Rules of the Road

by K. Aten

  “Hey.” Jamie grabbed her wrist and before she could respond the blonde pulled her into the bathroom. “What’s wrong?”

  Kelsey sighed and wouldn’t meet the eyes that were so close to hers. Actually, everything was too close, Jamie was too close. “It’s nothing.”

  “Bullshit! We promised no lies to each other.” Jamie tilted her friend’s chin up so she could stare into her green eyes. They seemed more watery than normal. “Hey, whatever it is will be okay. Is this about your abuela?”

  Kelsey sniffed and nodded because some of it was about her abuela. She had come to Texas expecting to say goodbye and was relieved to find that was not the case. But because of all that worry and pent up anxiety her emotions were running higher than she liked. It also meant she didn’t know how to stay so close to Jamie for the next few days while feeling like she did. When Jamie pulled her into an embrace, the first tear fell. “It’s some of it. I guess finding out that she’s going to be okay has just made me overly emotional.”

  Jamie nodded and continued to rub Kelsey’s back. “And why did the whole thing with the room bother you so much? We’re two adults here. I’m sure we can share a room with no problems.” Kelsey stepped back and looked at her, trying to find any hidden meaning in her friend’s words. Their gaze met and stuck, acknowledging and absorbing the full weight of their attraction for each other. Kelsey looked away first and Jamie spoke again. “I’m not going to lie and pretend that I’m not attracted to you because I very much am. But you’re my best friend, Kels, and I’d never want to jeopardize that.” Kelsey turned back to her and for a split second, Jamie saw it. Though it was just a flicker, it was like an echo of how she herself felt deep inside. She wondered briefly if Kelsey’s feelings truly matched her own.

  “Really, James?” Kelsey purposely and stubbornly shut down those deeper feelings, knowing she wouldn’t make it through their stay otherwise. But much to her dismay, that only allowed space for all the heat and chemistry rise up between them full force. They stood very close in the bathroom and Kelsey couldn’t help glancing at Jamie’s full bottom lip. “They’ve put us in the small spare room. The room that has a twin bed and no floor space to speak of. You still think it’s a good idea?”

  “I uh—” She watched the way Kelsey was staring at her and she licked her lips in anticipation, of what she didn’t know.

  But Kelsey did know. She could no longer fight the attraction to Jamie and pulled the blonde toward her, into something that started slow and tender. But the fire was not to be denied and the kiss quickly flamed hard and hot. Many times she had wondered how the other woman kissed while sober and she had finally found out. It was amazing, languid one second and fierce the next. Rather than pull away like common sense dictated, she pushed Jamie against the bathroom sink and stepped between her legs. Hands clutched sides as their bodies pressed tightly together. Jamie stiffened and whimpered into her mouth. Kelsey thought it was hot so she ground their pelvises even harder.

  Jamie wrenched her mouth away and pushed on Kelsey’s chest. Kelsey felt rejected for just a second until her friend responded through clenched teeth. “Bladder. I told you I had to pee.”

  “Oh.” Kelsey stepped back and gave Jamie a dimpled smile. “Sorry. I should just, um.” She stepped toward the door and opened it. “I’ll just go get our bags and meet you back here.”

  Kelsey left and Jamie shut the door right behind her. Rather than rushing to use the toilet she leaned against the door to catch her breath. Her heart hammered in response to Kelsey’s kisses and she was no longer sure she would survive the visit. Kelsey had made it quite clear that she just wanted to be friends with Jamie and Jamie could live with that. But what she couldn’t live with was if Kelsey wanted to become friends with benefits. She couldn’t bear it if her best friend and woman she had totally fallen for wasn’t interested in anything but sex. The irony of life wasn’t lost on Jamie, but she could not change the way she felt. She left the bathroom a few minutes later and went off to find Kelsey and the spare bedroom they’d be staying in. When she walked around a corner near the front of the house she nearly bowled over Kelsey’s mother. The redhead put a hand to her chest as her eyes got wide. “Jaysis, you put the heart crossway in me. I didn't see you there at all!”

  “Oh, sorry Mrs—”

  Kaitlyn held up a hand to stop her. “You can call me mama, just like our Kelsey. You’re part of the family now.”

