Kyle’s anger was palpable in his play. He flew into the round with reckless abandon, pummeling Regan’s buff chick with a series of punches, kicks, and fancy combinations. Still, Regan fought back, and it was only by one or two lucky moves that Kyle won the match.
Paul clapped Kyle on the back with a triumphant hoot, and the third dark-haired boy merely folded his arms and raised an expectant eyebrow at Regan.
Damn, Regan thought. I would’ve liked to end it in two rounds.
Kyle looked past Regan to Mel. “So do you think I can buy you a drink or something after our game? I really would like to get to know you better.”
Mel gave the boy a calm wink. “How about we just worry about the game for now, okay?”
Regan glowered at the confident grin on Kyle’s face, and narrowed her eyes at him when he turned it on her. Oh, yeah. Two rounds would have been ideal, but I’ll settle for three.
“Let’s finish this, Kyle.”
Kyle smirked at her words. “With pleasure.” He shot one last wink at Mel.
Mel let out a near-silent strangled whimper as she turned back to the screen where the third match was about to begin. Regan could feel her lover’s body shaking as she struggled not to break into guffaws.
Regan turned her attention back to the game, flexing her fingers in cold determination. Assholes. If someone’s going to treat Mel like a sex object, it’ll be me!
Regan came into round three with her figurative guns blazing, unleashing a series of punches and kicks that Kyle was unable to block to gain an early advantage. Kyle’s muscle-bound thug leapt up from his position on the ground into a powerful combo that likewise knocked her character flat on her ass. Regan grumbled and concentrated harder.
I know I can beat this moron. Come on!
Silent encouragement flowed from Mel in waves. Regan was aware of soft breasts pressing into her upper arm, reminding her of what was waiting for her back at their hotel room.
So what the hell am I doing here playing video games with a bunch of punk kids?
With a triumphant little cry, Regan executed a complex combination move that sent Kyle’s man flying and drained the rest of his life meter. Flashing text announced her as the winner amidst digital cheering, and Regan stepped back from the game wearing a very satisfied smile on her face.
“Holy shit, Kyle. She kicked your ass, man.”
“Good game,” the dark-haired guy offered, and Regan gave him a shy nod. “Come on, guys. Let’s stop bothering her and go find another game.”
Kyle turned cold eyes to Regan and she stared back with as steady a glare as she could muster.
“I’m playing like shit tonight,” Kyle stated.
“I thought that was supposed to go, ‘A girl kicked my ass and in the future I won’t be such a cocky asshole who’s so quick to make assumptions based on stupid, sexist stereotypes.’” Regan folded her arms over her chest and arched her eyebrow. “That’s all I wanted for my win.”
“Whatever,” Kyle said in a dismissive voice. “You’re not that shitty, for a girl.”
“Gee, thanks,” Regan said with a snort of disgust. That’s the best I’ll get out of him, I think. “So big of you to say it.”
Kyle dismissed her with a careless shrug. Looking at Mel, he managed to regain a confident smile. “So what do you say? Do you want to come have a drink with my friends and me?”
“I’m sorry, Kyle,” Mel said, though her voice was decidedly unapologetic. “But I’m going to be busy rewarding the winner.”
“Excuse me?”
The high-pitched incredulity of Paul’s voice wrenched an involuntary giggle from Regan. Her laughter stopped short when Mel stepped in front of her and raised a hand to caress her cheek. Regan leaned into the touch, looking straight into amused gray eyes.
“Wasn’t the deal that the winner gets sexual favors from me?”
The low timbre of Mel’s voice sent uncontrolled shivers down Regan’s spine. She blushed with pleasure at the way the three boys stood and gawped as if unable to believe what they were seeing. “Someone did mention something about that, yeah,” Regan said.
Mel traced her fingers down to the soft skin of her neck, slid them over her shoulder, then boldly grazed the side of her breast. She let her hand come to rest on Regan’s hip. Regan smiled, thoroughly enjoying the tease.
