Love Like a Blue Shell Pt. 04

Taylor could see why a boy like that would agree to do almost anything for girls that looked like Paige, Anna, and Alexa. Taylor found Isaac strangely likable. He reminded her of Tim and all their friends back when they were in college. Geeky and a bit awkward but clearly sweet and kind of cute, in a certain silly way.

Colin entered as Isaac passed. He smiled and shook their hands. Gave Taylor a chaste little kiss that spoke nothing of all they'd shared.

"It looks like we're going to have two games going at once," Tim said.

"Three actually," Colin said. "We needed that many, what with all the people coming."

Taylor tried to count it off in her head and came up short. Even with Isaac and the twins added that put them at 11. So one of the groups would have just three?

"Long as we're here, let me give you guys the grand tour," Colin said. He led them out of the hallway and into the house, proper.

*

Colin lead the couple around, starting with the finished basement. Paige came along, even though she'd seen the place already. Everyone could feel how awkward it was between the siblings-- Colin could tell. The two of them had barely spoken since the party. Barely looked each other in the eye.

Paige clearly put the night off as a drunken mistake. Colin wanted to do the same but found he couldn't. His brain kept drifting back to how good it had been. It wasn't just the connection of cock and pussy -- although that had been incredible as well -- but rather some other indefinable aspect that had seemed to bind them together. An ethereal pulse of energy that took the sex from fantastic to something otherworldly. When Colin tried to talk about it, Paige pointedly changed the subject. And so he was left to suffer mostly in silence and hope his desires melted away with time.

One person who did want to discuss it, though? Courtney. Colin had fessed up and told her that there had been some sort of room mix up and he'd ended up with Paige in his room.

"By that point, Tim was already engaged and I didn't think it was right to interrupt," Colin had explained, "So Paige and I just talked for a bit and then she hit the road."

"Oh," Courtney said, and Colin couldn't tell exactly if his wife was disappointed or suspicious. Colin wasn't sure which would be worse. Like things between them weren't already bad enough.

After the party, Colin and Courtney had started fucking vigorously again which was fine. Good, even. But Courtney seemed fixated on the morning after when they both had swapped with Tim and Taylor. Particularly, whenever they were really going hot and heavy, Courtney would ask him, "Am I the best?"

It killed the moment. For one, there was a big difference between the dominating tone that Taylor used versus Courtney's pleading. It didn't make Colin hotter. Just sad. Worse, every time she asked, Colin would picture himself plugging away at Paige and think, "No. God forgive me. You're not."

"So, three bathrooms?" Tim asked.

"Huh? Sorry, I was distracted."

"This place is huge," Taylor said, "I'm sorry it's taken us this long to get out here."

"It's fine," Colin said, "I get it." For a second, he considered making a joke about how Tim had been in his wife before he'd been in his house. But then he thought better of it.

It was the biggest party of the year. Alcohol was already flowing. And Colin realized he wasn't just down. He was morose. Like preparing for a funeral instead of an orgy.

*

When they got back downstairs, Taylor saw that Zach and Zoe had arrived with Sydney following close behind. Taylor found herself strangely happy to see the blonde girl back. Like she was an old friend. She hugged Sydney tight and meant it.

The party started in earnest. Colin and Courtney had provided plenty of liquid courage. Paige's pals had also brought pot. Taylor hadn't smoked in years but it was agreed that everyone should take a hit and Taylor ended up taking more than a few. So now she was drunk and high. Stumbling before things even started. Pot usually mellowed Taylor out but this strain was doing something else, she realized -- it was making her horny.

Taylor began to wonder if it was having that effect on everyone else, too. It seemed like a lot of people were 'accidentally' falling into each other. She noticed more than a few hands on more than a few bottoms, as well. The racing hadn't even started yet, but everyone's engines were running.

Then there was a knock on the door. Taylor thought she'd accounted for everyone but maybe she was missing one.

"Could you get that?" Courtney asked. She'd been in the kitchen all day heating up different versions of meat wrapped in different versions of pastry. Taylor was pretty sure her friend was avoiding her and it didn't take a detective to figure out why. Taylor felt like the Dutch boy at the dike -- every time she fixed one problem another one seemed to spring up.

Taylor went to the door and opened it. The music stopped. Laughter faded away. The world shrunk down to just that space between the house and the outside storm. Taylor felt herself go numb.

