Head Over Wheels

by Diana Morland

  “No, cousins. Their fathers started the bakery, and they’re the ones who took it over. So what do you think?”

  Shayna gave a shaky laugh. “It simultaneously sounds too good to be true and like way too much work.”

  “It is hard work,” Mindy said with a sigh. “I wasn’t even full-time, I was part-time because I needed to study, and I didn’t have to get up at four in the morning. That part sounds horrible.”

  “Oh, that’s not so bad.” Shayna shrugged. “I don’t get up that early now, but I’ll adapt. But I’ve never worked that hard before. What makes them think I’m not going to fail?”

  “My word, apparently.”

  “You haven’t said anything to them.”

  “I’ve said you’ll make a good employee.” Mindy stopped in the parking lot of her building and put her hands on Shayna’s shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eye. “I know you, Shayna. You’re a really hard worker. You’ve even made me into a hard worker. You’ll do great at the bakery. And they’ll teach you to bake! That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “I guess,” Shayna said, biting her lip. “I’ve never really known what I want to do when I grow up, you know? I’ve always admired the way you figured out what you wanted to do and went for it. If I knew what I wanted to do with my life, I would do better.”

  “What about roller derby?”

  “That’s not a job. And, I don’t know, I don’t really want to work in a skate shop or whatever. I like it as a hobby.”

  Mindy nodded. “Well, if you don’t have some all-consuming passion like I do, then I think working at a bakery is a great way to go. It’s a steady job, you’ll learn things, and if you decide you hate it, at least you’ll have something else to put on your résumé when you look for a new job.”

  “But what if I hate it and I can’t find a new job right away?”

  “Then you’ll have savings to fall back on from the better pay at this job. Not to mention your loving, supportive girlfriend.” Mindy raised her eyebrows.

  Shayna smiled. “You know I don’t want to rely on you.”

  Mindy took a deep breath. They were back on that topic again. But she could get past Shayna’s constant pessimism—she had to, because she loved her. And once Shayna had a good job and felt more independent, things would get better. She was sure of it. “So this is the perfect solution. You get a better job, it’s near me, and you can move in. You have enough money to get away from your parents and add to savings. I’ll help you with your budget if you want to keep things separate. You can pay me rent.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  “Of course.” Mindy finally let go of Shayna’s shoulders, but took her hand as they entered the apartment building and began to climb the stairs. “But don’t take too long. You hear Ruth—they need somebody.”

  “I know, I know. Don’t pressure me.”

  “Sorry.” Mindy squeezed Shayna’s hand when they reached her door so she could grab her keys and unlock it. “Take as much time as you need.”

  “Thank you. That is sweet of you.” Once they were inside, Shayna grabbed Mindy by the neck and pulled her down for a deep kiss. “Now let me show you what an all-consuming passion really looks like.”

  Laughing, Mindy let Shayna drag her to the bedroom.

  Chapter 23

  A week later, Mindy and Shayna were back at the downtown skating rink, taking on their extra roller derby practice. The day before, at practice with Monstrous Regiment, Mindy had been totally wiped on the floor by the opposing team in a scrimmage—Tara, Shelly, Gayle, Leya, and Megan had all been on one side, which didn’t seem fair to Mindy, but Tara insisted she’d used a random number generator to pick the teams, and that there was nothing unfair about it in any case because they should all be on the same level. Regardless, Mindy, Helen, Lisa, Yesenia, and Christy had lost very badly.

  Tara had also made an announcement: she wanted to make sure everyone was okay with it first, but a photographer would be coming at some point to take photos and write an article about the team for a big local lifestyle paper. Mindy was super excited about it, of course, but after leaving, she’d started to freak herself out thinking about embarrassing herself in front of a reporter. She had to have perfect form—especially if someone was going to be taking photos!

  So Mindy was working even harder than usual this afternoon, determined to get herself up to snuff, to be able to hold her own with the best players on her team. That was the point, wasn’t it? She couldn’t make the all-star team next year if she couldn’t get as good as the ones who had been on it last year.

