Hairpin Curves

by Elia Winters

  Megan bit her lip to keep from gasping as she reached down to touch her clit. The spasm of pleasure overtaking her was sharper than usual, less controlled, and she sucked in a ragged breath. Scarlett was going to hear her. She was going to listen, and she was going to hear Megan come. Every touch, she thought of Scarlett, thought of her doing this exact thing only a few feet away. This simple act, this shared intimacy, had never been so erotic. Megan had to fight to keep from groaning aloud. She made herself slow down and savor the moment as near her, Scarlett’s breathing grew faster, her noises less muffled. She wanted so badly to hear Scarlett come, had never wanted anything like she wanted this.

  The bed near her went silent for a moment, and then a long, deep exhale, with the barest hint of a moan at the end. Megan couldn’t hold back. She gasped out loud as she came, pleasure overtaking her like a force of nature, and she shuddered her way through an endless, perfect climax.

  Afterward, silence filled the room. Megan caught her breath. She had done that. They had done that. Was...was that it? She carefully reached over to the nightstand for some tissues.

  “Not so bad, right?”

  Scarlett’s voice made Megan freeze for a moment before she forced herself to relax. This was fine; this didn’t have to mean anything, just like sex never had to mean anything. “No big deal,” Megan said, even though her heart was still racing. “I can probably sleep now.”

  Scarlett laughed quietly. “Good night.”

  She shouldn’t think too deeply about this. Tomorrow, they’d be on the road again, and whatever had happened in the darkness would be just another memory.

  * * *

  Megan did not want to get out of this bed. The crisp air on her face was enough to tell her that outside of this bed, it was cold, but her whole body was toasty-warm under layers of blankets. It was still dark out, or at least the gray pre-dawn twilight that indicated the sun wasn’t quite up yet, and she could easily fall back asleep. But someone was shaking her, and so she resentfully opened her eyes.

  Scarlett was looking down at her with a look of pure excitement on her face. “Megan! Come see the snow!”

  The events of the previous night came flooding back to Megan all at once, but Scarlett didn’t seem to care in the wake of the apparent snowfall outside. Her excitement was contagious, and so before Megan was fully awake, she had pulled on a bunch of layers and shoes and her glasses and followed Scarlett out into the freezing cold.

  It was still snowing, light flakes drifting slowly down onto the parking lot. They hadn’t gotten much snow, but it was enough to cover the ground, and Megan suddenly understood Scarlett’s enthusiasm. The sky was lit just enough to illuminate the snow, which in turn reflected the light, and sunrise would probably dazzle the entire landscape.

  “Come back here.” Scarlett took her by the hand and tugged her through a walkway that passed to the back of the motel, where the trails lay, and out into the forest. Megan tangled Scarlett’s cold fingers with her own and laughed as her footsteps crunched on the newly fallen snow. Snow was already dotting Scarlett’s curls and melting into water droplets, and it was surely doing the same on her own hair. Scarlett released her hand, and Megan reached down to try to gather up some of the snow in her numb fingers. The cold seared her skin as she crunched it wetly into a misshapen ball, but oh, she didn’t care. Her face hurt from smiling.

  Scarlett squealed indignantly at the first snowball Megan lobbed at her, and then returned the favor. The snowballs came mixed with leaves, since there wasn’t really enough snow to make good snowballs, but none of it mattered. The snow stuck wetly to Megan’s hoodie, soaking through immediately. She got in another good throw, this one hitting Scarlett right in the back, before Scarlett got her in the head with one and it started dripping down the back of her neck. Laughing and screeching in equal measure, she tackled Scarlett down to the snow, trying to shove some under her collar. Scarlett was way too strong for her, though, and quickly flipped her over, pinning her down on the soaking wet ground.

  They stopped moving immediately. Scarlett’s smile faded, leaving something else in its wake, an expression of surprise and then...desire. Oh. Megan opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, her own smile fading with the sudden surge in her blood.

  Scarlett stood up quickly, getting to her feet and offering Megan a hand. “We should get dressed before we both freeze,” she said, brushing snow out of her hair.

  Megan nodded, too shaken up to say anything else, taking Scarlett’s hand to get up. Snow had soaked through her layers. “Yeah. Let’s...let’s go change.”

  She let Scarlett have the first shower and used the time to gather her thoughts and take a few pictures of the snow. Then it was her turn for the hot water, which blissfully melted away not only her chill, but also her shakiness about this morning and last night. By the time she got out of the shower, Scarlett had the maps spread out on the table and was poring over them. Whatever moments they’d had—last night in bed, this morning in the snow—were gone, shifting into the past, and all they needed to focus on was the road trip.

  Scarlett looked up from the maps wearing an eager, expectant, but nervous look on her face, the look she got when she wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

  “What do you want to convince me of?” Megan asked.

  Scarlett’s hesitation melted into a smile. “You can still read me.”

  “Of course. You wear your thoughts all over your face.” Megan let a touch of irritation through in her voice. Best that Scarlett didn’t think she was completely forgiven yet. Nothing was forgiven yet, not even if Megan spent time in the shower thinking really inappropriate thoughts about Scarlett’s hands and lips all over her skin. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You always have that expression when you’re about to try to convince me of something.”

