“I thought it was awesome.”
“Clearly.” She lifted Joey’s shirt and sucked on a nipple. “Do you ever masturbate?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“I was just wondering. I think it would be sexy as hell to watch you masturbate.”
“That’s not going to happen, dear.” She closed her eyes at the sensations Tiffany’s fingers were causing. They rubbed her clit, then filled her, then moved back to her clit.
“You’re about to burst, aren’t you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I want you to come for me.”
“Oh, God, yes.”
Tiffany stopped and sat up on the bed.
“What are you doing? You can’t stop.”
“Finish for me.”
Joey was in no shape to argue. She lay back on her bed and rubbed her clit frantically until a powerful orgasm tore through her.
Tiffany took her hand and sucked it clean.
“What the fuck was that for?” Joey asked.
“I wanted to watch you. Is that a crime?”
“You’re full of surprises, young one.”
Tiffany got up and dressed quickly. “Thanks for this afternoon. It was even better than I’d imagined.”
“It was pretty awesome. But do me a favor. Don’t go letting yourself into my house again, okay?”
“Yeah. That was stupid. I’m sorry.” She kissed Joey. “I guess I’ll see you around, huh?”
“I like sex with you. I hope you know that.”
“I do. And I hope we get to do it again. And again. And again.” She laughed. “But I’m not looking for a relationship any more than you are. Don’t forget that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She walked Tiffany to the front door and watched her walk off down the street.
Chapter Four
Joey parked next to Mel’s van and crossed over to the water. She paddled out next to her.
“So that was interesting,” Joey said.
“Yeah. But fun.”
“It was kind of cool, both of us getting her off.”
“She sure seemed to like it.”
“You didn’t seem to mind yourself, stud.”
“She’s just so…I don’t know…”
“Fuckable,” Joey said.
Mel laughed. “Yeah, she is. I like how she just wanted to come and didn’t care how she got there. But it was a little weird stepping into your little episode or whatever.”
“That wasn’t me. I walked in from work to find her like that.”
“No shit?”
“No shit! I was totally pissed at first. But then I realized she was just lookin’ for a lay, and I could totally relate to that.”
“Well, good for you. She seems like she’d be fun to have around.”
“You know, I have to say, I kind of figured you’d be feeling a little guilty. I mean, you and Bess and all.”
“She dumped me.”
“Huh? When?”
“This afternoon. She said she thought we were getting too serious too fast.”
“Hey, man. I’m sorry. I know you really liked her.”
“It’s all good. And yeah, there’s no way I would have touched Tiffany if Bess hadn’t cut me loose. But since she did, I figured why not jump on a chance like Tiffany?”
“Well, I was surprised enough when you were fucking her, but when you kissed her, I really thought you’d feel terrible.”
“Nope. It felt great and I felt alive. That Tiffany’s one hell of a kisser, by the way.”
“Tell me.”
“You’re going to hurt her. You know that, right?”
“I don’t think so. I think we’ll have a good time and that’s about it.”
“We’ll see.”
*
Joey paddled off and watched the swells, waiting for the perfect wave. She caught one after another, and soon all thoughts of Tiffany and Mel were gone as she communed with the ocean.
Finally, tired and hungry, she paddled back to Mel.
“That’s it for me,” she said.
“I hear that. You want to grab a couple of burgers?”
“Sure.”
They dried off quickly as the fog rolled in earlier than usual.
“Damn, we got off the water just in time,” Joey said.
“That’s weird for this time of year.”
“Well, let’s get inside The Shack where at least we won’t have this wind to contend with.”
They stowed their boards in their respective vehicles, then Joey turned to survey the parking lot.
“Hey, that’s her car.” She stared toward the lot on the side of the building.
“Whose car?” Mel looked over, then shook her head at the sight of the Dodge Charger. “You’re worse than a fucking stalker.”
“No. I didn’t plan to run into her here. Luck is just on her side tonight.”
They walked into the restaurant, and Joey honed in on the beautiful blonde. She was sitting at a table with Brenda and her partner, Liz. Joey didn’t like how close Brenda was with the interloper. She led the way to the table.
“What brings you to the lowly Shack?” she asked.
“They’re the best burgers in town,” Liz said.
“True that.” Joey turned to the blonde. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Brenda exhaled heavily. “Joey Scarpetti, meet Samantha Brewer. Samantha, this is Joey Scarpetti. She’s on my crew. And this is Mel O’Brien, who’s also on the crew.”
Mel waved awkwardly, but Joey extended her hand and studied Samantha Brewer. Her blue eyes were bloodshot, her skin red and splotchy. This was clearly a very upset woman, and Joey, while remotely curious, was decent enough not to pry.
“It was nice meeting you,” she mumbled as she and Mel crossed to a vacant booth.
When they finished their burgers, they walked out of The Shack and into the rain.
“What’s up with this?” Joey asked.
“Weird,” Mel said. “They weren’t calling for rain.”
“You sure? Maybe you looked at the wrong forecast.”
“Very funny. Damn. We’re supposed to pour more concrete tomorrow. We can’t do that if it’s raining.”
