Page 80 of Your Side of the Offense

"I can live just fine without fucking."

"And you really can, can't you? You haven't had any in what now?" Jaden teases.

"Six months, four days, and 10 hours," Caleb answers. We both turn to him because that is disturbing. He shrugs. "Remember it was us with her the last time before…"

"Yeah."

I head to the kitchen. In all truth, I feel like that old relationship for me and Summer is left in the past and this is a new thing we are starting. As fucked up as it's starting but I am not backing down. She is going to drop that loser, and I will have her back fully then maybe she and the others can work on their shit too. Our family needs to come back together.

But I need to pace it. I need to go against my urge to remove my competition with immediacy. Summer and I are grown now, and I need to give her room to make her own decisions. As much as I want her to dump that loser today, she needs her space to sort herself out and come to terms with the inevitable.

But this time it's going to be different.

"Oh yeah, that time you swindled me out of my day," Jaden bitches.

In high school, we had an informal roster for having her overnight or sneaking into her house. We didn’t want to crowd her, or to traumatize her parents.

I think a parent can get over their child doing the nasty with one person, but I don't see them getting untraumatized by finding their young adult child getting spit-roasted. Harvey and her were caught by Caleb's parents at Caleb's house once. Caleb had gone to a robotics competition out of state and his parents were supposed to be gone.

They found our dear Summer riding Harvey into next week. Thanks to the surveillance footage, Caleb's mother's face was a meme we used all year in the group chat. It was hot as fuck and funny as shit.

Smiling, I take out the veggies in the fridge and shake my head.

It’s barely been two weeks since I got Summer back, but I’m already better. There’s spots of happiness and I feel a little lighter.

And harder. My body’s still soaring high from the night we had. I’ve been hard all morning. After all that, I still want her. Her moans and whispers fill my head. My sweet Peach.

If I was a more noble guy, I would have said no but this was Su, I'd want her even if she turned out to be married. Of course, I'd have to kill the guy, but I'd still take her and I'd still give her everything I have and more.

All she has to do is ask and she has all of me. Our parents didn't really understand how we can all share a girl so seamlessly. It always puzzled everyone. And I've broken a few noses of people who ask shitty questions. Our high school experience was very interesting though. It's honestly a wonder any of us got the good grades we did.

But it was always just one of those things that came naturally. When she joined our school in tenth grade, we all wanted her. It went from playing for who will ask her on a date to competing on the small scraps she'd throw at us. If she so much as smiled at one of us, the others weren't hearing the end of it.

She was skeptical at first of our intentions, but she found the whole thing hilarious. She ended up as a fifth member of our little group and when year-end came, we all went camping. And that's when everything changed for us.

She thought it would be just sex, but we were dead serious. By the new school year, she was fully ours. I remember the never-ending questions from her parents, her father chasing us out of his house that day she invited all of us to dinner because she didn't want to hide it from her parents and we also didn't want to hide us, none of us were ashamed.

Our relationship was bliss and we all wanted everyone to know. After some hesitation, everybody had to be on board or fuck off. Our fathers and her father who had met a few times in the business world became actual friends.

Even if she drives me insane. Living without her almost rendered me in a straitjacket. Fuck. I don't know what I would have done if she didn't come. I was spiraling, bad

"Earth to Archer Deltona!"

24

A PRIDE THING

Summer

The day goes by without a hitch. I've been going over everything. What I need to do.

I have to leave Logan. Especially now that I have been unfaithful. I can't subject anyone to that.

Chores and the little errands done for the day, I sit at my desk. It feels a little lonely without Hazel to talk to. My anger at her is starting to subside, especially after what I've done. In a way, they all were right. I did exactly what they said I would. I bit off their heads for nothing.

I sigh. Do I crawl back to her and apologize, or do I just let it burn? I mean, Hazel is a really cool person and I like being around her. But she’s close with Logan and if I'm planning to dumb him, I'll never hear the end of it from her.

Decisions, decisions.

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