Gianna grabbed Megan’s hand where it lay on the desk by her computer mouse. “I want to. I’ll see you then.”
Megan squeezed Gianna’s hand back, then watched her head into the trampoline park. It felt like they’d just made up, even though neither of them had apologized or offered forgiveness.
They would probably have to do a lot more talking. But right now, they were just fine.
Chapter 13
It was the worst roller derby match Megan had ever watched—because she was forced to watch it, while being sure that if she were playing, they would be winning, not losing.
She had to admire Manson Girl, a jammer on the opposing team; she was little and quick, with a lot of flexibility that let her get around blocks that would have hit a slower player. The other players on the other team were all good, but that one was the best.
The fact that they were playing against an amazing jammer didn’t lessen the pain when she kept bringing the other team ahead in points—especially when Megan tried to use both hands to cheer and was reminded by the twinge in her shoulder that she really shouldn’t be doing that.
At work and at home she’d gotten good at keeping her shoulder immobile, but here at the derby track she seemed to have a hard time remembering her injury. At least she was off the painkillers now, and she would see the doctor next week, when she would hopefully be fully healed and ready to play again.
And Gianna had just sat down behind her, two jams from the end of the game. Megan hadn’t turned around to see her, but she knew the sudden warmth at her back could only come from one person.
The next jam went well; Helen was nearly as quick as the other team’s jammer, and the Monstrous Regiment blockers acquitted themselves nearly as well, keeping the other jammer (not Manson Girl) at bay. Megan cheered when the jam ended with Monstrous Regiment nearly caught up to the other team. Behind her, she could hear Gianna cheering as well.
For the last jam, though, the other team fielded Manson Girl again, and while Shelly put Tara on the track, she had to keep Gayle, their best blocker, back—she’d played in more than half the jams and was exhausted. The match ended with Monstrous Regiment losing by five points.
Megan groaned and sat back in her seat, covering her face with her right hand. They’d been so close. The rest of the crowd was screaming, but she just couldn’t join in.
She felt hot breath on her ear a moment before hearing a shout into it. “You guys would have won if you’d been on the track.”
“I know,” Megan said, then turned to grin at Gianna. “But thanks for saying so.”
The other girls were skating back to the locker rooms as the crowd noise quieted. Megan stood up to join them, and Gianna caught her arm. “Hey, babe, want to go out for ice cream? You probably shouldn’t be drinking, with your arm, but you need something.”
Megan barely considered for a second. “Ice cream sounds perfect. I’ll meet you out back?”
Gianna nodded and let go of her arm. Megan skated slowly to the locker room, already imagining Gianna with chocolate sauce dripping down her… well, that wasn’t going to happen in the ice cream parlor.
The locker room was full of a low buzz about the game. They were already going over tactics, thinking of how they could do better next time. Megan joined in as she began the slow process of removing her skates one-handed.
“Let me help,” Kristine said, squatting down in front of her. She loosened the laces quickly and efficiently.
“Thanks,” Megan said with feeling. “I can’t wait until I can do it properly myself.” She pulled her feet out of the skates and stuck them into the slip-on shoes she’d been wearing every day.
“Are you coming to the afterparty?” Kristine asked as she stood up with Megan’s skates, replacing them in her bag. “I know you missed it last week.”
Megan shook her head. “I’m going out for ice cream.” She stumbled over her words a little, not sure who to say she was going with—Mountain Bruise or Gianna—and ending up with nothing at all.
Kristine’s eyes widened. “Ooh, that sounds like an even better idea. Can I come with?”
“Where are you going?” asked Mindy.
“Ice cream,” Kristine said.
“Oh, I’ll drive,” said Helen, leaning toward them.
Megan sat tongue-tied as they agreed among themselves to come with her for ice cream. They probably half felt they were doing her a favor and half actually wanted ice cream. She had no idea how to tell them that it was actually, sort of, a date—with someone from the other team she’d been seeing in secret.
Screw secrets. She stood up, grabbing her bag. “I’m actually going with Gianna. From Rolling in the Streets.”
They all stared at her. “The one who skated into your shoulder?” Helen asked.
Megan swallowed, hiding her wince. Of course they would think of that first. “Uh, yeah. We’ve been sort of seeing each other.”
That was a terrible description, but she didn’t need to go into detail.
Or maybe she did. They were still staring at her as though unable to believe that she could possibly want to date Gianna. But it didn’t matter. She was doing what she wanted to do, and it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. She turned and headed for the door.
“Hey.” Shelly had been talking to Gayle, touched her elbow as she walked past. “Are you pissed?”
“No.” Megan forced a smile, aware that being unable to smile naturally wasn’t helping her case. “We lost, but that wasn’t the fault of anybody on this team. Well, maybe you for keeping Gayle off the track during the last jam.”
Gayle rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. “That’s what I was saying.”
“It’s not worth winning if another one of our best players gets injured,” Shelly said with exasperation. It sounded like they’d been having this argument for a while.
“I’ll be healed up soon,” Megan promised. “And the season’s almost over. But anyway, I’m heading out.”
“Skipping the afterparty again?” Shelly raised her eyebrows.
