Chapter Twelve

PIPER

“Riley?”

Piper’s voice was as sore as the rest of her, aching and desperate as her eyes fluttered open in the afternoon light. She felt disoriented, turning instinctively to find the other side of the big bed empty. She wriggled up into a sitting position, feeling sticky and damp and far from sated. As she glanced around the room, Piper’s eyes noted the modern furnishings, light and airy and sparse and sleek, realizing immediately this wasn’t how the house had always looked.

Everything about it, at least from the little she’d seen before being seduced by her comely hostess, seemed modern and new: the magazine-layout-worthy kitchen with its stainless-steel accessories and stylish central island, the bleached white bedroom walls and soft, wheat-colored boho accessories, garnished here and there with lush greenery and healthy plant life, seemed as breezy and classy and sexy as the woman who lived there. Riley had casually mentioned taking over the house after her grandfather passed. No doubt she’d put her own stylish stamp of approval on each and every room as, one by one, she’d set about redecorating them and bringing the ancient house back into modern times, one throw rug and hanging plant at a time.

Piper slid from the bed, long legs still quaking from the most orgasms she’d ever enjoyed in a single tryst, even with herself. The door was half-closed, the sound of someone typing drifting down the long hallway just outside. She grabbed a robe, silky and sheer, that had been tossed casually at the foot of the bed.

For me? Piper wondered idly, before slipping it on and drifting slowly from the room. Her bare feet padded on hardwood floors, as sleek and stylish as everything else about the house.

The sound of fingers flying on a keyboard grew louder as Piper drew closer to the kitchen, until she entered and saw Riley, hair pulled up in a messy updo, laptop open in front of her as she sat in a small breakfast nook. Sunlight surrounded her, streaming in from the floor to ceiling windows in the small, circular nook.

Piper paused at the fridge, suddenly parched. “Workaholic, much?”

Riley glanced over as if expecting her. “Sorry, I just wanted to get my work out of the way in case, you know…”

Piper blushed at the sentiment, reaching for two more bottles of cider before sliding the fridge shut. “In case what, Hot Stuff?”

Riley blushed, either at the question, or the term of endearment. “In case you wanted to…you know, hang out a while?”

“Hmm.” Piper slid into the chair opposite Riley, tired in ways she’d never been before, and equally excited in new and inventive ways. “You think you could get rid of me after this morning’s, uh, performance?”

She cracked open both bottles and pushed one toward Riley.

Riley glanced at it, smiling. “As ever, a bad influence.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining earlier, Riles.” Piper sipped the vaguely sweet brew and savored each burst of flavor on her parched tongue.

“Did I say it was a cutdown?” Riley teased, reaching for her bottle and taking an equally long sip. She sighed and put the bottle down, returning her attention to the keyboard and, after a few decisive clicks and clacks, shutting the cover with a resounding whisper.

“What were you working on?”

Riley reached for the bottle again, leaning back in her cozy chair. Brown strays and sexy wisps of her twisted-up hair framed her soft, cherubic face. She wore a robe of her own, powder-blue terry cloth open just enough for Piper to see the hints of tan lines that made her breasts so glorious to behold, her puffy nipples teasing just beneath the thin, revealing fabric. “Just updating some property listings for work.”

“Where do you work?”

“At a local realtor. I have ever since, well…just after graduation, I guess.”

“Do you like it?”

Riley paused, the bottle halfway to her lips. “I didn’t, at first. It was just a way to work odd hours, at a moment’s notice, whenever Gramps didn’t need me. But over time, yeah, I actually do.”

“I’m happy for you, Riles.” Piper felt emotional to find the words ring true. “Jealous, but happy too.”

“Why jealous?”

“I dunno,” Piper said, wishing being around Riley didn’t make her inner censor turn off at the first sight of her tangled updo, or those caramel-brown eyes, or those pale, perky tits that seemed to have a life of their very own. “You just always had your act together, and it’s clear nothing’s changed.”

“I? Had my act together?” Riley waved her cider bottle dangerously. “Piper, need I remind you, you’re the one who went away to college. On a full-ride scholarship. Are you out of your mind?”

“Yeah, hon, and look how well that worked out for me.”

Their eyes met in the cozy nook, Piper unable to bear the intensity of Riley’s stubborn curiosity. She glanced out the window beside her, noting the new pool and fashionable deck that matched the chill, trendy vibe of the house itself. Beneath the table, Riley’s bare foot slithered atop her own. Piper melted at the touch, glancing back at her across the crowded table. “What really happened, Piper? To make you quit going to classes, I mean.”

