A Bloom in June Ch. 07

****This is Chapter 7 of an ongoing series about a middle aged guy having a fling with the 21 year old trans daughter of his college friends. As suggested, I have added in more context as to what came before so it can be read as a standalone, but, naturally it is best enjoyed after reading the previous six. ****

Things quickly returned to normal in the weeks after June and I finally double-penetrated her best friend Lizzie. The build up to that auspicious event was amazing, but the night itself was one I'll never forget. Once it was over though, something of our old patterns began to emerge.

The first change I noted was that June started spending a lot more time at my place again as Lizzie's final semester of college ramped up. The one big difference to how things had been before the holidays was that June was now fully embracing our "friends with benefits" arrangement, and, in fact, was actively looking for new partners.

Gone were the days where she would unconvincingly tell me that she "wasn't catching feelings" while in the midst of some pretty strong puppy love. When she came home with her hair and make up a mess in early February I congratulated her on getting lucky. She then plopped down on the couch and told me all about how she had gotten fucked by a married guy she had met on line.

"Don't worry Sully! We used protection, although he kept begging me not to." She said, seeing the look of concern on my face.

"I'm less worried about STI's than I am about self-loathing based regret turning into violence, but I'm glad you also used a condom."

"I wouldn't have gone to the hotel with him if I thought he was going to be dangerous Craig! I'm sure he'll have plenty of self-loathing though. Is it wrong that I find that kind of hot? He was already hard as we were walking from the elevator to the the room, and he seemed to really enjoy kissing me, but or course he told me multiple times that he 'wasn't gay or anything' but I was 'so pretty'. Of course after he came he wasn't interested in taking care of me, so... any chance you could give me a hand... or a mouth?"

So I kissed her and stroked her girl cock till it was rock hard and then blew her while she told me all about this straight-laced conservative guy going wild railing her. She said that he told her that he had always wanted to fuck his wife in the ass, but she wouldn't allow it. When she recounted the sounds he made as he snaked his cock into her, she came in my mouth.

A few nights later I came home from work to find her talking on the phone, which was kind of a big deal. I could tell from what she was saying that it wasn't the long awaited rapprochement with her family, who were the only people I had ever previously know her to actually have phone conversations with.

"You'll never believe it Sully! That was Lizzie, she's going on a date with this dude she's been talking to, and they're going on Friday!"

"Oh my god Junie, you're not jealous are you?" I called from the kitchen as I started making dinner.

"Fuck no, but... they're going on Friday, like this Friday. Do you not know what this Friday is?"

"Uhhhh the 14th, right?"

"Yeah, Valentines Day. Ring a bell?"

"Oh shit, right. Its been a minute since I've had to think about Valentines day. So what? They're going on a date on a Friday night. Do you kids even observe things like Valentines Day? I would've thought it was, like... 'So cringe and corporate and misogynistic' or something."

"First of all... don't do that. Second: have you even heard of the internet? Hello! Instagram? You post pics from a date on V-day and that's a total hard launch."

I just chuckled, and went back to making alfredo sauce. But, it did turn out that it was indeed a hard launch of a relationship, and I was just as surprised as June was about it. The week after their date, Lizzie brought her new guy to dinner at my place, and they seemed to have a pretty intense attachment to one another already.

He went by Gar which I found totally odd till he explained that he was named after Hank Garland, the famous Nashville session guitar player. He was impressed I knew who Hank Garland even was, and by the end of the night I was pretty impressed with him too.

Like his namesake he was also a guitar player, and had done some session work of his own with Jason Isbell, who I was a huge fan of. He had also toured with a few big name acts, but I gathered that he made most of his money doing lessons and as a guitar tech. I suck at judging age, and I guessed he was probably around Lizzie and June's age, but it turned out he was a full decade older than them at 32. But, he was a really interesting guy, and I saw what Lizzie liked about him right away. In addition to his personality, it also didn't hurt that he had a long and lanky rocker look, standing a few inches taller than my 6-feet and with tattoos and painted nails.

With Lizzie coupled up I thought I'd be seeing even more of June that at the start of the semester, but by the end of the month I realized it had been a few days since I'd seen her at all. I texted her and she said she had been crashing at Lizzie's dorm and at Gar's house with the two of them.