It was Steve. That Steve. From the very first Mario Kart contest where everything had gone horribly wrong and also strangely right.

She hadn't seen him since that weekend. He was wearing a big black and white sweater with a bright red scarf. His face was pink from the cold. His usual smirk, however had been left behind. He just nodded at her solemnly.

"Hi Taylor," Steve said. And that's when she knew he must be really serious. No "Swifty," just her name, spoken simply and without affect. It almost made her feel a little sad for him. The world slowly sped back up to normal. The rolling roar of a party filled Taylor's ears like it had always been there.

"I owe you an apology," Steve said as he shook the snow off his boots, "I was drunk and I let things get out of control. It was stupid and rude and I hope you can forgive me."

Taylor didn't know what to say. She just stared. Steve had gotten a haircut so he looked a little less boyish. He still had the broad chest, the sharp cheekbones. He looked good, Taylor thought. Then quickly stopped herself.

"I've been talking to Tim at work," Steve said, "I'm sure he's told you. He said you guys were doing OK and that's all that matters. He even said that what happened kind of, um, inspired all this. That doesn't make it right, though. I know."

He kept pausing, expecting her to say something. Taylor only stared. She wanted to be angry. To shout and scream. Shove Steve's nearly perfect body right out the door. But all she could do was stand there. Confused.

"Anyway," Steve said, "Tim said if I came to the party tonight we'd all be able to, I don't know, make things right. Or whatever."

Taylor did her best to give an answer. Sydney walked by.

"Oh," Steve said, "Hey Sydney."

"Fuck off, shithead," Sydney said. Steve pursed his lips and nodded.

"Guess I deserve that," he said.

"No," Taylor said, surprising herself, "I don't think you do."

Taylor ended up being the one to introduce Steve to everyone. It felt a little strange. She had this picture in her head of telling people, "Hi, this is Steve. He's kind of an asshole most of the time but today he seems OK. Anyway, I got drunk and sucked his dick in front of my boyfriend once and that's why we're all here!"

Though of course she didn't say that. Showing him around, though, reminded her of just how crowded the house was. Colin and Courtney were in a corner talking to Zoe and one of the twins (Taylor was pretty sure it was Anna). Zach was on the couch arguing football with Tim, Isaac, and Sydney. Well, Tim and Isaac, anyway. Sydney just nodded along like a big-boobed bobblehead.

Meanwhile the other twin -- Alexa almost definitely -- was pouring drinks for Paige and the two were laughing hysterically about nothing. Taylor finally was able to get them to pour her a drink, but as she handed it to Steve he waved her off.

"No thanks," he said.

"Seriously?"

"After everything that happened... Look, I had to make some life changes and that's one of them. It's for the best, I promise."

"What step are you on?" Taylor asked, teasingly.

"The one where I don't have to listen to girls who make fun of me. Even if they are kind of cute."

Taylor smiled and stuck her tongue out at him. He winked back.

*

Somehow, they were able to get everyone to quiet down and gather in the living room. A few people managed to make the couch but most were standing. Tim found himself with Zoe on his right and Sydney on his left. Basically, the best place in the world as far as he was concerned.

He and Zoe hadn't talked -- she'd been busy schmoozing with other people. She did give him a smile and a little wave at one point. Tim and Sydney hadn't talked either, but that was because, you know, Sydney. They'd sat together since she'd arrived, though.

Taylor stood up and waved at everyone. Tim could tell by her eyes she was pretty stoned. Though possibly, Tim thought, that was the pot in his own system giving him false signals. One of the side effects getting stoned -- you think everyone is high.

Taylor tried to speak, but Courtney started a chant of "take it off." A group tradition at this point.

"Ha ha," Taylor said, "Very funny."

"No, I'm serious," Courtney said, "I think we should all get naked right now. Just cut through all the bullshit."

Tim looked around the room and saw, to his surprise, that everyone was nodding along. The twins -- God, they were gorgeous -- and Isaac all seemed a little nervous, however.

"I don't know," one of the twins said. For the life of him Tim couldn't tell them apart. "It feels weird to just get naked."

"How about underwear?" Taylor said, "We all get down to our underwear right now. That way we cut through the 'bullshit' but no one gets too uncomfortable. After all, it's no different than being in a bikini at the beach, right?" She winked at Steve when she said that last part.

