Fixed My Pipe: Double Stuffed by My Stepdad and His Bandmate Novel – Chapter 1 Madalyn’s POV “Dad, please pick up. Come on, pick up, pick up,” I whispered urgently, stumbling backward as the broken pipe suddenly blasted a freezing spray of water straight across my chest. I yelped and nearly slipped on the slick bathroom tiles, grabbing the sink edge just in time, feeling about as graceful as a newborn fawn on ice. Water shot everywhere—the mirror, the walls, my thin T-shirt, my face. One wrong move and I’d probably end up on the evening news for all the wrong reasons. I lunged for the handle again. Nothing. Actually, it somehow got worse. Perfect. Just my luck. Ever since I’d moved out of the dorm in a fog of shame, bad choices, and the kind of humiliation that made me want to change my name and disappear, I couldn’t handle even the smallest crisis without my nerves completely short-circuiting.
Burnt toast? Weird email from the bursar? Burst pipe in the middle of the night? Total emotional shutdown. And somehow, the first person my heart still reached for was Leonel . Which wasn’t ideal at all. He and Mom had been divorced for months now, ever since that explosive fight with all the screaming and slammed doors. The neighbors had definitely heard everything after she was caught sneaking out of that hotel room in last night’s dress, heels dangling from her fingers and her dignity long gone. He wasn’t technically my stepdad anymore. I probably shouldn’t still be calling him in every emergency like the papers had never been signed. But he was still the only one I trusted to show up without making me feel even smaller than I already did. I stared at his name on my screen while the pipe kept soaking my chest.
Real classy, Madalyn. Maybe I should just hang up before he answered. Figure it out myself. Become one of those confident women on TikTok who fixed pipes in a sports bra, looking effortlessly perfect. Yeah, right. That would never be me. I was the girl who’d had to move out because her roommate had walked in on me mid-orgasm, locked eyes, screamed, dropped her ramen, and then spent the next two days acting like a stranger while probably texting everyone she knew. So no. Plumbing hero was never in the cards. “Finally remembered your old man, huh?” My phone nearly slipped from my wet fingers. There was music in the background. A guitar riff cut off mid-note. Some guy I didn’t recognize called out, “Dude, what could possibly be more important than finishing this chorus?” Of course he was working. Leonel was a rock star—sold-out arenas, giant tour posters, fans crying in the front row calling him the love of their life.
Yet he still picked up my calls like nothing else mattered more than rescuing me from plumbing disasters and post-dorm embarrassment. “Madalyn?” His voice sharpened with concern. “What’s wrong?” I swallowed hard. “I know I probably shouldn’t be bothering you. You and Mom aren’t together anymore, and this isn’t your problem, so you can totally tell me to handle it myself, but—” “Talk to me, sweetheart.” “The pipe in my bathroom burst,” I blurted. “Water’s everywhere. I tried fixing it myself, which was obviously a terrible idea because now it’s so much worse and I have no clue what I’m doing.” “I’ll be there in fifteen.” That was it. No sigh. No lecture. No “Madalyn, why are you like this?” Just calm, steady reassurance. Then the line went dead. I stood there dripping in my soaked shirt, phone clutched tight, while the bathroom turned into my own personal waterfall. Fifteen minutes. Thank God. I dropped to my knees, frantically mopping with towels and a hoodie, trying to stem the flood.
I was shoving one against the pipe with my foot when a firm knock sounded at the front door. He’s here. I scrambled up without thinking and rushed to answer. My wet shirt clung like a second skin, and my bare feet slapped against the cold floor. No bra meant every step sent a jolt through me, but I didn’t slow down. I hadn’t seen him in way too long, and now he was actually here. I yanked the door open, breathless and heart racing. And immediately wished the floor would swallow me whole. He didn’t come alone.