It turned out that Gar had been very turned on by the story of June and I sharing Lizzie, and he expressed interest in trying it out. This sexual experimentation seemed odd to me, it being so early in their relationship, but then again I am an old man, so what the hell do I know?

Speaking of old, my 53rd birthday was approaching in Mid March (anyone want to guess why my middle name is Julius?) and I surprised June by asking if she'd want to get away with me someplace tropical and warm. She bit right away, but then asked if Lizzie could come along, since it would be during Vandy's Spring Break and she hadn't been able to afford going away anywhere.

Naturally I said yes, and also naturally, I ended up booking flights and rooms for four, since Lizzie begged me to let Gar tag along. I cracked myself up when I fake asked "boys in one room, girls in the other OK?" when I told June I had gotten two rooms, but she just rolled her eyes at me.

So, early on a Saturday morning we picked Lizzie and Gar up and headed for the airport. Once again June opted to dress plainly and without any make up to avoid any issues in the TSA line, and seeing how it sapped her spirit made me want to fight every transphobic idiot who has made life so hard for her and other's like her who just want to live their lives. But, owing to her irrepressible spirit, she rebounded quickly, and soon enough we were on the plane.

Once on the ground again in Aruba the girls were positively giddy when they returned from the bathroom where June got all gussied up. Gar and I waited for the baggage and then we all headed out to the little rental car shack to pick up our ride for the week.

Within the next two hours we had settled into our non-adjoining rooms at the Hyatt Regency, and were already headed to the beach. June surprised me by sporting a pretty plain black one piece suit, while Lizzie was practically busting out of her bikini. The top was coral colored with thicker straps to hold up her big breasts, while the boy short bottoms barely covered her plump butt.

It was already shaping up to be a great week.

After a few hours on the beach we headed back to get ready for dinner, which we just had in the hotel restaurant to save time. I'd love to say we had some amazing orgy that night, but I was absolutely knackered and I ended up turning in at around 10:30 while the rest of the crew went to a dance club called HIDDEN, it being a Saturday night and all.

I had the king sized bed all to myself that night, and when we finally rendezvoused for lunch the next day June told me that they had gotten their vacation off to a good start by dancing till 1:00 and then fucking till 3:00.

They all seemed a bit hung over and weren't interested in sightseeing, and so they opted instead for relaxing on the beach while working on their tans. I went down with them but spent more time under a Fofoti Tree reading than catching rays.

Any worries about a celibate trip disappeared when June told me they all wanted to head back to wash up and "have some fun" before dinner. June and I showered together and ended up getting started alone. After drying off she pulled me to the bed where we began to kiss and grope each other.

She whispered in my ear that she had given Lizzie one of our keys and told her to wait a bit and to slip in once we had already started. June really liked being watched and the added wrinkle of being walked in on seemed to strike a powerful chord with her.

When I heard the door open I was on my back with June on all fours between my legs, licking and teasing my cock. Lizzie and Gar silently made their way to the couch at the foot of the bed, and sat down for the show. Just their presence seemed to flip a switch in June.

She shoved my legs up and dove into my ass crack, licking and slurping at my freshly cleaned asshole. There was a frenetic energy to June's actions that wasn't a part of our usual fucking, and I absolutely loved it. After a few minutes of feeling her tongue push into my tight hole, I really wanted to put her more on display in an effort to amp her up even further.

I took all three of them by surprise when I shoved June's head away and sprung up off the bed to pull the drapes open. We were high up and opposite the beach so its not like we would really have a ton of prying eyes, but the smile on June's face showed that she liked it anyway.

"Get over here" I said while pointing at the floor in front of me.

She all but sauntered over to me, knelt at my feet, and shot her best good girl look up at me. I ran my hands through her wet hair and then took a grasp of a clump at the back. Once under my control I guided her mouth back to my excited dick and she enthusiastically opened up and resumed sucking.

The whole time she sucked me I was focused on watching her work, but I really got a kick out of all her little sideways glances toward the couch. It almost made me feel bad about what I wanted to do next. As she kept sucking and peeking I reached over and slid the glass door open, allowing the sounds and smells of the beach to waft into the room.

I could see the tops of umbrellas and people in the water, and for a second I started to feel a bit exposed, but feeling June roughly rubbing her tongue along the underside of my cock while mauling my ass with her hands allowed me to shake it all away.