  Jamie’s eyebrow went up but she held her tongue. Far be it for her to rain on Kaitlyn’s parade. “Yes, ma’am.” She searched the older woman’s face to see if her response was allowed and found that apparently it was. “I was just looking for the spare bedroom. Kelsey said she’d take our bags up.”

  “Come along then, I was just getting ready to go to the store.” Kaitlyn walked Jamie right up to the door of the room. When she opened it and stepped inside, she turned back to look at the redhead. Kaitlyn gave her a dimpled smile that was just like her daughter’s and Jamie smiled back then shut and locked the door. She leaned against it and let out a sigh of relief then looked around. Kelsey was standing near an old-fashioned sewing machine, hanging clothes in a tiny closet. The room was stuffed full of furniture with the twin bed, an armchair, and a cedar chest. There was barely enough room to walk, let alone sleep on the floor. Kelsey finished with her shirts as Jamie approached to hang her own things. They made to scoot by each other but never quite achieved the switch in places. They stopped front to front and Kelsey carefully and deliberately took the shirt from Jamie’s hand and tossed it onto the armchair. Then she ran a finger down the button placard of Jamie’s shirt. They both watched the finger’s progression as their breathing increased.

  “This is probably a bad idea.”

  Jamie nodded. “The worst.” She swallowed hard when Kelsey’s other hand joined the first. “What are you doing, Kels?”

  Kelsey parted her lips and stared into Jamie’s brown eyes. Her gaze moved down to the blonde’s lips and then took in the line of her jaw. “I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about that night. I know we were both drunk but I keep remembering how you felt, how I felt.” She stepped closer to Jamie and began unbuttoning her shirt.

  “But, your family—”

  Kelsey put a single finger across her lips. “Shh. Mama was going to the store and the rest won’t bother us.” She slowly worked her way down the buttons. “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll stop. I’ll stop and never bring it up again.” She made it down to mid chest and paused before she lifted her green eyes to meet Jamie’s gaze. “Do you want me to stop, James?”

  Jamie took stock of her emotions and desires. She had never met someone she wanted so much. But it was more than just sex and she didn’t know how to tell Kelsey that. Instead of trying to speak the words that never managed to work past her lips she decided to show her. “No, I don’t.” Her voice was a whisper but that was all Kelsey needed. She finished unbuttoning Jamie’s shirt and pushed it down off her arms to the floor below. Before Jamie could lift her hands in response, Kelsey pushed the blonde down onto her back on the bed. Then she removed her own shirt and knelt onto the small space between Jamie’s knees.

  Jamie was in khakis and her bra while Kelsey was dressed similar in a pair of Capri pants. As she leaned over Jamie’s body her hands drew a line up both sides of her. Though she was barely being touched, Jamie was so turned on it was almost painful. In her experience, not a lot of women took charge the way that Kelsey did. The woman just had a way about her. There was something so very raw and intoxicating about Kelsey’s touch that it spiraled her out of control. Jamie reached up to pull Kelsey to her and her hands were pushed down and held tight against the bed on either side of her head.

  “Nuh uh, you got to touch me that night but I never got to touch you. It’s my turn now.” And she did touch her. First it was with her lips. She kissed her way up Jamie’s stomach, white and flat and so very different from her own. Her lips grazed the edges of Jamie’s bra and
worked even higher to the prone woman’s neck. Eventually she was forced to let go of Jamie’s hands and settle her weight onto Jamie’s hips. With palms cupping each side of Jamie’s face, she traced the blonde’s lips with her thumbs then moved down to replace those thumbs with her own lips.

  Meanwhile Jamie was left clutching at Kelsey’s hips as the kiss went deeper and their bodies moved together in a sinus rhythm. Before Jamie could register that Kelsey’s hands had moved, she felt one of those hands snake around behind her as her bra was undone. She pulled her lips away from Kelsey’s with a smile. “Impressive!” She assisted by lifting slightly when Kelsey removed her bra, then she did the same in return. At the first touch of their bare chests both women moaned into their kiss. Jamie arched her back when Kelsey’s hands came up and rolled her nipples between forefinger and thumb. She also could not help thrusting her hips upward into the woman seated on her pelvis. Kelsey released her lips and slowly moved down Jamie’s body, first taking her time with one breast, then moving on to the other. Jamie thought she was going to explode. She needed more. She whispered urgently. “Kelsey, please!”

