"I don’t want you seeing that girl," she spat, chasing after me as I moved for the front door. "Are you hearing me? Stay away from that family! I forbid you from having anything to do with her!"

"You forbid me?" I threw my head back and laughed humorlessly. "My god, you're unbelievable." Reaching for the front door, I pulled it open and stepped outside. "Don’t worry, Mama. Nick Peterson already warned me off."

"Then you should take his advice, Daryl," she called after me. "Nothing good can come of dredging up the past."

Yeah, nothing good for you…

5 Daryl

"Well if it ain't the prodigal fucking quarterback!" Rourke grumbled when I walked into his kitchen a little while later and found him raiding the fridge. "The hell you been all day, King?"

"I needed a mental health day."

"Oh yeah?" Laden down with more food than an elephant needed, he padded over to the island. "Well, Coach made us run suicides until we puked to make up for your mental health day. Hope it was worth it."

Wincing, I sank down on a stool at the island with him. "Sorry about that."

"You know you can't leave the team hanging like that, dude," he continued, mouth full of chicken. "At least not without a damn fine excuse."

"I fucked Molly."

"No…" Coughing and spluttering, he dropped the leg of chicken he'd been demolishing down on the plate, "…shit?"

"Shit," I agreed somberly. "And then her father caught me buck ass naked in her bed this morning with her virginity smeared all over my dick."

"Jesus Christ." Eyes bulging, Rourke rubbed a hand over his jaw and gaped at me. "Screw everything that I said earlier. I think I need a mental health day, too."

"That's not even the worst part," I added with a sigh. "I got her drunk first."

"Dude…"

"And high."

"Dude!"

"I know, I know," I groaned, shoulders sagging in defeat. "I'm a disgrace. I get it, okay? But it's not like I planned any of it. Honest to god, man, it just…sort of happened."

"So, your dick just sort of fell into her?"

I cringed. "Don't."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he shot back sarcastically. "Your mighty penis magically inserted itself inside the vagina of the very girl you've been obsessed with since Pre-k?" He arched a brow. "Awfully convenient, D."

I debated arguing with him, but decided against it. There was no point in denying it. I didn't have a leg to stand on. Besides, I had more pressing sins to get off my conscience. "Ready for the worst part? I didn't wear a condom."

"Tell me you're joking," he deadpanned.

I couldn't.

"I'm not joking," I squeezed out.

"Then you're absolutely right," he snapped. "You are a disgrace. She's a mess, dude. Fragile as fuck. Sticking your dick inside that girl was a horrible mistake."

"Kick me while I'm down, why don't you!"

"D, you stuck your bare dick inside a female." Rourke cocked a brow and gave me a look that was full of parental disappointment – which was a crock of shit considering I was six months older than him. "Have the mistakes of our fathers not taught you anything?"