Tim had seen his work friend come in. It had been a little awkward, especially since it was Taylor leading him around. Tim and Steve had started talking again after Thanksgiving. They'd both been very tentative at first, but slowly Tim felt the old friendship unwind.

It was nice, actually. All the things Tim liked about Steve seemed to come forward and all the bad stuff had just gone away. Besides, Tim felt like it was stupid to be upset with Steve. Tim and Taylor had both done far worse to each other in the interim. Of course, it also helped that Tim was getting constant texts from Steve's ex. He didn't tell him that part, though.

Tim had suggested the party as a way of letting Steve know that there were no hard feelings. He'd meant to tell Taylor beforehand but with everything else going on, Tim had forgotten. And, in any case, it had all turned out fine.

"So," Taylor said, "Down to the bra and panties. Or boxers. Or whatever. Does that work?"

The room all agreed and suddenly there was a mad rush to rip off clothes. Tim was wearing boxers and he saw that Steve, Colin, and Zach all were as well. Isaac, however, had on tighty whities. Tim shook his head, sadly. Something about that kid really bugged him.

Then Tim turned his focus to the girls -- a far more appealing observation. Taylor had on a lacy black bra and panties. Courtney was, again, wearing her lucky green underwear. Paige had on a white bra with blue striping and baby blue underwear. Her chest looked even a bit larger than Tim had remembered. The twins, just to make things harder, were both wearing identical periwinkle bra and panty sets. They looked satiny, and while they didn't reveal much, Tim could tell that both Anna and Alexa had nice sized boobs. Probably a C cup.

Tim saved his two favorites for last. Zoe, black hair tied back, had on a very dark, navy blue bra and panties. It looked good against her pale skin and she seemed to know it. She gave her chest a little jiggle when she saw Tim was looking.

He pictured her, again, sprawled across his bed and spattered with his sperm. The way she sort of licked her lips, Tim wondered if Zoe was thinking about the same thing.

And then there was Sydney. Holy fucking God Sydney. Her massive chest made everyone else seem underdeveloped in comparison. Even better, she was wearing her fire engine red underwear, once again. Tim's heart hit the floor when he saw it. Sydney gave him a big smile, bashful yet also affectionate. She was wearing her earrings and they glinted in the lights.

After everyone was undressed, Taylor somehow got the room's attention again. Tim found he looked forward to his girlfriend's nearly-naked lectures. But not nearly as much as he enjoyed what came after them.

"As usual, we will be playing for the Mario Kart Championship." Taylor had brought the tin foil trophy with her and held it up, as if that was really the goal. Uh huh. "With so many people, though, we've had to change up the rules some. So, we'll be broken up into three groups of four. Each group will race on one Switch. I wanted to set up a full on, 12-person race but apparently you can't do that. Which is stupid."

The room all nodded. 12 people racing at the same time would have been awesome.

"So the groups will go against each other, round robin style. When you lose a race, you have to do a dare." Here Taylor held up a large deck of cards, all with green backs. She and Tim had found the cards, "Naughty Games for Couples," at a store on Newbury Street of all places. It seemed harmless enough and solved a couple of problems that had been cropping up.

Tim and Taylor had agreed -- as had Colin and Courtney -- that while things were fun the last time, they had probably gotten out of hand. A big part of the problem was that no one could exactly figure out what to do so they just said the dirtiest thing they could think of. The cards would help people stay within bounds while still keeping it interesting.

"So the loser draws a card and then does the dare," Taylor said. "At the end of the round robin, the two people with the best records in each group will move on to a single-elimination round."

"What about ties?" Paige asked.

"I think that's unlikely," Taylor said, "I guess we'll figure it out if that happens. In any case, the two people with the best records from the group stage will earn byes. The other four will play each other, four races each, to see who wins. For these races, we'll use the yellow dares from the deck."

Taylor held up the yellow-backed cards. Tim knew these were racier, but nothing too crazy was going to happen. They had this under control. Finally.

"We'll play down to the two finalists who'll do a final Grand Prix. The winner gets the trophy, natch, and they get to give everyone else the yellow dare of their choosing."

"What about the red dares?" one of the twins asked.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"There's green and yellow in your hand. There must be red cards, too."

