Blended Ch 11

Piper does a load of laundry, eats a snack, and responds to a few texts, including one from Mary. She assures her stepmother that Riley, Kayla, and Bella are all safely home for the night. Kayla is asleep. Riley is either jerking off before bed or already down. Bella is probably studying. Everything should be normal.

It’s not. Bella sits on her bed, visibly troubled. Her laptop is closed on her desk.

Piper sighs inwardly; she is so close to being able to go to her own cozy bed. But Mary did give her a job to do. She slips inside and closes the door, taking a seat beside Bella without an invitation.

Bella wears one of the T-shirts that she sleeps in. This one is from Habitat for Humanity. She holds her hairbrush, but isn’t using it. Piper takes it out of her hand and stars brushing.

“Are we beating ourselves up for leaving the party early? Or is this something else?” Piper asks, tone businesslike.

“Anxiety. I feel weird. I don’t want to puke while I sleep and drown.”

“You’re not that drunk. That’s not gonna happen.”

“I know. Tell that to this.” She motions toward her midsection.

Piper sighs. “I’ll sleep in here so you don’t die.”

A few seconds pass. “Thank you.”

“Yup.”

Piper cleans up, puts on a nighty, and gets her iPad. She climbs into bed with Bella, who has pulled herself together enough to try to read her book.

“You smell good,” Bella remarks.

“Thanks.” Piper’s ready to sleep, but Bella seems to need time to wind down.

Finally, she closes her book and looks questioningly over at Piper. “Can I turn off the light?”

“Yup.” Piper puts her iPad aside and firmly tugs the covers, ensuring that she has her full fifty percent of them.

“Hey.”

“I get half of everything.”

“Fine.” They settle down in the dark. Maybe five seconds pass. “Did you really steal Ines from Kylie?”

So, she heard about that at the party, huh? Still? The only reason that anyone would still be caring about that after this long is that Kylie must still be talking about it. She can’t let it go. It feels like everyone out there is trying to get serious. It’s exhausting. Maybe Piper really should get closer to Flynn; he’s not trying to lock anything down.

“I guess I did,” Piper says finally. The mattress shifts as Bella turns onto her side. Piper dutifully rolls over to face her. “Is that a problem?”

“It’s funny. I didn’t think they were that serious.”

Piper grimaces. “Does it matter?”

“Was Flynn hitting on you?”

“You know he was. He would’ve hit on you if it had been you standing there.”

“Yeah, he tried to talk to me tonight. Again.”

“You don’t want to take him for a ride?”

“Not really. Graham, maybe.”

Piper snorts. “Right?”

“Are you sad without Ines here?”

“Oh my god. No. I am not sad.”

“Are you sure? I think it was around Valentine’s that…”

“Oh my god! Stop.” Piper groans. “Look. I was single for a long time, OK? Like almost a year. And it was really exciting with Ines. You know how that is. But it’s no strings.”

“She’s that good, huh?”

Piper laughs. “God. Yes.”

“Wow.” Bella’s quiet for a moment. “You hooked up with Kylie too, didn’t you?”

“I think it’s time to go to sleep.”

Bella snorts. “OK.”