Rules of the Road

by K. Aten

  Jamie sighed as she watched her ex-lover’s lips curve into a smile. Jenn certainly had confidence and curves in spades and she knew how to use them. Jamie’s mind wandered to her highway savior and she had to admit that Kelsey seemed to possess both as well. “So.” She was startled back to the here and now by her friend’s voice.

  “What?”

  Jenn sipped her bubble tea. “Tori?”

  Jamie leaned over to the empty side of the table and thumped her head on the wood surface a few times, mostly out of self-punishment. At least until she grew concerned that it would cause permanent damage, then she stopped. She looked up into amused dark eyes. “You could have warned me! Or at least told me she was engaged!”

  Jenn laughed. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! We talked about it ages ago and it’s not like I thought she was going to go after you, she is engaged after all.” She smirked. “But she did text me a week ago to tell me that you have a bigger dick than John’s. Oh, she also said you lasted longer than him too. I agreed with her.”

  “Wait, what do you mean I have a bigger dick than John? And how do you know?” Jamie narrowed her eyes at her friend, suspecting a strange hidden kink that she had never discovered in their short time as friends with benefits.

  The other woman snorted. “She sent me his dick pics.”

  Jamie shuddered. “Dudes are weird. I mean, you don’t see lesbians snapping pics of their sex toys and sending them off to girls they’re interested in.”

  “Maybe they should.” Jenn gave her a saucy wink and went back to her tea. “So what else is new with you? How is the engineering job going?”

  The fairly new engineer sat back in her seat and smiled. “I really like it. It is definitely different than being a manager, not to mention the perks of coming to first shift!”

  Jenn raised a single eyebrow at her notoriously randy friend. “I take it that means your sex life has picked up?”

  “You know it!”

  “You’re hopeless.” While Jenn meant it in jest, both women suddenly became aware of the past between them.

  Jamie rested her hand on top of Jenn’s and was struck by the contrast between dark and light skin. When Jenn met her eyes, she said the first thing that came to the surface. “I’m sorry.”

  The other woman just shook her head and smiled fondly, if a little sadly. She pulled her hand out of Jamie’s grasp and patted the top of it. “It's fine. We have talked about this both before and after our little fling. I knew what I was getting into and I’m over it. Yes, it hurt for a while but it is okay now and we're still friends. Now let’s talk more about Tori.”

  “How about we don’t and say we did?”

  Jenn laughed and let her off the hook. “How is Olivia?” Olivia wasn’t a person, or a pet, and certainly wasn’t a fuck buddy. Olivia was Jamie’s pretty blue car. The engineer wasn’t just a low-level nerd, she was pretty high up on the scale. Right after she got her little turbo-charged ride she announced that the car’s name was Olivia. Not only that, but she also made anyone riding in it refer to the car by name as well. Yes, Jamie was a bit of an odd duck but Jenn loved her.

  Jamie made a face and described the harrowing ordeal with the shovel. “I hit a shovel one day on my way home from work and had to drive with a fecking spare for two days until the dealership got my new tire in. The metal of the spade gouged the rim just a little bit but it wasn’t noticeable enough to have to replace it.”

  Laughter peeled out of the woman across the table, loud enough to catch a few other’s attention. “Are you telling me that those prissy butch hands finally changed their first tire?” The words she said, while not a secret by any means, were definitely not something that was well known by most people. Jamie was tall and athletic with short blonde hair and a jawline for days. She occasionally got picked up on sports teams, rode her bicycle around town, and worked out whenever she had time to spare. For all practical appearances she was one hot butch. Women expected her to be dominant in bed and that’s exactly how she was when playing the game. But she and Jenn had been friends for a long time and Jenn knew what few others did. Jamie was not very butch. She preferred equal partnerships in and out of the bedroom, she hated getting her hands dirty and she got manicures once a month. She wore lip gloss and eyeliner, and loathed grease in any form. She also loved receiving flowers and writing sappy poetry. She was a paradox of traits that seemed diametrically opposed to each other.

  Jamie sighed at the question and a strange look came over her face. “No, luckily my new driving friend helped me out.”