"Those are... Tim and I looked at them and they're really raunchy. I don't think we should do those."

"Trust me," Tim said, "It's for the best."

Everyone agreed, though Tim thought some seemed more reluctant than others. No one was able to complain, however, because Taylor started splitting them into groups and sending them to their respective rooms.

Tim felt himself get giddy. It was all beginning again.

*

Taylor ensured she would stay in the living room. The bedroom TV sucked and the finished basement smelled moldy. Other than that though, she played it honest and so found herself in a group with Anna, Courtney and Steve.

A few months ago, Taylor would have been mortified to end up stuck with Steve. But to her surprise, Taylor found she didn't really mind. He was being exceedingly polite and Taylor had to admit she almost liked him when he acted this way. Almost.

Kart was already set up, so everyone grabbed their controllers and got to racing. The first round was Taylor vs Anna. Unlike last time, Taylor didn't feel like she could take her time before trying. The way the tournament was set up, she had to win now or not at all. So she decided to abandon the so-called 'Sydney plan' and go all out.

After all the racing they'd been doing, Taylor truly felt like a veteran of Mario Kart. She'd even looked up some local tournaments to see if she could truly take on the titans. Still, Taylor was surprised at how easily she took down the coed redhead.

Having taken the loss, Anna then smiled and took out the green deck of cards. If losing bothered her, she didn't let it show. Anna turned over her card and showed a drawing of a man kissing a woman on the cheek. "Kiss," the card said. Anna just shrugged. Steve was the only boy in the room so he reaped the reward.

With everyone already in underwear, Taylor realized, the stakes were starting large. Even something as innocuous as a kiss became illicit when it was with someone wearing almost nothing. Not for the last time, Taylor was glad they were holding everyone to the cards. She could only imagine where things would go if they'd been left to their own imaginations.

Steve then raced Courtney and beat her easily. Courtney's dare was to moon the room. She giggled, bent down at her waist and pulled down her panties. She turned around and showed everyone her backside, including one moment when she pulled her cheeks apart and gave them all a glimpse of her little brown star. Taylor saw Steve eyeing Courtney's freckled bottom. Well, no one could be a complete gentleman.

The next set of races saw Anna race Courtney and Steve take on Taylor. This was the one that Taylor was legitimately worried about. The memories of the last time they raced were still fresh. Steve had become her nemesis in her mind. Someone she simply could not beat. The blowjob, all that other stuff, that could be forgiven. Losing in Mario Kart? That would haunt Taylor for the rest of her life.

The race was close but Taylor won. Not a blue shell to be found. She found herself cackling as she crossed the line. Steve just looked at her and shrugged, the same easygoing attitude that she'd found so annoying before. Now it just reinforced Taylor's sense of satisfaction -- she'd finally bested him.

Steve's green dare was that he had to demonstrate a blow job on a banana. The group got a good laugh at that. He found a suitable fruit in the kitchen, then brought it back and proceeded to drool all over it.

For a moment, Taylor worried he might mock what she had done to him all those months ago. But this was a different Steve. Instead he made a big show of doing a really bad, sloppy blowjob (he even bit the banana at one point) that had the girls all doubled over with laughter.

Then Courtney raced Anna and trounced her. The redheaded twin drove like she'd never touched a controller before. Taylor wondered why Anna even came to the party, but then she realized it was probably for the other stuff. Losing actually helped her cause, in that case.

Anna was given another dare which, this time, was to take off a piece of clothing. If the college girl was nervous now she didn't show it. She just stripped off her light purple bra and tossed it to Steve. She smiled at him, too. Taylor started to think that the ginger twin might have a little crush on him. Taylor wasn't surprised. Steve was a good looking guy. Objectively, of course.

Anna's breasts were nice, well formed and of good size. Of course, Taylor thought woefully, everyone seemed to be of good size compared to her. Taylor noticed that Anna had very small nipples with almost no areola at all and they were erect as all get out. Taylor didn't think it was from the cold, either. She wondered idly if the other twin was exactly the same and thought that she'd probably find out soon enough.

The final round of races seemed pretty much rote. Steve was racing Anna (much to her delight, no doubt) and Taylor was pretty sure she would crush Courtney. Steve took care of business and Anna's dare was she had to sit on his lap for five minutes. Yeah, rough dare there.