Shayna was laughing through all of that. “I forgot, you did mention that. Now I’m afraid I’ll be too boring and conservative for them.”
“They’ll adore you, as long as you don’t break my heart.” Mindy slid her hand down from Shayna’s shoulder and over her breast.
Shayna lightly slapped her hand away. “Don’t grope me and talk about your parents at the same time.”
“Okay.” Mindy bent her head forward to kiss Shayna’s ear, and replaced the hand on her breast. “I’ll just grope you, then.”
“Mmm.” Shayna let her head fall back against Mindy’s shoulder. Mindy entertained herself running her hand up, over, and around Shayna’s lovely breasts, but all too soon, Shayna sighed and sat up again. “Actually, I wanted to talk about something.”
“That’s serious.” Mindy frowned.
“Oh, it’s not that serious.” Shayna leaned forward, stretching, then grabbed the back of the couch to help herself turn around. She ended up sitting cross-legged facing Mindy, their knees just touching. “It’s about roller derby, actually.”
“Oh?” Mindy raised her eyebrows. “Are you afraid next time your team plays mine you’ll get crushed now that we have Megan back?”
Shayna rolled her eyes. “Would you quit going on about Megan?”
There was real irritation in her voice, and Mindy was immediately contrite. “Sorry. I guess I just missed her while she was out on injury. What did you want to talk about?”
“I want to get better at it,” Shayna said. “I was upset to not make it onto the all-star team, but I got over it, because I realized I wasn’t working as hard as I should have. If I practiced harder, I might have made it onto the team.”
“You’re amazing,” Mindy said. “It’s just—”
Shayna cut her off with a wave of her hand. “Yeah, there were a lot of amazing players there that day. But I’m sure Megan, for example, practices harder than me.” She narrowed her eyes at Mindy when she mentioned Megan. Mindy pursed her lips primly and said nothing.
Shayna waited a moment, then continued, though her lips twitched into a tiny smile. “My point is, I need to practice harder if I want to make it onto the all-star team, next year, and so do you. I think it would be a lot more fun if we practiced together. What do you think?”
Mindy stared at her. “I think you’re crazy.”
Shayna grinned. “In a good way, I hope.”
Mindy shook her head, then got off the couch. Her sore muscles were complaining at her, and she needed to stretch. As she reached up to the ceiling, she said, “Shelly is already working us really hard in practice. I don’t think I need any more.” She dropped her arms, then added, “Isn’t your captain working you hard?”
“Sure, but it’s not enough.” Shayna turned so she was facing Mindy again, sitting the normal way on the couch. “I need to get better than everyone else on my team, too.”
Mindy bent, reaching to touch her toes, then got on the floor for some seated stretches. “Look at me, I’m so sore from yesterday. I’ll hurt myself if I don’t stretch. Believe me, this is plenty of practice. If you want to practice more, I’m all for it, but I don’t want to join you.”
“Oh, come on,” Shayna said. “Are you really worried about overworking your muscles? You’re sore today, but the more you work out, the more you’ll get used to it.”
“I’m okay, really,” Mindy said. She sat up. “Thanks for asking, but I just don’t want to practice more. It’s not a priority for me.”
Shayna shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “You keep talking about how you think you’ll do better next year, but you’re not willing to put in the work?”
Mindy was starting to actually get annoyed with Shayna. She took a deep breath. “I love derby, but it’s not really top priority in my life. I have my job, you know?”
Shayna sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Yeah, I guess. Can’t you practice when you’re not working?”
Mindy climbed off the floor and sat on the couch next to Shayna, putting her arm around her shoulders. “I already do, Shayna. If I’m not working, I’m playing roller derby.”
Shayna looked up at her with a frown. “That sounds like a good way to burn out.”
“It’s working for me right now. One of the reasons I love derby is that it lets me turn my brain off for a while. It’s physical enough to exhaust me without making me miserable, and it lets me show off my wild side a little. Better than sitting in a chair for twelve hours a day, anyway.” Mindy grinned.
“We’ve had several dates now and you definitely aren’t playing roller derby or working. Well, most of the time.”