“And are you interested in collecting?” Mel murmured.
Regan ran appreciative eyes up and down Mel’s strong body. “Very interested, yes.”
Mel’s eyes flashed with suppressed laughter and unchecked arousal. “Good. Because I think you’re beautiful and I’d like nothing more than to take you back to my hotel room right now.”
“Let’s go,” Regan breathed, by this point oblivious to her surroundings.
“Maybe we’ll see you around sometime, boys,” Mel drawled, and grabbed Regan’s hand. She walked them toward the exit with purposeful strides, leaving Regan’s three foes with looks of shock, arousal, and blatant jealousy.
Regan glanced over her shoulder and tossed the young men a beaming grin. Okay, one last jibe. I earned it.
“Oh, you guys can have that game now,” she called out. “I’ve got something better to do.”
Chapter Seventeen
“So she didn’t turn out to be some kind of super-hot psychopath, right? You’re alive and well?”
“Alive and very well.” Regan glanced over at Mel, who was sitting in the passenger seat trying not to pay attention to her cell phone conversation. “While she is most certainly super-hot, she’s not a psychopath.”
Mel’s head snapped up at the comment and Regan winked at her.
“Okay,” Adam said. “I just thought I should check up on you, you know…do the whole big brother thing.”
Regan dissolved into a warm smile. I may not have a ton of friends, but the ones I do have are quality. “I know. I appreciate that you’re looking out for me. Really.”
“Yeah, well.” Adam’s voice was a little gruff, as if he were all of a sudden uncomfortable with the sensitive turn their conversation had taken. “I also wanted to ask if any illicit lesbian sex was had in my tent.”
Regan barked with laughter and blushed at the flash of memory from their night at the campground in St. Louis. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Mel’s lip twitched in quiet humor. The subject of their talk must have been clear from the redness of Regan’s face.
“I knew it,” Adam replied in a smug voice. “Somehow that makes me very happy.”
“Yeah, well…just keep that happiness to yourself, will you?”
Adam chuckled, then sighed. “I’m glad you’re having a good time, but I miss you. It sucks playing Halo without the other half of my two-solider army.”
“Did I tell you that Mel plays video games? She took me to Dave and Buster’s last night.”
“For real?” Adam sounded impressed. “Where the hell are the straight women who’ll take me to Dave and Buster’s?”
“I know. I’m lucky.” Regan met Mel’s eyes before turning the truck back to the road. Traffic was light and they were moving into increasingly desolate country.
“So am I going to get a thank you for dragging you to that bar now?” Adam asked.
Regan could hear a certain smug satisfaction in his voice, though she couldn’t even bring herself to care. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now I’ll let you get back to your hot lesbian stuff, and I’ll get back to my boring old code.”
“Have fun!” Regan teased. “I’ll call you when I get home.”
“You’d better,” he said. “And I want to meet Ms. Right again sometime, okay?”
“Of course,” Regan answered. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Since I hope to be spending a lot of time with her from now on.
After their goodbyes, Regan turned off her cell phone and slipped it back into the cup holder in the center console. “Adam was a little nervous about the idea of me running off to driv
e across the country with someone he barely knew.”
Mel cast her a quick smile. “I guess I can’t blame him. I’m glad you’ve got someone who cares about you like that.”
“Me, too.” Regan squinted up at the blue sky above them, watching fluffy white clouds through the front windshield. “He’s a good guy. Our friendship usually doesn’t go much deeper than talking code, lusting after women, and playing video games, but I know he loves me like a sister. And he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother.”
“Did you meet him on the job?”
“No, I knew him in college. He got me an interview with his company a couple years after we graduated and we’ve been working together since.” Regan looked over to Mel with tentative eyes. “He wants to get to know you better. I’d like that, too, if you’re up to it.”
“Of course I am. He’s an important part of your life.”
She’s willing to bridge the gap between lesbian and geek? Regan beamed out at the road, taking one hand off the steering wheel and resting it on Mel’s thigh. I really think this is going to work.
