CAMERON

The bro code is like a sacred rule in the men's handbook. Break it, and you willingly face the consequences-automatically branded a snitch.

But I hooked up with Jake's girl; I'm a snitch either way. Only that the issue is not just that I slept with the seemingly innocent one, Jake's beautiful girl who looks like a character straight out of a children's storybook. But deep down, I know Amy and I didn't do anything wrong, or at least it feels that way.

I don't flinch. I won't allow myself to. They've both gone upstairs to Jake's bedroom, now their shared space. I adamantly refuse to let my mind convince me I did something wrong. If anything, Jake should be feeling uneasy. His whole crisis is just starting, and as much as I sympathize with him, he might have brought it upon himself.

Who mixes work and pleasure anyway? Jake may not live by my rules, but I, at least, have set mine straight, whereas he's living in a zigzag. I don't believe in commitment, but this man does, and yet he did what typical people in a committed relationship often do: find a side chick.

While I master my feelings, taking a swim in the pool, later playing some video games, and waiting for Jake to come down and ask him why the girl who left fresh wounds of anger on my neck and arm in my house.

Okay, maybe I'm not going to be that direct, but that's what my brain is trying to figure out, cause I can not be in the same space with her. The last I heard, Jake received a job offer from Erin, the side chick, and he rushed to LA, surrendering in lot of casual sex on the table for him because Amy wasn't providing the sex he needed. His words, not mine.

AMY WASN'T PROVIDING THE SEX HE NEEDED.

That line lingers in my head, and agitation starts taking over me like a hurricane. I felt constrained, my body was.

What the fuck?

The bar cart is over there; my eyes dart to it. It's just a few steps. My stiffened legs rush to it, and I pour myself the strongest drink there is.

I fucking slept with a virgin.

No! I won't be responsible for her. I refuse to. Whatever scheme she has to make a slave out of me, it won't work on me.
Maybe the whole virgin spell thing they talk about is just mystical. She won't stalk me.

Opening Safari, I searched for answers that my mind was grappling with.

The first thing I see on the screen is, "She'll likely get attached," "Girls losing their virginity is a pretty big deal for them.," and "May evoke feelings of sadness, panic, and guilt."

There's nothing helpful I can imagine.

Fear threatened to paralyze me, leading me to chew on my nails as various theories started swirling in my head.

"People often fail in commitments, right? So there's a 50 percent chance that, just like Jake cheating on her, she's doing the same in New Jersey with some high school kid her age." My subconscious mind assured me.

I mean, she didn't bleed last night. Let's say it's okay, given it's not necessary. What explains the fire she had all through last night? Something even girls with ten years of hookup experience couldn't do.

There's no way she's a virgin. My guess is that they're both cheating on each other. And that clears me, I didn't sleep with a virgin. I am a free man.

This calculation eases my anxiety, and I go on Tinder to find some nearby hookups to boost my mood.

"You got yourself in trouble today?" The voice echoes in the room.

I look up and see Jake coming over in a regular tracksuit.

"Hey, man?" I smile, brushing off guilty looks.

"You got wounds all over you. What vampire mistaken hickeys for bites?" he laughs, stopping by the side of the couch where I'm lazily lying, going through my phone.

"You don't want to know," I advise him, and he quickly agrees without probing, "I surely don't."

"However, I do want to know what's happening. You said you would explain everything clearly when you get here." I sit up and remind him.

He sighs in tension, rubbing his eyes. "Amy is starting UP tomorrow," he says in a small panicky voice, sitting next to me.

I warned him a hundred times before, and he'd only see me on the wrong part of the track when I've been nothing but honest with every girl. Now I can proudly brag that I have my peace. But does he?

"Look, you have to tell her," I insist, and a shadow sets on his face. "It is not going to end well. Get her a ticket and ship her back to where she came from."

"What is wrong with you? That's the girlfriend that I proposed to and plan to start my future with. Do not ever-" His low voice is full of anger, and I surrender my hands.

"Okay, chill, bro. All I am saying is think. There's no way you will let go of a good job for someone you cheat on. I don't know what type of drug you're on, but I know you're messing it up for yourself. You don't love her enough to make that sacrifice for her."

He's just in a delusion. He's cheating, it means there's no love like I always say. And risking his career is just way too much.

"Who told you so? I am here because only Amy feels right."

Oh, for fucksake. Is he blind?

"Jake, you accepted a job to satisfy your sexual desires. Set that poor girl free." I've seen in her eyes how desperate she is for reassurance and safety, which Jake isn't providing. He's only going to hurt both of them. Why are people so selfish? "You said she's never done a thing wrong. You said she's innocent, pure, and too good. Can you say the same thing about yourself? Does she deserve this?"

Honestly, I just want her out of my space and I will do anything to convince Jake to see the bigger picture. He should see I am also doing them a favor before it all explodes because it will.
And if he takes my advice, tomorrow will be a good day for me.

"Look," he leans towards me, peeking over his shoulders to make sure the hallway is clear. "I know I am not perfect. I don't deserve Amy, but I will fight for her. I will change from this day. I will prove myself worthy of her. And if it means waiting for her for hundreds of years, I won't be with any woman. I will wait."

Oh, please. The kind of fibs makes me sick to my stomach. He's clearly lying. And I bet on it; he's going to cave back to Erin. Just watch and see.

Cheating is an incurable disease that only keeps spreading.

"How? You started something with that woman who gave you the job. How will you tread through it?" I drop my phone on my chest and shake my head at him.

Trust me, Amy can't handle that blow from Erin. You should see how intimidating and sophisticated Erin is; that girl, who only knows how to bite flesh, will break in no time. She was literally crying on my lawn for being naked.

Well, I admit that was bad of me, but she made me do it. I usually let girls leave in peace, but this one had to press my nerves with her sharp tongue. What am I supposed to do? Cuddle her? I do have a tendency to react with my dick, people say, and for me, that's where my intuition is. But at that time, I reacted logically, with my head and emotions, isn't that a good thing?

"I've ended it," Jake says like it's that simple. He wasn't just doing casual hookups; he was going out with Erin for months. "I am now solely focused on correcting my mistakes and moving forward."

My instincts counsel me to mind my business, so I mentally shrug just in time as the door rings.

"Cool," I stand. "I think my guest is here."

He straightens up too, shaking his head at me, entertained.

"Do you, man. Someday you will find the right one," he mocks me, making my skin crawl.

"Nah, I'm good." I slap his arm and navigate to the door ahead of him.

As I open the door, a brunette is stationed there, looking nothing like the girl in the photo I talked about, but whatever.

"Hell-ooo," she crooned. "Who's my date? You or him? Or both?" She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Definitely not me," Jake asserts, patting my shoulder. "Amy is asleep; I'll go for a run," he says and squeezes out of the door.

Yes, better. I plan on avoiding her forever.

"Well, you're the hotter one." The girl there rolls her tongue over her lips, flattening her hands over my chest and pushing us inside.

That's the energy I need right now to help me forget everything that happened since last night.