“Nobody's even arguing. At this point, you're the only one yelling and

I'm saying, ‘Yeah, I get it. There's no going back from this.‘

Belle sat up straight, looking confused for a moment. This was all playing out much differently than she had imagined in her mind.

“Then... what's the problem?"

Sam shrugged helplessly.

“The problem is that I'm not thrilled we're moving this far, this fast."

“Says the girl who's already given blowjobs and had sex," Zofi drawled from the 2-cushion Loveseat.

“This isn't about what I have or haven't done before," Sam countered.

“This is about keeping the BTC in balance when it comes to Matty. We came up with The Rule for a reason."

Alice paced behind the big couch, muttering, "A rule that's been getting slashed and burned every week it seems.”

Sam rubbed her forehead again.

“Exactly my point.”

From the other seat beside me, Naimh pointed out, “Technically we're not violating anything. Nobody's dating Matty.”

“That's not what The Rule means anymore, and you know it," Alice warned.

Sam spread her hands out. "Yes, the original intent was for nobody to date Matty and therefore take him away from the others. But since then, we all know the actual meaning has shifted quite a bit. At this point, the idea is to keep everyone on a level playing field. To keep everyone

‘in balance’." Sam provided her own air quotes

“None of y'all seemed to care when -I- was the only one out of balance," Belle grumbled.

“Well you certainly caught up in the last two weeks," Naimh snarked, leaning around me to look at Belle. "How could you do that to us? I could have sucked off that beautiful dick a dozen times by now!"

“Exactly why I didn't tell you," Belle shot back.

“The only way I figured to rewire his brain was to give him a ton of orgasms until it stopped being a thing, and if I let YOU start blowing him he'd have tried to cut me off again. Give me credit for coming forth and telling you all instead of waiting to get caught. Would you rather I kept it a secret for another month?"

“What's done is done," Sam stated loudly, trying to get control of the room again.

“And nobody is going to resent you for what's already happened. We get it. Even without the issue of Matty's mental block

I'd probably have done the same if I were in your situation."

Belle gave Sam a tight smile and a nod.

Sam gestured to the room. "The question is: What do we do about it now?"