Conrad POV
I knew I messed up bad when Belly brought out the f-word. I think Jere knew, too because he immediately apologized.
"I'm sorry man, I messed up," Jere tried.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, too, for getting in a fight with you. What are you sorry for?"
"I'm sorry for punching you and for cheating on Belly, you?"
"I'm sorry dude, but I don't feel bad for stealing the v-card."
"Well you should."
"Why?
"Are you really that stupid?! Belly is just another girl whose gonna get their virginity stolen by you."
Did he just say what I think he said? "You think I've slept with other girls?"
"Well, duh. Of course you have."
I kicked him hard in the shin, "even though it's none of your business, I took Belly's and she took mine." Jeremiah just stared at me.
Jeremiah POV
Did he just say what I think he did? A trade for a trade? Wow, my shin hurts!
"Huh?"
Conrad POV
"I said a trade for a trade. I never so much as looked at a girl in California, never mind get laid!" I was practically yelling in his face. Jeremiah was speechless so I kept going.
"While I was pining over Belly in California, thinking how good you were for her, treating her like a princess, YOU were getting laid! How many times, huh, let's talk about that."
"It's none of your business how many times. My life is none of your business!" Jere was literally in my face this time.
I decided there was a need to scream back. "Your life is very much so my business! I promised mom on her death bed that I would watch you and take care of you and make sure you never f****d things up!"
"Well, guess what? You failed!" Jere got up and shoved me.
"Did you seriously just have the nerve to say that to me? Don't you think I feel bad enough about letting her down?"
Jere just crumpled. He was on his knees standing in front of me, crying, with his head in his hands. "I'm sorry man, I can't get over what I did to Belly and it's eating away at me. I really f****d up and you couldn't have done anything to stop it."
I patted the lounge chair next to me. "Let's talk."
Jere got up and sat, "ok, what do you want to know?"
"How many times?"
"Just that once."
"When?"
"Right after finals, right before I went to Belly's."
"You wore protection, right?"
"Of course. You heard what Belly pulled out of my pocket, and the last thing I wanted to do was make her pregnant."
"Good, I'm glad you were at least thinking about that. Why else did you do it?"
"Well, the pressure was getting to me that I was dating a younger girl. She had tricks that I knew Belly would never have, and I knew I would never compare to you, being able to date a girl that's four years younger and keep a level head." I shook my head at this.
"Who was this girl?"
"Courtney Bosch."
"How much older than you is she?"
"She's graduating from college this year."
"That tool was a year younger than me!"
He looked sheepish, "uh, yeah."
"So you're telling me that you couldn't take the pressure of dating a girl you've known your entire life that's a year younger than you, but u go and get laid with a girl that's probably feeling the same way as you were right about now?" Jere started sobbing again.
"Yes?" I could tell he felt awful.
"You know, you are a screw up right know."
He looked up. "I know, I was going to propose to Belly to make it up when she gets back here." Jeremiah pulled out a ring.
My face fell, "No, no way are you going to make Belly a screw up like you!" I took the ring.
Belly POV
We arrived at the house and it was empty. I figured they were out back so I motioned them to follow me. Sure enough, they were.
"Give it back!" Jere was screaming at Con.
"Give what back?" I asked. Whatever Conrad was holding above his head was now in the neighbor's garden.
Jeremiah tackled Conrad and they got into a fight. I turned to Anika and Taylor, "you two break them up, I'm going to go get what Connie threw."
Taylor POV
At the mention of his childhood nickname, Conrad stopped fighting back, but Jere picked up his pace. Anika grabbed on to Jeremiah and he went to punch her, but she grabbed his hand and stopped him from hurting her.
"You know what I'm capable of," was all she said. But Jeremiah didn't care, he kept throwing punches. I tried to get in the middle to pull Conrad out, but Jere punched me, too. I could already tell I was going to have a black eye.
"Sorry," Jere muttered.
Belly POV
I went out the gates of the privacy fence that surrounded the house and walked up to the French's door. I knocked three times and answered the door. The Frenches own YoBerry's frozen yogurt downtown, where I met Taylor and Anika today.
"Hello Isabel, what can I do for you today?"
I love Bethynie, she's the best. Her and her husband Brian must be in their late 50s early 60s. "Um, Con threw something into your yard and I was just wondering if I could look for it?"
"Of course Belly, anything for you, but first I have a few questions. If I may?"
"Yes, of course, ask away!" I smiled sweetly and it really was genuine.
"How are Connie, Jeremiah, and Stevie?"
"Conrad's pretty good; he graduated from Stanford last year and has stayed in California for med school. He flew up here for the summer. Jeremiah is doing well; he just finished his sophomore year in college at Yale. And my annoying brother Steven just finished his junior year in college at Harvard. Oh, did you know he's getting married this fall?"
"No! I didn't." Beth smiled. "I'm glad he finally found the right girl. So if Jere just finished his sophomore year than that means you just finished your freshman year!"
"Yep."
"How was it?"
"It was pretty good for the most part."
"How about your relationship with Conrad? I remember you liking him since you were little."
"Well, I dated Jere last year because we both go to Yale. I was going to break-up with him after final exams, but he did it for me."
"He dumped you?"
"No, he cheated on me. He came to my dorm after finals and I smelled perfume on him when we hugged." I could tell Bethynie felt sorry for me. "I found an empty, um," I hesitated. "Condom wrapper in his pocket."
apologized and reached out to hug me. In my ear, she whispered "maybe this is a sign."
I stepped back; I can't believe I'm going to tell her this. "It was, Conrad took me there for the first time this afternoon." I smiled.
"Oh Belly! That's wonderful! You know, he's wanted to do that for some time now." She winked at me. "Go right ahead and look for what he threw."
"Thanks."
I walked into the backyard and started looking around. I looked in the yard, I peeked in her pool, and then I finally found it in the rose bushes, of course. I managed to get it out with only a few scratches on my right arm. It looked like a jewelry box. I gasped when I opened the box and I felt all the color drain from my face. It was a wedding ring. There was only one problem. Whose was it?