“We don’t need any rain delays. I need the work.”
“Don’t we all?”
It was raining harder, and they were getting drenched and chilled. They said their good nights and went their separate ways.
*
Joey could still smell Tiffany as she climbed into bed. She smiled at the thought of her, but her smile quickly faded as she thought of the tormented look on Samantha Brewer’s face at The Shack. What could have happened that had her crying in public? And why didn’t Brenda and Liz take her home?
She was perplexed but convinced something wasn’t right about Ms. Brewer. As long as she didn’t cry anymore, Joey was still planning on bedding her. But her curiosity about Samantha was beginning to grow, as well as her distrust. She was convinced she was a spy, and she was probably playing the role of sympathy monger to try to melt the hearts of the good lesbians of Maybon Tir. Joey hoped Brenda would be able to see through her act, but she wasn’t so sure about the other residents.
The last thought she had before sleep was of those pained blue eyes, bloodshot and damp.
She woke to her alarm at five fifteen the next morning to hear rain pounding her roof. She turned off her alarm, rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head, promptly falling back to sleep.
*
“You’re still asleep?” Mel stood over Joey’s sleeping form. “It’s damned near ten o’clock. You can’t still be snoozing.”
“I’m not now.” Joey rolled onto her back. “Is it really ten o’clock?”
“Indeed.” She handed Joey a cup of coffee from Nature’s Bounty.
“Thanks.” Joey sat on the edge of her bed. “You know, I’m starting to think locks on my door might be a wise investment.”
“Bullshit. While you w
ere playing sleeping beauty, I was at the library.”
“Holy fuck, you need to get laid more. The library? Seriously?”
“What the hell has that got to do with getting laid?” She shook her head. “Whatever. I was doing a little research for you.”
“What kind of research do I need?”
“On one Samantha Brewer.”
“No shit? Who’s the stalker now? But I love it. What did you find out?”
“She came out to daddy dearest after college, and he disowned her, so she moved with her partner to the Bay Area and took a job at a prestigious law firm in San Francisco.”
“Okay, so you were right about that stuff. Why is she back here? And where’s this partner? And why run a day care when she could be bringing in big bucks as an attorney?”
“Patience, Grasshopper. I found an article about her partner, a Dee Henderson. She was making money in real estate.”
“What happened to her? Brenda mentioned something about Samantha just losing a partner.”
“She was killed in the storm they had up there a few months ago. She was driving home from showing a house, and a tree got blown over and crushed her Audi. She died instantly.”
“That sucks,” Joey said, truly saddened.
“Big-time.”
“Did you find out anything else?”
“Like what she’s doing here?”
“Yeah, like that.”
“There just happened to be a blurb about her in the Pride edition of the lesbian newspaper up there. She decided to move back here because she’s always loved the area, and staying in San Francisco would be too painful.”
“What about the day-care center?”
“Nothing about that. Just that she thought living in a community of kindred spirits would help heal her soul. There was no talk of what she’d do when she got here. She sure painted a pretty picture of Maybon Tir, though.”
“Wonder if more dykes will move here then.”
“Hard telling. It’s not like they don’t know we’re here.”
“True. Wouldn’t it be cool if we became a truly self-sustained city?”
“I believe that was Mildred Braun’s dream.”
“We do pretty well. But we still rely on Somerset for things.”
“There are only a few thousand of us here, Joey. As we grow, we’ll be able to have the supply and demand we need to function independently.”
“You really paid attention in econ, didn’t you?”
“You knew exactly what I was saying. Don’t go trying to work your party boi image on me.”
“So what are we going to do today? This weather sucks.”
“I was hoping you’d want to hit the garden.”
“In this weather?”
“You won’t melt,” Mel said. “Besides, with the ground moist, it’ll be easier to pull weeds.”
“True. Okay, let me get dressed and we can go get some food and hit the garden.”
They stepped outside, and the rain had turned into a deluge. Water flowed like a creek down the street in front of Joey’s house.
“What the hell is going on?” Joey said.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t this bad earlier.”
They climbed in the truck, and Joey managed to navigate them to Good Eats, a café on Main Street.
“Hey, Suze!” Joey called to the owner and cook.
A large black woman came out of the kitchen to join them.
“The place is rockin’, huh?” Joey looked around the empty diner.
“You two are the only fools out in this weather.”
“We’re heading to the garden after food.”
“Don’t bother. This weather’s not fit for woman nor beast. I’m sure the garden will wait. Now what’ll you have?”
They ordered their breakfast and were sipping coffee when Brenda came in, dripping from head to toe.
“Where have you been?” Mel asked as she sat down.
“Stopped by the site. It’s like a giant mud puddle over there. And this rain’s not supposed to stop any time soon.”
“Looks like a four-day weekend.” Joey sighed.
“At least,” Brenda said.
“Shit!”
“Tell me. We’re going to have to bust our asses to make deadline now.”
“Does that mean OT?”
“We’ll see.”
