Krista

It was my doing. I said a dirty word.. I'm thinking.

It was a bit of a challenge. Some rewrites happened.. and I'm still not convinced I like the story. I also see I went full on in my secrecy and didn't think to actually provide the Theme of my prompt, or any sort of description. Go me! But yeah, I think my theme is rather straight forward.

I feel bad for your toe, the poor thing. Not pleasant. I'm rather okay with a lot of medical things, but nail stuff. No. Absolutely not. No. Not on fingers, not on ties. No. As for the rest well.

Oh... So 2006 was the birth of chaos here, it just took a bit for it to get up to full steam. Who knew the latter half of 2025 would be the year. Math can be mean. How rude. July 2006 I would have been about a decade more fresh faced than you were. In College still attempting to decide on what I wished to major in. Having my heart broken by someone named David happened around that time as well. And Krista'nites sounds rather close to kryptonite and isn't that what takes down Superman?

I see that, their mostly unphased bickering. Pine oils and allergic reaction aside. She did drag him to see a Father of God against his will though. And, was an unknown contributing factor to her son's pain and anguish. I like their dynamic, the back and forth, back talk, and such. She definitely doesn't seem to have that with Sloane much. And she means well with every intention. I don't dislike her, I hope it doesn't feel like I do. I understand her a bit, but she is extreme, but a lot of the characters here can be borderline. Lex for example. Although the swimmer seems to be exhausting some of that untapped energy of late. It felt like this chapter 'everyone' gave Gabriel and Sky the space they needed to form the bond that they're expected to make. Or, in their thinking, they've already made. I like Gabriel. I just don't truly know what Gabriel is about, because he's there but Sky isn't there with him all the time, especially in regards to Ryan. And by that extension, no one does. He is the unknown and you're moving him around, like you say. He's probably the most constant force in the story. He's 'there' creating a presence and we don't know why... completely. So yeah, I'm going to be very suspicious of him. Be gentle with Ryan, if you can. Or not, you do you... I'm just along for the ride. But I do remember the first chapter or so I wasn't on Ryan's side of the equation.

I've done it before, true story.

Uhhh well if I'm writing the scene, no, they wouldn't be able to. But they could try. If @Jason Rimbaud wrote the scene, one paragraph in and they'll be having a full on orgy. Not much beer required, because the other three would like to see what Colt has in him.

Part One Sniffing the air, my stomach empty and in need of meat, a sudden strong scent hit me and I froze. Ducking around a tree I heard the footfalls end abruptly. They were walking along the road that split the forest. Humans. I was used to smelling the scent of them. Across the road, a barrier I refused to cross. On the other side there were campgrounds and nothing for me, but trouble I didn’t need. In the height of summer, I could hear the noise of them all coexisting. Loud laughter of

A story about the, "Ghost of the Watikan Forest," a wolf where he's not supposed to be.

It didn't feel like a cliffhanger to me. There are perks to being behind in the reading. I'm sure with your every Monday every other day posting schedule it wasn't too harsh of a place for you to stop. We kind of knew where you were headed, as even in the breath of the ending, you provided a continuance into the next part. I also forgot to mention something in a chapter comment, so I hope to beat you to that comment, edit it... and sound wiser than I am.

I mean well, you know... the clucky little hens that we are, may or may not have ongoing conversations happening in at least three different places at the moment.

And you casually drop that you had to go to the ER? Then call yourself a troll. Then poke fun at the glorious and manly fragrance of sandalwood? That's not everywhere, old, and overused by men spanning decades? Just who are you?

Aww. The PS shout out. You didn't have to. But, lovely, thank you. I'm not into kink/dom/sub dynamics. Well to be fair, I don't really read erotic or sex scenes. But, I do if I am afraid there is plot specifics imbedded into the scenes. Sometimes there aren't, it seems most of the authors here do imbed some important plot and character dynamics within them. So I did read the spicey bits, in both chapters. The guilt still lingers, I see. Percy is starting to get to the dangerous precipice he's been hurtling towards for three-ish chapters now. The plan of gay chicken may be backfiring. Percy needs to not hide that he's texting Ethan. He needs to be completely upfront about it. he needs to flirt with the dude and see what comes of it. Otherwise, Percy is going to start feeling things that's going to get him stuck... and the whole Bethany/Five manipulation will have gone the step too far... if it hasn't already. The fact that Percy can see how Bethany is weighed in the eyes of Five only gave him pause to realize that he wasn't on equal ground does bother him, but he's resigned himself to the idea as well. But, the actions of Five keeps that just blurry enough too. The sex between friends who love one another boundary isn't ever an impenetrable force. It's fragile and feather soft. The mineral surveyors or whatever they are, Seb and Michael. What is this they're doing? I know property rights gets a little tricky when you start talking about the dirt on top of mineral rights. He said he was looking for something specific. Seb seemed more inclined to discuss it, Michael was paranoid that he was talking too much all around. It may not get that far, but still... if there is something to be found down there... unless it is to their almost end... who knows. It's just an odd way to do it no matter what their intentions are.

The author side of me is telling me that I would write Gabe knowing exactly what he's doing. The reader side of me hopes he's just a dumb little puppy full of love, comfort, and loyalty.