Mindy squeezed her shoulders. “You’re worth it.”
“If I’m practicing extra, that’s going to be almost every day,” Shayna pointed out. “You won’t be able to see me as much.”
“Sure I will,” Mindy said. “My schedule is totally flexible. I can hang out with you after you’re done practicing and help you relax.” She slid her hand down Shayna’s arm to her elbow, then to her waist. “You know, massages and stuff. Bubble baths.”
“Bubble baths are gross.”
“Whatever helps you relax,” Mindy said, nuzzling her ear. “Won’t I be good at that?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Shayna said, turning her head to capture Mindy’s lips with her own. “But I want you to come practice with me. I’m disappointed.”
“I’m sorry,” Mindy said, and she meant it. She felt a little sick at the way she seemed to be letting Shayna down, actually. But she just couldn’t bring herself to give up any more time working than she already had. She loved her work, and she would love it even more when she wasn’t in debt to her parents and her sister. “You know me, I just like to hope for the best. I don’t want to get all gross and sweaty doing all that work.”
Shayna laughed. “You just like getting all gross and sweaty doing other things?”
“You read my mind.” Mindy slid her hand under the hem of Shayna’s sweater. “Now, I seem to remember some groping being interrupted.”
Chapter 7
Mindy went back to roller-derby practice the next day for another strained, punishing workout. It was as fun as always, but her exhaustion at the end got her thinking. Or maybe it was Shayna who’d gotten her thinking. Either way, she told Shelly at Saturday’s practice that she did want to lead one, but she needed some time to plan. They settled on the next Tuesday, the last practice they would have before Thanksgiving, when most of the girls on the team would be traveling so they wouldn’t have a practice anyway.
She hadn’t seen Shayna since Wednesday, so she invited her over with a mysterious text on Sunday. At least, she hoped it was mysterious. It was possible Shayna would think it was just a booty call.
That was okay. Mindy hoped they would have sex, too. Actually, they probably would, considering they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other since that first date. Mindy knew she was incredibly lucky to have a girlfriend as hot as Shayna, and she intended to enjoy every minute of it.
Shayna showed up later than their planned time on Sunday afternoon, dressed—unusually for her—in sweatpants and a hoodie under her nice coat. Her hair was tied back in a simple ponytail, missing its victory rolls. “Sorry I’m late,” she said when Mindy opened the door.
“Hey, I’m not mad. You okay, babe?” Mindy shut the door behind Shayna, then pulled her close. “You’re all schlubby today. Not that it isn’t hot.”
Shayna grinned and raised her eyebrows. “If I’d known you were into schlubby, I wouldn’t have worn my fanciest bra.”
“Ooh, really? Let me see.” Mindy went to lift the hem of Shayna’s hoodie, and Shayna batted her away, laughing.
“No, I’m kidding. I just came from derby practice. I figured if you didn’t have any other plans, you could relax me like you promised.”
“I did have other plans,” Mindy said, eyeing her up and down, “but there’s no reason we can’t do both. You want a mass
age?” She wiggled her fingers.
“I figured by a massage you meant sex.”
“I did. But I can do a massage, too.” She lowered her hands to Shayna’s shoulders and pressed her fingertips into her trapezius, where Mindy herself was always tight—though that was probably from hunching over a computer all hours of the day and night.
“Oh, wow.” Shayna closed her eyes. “That feels good.”
“Let’s sit down on the couch and I’ll do this properly.” She led her unprotesting girlfriend to the couch, sat down with her legs wide, and pulled Shayna down to sit between her thighs.
Once they were settled, she went to work, pressing and massaging Shayna’s trapezius, neck, and shoulders. “I didn’t even know I was so sore,” Shayna said, leaning into the massage.
“Your legs are probably worse if you’ve been practicing,” Mindy said. “And your butt. I definitely need to massage your butt.”
Shayna laughed. “Yeah, so that’s your excuse.”
Mindy crawled her hands down Shayna’s back, using her knuckles to press anywhere she felt tight muscle. “I don’t need excuses.”
“No, you don’t,” Shayna agreed easily, bending forward so Mindy could reach more of her back.
