Jjeffalch

“Enough.” His tone was colder than she’d ever heard, his voice a solid wall of defiance. “I won’t stand here and let you insult Carter like that. I came here to tell you about us, not to ask for permission.” Laura froze, his words a slap in the face. A tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly rubbed it away, her anger directed back at Carter. She glared at him with an intensity that could burn, her hands balled into fists. “Are you happy now?” she spat, her voice wavering. “Are you satisfied? You walk into our lives and create a rift between mother and son in a single night.” “There’s no rift,” Jeremy said, his tone unwavering. “Unless you choose to make one.” Finally, I've been waiting thirteen chapters for this moment...!!!!! This mother, like all the evil mothers/stepmother in your work, @vanalas, has no sense of the boundaries between her own person and that of her son. It is long past time that Jeremy makes it very clear to her that she does not determine his life, whom he associates with, whom he loves. Jeremy made his position equally clear to Dexter as well, but that freak is so crazy, he's sure to go after Carter now, as @VBlew points out. Awaiting the next chapter with bated breath!

You're right, of course. If the characters in romcoms weren't human, making obvious and silly mistakes, romcoms would be SHORT!😏 I do hope that if Luke caves in to the pressure from Jessie and takes Alex to the wedding as his plus- one, Alex doesn't get hurt in the inevitable fallout with Noah as he comes to his senses and tries to get Luke back.

Sorry about that mis-post... let's try again... Having now heard Noah's own reasons for staying in the closet, I have a lot more sympathy for him than I did at the end of chapter one. Luke runs his ranch on his own and doesn't have to deal with the issues that would undoubtedly confront Noah on a daily basis. Having fought his coming out battles in the metropolis, Luke may not fully appreciate the different nature of the challenges of coming out in a small rural turn. I wonder if Noah ever tried to explain his fear of coming out to Luke, so that he can truly understand what is actually holding Noah back? Somehow, I doubt it. Is it already to late for that?

Hearing Noah's readings for staying in

Jeremy seems quite okay with just leaving hus little boys without any explanation. He disappears for months without so much as a goodbye to the little ones and no message to them during his absence, and whatever happens to Carter that 'requires' Jeremy's presence, well off he goes, again without so much as a message. His mother is an interfering idiot who wants to run his life, but she must be driven crazy by these unexplained absences and when she finds out that they are all linked to Carter, well small wonder that she loses it. Where does he get that? Not from his own father, according to his description of the man to Carter in this chapter.

Crazy sillY little question—how did Karen know where to send her spy? Did she have Bruce followed?

What is it going to take for Carter to stop allowing himself to be so badly mistreated and disrespected by Laura? There were hints that he was beginning to stand up for himself in the face of her earlier tirades, in the last chapter, but then in this chapter he seems to backside. And what the hell is this that the police arrest Carter (for whatever it was he did) and bring him to Laura????!!!!! Who is she that this should happen?? And finally, what is the actual status of Dexter? He behaves as if he were the betrothed of Jeremy, but prior to abandoning his sons for 8 months (I STILL haven't gotten over that!!!), Jeremy was still so wrapped up in his misery at losing Ethan that he surely wasn't a part of that fantasy. So why does he put up with this entitled behavior from Dexter, and how does Dexter fit into this dysfunctional family in the first place? He seems to be living there full time...

He stays away from his boss for EIGHT MONTHS???!!!???!!! Okay, that is more than hard to understand, and more than a little self- indulgent. 😠

This last chapter was a catharsis. Until this point, Carter and Jeremy seemed destined to cause each other difficulties and suffering. Both had deep-seated unresolved issues that weren't being addressed. Now Jeremy has seized the bull by the horns and will work to regain control of his life. I hope Carter can do the same and start getting over his guilt trip about his father. Carter also needs to exorcize his aunt, just as Jeremy must exorcize his mother who trying to impose a bit of a guilt trip on him-- and also Dexter, who seems to have imagined himself into the role of fiancé. I worry only that Jeremy has now started this journey while Carter may not fully realize how desperately he needs to do the same thing. I would love to see you continue the story. Perhaps f first a few chairs about how each comes to terms with their separation and desires with their emotional issues, and then in a list phase his they come back together, handle the required exorcism, and build a life together. Bravo thus far!!!

