Cane23

Oho, daddy turned out to be more than we expected… he’s a serious player. As others have pointed out, he doesn’t tolerate any nonsense - not from the bootlickers, not from the gold diggers, starting with his own family. His silence speaks volumes, yet nothing escapes his notice. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the first to see through a fake relationship - and chooses to stay quiet, sensing that River might actually be just what his son needs. As for Veronica, her influence over the family feels rather suspicious. What does she have on them? It doesn’t look like respect - more like fear.

Don't underestimate the power of the force!

Someone clearly hasn’t read all your stories, @CasualWanderer82! “Two horses” is just the beginner level of the game!

Oh, River… little did he know he’d end up the protagonist of his own telenovela! If Zain refuses to work on his manners, he should at least polish his acting skills - because forgetting to introduce your boyfriend or ignoring insults aimed at him looks neither convincing nor remotely respectable. River, meanwhile, gave the most spot-on description of Veronica and Harry. But Zain’s father remains a mystery - is he truly homophobic, or is his prejudice rooted in those all-too-common stereotypes about gay life?

Aww… an ugly duckling and a hate-to-love rom-com? Yay, perfect combo!

I believe in this chapter happened one of the most crucial psychological turning points in Misaligned. That passage signals a tectonic internal shift in Lyn’s emotional landscape - one that not only redefines his relationship with Brad, but also his self-perception and agency. “His skin caught fire at Alexander’s touch. Absentmindedly, Lyn caressed his wrist, where Brad had touched him earlier tonight.” It’s Lyn unconsciously measuring past and present intimacy. Brad’s touch once carried enormous emotional weight - nostalgia, longing, and self-doubt. Now it’s almost clinical... a reflexive acknowledgment without emotional fire. By contrast, Alexander’s touch ignites real fire, not because of lust alone, but because it’s anchored in the present, in something authentic, mutual, and grounded. “He wanted something from Brad, yes, but it wasn’t this age-old teasing.” The teasing that once charmed Lyn now rings hollow because it exposes Brad’s stagnation. Lyn’s irritation is the psyche’s way of saying - I’ve outgrown this dynamic. It’s a quiet emancipation from the cycle of yearning and humiliation that defined their college years. “Like an adult tasting a dessert craved during his younger years…” Amazing metaphor - a moment that makes this moment both melancholy and liberating - it’s the death of an old fantasy. We've been joking about Brad's reaction in forthcoming chapter... Joking aside, the only “trick” left to Brad is honesty. The manipulative teasing, nostalgic charm, and emotional push-pull that once worked will fail now, because Lyn has finally stepped out of the old narrative. Brad’s problem, as Alexander perceives astutely, is that he hasn’t evolved. He’s emotionally frozen in those college archetypes - the adored one, the straight best friend, the object of longing. When he tries to reenact those scripts, Lyn no longer fits the role. The play has changed, and Brad hasn’t realized the curtain already fell. For Brad to truly reach Lyn now, he’d have to abandon the performance and meet him as an equal - vulnerable, fallible, honest. But that’s the one thing Brad fears most, because it dismantles the identity he’s built on being admired and desired but never exposed. “Morning after” scenes often reveal what sex meant. The night before was heat and impulse; the morning reveals what lingers. Here, Lyn wakes in warmth, not stiffness - both literally and metaphorically. His body feels relaxed, “better than he’d felt in years,” wrapped in heat and gentle touch. The insomnia and guarded anxiety that usually haunt him are gone. The implication... this wasn’t mere physical release - it soothed something psychic. Alexander’s presence calms him, grounds him. “Show me your good face, Lyn. Drop your guard. You’re safe with me here.” is one of the most important lines in the story so far. It’s not about sex... it’s a psychological invitation. Alexander is asking for emotional nakedness, not just physical. “Drop your guard” isn’t something anyone has ever successfully told Lyn before. And astonishingly, he does. What I love about this chapter - and about Misaligned in general is how much the small words say. There are no grand love declarations here, yet the emotional gravity is immense. Lines like “Lyn, why do you have to be so good?”, “Sleep in my bed,” “I want to know about your marriage,” “Lyn, you smell so nicely of me,” or “The way you look, Lyn…” carry layers beneath their surface. They’re quiet but devastatingly intimate. Each of them exposes what neither Lyn nor Alexander can quite say aloud - longing, vulnerability, fear, tenderness, even possession. Alexander’s teasing “why do you have to be so good?” hides both admiration and surrender; “Sleep in my bed” is not about sex but about peace and safety; “I want to know about your marriage” is Lyn’s plea for honesty, proof that he’s done with illusions. When Alexander murmurs, “You smell so nicely of me,” it’s both a claim and a confession of how deeply he’s marked by this connection. And “The way you look, Lyn…” - that unfinished thought... is love trying to break through language. That’s the brilliance of this story - its restraint. What’s unsaid speaks loudest. Every line feels like an accidental confession, a moment where the mask slips and something real, raw, and human shows through.