  “Well, I was thinking.” Scarlett traced her finger in a circle over a spot on the map. “We’re all the way out here. How about we keep going west?”

  “We’re going to Quebec.” Megan pointed up. “That’s North.”

  Scarlett shook her head. “Not west forever. Just as far as Nashville.”

  “Nashville, Tennessee?”

  “No. Nashville, Wisconsin. Yes, Nashville, Tennessee.” Scarlett made a face, but then immediately got that wistful look in her eyes again. “The Grand Ole Opry records tonight. It’s five or so hours away. If we leave now, we could get there in the afternoon, see the city, go to the Opry at night.” She bit her lip. “What do you think?”

  Megan had never thought about going to Nashville before; it wasn’t in her scrapbook, wasn’t on her plans, but she loved the thought. Nashville was one of the holy places of music, and the Grand Ole Opry was legendary. “What happened to no more than two hours either direction of I-95?”

  Scarlett shrugged. “You’re really into music. You should get to go to Nashville.”

  That was unexpectedly sweet, the kind of sweet that made Megan melt a bit and then immediately try to un-melt. She was staying hard-hearted. She would not be hurt.

  “What does it do to our Quebec arrival?” Megan asked.

  “Another day delay, but we’ve got the time.”

  “Let’s look at the route.” Megan joined Scarlett over by the map. She found their current location in Western North Carolina, then the city of Nashville further west. It didn’t look that far on the map, but nothing looked that far when zoomed out to this scale. Five or six hours, Scarlett had said.

  Megan traced an alternate route back with her finger. “If we go out to Nashville, we could head back east on 40, and then pick up 81 in...” Switching to the Tennessee state map, she relocated their route. “Dandridge. In Dandridge, Tennessee. 81 will take us all the way back to...” Back to the country map. “Well, we could take it all the way up through Pennsylvania, or we could switch to 66 and head through Virginia...” It didn’t seem like Scar
lett was listening to her anymore, and Megan looked up to catch her eye. “Are you even paying attention to this?”

  Scarlett nodded a bit too quickly. “Sure. Route 66 through Virginia. And Route 66 is famous, so that’s cool.”

  Megan looked back at the map and did some quick calculations. “It might mean we cut another stop, though, if we want to get to Quebec on time.”

  “We don’t have to cut anything.” Scarlett started ticking off days on her fingers. “Nashville today. Full day’s drive to DC tomorrow. We stay over in DC. Drive the next day up to New York City. A day in New York, then we drive up to Salem. A day in Salem, then up over the border all the way to Quebec. Plus we’ve got some wiggle room because we were planning to spend a couple of days in Quebec.”

  She was right; they did have enough time.

  And Scarlett had planned this trip just for her, just so Megan could see something Scarlett knew she’d like.

  Outside the window, the snow had stopped, and the sunshine was already melting it into sparkling dampness, promising clear roads. “All right. Let’s do it.”

  Chapter Nine

  Megan took the first stretch of driving, leading them down out of the mountains and toward Nashville. She was in a really good mood, and Scarlett could get used to seeing her that happy. Maybe it was the snow, or the new plan for Nashville, or maybe it was because she’d gotten off last night. Scarlett would be replaying that memory for a long time, that soundtrack of Megan’s desperate breaths as she tumbled over the edge into climax.

  She distracted herself from that by digging through the CD case for some traveling music. Megan had a CD labeled “Tumbleweed Feels,” which she slid into the drive. Some country music could prep them for Nashville. The first song, though, was “Life is a Highway,” the old Tom Cochrane version and not the country Rascal Flatts version.

  “Is this the ‘Tumbleweed’ CD?” Megan asked.

  “Yeah. What is it? I thought it would be country.”

  “It’s songs about traveling. I think there’s some country on it, though.” She looked over at Scarlett. “You wanted country?”

  “We’re going to Nashville. It seemed appropriate.”

  The next song was John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which they both sang along to. After that was a country song Scarlett didn’t know about highway sunrises. The miles rolled on, and Scarlett had just about managed to put memories from the previous evening out of her mind when Megan interrupted her thoughts.

  “So I guess I’ve tried my next new thing.”

  Scarlett could not believe she’d just come out and say it like that. “What, you mean last night?”

  Megan gaped, then laughed. “I meant the snowball fight.”

  Scarlett had to laugh as well. “Oh my god. I’m sorry.”

  “Nah. It’s all right. That was new, too, I guess.” Megan tipped her head to the side, far more relaxed about this than Scarlett had expected. “New with you, I mean.”

  Scarlett considered her. “I’m starting to think I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

  Megan gave her a tiny, satisfied smile. “Good.”

  “You like being a mystery?”

  “I don’t need to be a mystery, but I don’t like feeling like someone knows everything about me. Especially when they formed all those conclusions based on me as a teenager.”

  Scarlett turned to stare out the window. “I sometimes think it would be nice to be totally understood.”

  “Then be honest with people.”

  Scarlett glanced back, hurt flaring up in immediate response, but Megan’s expression was placid. She probably wasn’t intending to be hurtful at all. Scarlett let it go.