Mel entangled her fingers with Regan’s, pulling their hands toward her stomach. “So…” she said after a moment. “Last night. I didn’t embarrass you, did I? Or go too far? With those guys, I mean.”
“Are you kidding me?” Her smile became a full-fledged grin at the memory of the looks on those cocky young faces. “God, you don’t know how many times I would have killed for something like that to happen to me in high school.”
“I have to admit that I enjoyed it, too,” Mel said, giving her a mischievous smile. “I just wanted to make sure that it didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“Oh, yeah. I was so terribly uncomfortable that the woman they all wanted to take home ended up coming home with me.” Regan winked, squeezing Mel’s hand. “Last night was wonderful, Mel, all of it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Mel said. She beamed over at Regan. “It was selfish, though. I just love making you smile.”
“You’re good at it.” Regan leaned back in her seat a little, glancing around at the farmland that surrounded them. “Could you take a look at the map and try to get an idea of where we’re at?”
Mel let go of Regan’s hand to bend down and fish around under the seat, pulling out a state map of Kansas with a triumphant flourish. She unfolded it, and studied it for a moment, then said, “I think we’re about thirty miles past Hays, still a little way from Missouri. Maybe another five or six hours?”
Regan scanned green prairies, blue sky, and fluffy white clouds. “It’s pretty here, too. Not like Arizona and Utah, but really peaceful.”
“Yeah, it is.” Mel folded the map up, tucking it beside the seat. “When do you want to stop for lunch?”
Regan remembered the cooler sitting in the bed of her truck. “Right now?”
Mel made a show of looking around at the abundant farms, fields, and trees, and nary a restaurant in sight. “If you say so. I’m not sure we’re going to have many choices, though.”
“We’ve still got some turkey and tomato, right? And those flatbread wraps?”
“Yeah.” Mel reached over and fingered a lock of Regan’s hair. “Thinking about a picnic?”
“Thinking about it. We can look around for something a little secluded and take a break from driving.”
Mel released a blissful moan. “After eight hours in this truck today, the idea of a late picnic under a tree with my baby is extraordinarily appealing.”
“Great minds…”
Regan turned her truck down the dirt road, driving them only a half a mile before they found a large oak tree surrounded by an endless field of green. She parked, and was pushing open the door and walking to the back before Mel could say another word.
Mel joined her at the tailgate in time to carry the heavy cooler.
“I love that you’re always prepared for these things,” she said.
“You never know when there’ll be an emergency picnic.” Regan walked to the impressive tree and spread out her picnic blanket in the shade. The massive trunk completely screened them from the road.
Mel deposited the cooler onto the blanket next to Regan and plopped down next to her to sit with her legs crossed. “Perfect spot.” She batted her eyelashes innocently. “Are you going to make me a sandwich?”
Regan snorted. “How could I refuse a sweet face like that?”
“You can’t.” Mel lay back on the blanket, lacing her hands behind her head and staring up at the branch-filtered sky above them. “Remember that, okay?”
“Okay.” Regan rubbed her palm over Mel’s belly, then reached over to flip open the cooler. She pulled out the flatbread wraps from the top, grabbing the package of turkey and a plastic bag of tomato slices from on ice beneath it. “Mustard or mayo?”
Mel rolled over on her side, propping her head up on her hand. “Mustard. I’m not so sure about mayo in general. It’s a little freaky.”
“My kind of woman,” Regan said. She upturned a small bottle of mustard and applied a generous amount to each sandwich.
For a few moments, Mel watched Regan’s sandwich-making with distant eyes, then she crawled over to rest her head against Regan’s thigh. Regan dropped her free hand to tangle in her lover’s dark hair. She could feel Mel’s mind racing beneath her fingers and wondered if she was as sad as Regan was that their trip was winding down.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Regan asked as she put the finishing touches on each sandwich.
Mel shook her head. “Nothing. Just hungry.”
“You’re in luck. I happen to have two turkey sandwiches right here.”