I dragged her up off her knees and put her hands against the glass before pulling her by the hips to stretch her out and bend her over. Then, I just left her stood there while I crossed the room to retrieve the bottle of lube I had bought at a place called Sextasy earlier that morning while they slept. As I walked past Lizzie and Gar I tried to just ignore them, but I couldn't help but notice that she was already stroking his cock as they watched us.

When I got back to June she was still obediently bent against the glass, wiggling her ass back and forth. I got to my knees so I could rim her cute little ass first, and the second my tongue hit her hole she began to moan. I reached up and found her girl cock hard and twitching from all the various stimulation.

"Fuck I love it when you play with my clitty while you eat me out Craig."

She was speaking to me, but really I think she was hamming it up for our audience, which I loved. Despite all of the turmoil in her family life, and in the face of the general hostility the world had towards her just for being her, I was always impressed how fully and comfortably she was able to invest herself sexually, and at how adventurous she was.

I spun her around and stood her up so I could do a little showing off of my own. I felt like I had gotten pretty good at sucking dick over the previous six months or so, and, while I may not have enjoyed the exhibitionism as much as June, it did still give me an extra jolt.

As I sucked her I pushed her legs apart so I could snake a well lubed finger into her ass. The sliding door made a clunking sound as she lurched back against it, but I wasn't about to move her.

I would never make this observation to her - lest it either offend or embarrass her - but one of my favorite things about fucking June is when she is so lost in pleasure that she forgets her vocal training and just speaks in her default voice. I don't think of it as any less feminine, but I understand why she doesn't usually want to share it with a hateful and judgmental world. In this case she simply said "goddamn Craig... I love it when you take the whole thing like that." and my secret enjoyment of hearing her so unguarded led me to push another finger inside her slippery hole.

I could tell that she was ready to be fucked, and I was all too willing to do it, so I dragged my old bones off the floor and spun her back around so that she was facing the outside world, 8 stories below us. As I lubed my cock up, June kept looking back and forth between the people on the beach and her friends on the couch. All the excitement was causing her to hop ever so slightly on the balls of her feet as she waited to be penetrated.

Sometimes she's just so fucking adorable, I can't stand it.

As I lined myself up with her hole the look on her face changed. Her eyes were closed and her lips and nose were pulled into a sneer, exposing her clenched teeth below. I sunk slowly into her and held my place as soon as I had bottomed out. When I reached around to try and play with her girl cock, I found her hand already there, so I moved both of mine to her hips and began to pump in and out of her.

"Look at that sailboat passing by Junie. They could be looking out their windows watching me fuck your ass right now." I mumbled as one of my hands ran up her back and found a home around the back of her neck.

As our pace steadily quickened, June put her hands flat against the glass and began to push her ass back at me with some force. Our combined exertions caused the glass door to begin to slide, knocking her off her balance, so I pulled out of her and guided her back to the bed by her hair.

As I reapplied lube, June got on the bed, scooting her ass to the edge. Just after I had pushed my way back into her I reached down and started to stroke her. This is my favorite way to fuck June. I love looking her in the face as we fuck, and I also love having easy access to her tits and her girl cock.

After a few sweat inducing minutes of fucking her like this, I grabbed hold of her wrists and forced them down onto the mattress above her head. While I had her pinned I picked up the pace of my thrusts and lowered myself to begin kissing her. Feeling her tongue rubbing against mine while my belly grazed her girl cock was my limit and I broke our kiss to tell her I was close.

"Make a mess of me so I can make LL clean it up" she pleaded.

So I pulled out of her ass and climbed onto the bed and ultimately straddled her pelvis. As I crouched there, stroking my cock I could feel hers pressed against my ass crack. She laid there with an angelic look on her face and then reached up and gently fondled my balls as I stroked. I emptied myself onto her chest and chin and became aware that Lizzie had now joined us, quickly licking and sucking up my come as instructed.

I got up and staggered into the bathroom, and when I returned a minute or so later Lizzie was on all fours, blowing Gar while June fucked her from behind. I plopped down on the couch to enjoy the show while still naked. I thought briefly about rallying to rejoin the action, but a few tugs at my spent 52 year-old dick told me I needed to wait a bit longer.

Eventually June came and went. After filling Lizzie's pussy up, she followed my path from bed to bathroom to couch. Gar quickly filled June's place behind Lizzie, but before he took his turn fucking her, he made a big show of cleaning up June's seeping come while glancing over at us on the couch.