“I’m so glad you agree.” Mindy slipped the ends of her fingers under the waist of Shayna’s sweatpants, running them over the skin of her ass, what little she could reach. She lowered her head to kiss the back of Shayna’s neck, laying wet kisses just under her hairline.
“Hey,” Shayna complained, “you haven’t finished my massage.”
“I’m getting there.” Mindy slid her hands up under Shayna’s hoodie, found that she was wearing a tank top underneath, and pulled the hoodie off, tossing it onto the floor. She caressed Shayna’s skin under the tank top, then slid her hands to her bra. “Hey, this isn’t fancy at all.”
“I was joking,” Shayna said, a hitch in her breath. “I don’t have any fancy bras. Regular ones are expensive enough.”
“Hmm, I see.” Mindy squeezed Shayna’s breasts. She couldn’t even fit them in her hands. “You must need some pretty serious feats of engineering to contain these magnificent mountains.”
“Mountains, really?”
“What, that’s not sexy to you?”
“Maybe you’d be sexier if you shut up.”
Mindy squeezed again, darting her tongue forward to lick the back of Shayna’s ear. “I don’t think you believe that.”
Shayna made an inarticulate noise, bracing her hands on Mindy’s knees as she shifted, leaning back more against Mindy. “It would be a fun experiment.”
“I prefer to stick with what we know for sure, which is that you definitely find me sexy.” Mindy slid her hand down over Shayna’s soft belly, under her sweatpants again. It was much easier to reach down the front than the back. Her hand roamed over the tops of Shayna’s thighs and over her crotch, lightly stroking the soft fabric of her underwear.
Shayna was breathing hard now, her breasts rising and falling in Mindy’s vision. “Arrogance is such a turn-off.”
“As I recall, what you like is specific medical details. I should have said the feats of engineering contain these magnificent mammaries, and that you have a very beautiful vulva.” She continued to tease Shayna’s mound while, with her other hand, she reached up and unhooked her bra. Shayna’s skin, under the tight fabric, was still damp with sweat.
“Why do you always have to… oh…” Shayna’s voice trailed off into a moan as Mindy pushed her fingers between Shayna’s folds, swiftly finding and circling her clitoris. Shayna’s shoulders pressed backward, into Mindy, as she shoved her hips forward.
“You were saying?” Mindy asked as she squeezed Shayna’s nipple and caressed her clitoris, but Shayna was beyond speaking, her mouth slightly open as she panted for breath, her hands squeezing Mindy’s knees.
It wasn’t long before Shayna’s orgasm was squeezing a high-pitched cry out of her. Mindy kept her hands working until Shayna collapsed, boneless, against her. She pulled her hands away slowly, feeling quite pleased with herself.
“Okay,” she said, patting Shayna’s thigh. “Now lay on your stomach.”
Shayna lifted her head and twisted her upper body to look at Mindy, her eyes heavy-lidded. “What are you going to do to me this time?”
“I do not renege on my massage promises.” Mindy slid out from behind Shayna and helped her arrange herself on the couch, head pillowed on her folded arms. She looked just as delicious from behind as she did from the front, her ass, thighs, and calves coming up in gentle curves from the orange couch cushions.
Mindy knelt between Shayna’s legs and ran her fingers over Shayna’s ass, pressing gently until she found spots that didn’t easily give, then dug her thumbs into them. Shayna let out a muffled cry, burying her face in the couch.
Mindy pulled her thumbs back. “Did that hurt?”
“Yes, but in a good way.” Shayna lifted her head and shook it. “Keep going.”
Mindy pressed her thumbs into the tense spots again, rewarded with a quieter but still intense moan. She kneaded all of the tension out of Shayna’s ass, then moved down to her thighs, and finally her calves. When she thought she was finished, she climbed off the couch and sat down at the level of Shayna’s head. “How was that?”
Shayna just mumbled something in response, her head still pillowed on her arms.
Mindy laughed. “I didn’t catch that, but if you wanted to take a nap, feel free to go for it.”