"Elle was right. He looked like he was out of control. I didn’t trust him. Heck, I didn’t trust me neither". And there we have it. Dylan knows he can't control himself around Liam-the hormones overwhelm him every time. But there is a stopgap measure that teenaged bits have used since time immemorial to help when the hormones surge. It works. And Dylan knows what it is - he actually recommends it to Liam..."Feel free to jerk off.” "Liam was throwing me out of balance, challenging me, daring me to succumb to my desires and submit to him. But I wasn’t a fucking animal.". With all due respect, Dylan, I beg to differ. Despite all that perfectly rational introspection before the bathroom incident, literally mere moments later, he's in the bathroom 'succumbing' again. And hardly has Liam taken his pheromones out the bathroom door, rationality returns... Another animal metaphor (my apologies to the reader community, but in my defense, Dylan has been sorely provoking me)... when I was 8 years old, my Dad told me to bring the family cat to the car, we were going to get him neutered, so he wouldn't always be trying to get out and get some (well, he didn't use exactly those words but you get my drift). Simple solution to a simple problem. Dylan obviously can't put himself up for castration, so maybe he should just accept that he is out of control and do what his hormones are driving him to do, ride the telephone pole and just enjoy. When he gets to university, he can go on the hookup apps and easily find another 12-incher to scratch the itch without all the drama. sorry, but the last vestige of respect and sympathy I had for Dylan went out the bathroom door with Liam and his pheromones...

This is an interesting perspective-- you're right, he's not in "some sub/victim/ dependent mode", and if he can stay out of that, he probably does have a chance to get out of this situation. Here's hoping!!!

Thanks @Avogadro1001...I think many of us would agree that the Jake problem is the pressing priority. It strikes me that Dylan might even need some help from Liam and his Dad to be able to extricate himself safely, so maybe keeping Liam within reach makes sense on that level. But to be honest, I'm just mad at Dylan on principle. I don't really think Liam will get violent again unless there is some trigger event lurking around the corner. What I'm more worried about now is Dylan getting caught between Liam and Jake--Liam might just decide to find a white charger and come riding to Dylan's rescue as a way of making amends for his past crimes, and end up making things a whole lot worse. But, my Lord, I don't know when last a story has got me so involved! Thank you so much!!!!!!

Imagine you're a teenaged boy living next to a neighbor who has a very gentle Rottweiler you have known since he was a puppy. Beautiful regal animal! One day, without any provocation whatsoever on your part, that dog mauls you into the hospital. The same dog you took for walks, played with, gave treats to--you just do not understand what brought on the attack. You recover and leave the hospital. You figure something must have set the dog off, there is no other way to explain it. You become wary and keep your distance, but-- it happens AGAIN! No provocation. No external factors. Now, in what universe would you EVER AGAIN put yourself into the proximity of this beast?? No thinking person could consider this an good idea. But it seems that this otherwise smart, Ivy-league bound almost-adult is so thoroughly guided by his DICK that he willingly decides to open himself up to another thrashing from this admittedly hot guy who has done it twice and seemingly has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA OF WHY HE DID IT IN THE FIRST PLACE????!!!!!???? What the actual F***? Maybe what set the Rottweiler off, what set Liam off those two times, was the color of the shirt Dylan was wearing on those days!!! The sex scene was undoubtedly hot, the next one in two days (our dear Dylan obviously won't be able to resist his urges for two weeks, even if Liam can) will be even hotter, I reckon. But he just killed any sympathy I might have had for him in his effort to resist Liam's " I love you to death now, though I almost BEAT you to death TWICE IN The LAST THREE YEARS". Because he has just GUARANTEED that Liam is NOT going to leave him alone! Go for it, Dylan--the guy is just too hot and that dick is just too majestic. But maybe you could usefully take the two days before your dick shuts off your brain again to figure out how to safely get out of the relationship with the presumed murderer?

Well! It might not matter at all whether Jake is a dangerous murderer or not, as long as Jessica thinks he might be. And Dylan seems to be on good terms with Shanice already anyway--smart kid like him could possibly find a way to bring up the Jessica problem to Jake, and have him unleash his mom, perhaps... okay, that was really weird, I admit--a testament to how tightly you have me wound up in this marvelous story!!! Thank you for that!

I love that Dylan threw his "dangerous murderous boyfriend" into the mix to give Jessica something to think about. I still think Dylan should talk to Jake's mom about Jessica, though--a quiet chat between the two might help calm Jessica's vengeful inclinations.