If I remember correctly from Wolf in the City, the mates gain the miraculous ability of anal self-moistening! That could be incredibly helpful for Jack when he's caught in a clinch with Alpha and Guardian.

Though honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brad played dumb again - his face saying a million things while he blurts out something like, ‘Oh Lyn, I knew you were a player! Who is she? Tell me!

"It's not what you think!" 😜

Just a quick question before the new present-day chapter drops, guys - who do you think Lyn’s “daddy dearest” really was? A politician, a preacher... or someone else entirely? 🤔 And do you think Alexander knows the truth about Lyn's father? 👀

Of course, not - but still, it’s an interesting perception, that he’d even feel the need to ask for permission! 😉

No, you are not! And if you write book 2 just to bring Noah and Jace back...and kill Matteo - please don't! 🙏

Another first from our author. While complex, multi-dimensional characters have always been @CasualWanderer82's hallmark, capable of both good and bad, this feels like the first time we’re offered such a clear path to redemption for one of them. Looking back at the parallel I drew between Colt and society in my previous comment, it seems the author is giving humanity a second chance. 😉 Taking it a step further, Colt demonstrates a bravery no other character shows in this story (except Weston, if I recall correctly). He is the first to openly say, ‘I’m gay,’ making a statement as direct and declarative as one might in a courtroom, without hiding behind euphemisms like ‘love knows no limits’ or ‘hearts want what they want.’ This is a profoundly liberating confession. And Daisy acts as a magnificent ‘priest’ in this moment - she listens, comforts, does not judge, and fully accepts and supports him. She doesn’t promise an easy road... what Colt did cannot be erased. But Daisy raised her children to lend a hand to anyone who needs it… and they’ll accept their ‘prodigal son.’ I’m really intrigued by the reunion between Jackson, Cash, and Blake. @CasualWanderer82 writes incredible love triangles, and every resolution is an art in itself. Usually, not much of the triangle remains by the end, so this might be something different the author is exploring in this story too. Blake needs a safe harbor as well - a place to return to from his journeys, from the roads he travels - though perhaps his harbor isn’t with just his man, but with his men.

“Nothing. Can’t you even give a bro a helping hand, though, Mr. President?” The boy snickered at his own bad joke. They called him that behind his back and even to his face. He guarded his home realities fiercely, which meant that he had constructed a different reality for people around him to know, people of the same age. He carefully built a fantasy he preached like gospel involving an absent father who was neck-deep in many lucrative businesses and a demanding mother who expected nothing but the best from him A total stranger just used a nickname Lyn already knew too well - but the fact he threw it at him also means Lyn had already caught his attention!

'Your Highness’ was Brad’s invention for Alexander, so... why not Mr. President for Lyn (just to be clear, the boy in high school is not Brad).

Interesting theory, but I just can’t imagine Alexander ever saying ‘Thanks, bro.’ That line feels way more like Brad or one of the jock types. It actually hints that even back then; little Lyn might have had a soft spot for the ‘bad boy’ energy - that whole forbidden fruit allure. Of course, grown-up Lyn has learned to recognize the difference between boys playing at swagger and the presence of a real man...at least we hope so!