  Even though she was getting tired after a series of jump drills, when Shayna challenged her to a race, she accepted eagerly. She needed to push herself to her limits. She needed to find out where those limits were.

  And push herself she did—all the way into the ground. After a dozen laps, she wobbled a bit on one skate and found herself falling toward the track without even the wherewithal to put her hands out to catch herself. At the last moment, she managed to turn so that she fell on her arm instead of her face, then rolled onto her back and lay there, panting, the ceiling swimming before her eyes.

  Moments later, Shayna came skidding to a stop next to her and knelt down. “Are you okay?”

  “I just need to rest,” Mindy panted.

  “Stay right there. I’ll get you some water.” Shayna skated away, and Mindy couldn’t even be bothered to lift her head to watch her girlfriend move.

  Thankfully, she was right back with a bottle of water, which she helped Mindy drink from. The ceiling stopped spinning and Mindy sat up, taking deeper breaths. Her muscles still felt worn out.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Shayna asked.

  “Yeah. I just pushed myself a little too hard. Sorry to scare you.”

  Shayna kissed Mindy’s cheek. “It’s okay. I just thought you were going to pass out. Don’t push yourself past your limits like that.”

  Mindy sighed, resting her elbows on her knees. “I just wanted to find my limits.” Unaccustomed dread writhed in her stomach. “They’re obviously closer than I thought they were. What if that’s the best I can do? What if despite all our hard work, we’re still not good enough to make it onto the all-star team? That’s what this is all about.”

  “We will.” Shayna squeezed Mindy’s shoulder. “And if we don’t, we’ll just keep working hard next year.”

  Mindy turned away as tears gathered in her eyes. It seemed so unfair. Here she was, just trying to do her best, and she’d put herself flat on her back.

  This reaction wasn’t like her. Was Shayna dragging her down? Her constant cynicism definitely could wear on Mindy, but she’d thought she was resilient enough to deal with it. She didn’t want to be pulled into a dark mindset.

  “Hey.” Shayna pulled at her shoulder, making her turn around. “Drink some more water. It’s going to be okay.”

  In recognition of her girlfriend’s worried look, Mindy took a long pull of the water, but she couldn’t say anything. She felt sick to her stomach, and she didn’t think it was just exhaustion.

  “We’ll keep working hard no matter what,” Shayna said. “Unless we decide it’s not important anymore, and we want to work hard at something else instead. I know you have no trouble with working hard. You got that design out on short notice last weekend, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Mindy said. She was starting to feel a bit better. “Sorry I freaked out. You know it isn’t like me.”

  “Are you kidding?” Shayna grabbed Mindy’s hand, grinning wryly. “It was nice to hear you not saying everything is perfect for once.”

  “Everything is never perfect. That wouldn’t leave room for it to get better.”

  Shayna laughed. “You really do think that, don’t you?”

  “I’ve got you, don’t I?” She squeezed Shayna’s hand. “Anyway, I should tell you, you were right.”

  “Of course I was. About what?”

  “The all-star t
ryouts, way back in October. I refused to believe that we just hadn’t worked hard enough to be in. But it’s obvious that hard work is the only way to get there.”

  Shayna blinked rapidly, and then her smile widened. “I can’t believe you’re admitting that I was right about that. I love it.”

  “But you have to admit I’m right about something in return.”

  “Okay. How about the job at the bakery? If I admit you were right about that, will you let me spend the night at your place?”

  Mindy’s eyes widened. “You don’t even have to ask. Do you want to?”

  “I have my bag packed and everything.” Shayna gestured toward the locker room. “My trial week starts in the morning.”

  “You didn’t tell me you’d gotten the vacation time!”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  Mindy leaned forward to kiss her, then laughed as their mouth guards bumped. “Okay, we’d better get you home so we can celebrate properly.”

  “Drink the rest of your water,” Shayna said.

  Mindy swigged the rest of the bottle, then let Shayna help her to her feet. “This is going to be so great,” she said. “You’ll see. Oh, and we have the whole night before us.”