  Another raised eyebrow. “Driving friend? Did you start carpooling with someone?”

  The faux-butch shook her head. “No, you remember the traffic and navigation app, Driv?”

  Curls bobbed despite the wrap. “Yeah, but I work six blocks from my house so I never use it. Why?”

  “You still know how it works and you know I use it religiously for my commute because, well, rush hour hell. Anyway, the app recently updated and you can now record your own voice as a pin drop. So you could say dead deer, and tell what lane it was in. It allows you to give more explicit detail than the standard button choices.”

  Jenn nodded. “That sounds like a good update. What does this have to do with changing your tire?”

  “Actually, there is someone who is ahead of me every single morning, a cute little rainbow car icon. And the same car is behind me on the map every night when I’m on my way home. Anyway, I accidentally responded to her voice pin and we’ve been kind of chatting via the app for the past month or so. When I got my flat on the way home from work last week she saw the pin pop up and stopped to help me out.” Jamie shrugged, not wanting to convey just how attractive she thought her new friend was.

  “She changed your damn tire, didn’t she? So is she a big ol’ brawny butch for real?”

  Jamie laughed. “Actually, no. She’s gorgeous with auburn hair, the thickest eyelashes I’ve ever seen, and some kickass curves. She’s ethnic but I’m not sure what, maybe Latina? I think she works in a doctor’s office because she was wearing scrubs that matched her green eyes...” Her voice trailed off as she noticed her friend staring at her from across the table. “What?”

  Jenn smirked at her friend. “So how long did it take you to get her number?” Jamie’s lips turned down and she mumbled something under her breath. “What was that? I think you had a mouthful of failure, can you say it again?”

  “I said, I didn’t. I asked her to dinner as a simple show of appreciation for changing my tire.”

  “And she said no.”

  “She said no.”

  Jenn reached across the table and patted Jamie’s cheek lightly. “You poor, poor thing! Looks like your new friend isn’t one to fall for your handsome wiles, Ms. Schultz.” She wanted Jamie to be happy and settle down with someone even if it wasn’t her. Jenn had not lied when she told her friend that she really was beyond their sexual relationship. They didn’t have enough in common to make a relationship work anyway. Jenn also knew her friend would run at the first sign of serious. She watched the blonde across the table as Jamie pushed her hand away and began rambling excuses.

  Jamie laughed. “Shut up, you! And it doesn’t matter anyway, I don’t even know her. She’s probably not even my type, probably one of those lesbians who sits home with her cats and knits on the weekends. Boring!”

  Jenn’s eyes twinkled at the way her friend tried to talk herself out of the attraction. It was cute. She just nodded her head and played along. “I’m sure she does.”

  Chapter Three

  IT WAS 8 p.m. on a Friday night and Kelsey was sitting on her couch, book-ended by her two cats. Her knitting needles practically flew while she watched the newest lesbian prison show episode. Out of the corner of her eye she observed Pierre get up, stretch, and amble toward the coffee table. As soon as one paw touched the table she called out to him. “Don’t even think about it, mister!” The cat paused for only a second then stepped completely onto the table
. He nonchalantly walked up to the full glass of water and sat next to it. When the black and white face started to dip down, Kelsey yelled. “Pierre!”

  Pierre paused. “Mrroooowwww!”

  “Don’t sass me and leave my water alone!” He stared at her. She stared at him. Newman watched them both. Sensing an impending disaster Kelsey pushed pause on the remote. A white tipped black paw came up to just caress the side of the glass. “Pierre.” Her voice was a low warning, not that the cat cared in the least. Then faster than a cat up to mischief should be, his paw swiped the full water glass off the coffee table and onto the carpet, then he took off like a shot toward the bathroom.

  “Mrroooowwww!”

  Kelsey scrambled up to find a towel to soak up the mess. “You asshole!” Her phone chimed as she settled back onto the couch again a few minutes later. It was a text from her friend Tam.

  Yo, Kels. You busy tomorrow night?

  She quickly texted back.

  No, why?