A president is chosen, not born. The position implies merit, effort, competition. For Lyn - these fits perfectly. He’s the boy who comes from nothing and has to construct himself into someone respectable. His entire identity rests on study, hard work, ambition. His “Mr. President” mask signals that respectability and authority must be earned and constantly defended. Lyn is always campaigning - for approval, for stability, for legitimacy. He feels his worth must be proven, or it can be revoked. Alexander - a prince, a highness, doesn’t need to be elected. He inherits position. Authority is assumed, unquestioned, natural. This reflects his aura of effortless superiority - wealth, background, beauty. Unlike Lyn, he doesn’t need to campaign. His charisma and intelligence make him untouchable. Alexander embodies inherited privilege - a kind of power that doesn’t need to be earned. But crucially, he chooses to work anyway (winning scholarships, excelling academically). This gives him a hybrid position - a prince who proves he can also win as if he were a commoner. “Mr. President” and “His Highness” therefore mirror two different anxieties about legitimacy - Lyn fears never being legitimate, Alexander fears being legitimate only by default. The overheard dialogue between Blanche and Arya plants the devastating seed - Lyn may be the illegitimate son of a powerful, moralizing public figure. Lyn’s reaction isn’t shame but fear - a brilliant nuance. He doesn’t feel dirty or guilty... he feels threatened. Men like his father wield real power, and Lyn grasps early on that survival requires strategy. He develops a defensive doctrine: Study hard - make money - self-sufficiency - safety and build thick skin - repress feelings - reduce vulnerability. This pragmatic, strategic thinking becomes the architecture of his adult personality. What begins as teenage coping calcifies into a lifelong worldview... control over feelings, ambition as armor, repression as survival. This final scene shows the moment Lyn learns to police his own desire in public, solidifying the defensive strategies seeded earlier in the flashback. It’s the hinge between innocent longing and lifelong repression. In the present-day story, this explains why his relationships with Brad and Alexander are so charged - every spark of desire carries within it both the thrill of that first crush and the shadow of danger that taught him to push it down.

Beautiful ending - bittersweet, as others have noted. This is a story of love, infidelity, heartbreak, and obsession… but above all, it is a magnificent story of fatherhood. The love of a parent is the truest love, the one that conquers all, the only love that embodies sincere, meaningful sacrifice - a love for life itself. This story stands as a powerful testament to parenthood, and I salute you for it @vanalas!

It's fascinating how @Laura S. Fox creates the illusion of a long, exhausting process of Lyn’s transformation and awakening, when in reality, it all unfolds over just a few days!

A fantastic space saga that bursts with raw masculine energy. Packed with action, thrilling adventures aboard the spaceship, sexual dominance, but also deep friendship and love, this story grips your attention from the very first page to the last. When an intriguing and striking stranger comes aboard the Santa Claus space cargo ship, Security Chief Sergeant Liam Jacks is instantly captivated. But both men carry haunted pasts that refuse to let go. How will they face their demons, and can two tortured souls truly find their happy ending? Read this amazing story and discover for yourself.