Once he had finished he flipped Lizzie over on her back and angled her head so that it was facing us. As sunk into Lizzie he kept his eyes locked on us the whole time. I was enjoying watching him fully pounding on Lizzie, especially since I love the way her tits, belly and thighs shake in that position. Each time I glanced up from her lovely swaying skin I would notice that Gar was totally ignoring this hypnotic motion, and instead still staring in our direction.

Or, more precisely, in my direction.

Our eyes locked and he smirked before his eyes darted down and back to mine a few times in rapid succession to draw my gaze. Then he pulled out and began shucking his fist at lightning speed over his hard and messy cock.

"You wanna come over here and finish me off Sully?"

"I think you're in good hands with Lizzie!" I offered.

His eyes shifted to June and then down to Lizzie but within a few seconds he was firing thick bands of come onto Lizzie's belly, tits, and neck. It was a truly impressive yield, far more than either June or I could muster, and I rather instinctively exclaimed "holy shit!"

June had jumped up and already set to work licking at Gar's come. After collecting some she started to kiss Lizzie as they both giggled. Gar collapsed back against the headboard with his dick still firmly grasped in his fist. It felt like a pretty epic sexual exchange all around, but right away i could tell the vibe was off with Gar.

I couldn't have realized that by declining to go down on Gar I set off a conversation that would occupy the whole rest of our night. Since the three of them are all in their 20's and 30's they are very well acquainted with how they and the people around them identify. Gar is pansexual and has been with cis men & women as well as trans men & women and non-binary people. Lizzie had been with cis men & women and June was the first trans person she had been with.

They are all progressive, open people who thought deeply about these things and were happy to share with those around them. I came from an era where I was once told that only women could be bi, that if a man said he was bi he was a "closeted fag". And I was told that by a gay male professor.

Early on, when June asked me how I identified I honestly said that I thought of myself as straight, insomuch as I had only ever dated cis women up until I slept with her. I was also honest that I watched trans porn and found many trans women attractive. But that night, after we had all cum in the same room, we sat in various stages of undress talking about my revelation that I was more than happy to suck a trans woman's cock, or get fucked in the ass by a trans woman, but I wasn't into cis men.

It seemed to deeply bother Gar, and by extension, Lizzie who had become quite smitten with him very quickly in their relationship. So I sat there as if I was facing some sort of Gen Z tribunal who were grilling me about my preferences. June didn't say all too much, but she did pipe up a few times to say stuff like "no one is saying you're wrong" or "everyone is entitled to their own feelings" but Gar really wasn't having it.

"A cock is a cock. I just don't get why you're into one if its attached to a person who outwardly appears to be a woman, but you're not when its a guy."

"Listen... I have spent my whole life trying to navigate and understand masculinity. And for the most part, there's not a lot about the traditional American masculine roles that I like, either for myself or in a potential partner. I don't know how else to say it."

I really hoped that would be the end of the conversations, but I wasn't so lucky. I found out later that Gar had a thing for older guys and Lizzie had basically told him he was going to get to fuck me on this trip. He ended up feeling rejected, which led him to lash out a bit in what he saw as righteous judgement of the old dude. We squared things later, but that night I ended up getting very defensive when he seemed to be insinuating I was in some way homophobic because I wasn't attracted to CIS men.

This spirited conversation continued while we ate room service and up until they began making plans for the night. The three of them once again headed out to a club, and June ended up spending the night in Gar and Lizzie's room. I was somewhere between pouting, self-questioning, and anger but after a Xanax and a good wank I turned in early.

---

In the morning I headed to the beach and swam laps along the white marker about 50 yards off the shore. By the time I was done I was absolutely knackered and I realized I had been at it for almost an hour, out of utter frustration. I fell back asleep in my chair under the tree only to be awoken around 11 AM by kids screaming on the beach.

A quick check of my phone showed no messages from the tribunal, so I dragged myself back to the room to shower. While I was in there June walked in and made some general apologies about the night before. I told her about my marathon swim and begged out of the days sight seeing. I handed her the keys to the rental and told her to keep me apprised of their whereabouts and plans.