“Cool,” Mel sat up and quirked an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you want to eat anything?”
Regan snorted and handed Mel the plate in her hand. “You’re so clever.”
“That’s what they tell me.” Mel folded up her sandwich wrap and brought it to her mouth for a healthy bite. “Have you ever noticed how much better things taste when you’re eating outdoors?”
“Yeah, I have. I’ve always thought…isn’t that weird?”
Mel broke out into an evil smirk. “I wonder if that holds true for everything?”
Regan stopped her hand halfway to her mouth, jaw still open in readiness for her bite. Damn, I love this woman. “Please. The last thing I want is to get caught naked in a field by some Kansas farmer.”
“Who said anything about being naked? Just what were you thinking about? Pervert.” Mel polished off her sandwich, licking a stray drop of mustard off her thumb.
Regan gaped at Mel’s empty hands. “My God, woman, did you stop to breathe?”
“Job hazard. I’m used to eating fast because we always get interrupted at lunch, no matter how slow the day is.” Mel lay back on the blanket again, propping herself on an elbow. With a wistful sigh, she said, “I’m going to miss lunch with Hansen. Even despite the crap he always wanted us to eat… I’ll miss working with him.”
“So you’re really going to quit?” Regan wiped her hands on the blanket beside her thighs.
“Yeah, I am,” Mel said. “It’s time to do something new. I want to like what I’m doing every day.”
Regan gave Mel a sidelong glance, then stretched out beside her. Lacing her fingers behind her head, she stared at the clouds.
“But you know,” Mel continued, shifting gears. “The only thing I am sorry about is that I don’t have more to offer you right now.”
Regan turned her head so that she could stare at Mel. “Don’t ever say that again,” she said. At the almost imperceptible quivering of Mel’s lower lip, she gentled her tone. “Please, baby. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
“You’re right. That was insensitive.”
“I’ll live,” Regan said. “Try to remember that I love you. Okay?”
Mel took her hand. “I wish my uncle was still alive. I would’ve loved for him to meet you. He was a good guy. I’m not sure how he and my dad came from the same
place… They were as different as night and day, even if they were both cops.”
“When did he die?” Regan scooted closer to Mel, laying her head upon a strong shoulder.
“He had a heart attack about two years after I went to college.” Mel bent her face to kiss the top of Regan’s head, tightening her embrace. “It was one of the hardest things I’d ever gone through. He took me in when Dad kicked me out, no questions asked. I lived with him until I graduated high school, and I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t. I’ve seen too many kids on the streets—” Mel paused, and then cleared her throat. “I didn’t even go to his funeral because I was so scared of seeing my father. I’ve always regretted that.”
“He knew you loved him,” Regan said, filing another piece of Mel’s life story into place. ”Yes, he did. Even if I never knew how to tell him so.”
“Did he know about you being gay?”
“I didn’t tell him at first. He took me to the hospital—Dad broke two of my ribs that night—but he didn’t push me to explain what had actually happened.” Mel pulled Regan even closer. “The last couple of months at school were pretty rough, though. Rumors started spreading. I don’t know if it was Lauren, or Mike, or even my dad, but somehow it got around that I’d gotten kicked out of my house for being a dyke.”
“God,” Regan breathed. She had a painful flash of that very epithet—dyke—being hurled in her direction on so many days of her adolescence.
“It was pretty much social poisoning, you know? I lost a lot of friends, lost Lauren. One day a couple of guys in my class confronted me and I got into a fist fight.” Mel’s tense body relaxed when Regan’s fingers found her lower back. “I went home and just lost it, totally. All the pressure…I just exploded. I was busy trashing the room Uncle David had set up for me when he came home…God.”
“What happened?”
“I thought he would kick my sorry ass,” Mel said. “I think I wanted him to, even. Instead he just grabbed me and hugged me. He still didn’t push me to tell him what was going on, but it all kind of spilled out, you know? He told me to hang on for just a few more weeks, that everything would be so much better when I went to college.”
Infinite Loop Page 26