Blended TML Ch 43

Tiffany is clearly bitter. “She looks good, though. She looked good back then. Looks good now.”

“You want to beat her up?”

“Maybe one punch would be fair, but no. No, I don’t. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t,” she says, as though trying to convince herself. “How’d we get from my fantasy to this?”

“Let me, uh, text Dr. Freud. Did she steal your boyfriend or your girlfriend?”

Tiffany shakes her head. “Neither. Don’t worry about it. It’s in the past.”

“Is it? If it’s making you go grrr right now?”

“What are you, a therapist?” Tiffany’s eyes narrow. “Is your sugar momma a professor? Are you the super smart TA?”

“No, but that’s a good guess.”

“Now I’m going grrr for another reason.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You are interesting.” Tiffany clenches her hands again. “I really want to know more about you.”

“Buy me a car.”

Tiffany chews her lip for a second. “What kind?”

“Is that any way for a grown woman to behave?”

“I don’t want to behave. I want to misbehave. With you.”

“Will that take your mind off your friend?”

“My mind’s already off her. It’s on you.”

“You’re coming in hot. Can you back up this big talk?”

Tiffany is fully present, like Ines was at the beginning, when things were fresh and hot. “I hope so.”

Piper hesitates and tries to bring herself back into her body by pressing her feet against the floor. Surf rock. A gentle breeze. The smell of the lake and… expensive perfume. She is Piper Dunham, and she came to the lake with her stepmother. She saw what she saw, and she has the makings of some conclusions, but most of all, Tiffany Platt’s flirting is working.

“Tell me the fantasy.”

“What fantasy?”

“Whatever crossed your mind a few minutes ago that you decided not to say.”

Piper slips her right foot out of her slide and reaches out, finding Tiffany’s leg. Tiffany looks like she’s been shocked by electricity for a moment, but that only makes her more intense. Piper can’t pretend that’s not a turn-on. She slides her toes along Tiffany’s calf to her foot, where she rests the ball of her foot softly. Tiffany’s strappy shoes even feel expensive.

“I thought about how good she looked and that maybe I could…” Tiffany exhales through her nose. “Show her who’s in charge.”

“You want to fuck her.”

“I don’t know. I want to… express my feelings somehow. And she does look good. I just hate her so much. I have for so long. It’s weird.”

She’s being vulnerable. Piper takes a deep breath and makes an intentional decision not to overthink. She stirs her drink idly and looks at the water. “I assume that wherever you live, you have a fancy bar and you can make me a nice drink.”

There’s no triumph in Tiffany’s eyes. Just fire. “Good guess.”