She hugged me tightly and renewed her now present reminder to "be nicer to myself" before heading out to have fun. While they were gone I got a call from a 931 number that I didn't recognize but they didn't leave a message. When the crew came back in the early evening they said that Lizzie had gotten a call from her mom asking how she was affording the trip, and who the guy was that she was there with. So I assumed that it had been Lizzie's mom, Malory, who called me, even though I had her number in my phone.

Then at dinner the 931 number called again at just about the same time that Lizzie was showing her phone to June. Malory had obviously mentioned the vacation posts to June's mom, Lili, and she had gone to Lizzie's post and commented"have Junior call me, please!!!".

They were both livid with their mothers, and for good reason. I finally mentioned the calls I had gotten and they asked me to call back to see who it was. I went into the lobby to avoid beachy sounds and called. It turned out the call was from Sarah, June's Maw Maw, and Lili's mom. After a quick text to June to confirm what Sarah was saying about knowing all about our trip (and our relationship) I ended up talking to her.

Sarah told me that things were really deteriorating in June's family. She was just about the only one who seemed to be fully in June's corner, and I once again marveled at how eclectic old Southern broads can be. Sarah told me that Jack and Lili (and sadly June's siblings) had been smugly sure that she would have to come crawling back to them sooner or later. With each passing month that she seemed to not only be surviving, but also thriving, they began to suspect she was "turning tricks" or being kept by a sugar daddy, and they were obsessed with finding out who he (I, I guess) was.

Sarah warned me that the longer June continued to be happily independent of her family, the more they were determined to get her back into the fold. She said that Lili had even asked a lawyer if they could have her committed on a mental health hold with the goal of sending her to some kind of conversion camp. At 22 years old!

When I got back to the table Lizzie was on the phone with her dad, who is also named Craig, but goes by "Linc" in our little crew due to their last name being Lincoln. Once the call was over she told us that June's mom and dad had both been hounding him trying to find out who they were on the trip with and how they were affording all of this.

As if it all wasn't exhausting enough, I revealed to the group that June's grandmother had asked me to call Lili to try and "smooth things out" so when we were done eating we all headed up to the room. I didn't love the idea of having an audience for this call, but in the end they stayed quiet and didn't give away the ruse that I was still back in Nashville.

I told Lili that I had just seen June and Lizzie a few days before when I dropped them off at the airport. June covered her mouth to smother a laugh when I told her mom that I didn't think June was seeing anyone, and that she seemed to be focused on work and hanging out with Lizzie.

I was so torn, because on the one hand I could hear how distraught Lili was about her child, but I was also infuriated that she had now fully reverted to using he/him pronouns and her deadname. In the end I felt like I had successfully gotten Lili, and hopefully by extension Jack, off June's back for a bit.

Thanks to this seemingly small act of support on my part, June was all doe eyed and snuggled up on me to kiss me and thank me. She sent Lizzie and Gar away and decided to spend the night with me, rather than joining them for yet another night on the town.

As the two of them had a raucous night out that ended with them finally finding a guy to share their bed, June and I did something we hadn't done in a while. We made out like love sick teens for what seemed like hours. I felt guilty when I broke it up to pee and get some water, but when I returned to the bed she had stripped down and was laying there with her arms at her sides, like a little gift.

I climbed on the bed, and then over her with my forearms resting on either side of her head so I could resume kissing her. Then I felt her hand wrap around my cock and she began stroking it until I was fully hard. I fumbled around on the bedside table for lube, managing to retrieve it without breaking our kiss. But then I pulled back to apply, also squirting some in her hand when she presented it.

We wordlessly prepared ourselves, and I went right back to kissing her as I slowly entered her slick asshole. June and I had fucked many times, and over the previous few months we had even pushed boundaries to try new things together. But we had only really made love once or twice.

I had been cautious to downplay the romance aspect of our interactions to try and discourage the idea that I was looking to be in a relationship. Now though, after she had embraced her "slut era" and in the wake of me standing up for her it seemed right. We hadn't talked about it before hand, but here we were: slowly writhing together amid the sound of the waves crashing on the beach outside.

"Baby... can I go on top?" she asked in a hush, making me smile down at her.

I stretched back and flopped on the bed next to her, taking time to reapply some lube while she got in position. She arched her back and reached around to line me up, and when she sank down onto me she rolled her head back and let out a long groan.

