 Was that some sort of Playboy resort？
Or a gay spa？
“Deep Springs；” Chuck repeated。 “The all…male college。 It’s a two…year program on a working alfalfa farm in California。 We all run the farm and the school in between humanities classes；” he explained patiently； settling back into the couch。 Nate glanced down and noticed he was no longer wearing the gold pinky ring he’d worn since sophomore year； after he’d starred in a European cologne campaign。
“Oh。” Nate was still confused。
“Look； I didn’t get into any schools and I didn’t know what to do。 My dad’s cousin is married to a board member there so they allowed me to do a late interview。 It was either that or go to military school； and I just couldn’t leave Sweetie。” Chuck named his snow monkey。 “I was fucking terrified when I got there。 They made me give away my Armani sheets to use as tablecloths in the boardinghouse。 I had to get rid of all my clothes and find new clothes in the bone pile； which is all the clothing left from guys