Archer's Perspective
After that horrible – no, disastrous – conversation with Riley, I couldn't help but want to slap myself every passing minute. I was a complete mess, and I wasn't even able to apologize to him properly.
I mean, seriously, there's gotta' be something wrong with me. I've never acted this way towards anyone before. I was stumbling over my own words, and I was barely even able to say a coherent sentence. I fucked up, big time.
As I sat down at my table, peeling an orange, I couldn't help but think about him – again. My own thoughts seemed to drown out the voices of my friends next to me, and I found myself overanalyzing our conversation.
He straight-up told me that I tried to "molest" him! For god sake, how do I come back from that allegation? I wasn't even trying to touch him that night, I don't even know how I ended up–
No, thinking about it over and over again isn't going to make anything better. "Hey, guys?" I said, and immediately everyone's head turned to face me. "Yeah, man? What's up?" Drew said.
"When you argue with your girlfriend, how do you apologize to them? I mean, do you guys just like.. Give them flowers? Or, uh, a hug?" That's how I knew I hit rock bottom. No one in their right mind would ask Drew, of all people, for advice.
"Wait—wait—hold up. You—you mean to tell me you are asking for girl advice? From us?" Drew set his milk carton down so hard it nearly tipped over. "And not just girl advice— apology advice?"
"Dude, you're like, the god of apologies," Carter added, shaking his head in disbelief. "Who wouldn't forgive that face? I mean, if you bumped into me in a hallway and gave me that look, I'd probably apologize to you."
A round of approving nods followed from the rest of the jocks. Someone even muttered, "He's got a point."
"Man, I'm still trying to process the fact that our Archer has got some serious game!" Drew whistled, slinging an arm around my shoulder like a proud father.
Drew slung his arm over my shoulder, smiling proudly. Did they really think I was that celibate? Maybe I shouldn't have asked them– it's not like any of them managed to keep a girl for longer than a month.
"Oh, bro, easy—food." Carter leaned in. "Girls love food. Buy her fries, and boom, problem solved."
"That's stupid," Chase scoffed. "You have to be poetic. Write her a poem or something."
"A poem?" Drew repeated, wrinkling his nose. "Dude, this isn't English class."
"I'm just saying, women appreciate effort," Chase shrugged.
"Yeah, well, my ex forgave me after I bought her a stuffed bear," one of the guys from the next table chimed in. "She still broke up with me a week later, but y'know. Short-term fix."
"That's because you cheated on her, dude," someone else called out.
"Okay, yeah, but the bear worked," he shot back defensively.
"Flowers," Drew added. "They're classic. Romantic. Timeless."
Carter snorted. "Yeah, and then they die in like, three days. Just like your relationships."
Meanwhile, I was regretting every decision that led me to this moment.
"Okay, okay, let me get this straight," I said, rubbing my temples. "So, my options are... fries, a poem, a stuffed bear, or flowers?"
"Or, and hear me out," Drew grinned, "a combination of all four."
I stared at him. "You seriously want me to show up like, 'Hey, sorry, here's a soggy bag of fries, a dying rose, a sad poem, and a stuffed bear?"

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Cold and Charisma (BoyxBoy)
RomanceRiley Lachkov's life has only ever consisted of one thing - soccer. Raised in a family where emotions don't exist, Riley has put on a cold-front for as long as he could remember. Many people think that they know him - a cocky, arrogant, rude jerk wh...