I licked my thumbs and reached up to trace them along her nipples, drawing her attention back to me. She put both hands on my chest and started rock her hips to move me in and out of her. We fucked like that for a bit, but then I felt a small drop of her pre come drip just above my pubic hair and all my attention went to her crotch.

"Play with my hard little clitty Craig. Please make me come!"

I used my finger to scoop up the dollop of come from my pelvis and then added the small bit that was still clinging to her tip before savoring her taste. She smirked down at me as I did this, but her face soon reverted to a kind of pained pleasure expression when I took her in my hand.

Without lube I lightly glided my hand in a loose tennis grip over her sensitive skin, occasionally stopping to remove and taste more drips from her tip. After a while I worried she had been up there too long when I saw her legs trembling, but when I suggested we move she shook me off, and asked me to pick up the pace of my stroking.

Now I added lube to the job, and after just a few oscillations of my hand she had stopped ridding me, pushing herself down to take me as far in her ass as she could. The more I stroked the more she began to squeak out twisted little moans, and when I looked up at her her face, it wore the expression of someone holding on for dear life, including holding her breath.

I pulled my hips back, then bucked up into her and she gasped, drawing a huge breath as she finally came, mostly up my wrist and forearm, but also a bit on my stomach.

"That was so good!" She said into my mouth as we kissed. "Can I do that for you?"

I nodded back to her and she rolled off me, efficiently taking up a spot next to me with her head on my chest. She poured more lube over my cock and then took hold of it and began stroking me, just as I had her. After a minute or so of slow, deliberate strokes she turned her head to resume kissing me and picked up the pace. She ended up maneuvering onto her knees, hovering off to the side of me to better both stroke and kiss, and shortly after the improved angles shoved me to the edge and then over. I sucked on her tongue as I added my own come to some of hers that had slid into my belly button.

---

The rest of the trip was totally different. I don't want to say that I regret bringing Lizzie and Gar, but for the next two days straight we didn't even see them, and we both had a blast. We ended up all getting together on Thursday for a ride out to the fallen arch and they regaled us with the stories of their hook ups with Brandon, a waiter who apparently had a "truly beautiful cock" according to both of them.

I certainly wasn't bitter, having had an amazing few days with June, including blowing one another in the back seat of our rental SUV in the parking lot of the lighthouse on the northern tip of the island as people mulled about.

Friday was the day before my birthday and I got a text from June's dad, Jack. He asked me if I wanted to get together for a few beers to celebrate. That seems like a nice and normal gesture between friends, but we had know each other for 35 years and he had never done that before, so I assumed it was really about June. I begged out, saying I was visiting my sister and shortly after I put the phone down I was watching June run past me in a bikini on the beach. The timing made me laugh.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed for the airport to return to reality. The trip seemed to deepen the infatuation Lizzie and Gar had with one another, which actually made me quite happy despite the unpleasantness of things with them early on. It also fundamentally seemed to shift something for June and I, although I wasn't able to put my finger on it then.

What I came to realize later was that although I wasn't in love with June, I held a very unique and special place for her that I can honestly say I had never experienced with anyone before. I think it may have something to do with a mix of true affection and attraction with a sense of being a bit of a protector or guide. I don't know if that's healthy or not, but I could tell that she also felt it, albeit in the role of protected.

A few weeks after we had returned she was getting harassed at a bar on Broadway, and when I stepped into try and deescalate the situation the guy decided to swing at me. He was drunk, and obviously never learned how to correctly throw a punch, so it was quite easy for me to avoid, but in doing so his elbow caught June's shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

I grabbed the guy - who was definitely young enough to be my son, but old enough to know better - by the wrist and forced it behind his back and up between his shoulder blades. I held him there while I waited for the bouncers, who sadly but predictably threw us all out together.

At least they stood between us as we parted ways on the sidewalk, but they couldn't stop the douchebag from shouting "You stupid sick fucks are lucky my boys weren't here. We would have stomped both your faggot asses."

"God knows you're not man enough to handle business yourself!" June called over her shoulder as we walked away, before turning and batting her eyes at me like a cartoon character.

That night, as we fucked in my bed she had that same blaze in her eyes, and she shocked us both when she responded to my telling her I was close by saying "yes. fucking come on my face daddy."

I absolutely hated, not only how much I loved it, but how easily she read my face and understood the effect it had on me.

---

Chapter 8 arrives in August.