So, caught you out in another lie truth. You can write the spicy bits. Well well well. Also, a lot of other things came out between them. The guilt over Bethany is still marginally there with both of them. Even though they both said that Bethany had given them their blessing. So the lie no longer lingers between 'them.' So, the guilt being there for Bethany anyway. This isn't a RomCom as you say. There's not a lot of romantic gestures between them, they're still mostly friends who kiss and do filthy things to one another. They're developing a lot of sexual dynamics, that likely will manifest into its own monster later on down the line. I don't know what will happen. But there's also guilt. So something will.

Well I'll say it, this chapter is a wee bit tame. The shopping section was fun. Poor Five was just not catching on what the lube could be for, the poor innocent/not innocent thing that he is. Also, did you just confuse Florida and Florida State? The SEC girl in me did a little cringe. You described the Florida Gators, orange, white, green. You said Florida State... 😮 😮 😮 😮 We can't be doing that. Also if we aligned this story with as far as time goes, to The Best Year, then Jackson and Five would be 'heated rivals.' And Jackson likes blondes. lol and Redheads.. to be fair. They were tame, for their standards. But, they were also a bit more.. in-depth, if that's the correct word to use, with their flirting, observations, and overall interactions. Of course, it didn't start out that way with Five pretty much demanding, the dom that he wishes to be, bless him, telling him to shave his ass and do as he says. And Percy going right along with it by shaving his ass and wearing the suit. So there's that underlying dynamic throughout as well. The Ethan dilemma. Hmm. And yeah, Two guys alone and sheltered in luxury (even if it is just the servant house at the moment) cooped up together. I would be thinking boyfriends too. They don't leave a lot to the imagination otherwise. Straight guys would have already shuttled women up there with them somehow, come hell or high water. Since you introduced the family dynamics with them, I am wondering what will come from that. And I dare say, you ended on a cliffhanger of sorts.

You don't write the spicy parts, (so far) you just tease two characters to the point of them "precumming" and leave them completely hanging high and tight with less blood rushing to their brains. Rude behavior, I must say. Not the makings of a gentleman. I suck at writing spicy bits. If you're too innocent for the job we'll have to outsource it to someone else. We can't fail these four dudes. Davin not included, bless him. Excuse you, I like sauce on pizza... just enough, a thin layer to hold the toppings and cheese on. I don't want to take a bite and taste a whole tablespoon worth of sauce engulfing and overtaking the taste of everything else. It just is ick. Ick. Shew.

Colt and Joel? Davin be like: I'm standing right here. Right here, damn it. And yeah, I see I've caught quite a few strays this chapter. Jason is not as afraid of me as @Jeff Burton is. Either I have failed somewhere or Jason is just the type to charge a Bison, knowing full and well he's about to get gored.

I apologize, because I wrote the explanation/idea/thought process I had about gay chicken wrong. What I meant to say was, at times it feels like they forget they're supposed to be trying to on-up, break even, or win. That sometimes they get truly ahead of themselves and then are like, "Oh fuck, I won already, what the hell am I doing?" Then they quickly recover, announce the win, and the promise of retaliation. To their credit, they do break it off... frustratingly for both of them, but Percy already damn near took it too far.. I've started reading Chapter 5, so I'll leave that there. As the tone starts off differently, so I'll see what comes of that. I am fascinated by your characters. I have noticed there is a lot of moral convergences and divergences within them depending on what's going on in the moment. They think and decide moral things quickly, sometimes unapologetically. It can be rather messy. I have a story where I want my characters to be more like that... governed by moments, wants, what they deem necessary outcomes, etc... without so much straight-lined one way moral thinking and knowledge of possible consequence and outcomes. But anywho. I'm sick, so I have nothing better to than to force my husband to be my bedside nurse, ask for things like the baby that I am, and read. So here we go.

I thought point two would be the one you'd have issues with, but I'll take the win on that one. I don't get it in regards to that all that often. I am the giver of honest and blunt truths. Whether you wish to know what I'm thinking or not. Your dismissal of point three and the follow-up statement that you do call yourself a liar is all the proof needed. But I will stop, no one needs to hear hard truths all the time, it is bad for the digestion. And what do you mean you're used to going 100mph on a snowmobile? *Clutches my pearls* I know it is back from when you were younger and you're here telling of your wild tales, so you've survived such reckless behavior. But still, the pearls be clutched, my dear. Behave yourself.

I'm in agreement with everything you've had to say here. We certainly can't place the blame on Ryan, we know he's hurting. Skylar has told us that he is, by knowing him. He has painted a lot of different pictures of Ryan for us to work through. The dumb closed off bully jock, that's hot and has a crush on. Then the tutoring, how Ryan has shown to be more thought driven, closed inward, careful even... and possibly even hopeful about a life he's not brave enough to live yet. It was enough that it seemed to move Skylar's heart away from.. 'a hopeless crush...' to, 'this is about as bad as the titanic sinking.' They're both hurting. They're both guilty of actions that hurt the other, but none of it was done on purpose and in true and honest malice. So I think they can come back from this. Right now, it would be adding gasoline to a wildfire though... they're not remotely ready.

Oh gosh @Seraph28 what have you done? We can't be giving him ideas...

Don't wish that on either one of them. They would get absolutely nowhere. Hell they may even go backwards... I imagine it would be like two fainting goats meeting in a field and realizing their biggest fear are one another.