  Me & Shell want to check out DeMarcos on 4th Street. You in?

  Tamara and Michelle Stevens were her closest friends in the world and one of the main deciding factors in moving to St. Seren. They had only been married for a year, but had been together for just over ten. They were one of thousands of happy couples who had been waiting for the marriage laws to change. She loved them and she loved hanging out with them but sometimes she felt like a third wheel. However, she also loved Italian food.

  Sure. Time?

  Pick you up at 7. Pool at Culture after.

  Kelsey sighed and played with the button on her pajama shirt. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go out. She had actually been wanting to check out Culture since moving into the city. She’d been to the bar before, but it had been a while and certainly not since she started living less than fifteen minutes away. That made for a much nicer drive back home, or cab ride. But she was still nervous to get out and meet new people. While Kelsey Ramirez wasn’t shy by any means, she had yet to find someone that really kept her interest, or that was interested in knowing the real her. She loved the clean lines and style of the butch and andro girls but she wasn’t a fan of all that butch attitude. She wanted someone softer, someone different.

  Her mind flashed to the cute woman stranded on the side of the road. Jamie was totally her type with her short blonde hair and crisp button down shirt. While Kelsey couldn’t really get a good read on her in such a short time, she definitely picked up on the fact that the tall woman was a huge flirt. Unfortunately her ex had been the same way and turned out to be a player. Kelsey just wasn’t into those kind of games. Shaking the thoughts away she grabbed the remote and pushed play. “Ooh look, Newman! Nicky is such a bad girl and she’s in handcuffs, so hot! Though we like Alex better, don’t we Newman? I love this show!”

  NIKKI ONWUALU WAS in handcuffs, and her legs were tied spread eagle to the bed with silk rope. Her lips were slightly parted as she peered up at the tall blonde standing over her. “Now you’ve got me, what are you gonna do?”

  Jamie took in the naked woman lying on the bed. She was built like an Amazon with short cropped hair and skin so dark it was nearly black. Nikki had beautiful brown eyes and the most delicious lips that she’d tasted in a while. The gorgeous woman had multiple piercings in her ears, a nose ring, and nipple rings. Oh, how Jamie loved a woman in jewelry. Prompted by the tied woman’s question, she crawled onto the bed and rested her pelvis gently against Nikki’s. With a slow roll, she rubbed the entire length of her body against the woman below her. Nikki gasped and Jamie smiled as her breathing picked up in anticipation. “I think I’m going to do whatever I want. Now,” She leaned down and took a large nipple into her mouth, tugging the ring not-so gently as she pulled back again. “This is your bed and these are your toys, is there anything in that drawer that’s off limits?”

  Nikki gasped at the tugging and her eyes rolled back as arousal surged through her. Her accent was a delight to Jamie’s ears. “N—no. I’m all yours, lover. Time to make good on all that teasing, no?”

  Jamie was out of town for the weekend. She had met Nikki, an attractive and charismatic network engineer originally hailing from Nigeria, six months before at a training conference for work. The sexual chemistry was immediately felt by both and Nikki never went back to her own hotel room that night. They chatted online occasionally, striking up a casual and flirtatious friendship immediately. Neither expected anything more than just a bit of fun. When Nikki invited her down for the weekend, she said yes. Jamie smiled down at the goddess below her. “Oh, I think I can do—what the hell?” She jerked her foot as soon as she felt something tickle across the bottom. She swung her gaze around and saw a sleek black cat sitting at the end of the bed.

  Nikki started laughing. “Chill baby, that’s just King. I would grab him and lock him out of the room but.” She rattled the cuffs and gave Jamie a smoldering look. “I’m a little tied up right now.”

  Jamie groaned but laughed anyway. “That was terrible!”

  “Then shouldn’t I be punished?”

  Jamie’s eyes narrowed at the innuendo and she quickly got up and moved the cat out of the room. When she got back to the bed, she reached into Nikki’s bedside stand and pulled out a riding crop. She grinned wickedly at the way her friend’s eyes widened. “Yes. Yes you should.”