  “Don’t you have to work?” Shayna said.

  “Not if I don’t feel like it.” Mindy threw out her water bottle and began to change out of her sweaty clothes. “That big job from last week filled my budget up for the month, and since that wasn’t my only job this month, I have plenty to put into savings. I can afford to pick and choose the jobs if I want to.”

  “Sweetie, that’s great!” Shayna gave Mindy a quick hug.

  “I don’t expect it to last. One month is never the same as the last, so next month I might be hustling again and unable to give you as much time as you deserve.”

  Shayna grinned over her shoulder at Mindy. “Is that a little bit of cynicism I hear?”

  Mindy pulled on her shirt and put her hands on her hips. “I’m just being realistic.”

  “Yeah, babe.” Shayna kissed her. “So am I. Come on, let’s get… home.”

  Chapter 24

  The next week was glorious. Mindy and Shayna would cuddle, talk, and have sex in the evenings, until Shayna went to bed. Then Mindy would work for a few hours, join Shayna in the bed, and wake up after she’d left for work. Waking up alone was always disappointing, but it wasn’t as though Mindy hadn’t been waking up in the same empty bed every morning for years.

  She followed her usual morning routine, eating a little something, drinking coffee, and heading to ArriveSpace to do the bulk of her work for the day. She was able to spend more time on finding better-paying, more interesting clients this week; now that she knew her bills would be paid for the next month, she had the time and space to try to fill her pipeline with good work, not just whatever she could find that would pay.

  Then she would head home to find Shayna already there. The first three days, Shayna had been completely exhausted when she’d gotten home, and they’d ordered takeout. But Shayna seemed to acclimate quickly to the workload, and by Friday she was putting together a pretty good meal for the both of them.

  In the evening, one or both of them would head to roller-derby practice. If Shayna was practicing without Mindy, then Mindy would work. On the nights Mindy had practice and Shayna didn’t, Shayna went back to the apartment her parents paid for… but she always came home again in time for bed.

  Finally, Mindy woke up on Saturday morning to the delightful sight of Shayna still next to her, even though daylight was coming in the windows. She wriggled closer and put her arm around her girlfriend, soft and warm from sleep. Mindy was almost ready to go back to sleep herself, but Shayna made a quiet noise and rolled over so that they were facing each other.

  “Took you long enough,” Shayna said, closing her eyes and nuzzling her nose against Mindy’s. “I thought about getting up to make coffee, but the bed is just so comfortable.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t get up.” Mindy kissed her, then kissed her again, wanting to talk but enjoying the kisses too much to stop.

  Shayna sighed against her mouth. “This is so nice.”

  “Regretting the four AM job that takes you away from me?” Mindy opened her eyes so she could look at Shayna again.

  Shayna shook her head, her hair rustling against the pillow. “You know what, I can’t regret it, because I love it. You were right. Larry is wonderful about teaching me how to do everything. I actually feel competent already, and it hasn’t even been a week.”

  Mindy squeezed her. “I knew you’d like it more than I did.”

  “The only thing we haven’t talked about is pay. I haven’t wanted to ask.”

  “Well, they have to pay you minimum wage. How much were you making at the cupcake shop?”

  “Not much more than minimum.”

  “And you have twice as many hours, right?”

  “Almost three times as many,” Shayna admitted wryly.

  “So you’ll be making at least twice as much money.” Mindy lifted herself up on one arm. “Is that enough to pay me five hundred bucks a month for half the rent?”

  “Five hundred? That’s it?” Shayna twisted, looking around at the apartment. “I guess location is everything. Is that your way of asking me subtly to move in again?”

  Mindy kissed her ear. “I have to be subtle about it so that you don’t have to feel bad about saying no if you don’t want to.”

  Shayna turned back and kissed Mindy hard on the lips. “You know me so well. Yes, I can afford to pay half the rent, and even feed myself and pay for tokens on top of that, once I get paid, which won’t be for another couple of weeks. I have to go back to the cupcake bakery on Monday, but I’ll quit as soon as I can. Ruth wouldn’t forgive me if I stayed.”

