Blended Ch 40

Piper leaves Riley sleeping soundly with a dumb smile on her face. If her body had its way, she would spend the night spooned up to Riley’s firm little ass, then do it again in the morning, but reality has to trump her mating instincts.

She takes a quick shower, pulls on a robe, and goes downstairs for a cup of coffee and a well-earned bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Scrolling idly, she passes a post by Ines without any reaction at all. Maybe she needed that as much as Riley did.

Tomorrow, Riley will wake up either emboldened or mortified. If it’s the first one, then she’ll have learned that it’s OK to cut loose and do things. If it’s the second, then she’ll learn that even if something awkward happens, the world doesn’t end, and thus she should not be afraid to try things. Either way, she will reach out to Meghan again. Maybe that’ll go great or maybe she’ll get her heart broken. Whatever happens will be a necessary step for her in building the experience that acts as the foundation for the confidence she desperately needs.

Piper would like to go to bed, but with great responsibility bestowed by one’s stepmother comes great obligation to deal with mild inconveniences. She is looking at sexy Tiktok dances when the text comes.

Bella wants a ride home, as Piper knew she would.

Piper dutifully gets dressed and heads out to her car, yawning. It’s warm and clear, and she has to drive through town to get to CCL House. It’s very still, and almost everything is dark.

She finds Bella on the porch with Kylie. Bella smiles and waves, then heads down and hurries to the car.

Kylie vanishes back into the house.

Piper smells sweat and Hawaiian Punch. At a glance, it’s obvious that Bella is in a good place. Not sloppy, just enjoying life.

“Went OK?” Piper asks as she gets the car turned around.

“Yeah! It was crazy,” Bella gushes. “You know that streamer that lives there?”

“We’ve met.”

“Well, we were playing Twister. Horny Twister, of course. And I guess she’s streaming upstairs, and it’s loud. So then Leni showed up.”

Piper looks over sharply. “Leni played horny Twister?”

“Uh, no. But everyone was mad because of the noise. Like, we were having a good time, you know? If she would just shut up.”

“Oh god. Did Kylie propose mob ****?”

“How did you know? And I think Leni hates that girl.”

“She does,” Piper confirms. “But she brings in a lot of money for the sorority, so they put up with her.”

“Well, Leni gave the green light,” Bella reports, giggling. “So, Kylie made a war party.”

“Were you in the war party?”

“No. No, I was the war correspondent. I was just observing.”

“Pussy.”

“Dude! Baby steps. I did a wet T-shirt contest. I played Twister in my underwear.”

“Wait, really?”

“If you don’t believe me, ask Kylie.”

“I believe you. Tell the story.”

“So, they kicked in her door and grabbed her and dragged her out.”

“What did the people watching the stream think? That she got swatted?” Piper asks.

“If SWAT teams are a bunch of drunk chicks in their underwear,” Bella says.

“Those are the best SWAT teams.”

“They took her all the way down to their dungeon. Were you going to tell me about the dungeon?”

“We warn people about bad things. The dungeon is objectively good. And how have you not heard of it?”

“They tied her up and then they were going to do stuff that was going to make it super awkward for me because like, you know—I don’t know. It’s all fun and games until you actually do stuff, you know? But Leni stopped them.”

“Of course she did. She’s a responsible adult. She’s the only responsible one in that entire house right now.”

“Ying is responsible.”

“Ying is dating Wendy, whose unseriousness is so deep that is splashes onto everyone around her,” Piper declares.

“Wendy is really sweet. You’re just jealous. Everyone is jealous of her,” Bella says, emboldened by her spiked punch. “Everyone wants Ying, and it just pisses you all off that Ying has chosen, of everyone in this town, Wendy. You don’t have a problem with Wendy. You’re just mad that Ying isn’t sleeping with you.”

“Are you trying to start a fight?”

“No. I’m telling the truth. Like Jesus.”

“OK, when the drinks are in red cups instead of bottles or cans, you have to fucking pace yourself. What are you, five?”

“They hated him because he told the truth,” Bella insists.