Megan took a deep breath. “I’m actually going for ice cream with Gianna.”
“Oh!” Shelly grinned. So did Gayle.
“Have a great time,” Gayle said with a wink.
“Yeah. See you guys on Tuesday.” Megan walked out before they could make any more comments, feeling a little depressed again. She would love to have sex with Gianna, but didn’t even know if that would be possible, with her arm.
Gianna was leaning against her car door with her keys in her hand when Megan finally made it out of the building. “There you are, babe.”
“I wasn’t trying to ditch you,” Megan said, answering what she was sure was an unspoken question. She liked being with Gianna too much to let Gianna doubt that. “I sort of got ambushed by my team. Some of them tried to invite themselves along, but I told them… well, I told people we’d been seeing each other.”
Gianna’s eyes lit up and she quickly turned away, unlocking her door and getting inside, then leaning across the seat to open Megan’s door as well. When Megan got in the car, her face was calm again. “I guess that’s progress,” she said.
“Sure.” Megan closed her door and buckled herself in, feeling uncertain again. Gianna wanted her to say they were together—that much was obvious. But what if Megan could never get to that point? Was she just going to wait around forever?
Gianna hit the accelerator, and Megan winced as she was tossed backward in the seat. Normally she didn’t mind the way Gianna drove, but… “Can you drive a little more gently today? Just while my shoulder is healing?”
“Oh. Yeah, of course.” Gianna glanced sideways at Megan, biting her lower lip, and slowed down a bit.
Megan felt bad—she was sure they were thinking of the same thing, the way Megan had mocked Gianna’s driving that night at the hospital. She’d meant it to be teasing and lighthearted, as usual, but it hadn’t come out right.
Thankfully, as they made to
pull out onto the road, a car came flying past, wailing its horn at them. Gianna shouted curses after it and flipped it the bird, an obscene gesture that she somehow seemed to make with her whole body. Megan started laughing, and that defused the tension.
It was a short ride to the ice cream place, but a long line—the day had been nice and warm, but the leaves were turning, and soon the shop would be closed for the winter. Megan saw two little kids pulling on their parent’s hands and was reminded of two days before.
“So the kids liked the trampoline park?” she asked, as much for the sake of having something to talk about as anything else.
Gianna grinned immediately, her whole face turning sunny. Megan loved that grin—just as bright and wide as any she showed at roller derby, but without the triumph or competitiveness. It was just pure joy.
“They loved it,” she said. “Are you kidding? They couldn’t stop talking about it all day Friday. They’ve already asked me twice if they can do another field trip there.”
Megan laughed with delight. She’d figured the kids would love it, but when they left they’d been whining and dragging their feet, some even crying. They had probably just been tired—and maybe mad that they had to leave the trampoline park. “Well, anytime you want to set up another party, just let me know. Weekdays during the school year are always slow.”
Gianna shook her head as they inched forward in line. “I don’t know if the parents will go for another one. It’s a lot more expensive than our usual field trips.”
“The parents who came seemed to like the idea. A lot of them took brochures or flyers.” Megan thought back to Thursday afternoon, picturing the parents who’d taken flyers. “Actually, I think all of them did. And three of them thanked me specifically. That’s really the best kind of day, when the customers are so happy.”
“That reminds me, did you get the bathrooms fixed?”
“Yeah, I had to come in an hour early yesterday to meet the plumber, but it was fine. I got paid overtime and the bathroom got fixed. I haven’t been sleeping well without the exercise from derby anyway.” With a grimace, she gestured at her shoulder.
The bell on the front door rang softly, and she glanced back. Oh, no. It seemed that Kristine, Mindy, and Helen had decided to come for ice cream after all, and they’d already spotted Megan. Thankfully, a few other people were between them in line, but it was going to be hard to avoid them.
Gianna was talking again, and Megan quickly turned back to pay attention to her. “You never did answer me about what Joe and Karen do, babe.”
Megan sighed. “They’re the owners. They run the place.”
Gianna shook her head. “You run the place.” She jabbed her fingers toward Megan. “You talk to the customers, you run the payments, you call the plumber. What the hell do they do?”
“They do everything I do after regular business hours. Most people want to come to the trampoline park after work or on weekends.”
“All right, so you don’t have to do everything, but still, shouldn’t the owners be the ones calling a plumber?”
“They don’t know how much we can afford to pay a plumber.”
“You keep the books, too?”
“Well, I—” Megan grimaced, closing her eyes for a moment. “Can we not talk about work anymore? It’s stressing me out, and I thought we came here to enjoy ourselves.”
“You didn’t mind talking about work two minutes ago, when we were talking about the kids.”
“Next!” shouted the bored-looking young woman behind the ice cream counter. Megan hurried forward so she didn’t have to answer Gianna. Unfortunately, they’d been talking so much that she’d forgotten to think about her ice cream order, so she just hastily ordered a chocolate cone with sprinkles.
Gianna ordered a sundae and told the girl they were together, paying before Megan could say anything. Megan made a mental note to try to arrange payment ahead on their next date—Gianna was so much more forceful than her, and she seemed to care a lot about paying for Megan, but Megan didn’t want to feel like she was always being treated.