The opening scene builds tension by weaving Lyn’s private, dangerous attraction to Alexander with Luke’s very public eruption. What’s notable here is Lyn’s reaction... he not only plays along but indulges in the fantasy of kissing Alexander in front of everyone. His body responds (heat, lips, fantasy) before his mind does. This shows his defenses are slipping - Alexander’s provocations are hitting deeper than before. The following scene puts Lyn in the middle of three volatile forces (Luke, Brad, Alexander), each pressing on him in different, destabilizing ways (to quote @chris191070 - "It seems that everyone wants a bit of Lyn"). Luke's bitterness toward Lyn... “why do you have to be so perfect?”, suggests envy, but not necessarily of Lyn’s history with Brad. It’s more existential - Lyn represents adult competence, composure, and attraction all at once, everything Luke doesn’t have under control. The moment he invades Lyn’s personal space, hinting at calling him “daddy” and leaning in to sniff him, shows a provocative mixture of challenge, neediness, and maybe displaced desire. Luke tests boundaries, not necessarily out of attraction but out of a desperate need for recognition. Lyn continues to play the “responsible adult,” giving Luke unsolicited advice (cut the cord, find financing, chase your own thing). It’s paternal, almost patronizing, which Luke both mocks and leans into (“has anyone called you daddy yet?”). Lyn tries to solve problems logically, but he consistently misses the emotional undercurrents - why Luke lashes out, why his presence feels threatening. This scene forces Lyn to confront the consequences of being everyone’s “fixer” and “anchor.” Luke resents him, Brad exploits him, Alexander tempts him. All three want a piece of him, but in very different ways...and Lyn, for all his cleverness, still doesn’t see how little control he actually has. On the surface, Lyn defending Luke could look like his usual empathy, his tendency to be the “peacekeeper” and smooth over tensions. But the text strongly suggests something deeper - Lyn is seeing himself in Luke. Luke is younger, inexperienced, and struggling to assert his own identity under the shadow of more dominant personalities... just like Lyn once was with Brad. Lyn’s defense isn’t just kindness; it’s recognition of his own past vulnerabilities and the way he used to feel unseen or manipulated. Brad, as usual, doesn’t notice the inner struggles of the people around him. He sees Luke as either annoying or inconsequential. His lack of curiosity or empathy mirrors how he treated Lyn in the past, reinforcing the parallel. By standing up for Luke, Lyn is indirectly asserting himself against Brad’s old authority. It’s a subtle, almost subconscious, act of resistance - he’s protecting someone who reminds him of himself because he wants to see that struggle validated, which he never had with Brad. The exchange about the bracelet and the book is one of the most poignant moments so far. These objects act as tokens of intimacy and proof of remembrance. Alexander’s fear “that you might’ve thrown it away, to spite me, even in absentia” reveals deep insecurity masked by his icy exterior. For him, survival of the objects equals survival of their bond. Lyn’s honesty “I did miss you, fucker. Even as I continued to hate you” is both a confession and a paradox. It embodies how he processes Alexander - affection entwined with resentment; desire tangled with rivalry. Alexander, predictably, seizes on the “you didn’t forget me” as validation. What unsettles him is the realization that Lyn knows nothing about his past, especially the failed marriage that shaped him. For Alexander, that ignorance feels like erasure. Lyn had once been the closest person in his life, yet eight years later, he shows no trace of having carried Alexander’s story with him. That hurts more than rejection - it tells Alexander he was not remembered, not sought after, not valued enough to leave a mark. This is why he presses so hard with “Tell me everything you want to tell me. Come clean.” He’s desperate for proof that Lyn still knows him, that he mattered. Instead, he’s met with deflection, which only confirms his fear that Brad has remained alive in Lyn’s memory, while he himself was forgotten. Finally, Brad’s request to spend three hours alone with Lyn isn’t innocent - it’s a calculated move to reassert the control and power he once held over him. Despite being on the verge of marrying Bella, Brad still wants to tighten the old leash, testing if Lyn remains under his influence. Alexander’s warning frames this encounter as Lyn’s first true test. Up until now, Lyn has shown signs of change - sharper awareness, a growing resistance to Brad’s pull, and a willingness to open himself to Alexander’s presence. But this meeting will reveal whether that progress is real or fragile. If Lyn yields to Brad, he risks undoing everything - sliding back into regression, clinging to fruitless longing for a man about to bind himself to another. That choice would trap him in emotional stasis for years, just as before. The question is whether Lyn can finally pierce through Brad’s charm and recognize the manipulation beneath it. Can he resist nostalgia and old dependency, and instead step into a future where his worth isn’t defined by Brad’s attention? This is the hinge point - the moment that will decide whether Lyn remains stuck or truly begins to break free.

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you" Matthew 7:6

He was definitely married to women. We know this not only from subtle hints, but also from Alexander’s own confession that he had never been with a man before - and if there’s one thing we can be sure of, it’s that Alexander doesn’t lie. The combination of family expectations and his own “desperation” about Lyn might have pushed him into marriage. That alone shows he is, after all, only human, with a streak of self-destructiveness as well. Still, the brevity of that marriage suggests he came to terms with himself more quickly than many others might have. We’ve speculated often about what exactly happened on that fateful day at the end of college that tore them apart. It didn’t just end communication - it created such a deep wound that, even eight years later, all three of them deliberately avoid the subject.

“Not by a long shot,” Alexander said promptly. “But I’m liking what I’m hearing. I was afraid, at one point, that you might’ve thrown it away, to spite me, even in absentia.” Lyn adjusted his position, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. This conversation had nothing sexual in it, but he hugged Alexander anyway and pressed his face against his crotch. “I did miss you, fucker. Even as I continued to hate you.” Speaking of questions - what exactly did Alexander do that was so terrible eight years ago?!

I’ve been frustrated by Lyn more than once in this story, but at this point I just wanted to yell - Mind your own business, you fool!