5 Times a Day

**Chapter 37**

News?

Yeah, well, the news was the last thing on his mind. I could tell. Whatever. The pink haze in the room was already clouding my senses. I glanced toward Aunt Elise, who was busy in the kitchen. The pink gas leaking from her was growing thicker by the minute. Looking at the sheer amount of it, I was starting to doubt my earlier theory that it was simple lust. Maybe it was something else entirely.

The real issue right now was the quiet war of wits between Tom and me, but with the pink haze muddying my judgment, the rule of never engaging in conversation while intoxicated kicked in. First rule of business.

“Actually, I was going to check on Sara and Mira. They needed my help studying for their exams.”

The moment I breathed in more of the haze—

[Lust level: Yellow]

As expected. Even though I couldn’t devour it the way I could with Sasha’s, it still affected me. It made me lustful. I had already finished two rounds earlier, and my cock couldn’t get hard again, yet the haze kept working on me. If I stayed too long, there was a real chance the Restore skill would activate on its own.

“I see,” Tom said. “Next time, then.”

I let out an internal sigh of relief and headed upstairs to the girls’ room. Both of them were still asleep, but their complexions looked a little brighter. They had actually gotten some proper rest. I closed the door quietly behind me and made my way to Sasha’s room instead. It was also on the second floor, so I wouldn’t have to go back downstairs and risk running into Tom again.

When I reached her door, I could hear her talking on the phone. Normally I wouldn’t have been able to make out the words, but with my heightened senses I could pick up conversations from the other side of the house if they weren’t too quiet.

“Just dump him,” Sasha said.

I couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but it sounded like typical girl talk. I was about to walk away when her next words stopped me cold.

“I can let you sleep with my cousin. He can make you forget that jerk.”

‘What the…?’

~~

“Sasha, focus on your dinner,” Aunt Elise chided.

Sasha wasn’t distracted by me—she was texting someone. After what I’d overheard earlier, I doubted the conversation was completely innocent, but I decided not to dig into it. The age of consent in this state made some of the talk less strange than it first sounded.

The part that involved me, however, was an entirely different story. I would have spent more time thinking about it if not for the new notification.

[Lust level: Orange]

I still didn’t fully understand what was happening, but the pink haze coming from Aunt Elise was clearly accelerating everything. My lust was climbing fast. It wouldn’t be long before it hit red. I needed to get out of the house before that happened.

The system had warned that reaching red could trigger a Berserk state. From what I remembered of Rox’s life, that was something I wanted to avoid at all costs.

“I’m just texting Judy,” Sasha replied. “We plan to go to the amusement park tomorrow.” She turned to me. “You wanna come, Tyler?”

Under normal circumstances, I would have said no. Right now it might be the cleanest way to leave the house without looking suspicious.

“Aren’t you a little too old to go to amusement parks?” Sara asked. I had a feeling she wasn’t really talking about Sasha’s age—she just couldn’t go out and have fun the same way right now.

“No age is too old to enjoy an amusement park. Unless it’s a heart-condition age,” Sasha shot back, then looked at me again. “So, how about it, Tyler?”

“Tyler can’t go,” Mira cut in before I could answer. “He’s promised to help us with our math exam preparation tomorrow.”

Right. I had completely forgotten about that. The haze was making me foggy. Prior agreements still stood, though. I couldn’t just back out.

“How about I come with you girls?” Aunt Elise offered. “I have nothing to do tomorrow.”

Sasha hesitated. She clearly wanted to go to the amusement park, but her original plan had involved me. Whoever this Judy was, I was willing to bet she was the same girl from the phone call. Bringing me along might create problems I didn’t need—especially with girls who were only just legal.

“It’s okay, Mom. I wanted to go so Tyler could explore our town a little. Maybe next week. Tomorrow we’ll just play some tennis and have a nice dip.”

She didn’t give anything away, but my earlier suspicion held. The little minx was definitely planning something that involved me and another girl.

[Warning]

[Lust level approaching status Red]

[The user is advised to quench his lust]

[Berserk state imminent]

Bad news stacked on top of bad news. I couldn’t leave the house to get away from Aunt Elise’s haze, and now she wasn’t going out tomorrow either. That meant she would be home the entire day while I was stuck tutoring the twins, with no clean way to escape the effect.

After dinner I decided not to bother Sasha—we had already had a long session that morning. Instead I slipped out of the house. With the security system in my mind thanks to information from Giorgio, it was easy.

May he rest in peace. And all of his pieces as well.

The moment I stepped outside the range of my aunt’s pink haze, my heart rate settled, and the fog in my head cleared. I could have just wandered around, but a good distraction that also made solid money sounded better.

~~

“Last night, police discovered ten hideouts belonging to the local biker gang. The locations were being used to manufacture drugs. Authorities confiscated what remained, but according to the victims, a masked robber had already assaulted them and taken most of the drugs along with all the cash. Police are investigating whether the attacks were the work of a vigilante or a rival group.”

Tom sat in front of the television, gripping the remote so tightly his knuckles had gone white.

In the kitchen, Aunt Elise was preparing breakfast. I walked in feeling completely refreshed.

“You look refreshed. Slept well?” she asked.

I smiled and started carrying dishes to the table. “You have no idea. I had a dream. A great dream.”

“Really? Did it involve a girl?” she teased.

I chuckled. “Better. I made a boatload of money.”

“How is that better?” She gave me a strange look. “Don’t boys your age dream a lot about girls?”

“Have a lot of money, and girls don’t remain a dream.” I quoted a certain someone.

Aunt Elise laughed when she recognized the source. “My dear sister really needs to remember she’s a woman too.”

“Well, sometimes it’s tough for a man as well,” I said.

“Oh, honey. Trust me, it’s never tough for men when they have a couple hundred bucks in their pocket.” Her tone was judgmental, but there was a light tease in her eyes. Underneath it, though, I caught something else.

Something I had seen before in my mother’s eyes, back when my father openly used to cheat on her.

Helplessness.

So that was it.

“Well, I know it sounds unbelievable, but you’re looking at the opposite kind of man,” I replied.

I was clearly trying to change the subject. This was new information. Even when I had dug through Tom’s company records, I hadn’t found hotel receipts, hidden phone numbers, or messages that pointed to another woman. Apparently the records hadn’t told the whole story.

“Sure you are. I know my sister raised a fine young man.” Aunt Elise stepped out from behind the counter with a bowl in her hands. “Come on, let’s have breakfast so you can help my girls become fine young women as well.”