“Hey, not to change the subject, but were you and the missus able to comfort the poor Ms. Brewer last night?”
“Damn it, Joey. Let it go. You don’t see her going out of her way to get to know you, do you?”
“She seems a bit preoccupied. I just need to get her mind on more pressing matters.”
“No, you need to get your mind off her.”
“No can do.”
“Shit.” She stood. “Well, I saw your truck here, so I thought I’d stop and tell you no work at least till Monday. Enjoy your time off.”
Suze brought their food as Brenda left.
“What the hell are we going to do with a four-day weekend?” Joey asked.
“Road trip?”
“Where to?”
“We could drive down to Santa Brigida and hit some of the women’s clubs there.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” She grabbed her cell phone and started dialing.
“You calling Jett?”
“But of course.”
Jett was one of their roommates from college who had gone on to graduate school in Santa Brigida, then stayed there as a physical therapist.
“Hey, Jett, it’s your favorite blasts from the past. Mel and I are headed your way tonight and wondered if you’d mind us crashing for a couple of nights. We just need to get out of town. Let me know.”
Joey dropped Mel at her house and went home to shower and dress. She found a black golf shirt hanging in the closet so she put that on and tan cargo shorts. She grabbed an overnight bag and threw some things in and was at Mel’s house by two o’clock.
She found Mel sitting on the couch, elbows on her knees, phone to her ear.
Joey left her to go to the kitchen to grab a beer. She walked back to the living room to see Mel’s arm outstretched. She handed her the beer and got another for herself.
“Fuck!” Mel slammed the phone on the couch.
“What’s up?”
“Bess wants to get together and talk. She misses me.”
“Damn. You split up yesterday and she already misses you? You really are a stud.” When Mel didn’t respond, she went on. “So what are you going to do? Are we canceling our road trip?”
“Hell, no. I told her I was going to be out of town and I’d get with her when I got back.”
“So what was the ‘fuck’ for?”
“She told me she wants me to have fun but that she still thinks of me as hers and to keep that in mind.”
“Whatever. That’s her problem, right?”
Mel took a drink of beer.
“Right?” Joey repeated.
“I don’t know.”
“Damn it, Mel. Just yesterday, you told me you felt free and alive. Now you’re saying you want to go to Santa Brigida with me and avoid trouble? What are you—schizo?”
“No! I guess I’m just confused.”
“See what relationships do to you? She dumps you then tries to guilt you into not having fun without her. It’s not worth it.”
“She’s totally messing with my head. I don’t know what to do.”
“Okay, so here’s the deal. I road trip with my single friend. My friend behaves as a single woman and whatever happens, happens. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be a chaste road trip.”
“Yeah, right.” She finished her beer. “Let’s get going. We’ll take the car.”
Mel owned a 1980 Camaro Z28 that she kept in great shape. It was much more reliable for a road trip than the truck or the van. They got in, cranked a nineties radio station, and cruised down Highway 101.
An hour and a half later, Mel turned into the parking lot of Flannels, a
women’s bar since the early seventies. The parking lot was fairly full for happy hour. Joey looked over at Mel.
“Are you ready to have some fun?”
“You know it.”
“Good. You’re not still all forlorn over Bess?”
“Who?”
“Excellent answer.”
They approached the front door and Joey saw a bright yellow Mustang.
“That looks like Tiffany’s car.”
“You’ve got that kid on the brain. You know she can’t be here. She’s not twenty-one. Or did you forget her age, old-timer?”
“Very funny. I don’t think about her age. I just saw the car and it looked like hers is all.”
They showed their IDs to get in the front door and were laughing about being carded as they made their way to the bar. They got a pitcher of beer and were walking toward a booth when Mel slapped Joey’s arm and pointed to a couple of women kissing against one booth.
“Check out that ass,” she said.
Joey stopped in her tracks to admire the fine shape of the young woman in the microskirt. She wouldn’t mind a turn with her. She nodded to Mel, and as they were walking past, the couple broke for air. The one with the ass turned and smiled.
“Hey, Joey. Mel.”
“Hey, Tiffany,” Mel said. Joey just stood there.
“What are you two doing here?”
“Looking for a good time,” Mel said.
“Aren’t we all?” Tiffany thrust out her chest and rubbed it against the young butch who had her arm around her.
“Well, have fun,” Joey finally said and turned to keep walking.
“Why don’t you join us?” Tiffany asked.
“Maybe later,” Joey said and moved on.
They sat down and poured themselves beers.
“Jealous?” Mel asked.
“Of?”
“Yeah, right. You’re jealous that she’s mackin’ on someone else.”
“Tiffany? Oh, hell no. I wasn’t jealous when you fucked her. Why would I be jealous someone else is kissin’ her?”
“That’s different.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Well, for starters, you know me and know I’m not interested. Also, you fucked her while I did. I’m not some young unknown butch making time with her.”
“Look, I don’t care who kisses her or fucks her or anything else. When we have the chance, we’ll get together again. I don’t plan to keep my stuff just for her. Why shouldn’t she make the rounds, as well?”
Escapades Page 4