  “How many times has she complained about her back?”

  Shayna laughed. “I haven’t counted. But she’s pleased to have me there.”

  “I’m pleased to have you there, too.” Mindy wrapped both her arms around Shayna’s body, turning her onto her back and pulling her close. It was so wonderful to have her soft, warm body there, pressed against Mindy’s. “So you really do want to move in? You aren’t going to freak out about money again?”

  “I don’t think so.” Shayna reached up and tucked a lock of Mindy’s hair behind her ear. “I feel like I’m contributing now. I feel like we’re both equal partners.”

  “I already felt that way.”

  “I know. But I grew up with money being the only thing.”

  “And you didn’t want it to get between us. I know.” Mindy kissed her to show that there were no hard feelings. “I do love you, you know.”

  Shayna smiled. “I love you, too.”

  “And I guess you were right. If you’d moved in when I first asked you to, the thing about money probably would have just dragged on and on. We had to find a way for it to work for you first.”

  “It still seems too good to be true.”

  “If it doesn’t work out, we will find you a better job. You can be my assistant.” Mindy grinned.

  Shayna laughed at her. “I’d be the worst assistant ever.”

  “There you go again with the cynicism I know and love.” Mindy bent her head and kissed Shayna deeply, her tongue sliding into her mouth.

  When she pulled back again, Shayna was flushed, her eyes sparkling. “You don’t love my cynicism.”

  “It’s part of you. Of course I love it.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Your optimism drives me nuts sometimes, but it’s refreshing. It’s nice to think that good things happen sometimes.”

  “Good things happen all the time.” Mindy slid her hand under Shayna’s pajama shirt, enjoying the softness of her flesh.

  “I guess I’ll just have to remember that for the rest of our lives, so I don’t bite your head off for being optimistic.”

  Mindy stilled, her hand just under Shayna’s breasts, staring down at her face. “This is for the rest of our
lives, isn’t it?”

  “I want it to be,” Shayna said. “I wouldn’t agree to move in otherwise.”

  “Good.” Mindy slid her hand up the rest of the way, cupping Shayna’s heavy flesh, pinching the nipple between her fingers. “Because if I lose access to these gorgeous tits, I may not be responsible for my future actions.”

  “Mm.” Shayna shifted, spreading her arms and legs a bit, her pajamas making soft hushing sounds against the sheets. “What if we have kids and I need them for feeding a baby?”

  Mindy pushed the shirt up so she could see Shayna’s breasts. Their nipples hardened in the cooler air. “I am not competing with an infant for these.” She bent her head and sucked on one nipple.

  “Bad joke,” Shayna gasped. “One step at a time. Oh, Mindy…”

  “Yes,” Mindy whispered against her flesh. “Yes, Shayna.” She squeezed and nipped at her breasts, running her hands all over them, feeling herself grow wet. But she had to tend to Shayna first. She would give her anything.

  She bent further, pulling Shayna’s thong down, placing kisses along her belly and thighs until Shayna was panting. Her vulva shone with juices. Mindy licked at them tentatively, then laughed when Shayna writhed and cried out in a high-pitched voice.

  She had derby practice later; they both would have things they had to do. But for now, it was just the two of them, their bodies and their love.

  Mindy slipped her fingers in between Shayna’s folds, stroking gently, feeling the heat rise even further between her legs. She found her opening, slick with desire, and pushed two fingers slowly inside until she could find her G-spot. She curled her fingers into it, pressing against the sensitive place, just as she brought her lips to press down on Shayna’s clit.

  Shayna cried out, arching her back and pressing her crotch against Mindy’s face. Mindy went to work with renewed passion, thrusting with her fingers, licking and sucking with her mouth, swallowing Shayna’s delicious juices. She felt she could never get enough, but then Shayna let out a wail, her vagina tightening around Mindy’s fingers, before she collapsed bonelessly onto the bed.