“I wish I knew,” Piper sighed before savoring a much-needed swallow of cider, as if bracing herself for the confession to come. “I was doing fine, you know? Running, winning races, going to class, doing the work and then, after winter break, I just… None of it seemed worth it anymore.”

Riley sank deeper into her wicker chair, wriggling back as the clingy blue robe shifted and slithered across her taut, petite frame. “Was it hard?” she asked, cradling the fancy brown bottle in both hands as if cupping a mug of hot cocoa by the fireside. “Leaving after being there so long?”

Piper’s answer was decisive and blunt. “Fuck no.”

“Oh. My.”

Piper gave a playful little growl, wriggling back into her seat as well. As much time as they’d spent together back in school, they were always, ever, running. To each other, with each other, from each other. Running to class. Running to practice. They’d never, as far as Piper could recall, and she would have certainly cherished such an occasion, ever just sat and chatted like this. Slowly. Leisurely. Lingering in each other’s company. She savored the moment, despite the intense desire building inside her all over again.

“Weren’t there any friends you left behind, at State, I mean?”

Piper shrugged. “The girls on the team were fine, but college is different than high school. Everyone comes in new, there are no cliques or histories. Yet. Then they start pairing off, or grouping up, and I just…never fit in. Not the way I did back here, with you.”

Riley nodded. “Lovers?” she prodded.

“Oh shit, are you asking me about my love life right now?”

Riley blushed. “I mean, those fingers of yours tell me you’ve done this a time or two, Piper.”

“Oh, like that tongue of yours hasn’t!”

Riley chuckled, rolling her eyes. “You first, Piper.”

“Fine, if only to get it over with. Yes, Riley, I have had a few lovers since I left Jasper, okay?”

“Were they always women?”

“Fuck yes, why do you think I left town in the first place?”

“Uh, to get away from your dysfunctional home life, I thought.”

“Well, yeah, that and to have anonymous sex with every chick I could find, obvi.”

Riley cast a doubtful gaze. “Piper, really?”

“I mean, at first. That’s what I wanted. Or, at least, I thought I did. Turns out, Northern Carolina is affiliated with the damn Baptist Church, so it nixed that idea pretty quickly. And if it hadn’t, finding hot, anonymous lesbian sex on campus was as hard as finding it here in tiny little Jasper.”

“That’s surprising.”

“You said it. But, along the way, I managed a tryst or two. Your turn.”

“Oh no!” Riley’s self-conscious giggles were girly and delightful, the sound that always brightened Piper’s day back in school. “You’re not getting out of this that easily.”

“Honestly? I was too chicken to do much my freshman year, but my sophomore year I was allowed to move off campus and I found a room with this older girl. Daphne. I mean, older, she was a teacher’s assistant so only by a few years, but she was renting out one of her guest rooms and the price was right, so…”

Riley wriggled, nodding eagerly. “You mean, you slept with your roomie?”

“Not right away,” Piper explained. “But, eventually, one thing led to another and, one night, after a few drinks, you know…”

Riley wriggled ever deeper into her cozy chair, as if listening to some spooky fireside tale. “Wow, sexy.”

“Not really. She was bossy and dull, actually. And the whole time? I never came. Once.”

Riley frowned. “Not once?”

“Far as I can tell, she never did either. I think it was just something on her bucket list she felt she needed to do before settling down, you know? Anyway, we kind of trailed off from all that until she decided to rent out the second room too.”

“And?”

“And.” Piper blushed. “Justice was this cute little junior, older than me but still younger than Daphne. We both wanted her, but that part felt kind of creepy, so I stayed away, just kept things light. Then one weekend Daphne was out of town at a conference and, well…Justice knocked on my door and one thing led to another.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah, things kind of soured after that. Daphne came back and figured out what was up, made it her mission to seduce Justice and, eventually, she did. Three’s a crowd, so, I think they were both glad I left when I did.”

“I’m sorry, Piper.”

“I’m not, I mean, at the end of the day, it kind of helped me see what I was really missing.” Piper’s eyes glanced furtively across the table at Riley.

“Which was?”

Piper eased her foot back over Riley’s, feeling it smooth beneath her sole. “You, silly.”

“Piper, stop. You’ve had me, you can have me again, as many times as you want. You don’t have to butter me up anymore.”

“I’m not, Riley. Honestly. You asked why I stopped going to classes. I never really stopped to think about it until I had packed my bags, handed over the keys to my room, and was driving home, staring at the road, pedal to the metal. The only thing I thought about, the whole way back, was how right it felt to be coming home, here, to this street. To…our street. I missed you, it’s… At the end of the day? I guess it’s just that simple.”