  The drive west to Nashville was more pleasant than Scarlett had imagined, especially after the uncertainty of the morning, but even with her love of road trips, the reality of so many hours in this car was starting to wear on her. Even Megan’s extensive CD collection wasn’t helping, although they did sing along to a few songs as the miles rolled past, moving from “Tumbleweed Feels” to “Summer Thunderstorms” in the CD case.

  “Stop squirming.”

  Megan’s command shook Scarlett out of her reverie. “What?”

  “You’re squirming all over the place. Stop it.” Megan glanced over. “You want to drive?”

  “I’m just tired of being in the car.”

  “There’s a lot more road trip ahead.” Ever the voice of logic, Megan wasn’t saying anything Scarlett didn’t already know, but hearing it was still grating. “You want to drive?’

  “I don’t know.” Scarlett wasn’t sure driving would help. “You want to play a game?”

  “What, like the road sign game or something?”

  God, the road sign game. “No. Not that. Something else.”

  “Truth or dare?”

  Megan seemed like she was kidding, but the idea sounded great to Scarlett. “All right.”

  Megan made a face. “Really?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Because we’re not at my twelfth birthday party.” Megan stared fixedly ahead. Wait, had they actually played truth or dare at one of Megan’s birthday parties? Surely, Scarlett would have remembered. Although even she didn’t get up to much trouble at twelve.

  “I’ll ask first.” Scarlett shifted to look at Megan. “Truth or dare?”

  “Truth.”

  “Are you just gonna pick truth every time?” Nothing ruined a truth or dare game like someone who wouldn’t do any of the dares.

  Megan sniffed and raised her eyebrows. “Is that my question?”

  “No. That’s not your question.” Scarlett considered. “How many people have you slept with?”

  Megan paused, and it took Scarlett a second to realize she was counting. “Eight. And I would have just answered that question if you asked.”

  “Eight?” Scarlett had been expecting three or maybe, maybe four, after the slow reveals she’d been getting about Megan’s past.

  “Eight.” Megan’s expression was still carefully neutral. “Does that offend you?”

  “Nah. Just surprised, that’s all.” Scarlett really didn’t know this girl. “Your turn.”

  “Truth or dare?”

  “Dare.”

  “Okay. Um...” Megan trailed off.

  “You suggested truth or dare and you don’t have any dares in mind?” Unbelievable.

  “Shut up! I’m thinking.” Megan glanced over at her, then back at the road. “Wave enthusiastically at the next five cars we pass.”

  “You have to go fast enough to pass someone first.”

  Megan made another face. “Shut up. Just because I don’t drive like I want us to die in an accident.”

  “You drive like you want us to die of old age.”

  Megan laughed at her own roast. “Fuck you.”

  Maybe to prove Scarlett wrong, she accelerated enough to pass another car on the highway. Scarlett rolled down the window to wave, giving an enthusiastic thumbs-up at the car they were driving past and the very confused driver, who waved back after a moment. Megan moved back into the slow lane after that and settled back to something near the speed limit, leaving Scarlett in no immediate danger of having to wave to anyone.

  “Truth or dare?” Scarlett asked.

  “You haven’t done your five.”

  “And I’m not going to do my five until you drive faster.”

  Megan sighed. “All right. Dare.”

  “Sing along to the next song on your CD.”

  “I’ve been singing along with the CDs. We both have.”

  “But just you. Full voice. Whole song.” Scarlett wasn’t really sure why she was asking for this, when it wasn’t like it was challenging for Megan or anything. Maybe that’s why she was doing it.

  Megan made ano
ther confused face. “Okay. Fine.”

  The next song was “Kiss Me Deadly” by Lita Ford, and Megan leaned into it without any hesitation from that opening high note and onto the wailing, punk rock chorus. Damn, she was good. Scarlett could listen to her all day. Maybe that was the reason behind all of this. Maybe she just wanted to hear Megan sing.

  The song ended, and Megan let the CD keep playing, but turned the volume down. Instead of asking Scarlett “Truth or dare,” she stayed quiet. “I like hearing you sing,” Scarlett said at last to break the silence.

  “Thanks.” Megan’s neutral expression didn’t change.

  “You looking forward to Nashville?”

  At that, Megan’s lips twitched up. “Yeah. It was a good idea.” Then, after a pause, she added, “Thanks.”

  Scarlett smiled out the window, and Megan sped up to pass another car. Scarlett waved enthusiastically to the confused driver as Megan laughed, and they headed on to Nashville.

  * * *

  Nashville. Megan was nearly vibrating with excitement as her old Camry rolled through the city, with its distinctive architecture and music culture thrumming through every aspect of the space. She had never thought about going here, never really put it on her list of places, saw it as something distinctly different from herself.

  Her excitement was almost enough to help her put aside the unsettling realities of her feelings for Scarlett. Sex of any kind had always been fun, always a good way to pass the time, even if she always felt like she was holding part of herself back in bed. Somehow it was different to fool around with Scarlett. Not that she’d been fooling around with Scarlett...but she’d been thinking about it pretty much nonstop since they’d gotten on the road. At least now she’d have Nashville to distract her.