  Nearly an hour later the statuesque black woman wore a satisfied smile on her face and Jamie was collapsed on the bed next to her. Licking her lips, Nikki gave her fellow engineer a lazy grin. “Even better than the hotel.”

  Jamie’s eyes were still shut but she nodded in agreement. “Definitely better than the hotel!”

  Nikki eyed the bottle of lube on the nightstand and shifted slightly. “I’m gonna be some sore tomorrow though, love.”

  A blonde brow went up as one of Jamie’s eyes came open.

  “Are you saying you want me to go home tomorrow?”

  The woman still cuffed to the bed started laughing. It was a rich, velvety sound that gave the blonde goose bumps despite her level of satiation. “Fuck off with you if you think that! You Americans give up so easy, there are other holes and other toys.” Both eyes came open with her friend’s words. Nikki was a lot kinkier than she originally thought, though the cat-o’-nine-tails in her drawer should have been a clue. The immobilized woman rattled the cuffs again. “Now, care to unlock me? I really need to take a piss.”

  Jamie smiled and pulled herself out of the bed and shivered in the cool air. “Where is the key?”

  Nikki nodded her head vaguely toward the nightstand. “It should be right on top, in the dish between the lamp and clock.”

  The blonde peered down at the stand. There was a lamp, a clock, and an alarmingly empty dish. “Hmm.”

  “Problem?”

  Jamie looked back at her with concern. “The dish is empty.”

  “You’re fucking with me, no?” Jamie shook her head. “God damn it, King! The cat must have taken it out of the dish.”

  “Are you kidding me? Has this happened before?” Jamie’s face paled slightly when Nikki nodded. “Where did you find it last time?”

  The cuffed woman sighed. “Little fucker knocked it onto the floor, near the heat vent.”

  Jamie walked around the stand and found the register set into the floor. There was no key next to it but when she got down on her hands and knees she could just make out the gleam of the key at the bottom of the duct, right before the passage took a hard right under the floor. Even if she got the register unscrewed, the key was farther down than she could reach. Her mind raced ahead with thoughts on how to solve the problem. “Do you have a metal coat hanger and a good magnet?”

  Nikki looked back at her curiously. “Sure, in the closet. I’ve got a few hard drive magnets on the fridge. Why?”

  “It’s in the register.”

  “Fucking cat!” She looked up at Jamie with desperation. “I wasn’t kidding, love. I really do need to take a piss.”

  Jamie patted
her foot. “No worries Nik, just let me do some MacGyver shit and I’ll have you out in no time.” First Jamie retrieved the magnet from the fridge and was happy to see it was a heavy-duty block. It wouldn’t stick to the aluminum ductwork but it should have no problem picking up a little key. Then she got the coat hanger out of the closet and the multi tool she kept in her backpack. She untwisted and straightened the coat hanger then stuck the magnet to the end. Next she used the screwdriver on her tool to remove the screws from the vent cover. The rest was easy. She lowered the hanger into the hole until it was close enough for the key to jump onto the heavy magnet. “Got it!” She quickly set her tools aside and took the key over to unlock her friend. As they both untied Nikki’s feet from the ropes Jamie looked her dead in the eye. “I recommend you keep this in your drawer from now on.”

  Nikki laughed and kissed her thoroughly for the rescue. “My hero!” Then she was off the bed in a flash, heading for the bathroom. Jamie just shook her head and started cleaning up her tools.

  THE FIRST STOP for Kelsey and her best friends after leaving the restaurant was a little gentleman’s bar just off Main Street. While “On the Rocks” had classic hardwood booths and tabletops with brass fixtures, it wasn’t your typical gentleman’s bar. The Rocks’ clientele leaned heavily toward older gay men and the jukebox was usually loaded up with show tunes at any given time of the night. Kelsey sang along to “Hello Dolly” and drank chocolate covered cherry martinis until the craziness of her week slipped away. She was excited to go to the club until Tam let it slip that their friend Jenn was meeting them there. She let the information fall away, but when they were halfway through the three block walk to Culture, Tam brought it up again. Kelsey figuratively and literally put on the brakes. “No way!”