  Kelsey continued to work her way south, eventually pushing the blonde’s legs apart and kneeling between them. She unbuttoned Jamie’s pants and moved to the side long enough to completely undress her. Then she stared down at her friend’s body, taking in the line of dark hair between her legs, her small breasts, and heaving chest. She met Jamie’s eyes and gave the blonde a dimpled grin. “I’ve dreamed of this.”

  Though she was already more turned on than she’d ever been, the dimple threatened to push her over the edge and she couldn’t wait any more. “Please, Kelsey. I need you.”

  “You need someone to touch you?” Kelsey smirked and played with her just a little, not expecting the response Jamie gave her.

  Jamie met her eyes. “No, I need you. Only you.” Kelsey’s heart skipped a little beat at her friend’s words but she didn’t let it deter her from her goal. The first touch of Kelsey’s mouth was overwhelming for Jamie. The blonde cried out quietly and quickly muffled her voice with a nearby pillow. Her free hand clutched the bedspread below her as Kelsey ran her tongue the entire length of Jamie’s hot flesh.

  The woman below her was so wet that Kelsey just couldn’t get enough. She wanted to take her time and go slow but she could tell that Jamie was set to go off like a rocket at any time. Kelsey introduced one finger and then another, pumping into her slowly at first, then gradually picking up the pace as she lapped at the flesh offered to her. Jamie gave her wild eyes and started moaning into the pillow. Sensing she wanted more, Kelsey inserted another finger and curled them upward while keeping her thrusts steady. She knew that Jamie had reached the end when a muffled keening came from beneath the pillow and the blonde tightened around her fingers. She changed her technique from a long and wide lick to something that swirled around Jamie’s hard clit. When Jamie arched her back off the bed and screamed, having completely gone over the edge, Kelsey pushed her higher by sucking while she swirled her tongue around the little nub. Jamie screamed again into the pillow and suddenly went limp. Kelsey waited a few seconds and called out to her with trepidation. “James? Are you going to make it?” Even though Jamie’s chest was heaving, she was completely unresponsive under the pillow so Kelsey moved up her friend’s body and tossed the pillow off her. She patted Jamie’s cheek until the other woman started to come around. “Hey, come on sweetie, open those eyes for me.”

  “Kelsey? Oh God, that was—” She couldn’t finish her statement because an aftershock rolled through her. When she could open her eyes again she saw Kelsey smirking above her. It was in that moment that everything clicked into place. She had the words and she was ready to use them. “Kelsey, I lo—” She was interrupted by a knock at the door.

  “Kelthey? Jamie? Tía thays to wake you from your nap and tell you to come down sthtairs. Thee altho thad to tell you that if you break her bed while yer nappin’ that you’d hafta buy a new bed.” Another knock. “Are you guyth awake?”

  Kelsey wondered what Jamie had been about to say but her curiosity took a back seat to the way she was throbbing with unspent energy. It was just cruel fate that left her wanting so much with Jamie’s hot and satiated body below hers. She called out to Carlos. “We’re awake. Tell Mama that we’ll be down in a few minutes.” When she was certain that her little cousin had left the upstairs, she turned back to Jamie. “I’m so turned on that I don’t think I can walk yet.”

  “I’m certainly not going to leave you that way.” Jamie quickly flipped them around and sat above Kelsey much the same way she had been doing to Jamie earlier.

  Kelsey put a hand out to stop the ones that were unbuttoning her Capris. “James, it’ll never happen. I’m sorry.”