Next date. Was she really thinking about that? Did this really count as a date?
They collected their ice cream when it was ready. Gianna silently pointed out an open table for two, and they pushed their way through the crowd toward it. “Roller derby comes in handy here,” Gianna said over her shoulder, making Megan laugh.
But she also glanced back, looking for her friends. They had just reached the counter and were ordering. None of them was looking toward her; maybe they would sit in different parts of the shop. Megan wouldn’t have to worry about them.
The chairs were spindly and narrow. Megan wasn’t sure they could hold her narrow bulk, let alone Gianna’s. But the curvy blocker sat with ease, even though her ass was spilling over the sides. She grinned wickedly at Megan. “Like what you see?”
“You know I do,” Megan said, though she hastily sat down and stopped staring at Gianna’s ass. Instead, she turned her attention to their ice cream. Gianna had scooped a large spoonful of vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce into her mouth already.
A little bit of chocolate was sliding down her lower lip. Megan stared again, transfixed. It was almost like her daydream.
“Now what are you looking at?” Gianna asked.
“There’s some chocolate sauce on your lip,” Megan said, gesturing toward the spot on her own face.
But instead of licking it off, Gianna leaned forward over her sundae. “Why don’t you clean it off for me?” she purred.
Megan glanced nervously over at the counter, where the other derby girls were still waiting for their ice cream. But she’d already told them she was going to be here with Gianna. What was she so nervous about?
“Hey, babe,” Gianna said. “You want this or not?”
“Yeah, this is stupid,” Megan said. She bent forward and met Gianna’s lips with hers, sucking off the chocolate sauce and experiencing a scorching kiss that made her tingle all over.
“What’s so stupid?” Gianna asked, sitting back as though nothing of interest had happened. “You spilled some of your ice cream, by the way.”
Megan looked at the table, where Gianna was gesturing, and wrinkled her nose. She hadn’t held her cone properly, and some ice cream had dripped on the table. “What, you’re not going to lick that up?”
Gianna laughed and tossed a napkin at Megan. She wiped it up and slurped at her cone, making sure none of the rest of it was going to spill.
“And don’t let that distract you from answering,” Gianna said, raising her eyebrows. “You’ve never been shy about kissing in public before.”
“It’s not that,” Megan said, looking over her shoulder again. She could just see Kristine, Mindy, and Helen, crowded around another little table halfway across the room. “It’s my friends. I guess I didn’t want them to see us together. Like I said, it’s stupid. I don’t know why it took me so long to tell them I was dating you, either. No one cares if I’m fraternizing with the enemy.”
Gianna snorted. “Took you long enough to figure that out.”
“If I’m so stupid, why do you hang out with me?”
Gianna gave her spoon a long, exaggerated lick. “You have your charms.”
“Like how I argue with you all the time.”
Gianna grinned. “That’s one of them.”
Megan grinned back at her. “All right, tell me how stupid I am for caring what my friends think of my dating life.”
Gianna waggled the spoon at her, then dove down into her sundae again. “You already figured that one out. I’m going to tell you how stupid you are for doing all the work at your job, instead.”
“I already told you, I don’t do everything. And I love my job.”
Gianna shook her head and swallowed. “You just told me ten minutes ago that talking about work stressed you out.”
Megan shrugged and bit the edge of her ice cream cone, crunching it between her teeth. She was annoyed, but she
didn’t want to stop arguing with Gianna. Like usual. “Everyone gets stressed out by work. You can’t tell me you don’t. My job is great, but it’s still not roller derby.”
“Even roller derby can be stressful.”
“Exactly! Even if somehow roller derby was my job, it wouldn’t be perfect.”
“Yeah, but your job is a lot worse than not perfect, isn’t it?” Gianna frowned, nibbling on the ice cream on her spoon.
“It’s not that bad. Come on, I work in a trampoline park. I get to see happy people every day.”
“And that’s your favorite part of the job, right?”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t like that best?”
“People who don’t like having to deal with customers.”
“They wouldn’t want to work the front desk at a trampoline park.” Megan pointed her half-eaten cone at Gianna, feeling like she’d scored a point.
“Yes, but maybe they would have to, and then they would look for another job that wasn’t so dysfunctional.”
“My job is perfectly functional.”
“Yeah, because you do everything.”
“You just agreed that I don’t do everything!”
Gianna batted her eyelashes. “I thought you liked arguing with me.”
“Yeah, but just contradicting me, or yourself, isn’t arguing. I feel like I’m on Monty Python.”
That made Gianna burst out laughing, and Megan couldn’t help laughing, too, so that their argument devolved into giggles even as they finished their ice cream.
“All right, babe,” Gianna said, leaning forward. Her hands were under the table, and she ran one of them up the inside of Megan’s thigh, making her suck in her breath. “Let’s go fraternize.”
Megan glanced at her shoulder. “I’m not sure how much fraternizing I can do without moving my shoulder.”
“I’m well aware of your limitations,” Gianna said, her gaze running over Megan’s shoulders and chest. She slid her hand back down Megan’s thigh and away, then stood up. “Come on, I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Crash Into You Page 13