Shayna mumbled again, then lifted her head with an obvious effort. “No, you invited me over for a reason, and it wasn’t just to lay me down on your couch and turn me into jelly. Plus, I’m hoping for more Girl Scout cookies.”
Mindy grinned. “Let me help you up, then, and I will give you cookies and tell you about my idea.”
“You know how to get me interested.” Shayna pushed herself up to a seated position, and Mindy helped her the rest of the way to her feet. Ignoring Shayna’s grumbles about having to do her bra back up, she led the way to the kitchen and brought out the cookies. Shayna was still adjusting her breasts, which was a delightful process to watch, so Mindy waited until her hands were free before holding a cookie out to her.
Shayna stuffed the cookie into her mouth. “This isn’t a meet-the-parents idea, is it?” she said around the cookie.
“No, though they do want to meet you.”
“You’ve mentioned me?”
“Sure, I was talking to them the other day. We chat a couple of times a week. They like to know how I’m doing, especially with work.”
“Do they not live nearby?” Shayna said, swallowing the cookie.
Mindy smirked. “They’re not that far, but I’ll tell you a secret—I am much more willing to sit on a bus for half an hour when it’s not going to visit my family.”
Shayna laughed. “So maybe you understand something of my pain.”
“So here’s the thing that I thought you’d be interested in helping me with.” Mindy leaned against the counter. “Shelly wants me to lead a practice, and I’ve decided I might as well give it a try. But I want it to be fun, I don’t just want it to be even more hard work than Shelly usually gives us. Not that roller-derby practice isn’t always fun, but you know what I mean?”
“I think so,” Shayna said. “You want it to be more silly than challenging.”
“Yeah!” Mindy said with a grin. “But there has to be some element of challenge, too. Otherwise everyone will get bored. I thought you might be able to help me come up with ideas.”
Shayna grinned and reached for another cookie. “That does sound like fun. Something like a roller-derby drinking game.”
Mindy raised her eyebrows. “There’s something. I know Shelly wouldn’t let us drink on the track, though.”
“Well, yeah, but…” Shayna grabbed the box of cookies. “Come on, let’s go sit down so you can write everything down as we work on it.”
“Oh, yeah, okay.” Mindy followed Sha
yna out of the kitchen and took a detour to her desk to grab her laptop. She opened the note she’d started with her drill ideas, sitting down next to Shayna on the couch.
“Musical chairs?” Shayna read on her list, raising her eyebrows.
“Yeah, it’s kind of childish, but I have to start somewhere. Like, we use the benches as chairs, and the last person to get to the bench when the music stops is out.”
“What do people do when they’re out?”
“Sit there and be bored, I guess.”
“And you can’t be on the track, because someone has to decide when to cut off the music.”
Mindy frowned. “You’re right, that does sound boring. Maybe I’ll suggest it to Shelly. She doesn’t seem to mind being off the track to watch us practice.”
“For the drinking game,” Shayna said, grabbing another cookie, “I was thinking instead of drinking, you have to do some kind of exercise. Like a jump every time one thing happens and a controlled fall every time something else happens. You could play a political rally or a news show or something.”
“Ugh,” Mindy said. “I could play a movie. Well, we don’t have a projector, so a soundtrack.”
“Or some songs,” Shayna said, nodding. “Maybe mix it up a little. Like, for the first song you do crossovers on certain words, and for the second song you switch skating directions on certain phrases, that sort of thing.”
“I like it.” Mindy leaned forward a little to write down Shayna’s idea. “I just hope everyone else doesn’t hate my musical taste.”
“If they do, you can always just mock them for having poor taste.”
“I would never do that!”
Shayna laughed. “You have bad taste in mockery, then. What’s this idea?” She pointed to the next thing Mindy had written down, which was ‘zombie tag.’
“I found that one online,” Mindy said. “You have one person on the team start with a star on her head, and she has a bunch more of them.” Jammers wore helmet covers with stars in roller-derby games; they always had several helmet covers lying around. “She tries to tag people, and whoever she tags becomes a zombie and puts a star on. When you run out, the people who haven’t been turned into zombies can be zombie hunters, and when they tag the zombies, they fall down and become obstacles.”
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