  Jamie gave her a decidedly naughty smile. “You’ve mentioned before that it is really hard to get you off. However, I have not found that to be the case.” She quickly removed Kelsey’s pants and got right down to business. Before Kelsey could stop her and insist that it wasn’t necessary, she could feel herself tightening to the blonde’s ministrations. She lifted her hips in time with Jamie’s thrusting as the blonde’s tongue took her higher and higher. Two minutes later she was completely spent. It was ridiculously fast and she almost felt embarrassed for it. Looking at things objectively, Kelsey had to admit that it was the fastest she’d ever gotten off, even just by herself. A few minutes later they pulled themselves from the bed, got cleaned up, and redressed. Before walking out the door of the bedroom, Jamie brushed the sweetest kiss across Kelsey’s lips. Not for the first time, Kelsey wondered why she always had such a strong response with Jamie.

  As the evening wore on, Jamie was introduced to all the cousins as well as Manny’s brothers and only sister. It was his youngest sister Rosalyn and her family that was staying at the house with them. Rosalyn was the baby of the Ramirez siblings which was why her own kids, Carlos and Rosa, were the youngest of all the grandkids. And Kelsey was happy to introduce Jamie to all the other grandkids too, her cousins, except for one.

  Kelsey’s cousin Veronica arrived late, per her usual. She was the one female cousin who worked at her dad’s shop. Breaking all the stereotypes, she was also one of the best mechanics that he had. She was cocky, openly gay, and not too picky about who she hit on. Every summer Kelsey would go down to Texas for a month when she was a kid, to spend some time with her grandparents and cousins. Maybe it was because they were both girls and near the same age, but there had always been a major rivalry between the two women. Staring across the small bit of watered lawn, Kelsey felt a little ball of jealousy grow out of control as she watched Veevee’s eyes roam all across Jamie’s body and finally settle on her face. “So this is the friend that tía Kait says came down with you.” She made no secret of her interest in the attractive blonde.

  Kelsey looked at Jamie and waved her hand vaguely toward her younger cousin. “James, this is my cousin Veronica, or Veevee as we call her.” She turned back to Veevee and looped her arm through Jamie’s. “And Veevee, this is my—” She paused and took one last glance at her cousin’s leering gaze before finishing her introduction. “My girlfriend, Jamie.”

  Jamie’s startled eyes met hers seconds before Veevee came around her and looped onto her other arm. “Oh, well done, Kels. This one is muy caliente!” Jamie had no idea what had just happened but she had a feeling it was going to be trouble before the night was through.

  Chapter Seventeen

  JAMIE FOLLOWED KELSEY around the party and Veevee was never far behind. Drinks were pressed into Jamie’s hand at regular intervals, most of which were glasses of some punch that Kelsey’s aunt Rosalyn had concocted. It was tasty but deceptively strong. After a vicious round of croquet, Veevee suggested they do shots. Jamie didn’t really want to do the shots but she also didn’t want to be a drag for what had turned into a reunion of sorts between Kelsey and her family. As a lot of the older cousins made their way into the house to find the tequila, Kelse
y held back and pulled Jamie to a stop. “You don’t have to do the shot if you don’t want to.”

  Jamie shrugged. “It’s okay, one shot of nasty tequila won’t kill me.”

  “Plus it’s the good stuff and won’t make you lose time!” They both laughed remembering Jamie’s tequila at home. Then their eyes met and Jamie’s mouth opened to ask about the girlfriend declaration only to be interrupted by Veevee.

  “There you two are! I went ahead and poured you both shots. Come over to the veranda with us.” Of course, Veevee wasn’t going to let Jamie out of her sight. She had a feeling that the more the blonde drank, the easier it would be to have some fun with her.

  Of all Kelsey’s Texas cousins, the only ones joining them for shots were the ones without kids or a lot of responsibility. And of course, were of age to drink because Kelsey’s mama would not tolerate breaking the law. The group on the veranda with Kelsey and Jamie were all male with the exception of Veevee, and covered a wide range of looks and body types. The oldest was Antonio, Veevee’s brother. He was nearly forty and still a bachelor, much to his mama and papa’s displeasure. Tall and strapping, with his uncle Manny’s deep voice, he never lacked for female attention, which was why he refused to settle down. The four guys ranged in age from thirty-nine down to twenty-five. Appropriately, Kelsey’s dad was the middle child of five, and Kelsey was near the middle in age of all her cousins, if you didn’t count Rosalyn’s little ones who were significantly younger than the rest.