Head Over Wheels Read online

  Mindy laughed. “I know! It’s been, like, three years.”

  Rashee snorted and waved a hand at her. “It hasn’t been that long.”

  “Of course not. I’m just joking.” Mindy had been on a few dates since she and her ex, Hannah, had split two years before. None of them had amounted to much, but this one was going to go better. She could just feel it.

  If nothing else, she knew she and Shayna had something in common: roller derby.

  “So what are you wearing?”

  Mindy shrugged. “She wouldn’t tell me what we’re doing, so I figured, jeans and a nice shirt. It’s too cold to wear a dress, and I want it to be practical in case we’re walking a lot.”

  Rashee stared at her as though she’d grown a second head. “Jeans? It’s Halloween, Mindy.”

  Mindy looked back at her. “You think I should wear a costume?”

  “Of course. Why do you think she asked you out on Halloween? If she’s like most people, she has to go to work in the morning, so she would have picked a weekend if she didn’t want to do something special.”

  Mindy frowned. Shayna had told her specifically to remember that it was Halloween. “You’re probably right. But why wouldn’t she just tell me to wear a costume, if she wanted me to?”

  Rashee shrugged. “Maybe she thought it was obvious. If I was doing something for Halloween, I would think wearing a costume was obvious.” She straightened up and turned back to her computer. “But anyway, I have to get back to work, and you have to get going. Shoo.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mindy said, laughing. She finished shutting down her computer and scurried out the door.

  Half an hour later, she was in her apartment, frantically going through her closet for anything she could put together as a costume. She just wasn’t a costume person—she preferred her everyday clothing to be easy and functional, which was why she wore jeans and either a tank top or a long-sleeved T-shirt (depending on the weather) to ArriveSpace every day. Since she was a freelance graphic designer and only had a Skype meeting with clients once a month at the outside, it didn’t matter what she looked like; no one who cared saw her, except…

  During roller derby.

  Her shirt and vest for derby would work as a costume, right? She wore shorts and fishnets on her legs when skating, because pants were generally pretty impractical, but it was basically a costume already. She wouldn’t look much like David Bowie, the Thin White Duke himself—there was absolutely nothing she could do at short notice about her long, curly dark hair, and she wouldn’t want to—but it still qualified.

  If only she had time for some Bowie-style makeup. The white shirt, black vest, and black dress pants would have to do.

  After shoving her feet into a pair of sneakers—she still wanted to make sure she was dressed practically enough for whatever Shayna had in mind—she tore out the door, purse in hand. It was a chilly night, but she had a scarf in her purse, and she usually ran pretty warm. As long as Shayna didn’t have them wandering around outdoors, she would be fine.

  She almost missed her bus, but running for it warmed her up pretty quickly. None of the other passengers seemed to be ready for Halloween—a little old lady frowned at her, possibly because she was dressed in men’s clothing—but she ignored them all, just getting ready to leap out and rush for the subway the moment she could.

  She actually did miss the first train, and she sank down on the bench to wait, taking deep breaths. The subway station was pretty empty; everyone else who was going downtown to celebrate Halloween must be already there.

  The next train was an express—so luck was with her after all. She got on in the middle of it and sat by the door as it whined and rattled to the next station.

  People arriving on the train were dressed more like she’d expected to see tonight: wild makeup, wild hair, wild costumes. There was a woman in a long black Elvira dress, and a man in a similar dress, but with leopard-print fabric. Two teenagers dressed like the villains from a kids’ anime show sat across from her, chatting and sharing a bag of candy. An older black woman dressed in all pink, with a feather boa thrown around her neck, kept changing seats.

  The train seemed to take forever to get to Walnut and Locust, but they did arrive eventually. Almost everyone seemed to be getting off here; Mindy resigned herself to moving with the crowd. She had no idea how she was going to find Shayna in this crush. She wished Shayna had been a little more specific on where to meet—or that they had each other’s phone numbers.

  As it turned out, though, Shayna found her. Mindy heard her name shouted and turned to see a small hand waving above the crowd. She pushed toward the crowd, and sure enough, there was Shayna, grinning and waving to her. She was so short that Mindy hadn’t been able to see her through the crowd; on skates, their difference in heights must have been less obvious, because Mindy was only noticing now that Shayna barely reached her chin.

  “I thought you were standing me up,” Shayna shouted over the crowd.

  “I would never,” Mindy shouted back. “Sorry if I’m late. I almost forgot my costume.”

  Shayna looked her up and down and snorted. “You call that a costume?”

  “I’m the Thin White Duke. What about you?”

  Shayna was dressed all in black, with a heavy silver ankh necklace hanging over her generous breasts. Her eyes were made up with heavy black eyeliner that spiraled out at the corners. Even her lipstick was black, and her usually sleek brown hair was teased and curled in a mass around her head. It didn’t look anything like her usual wholesome, elegant, almost rockabilly style.

  Shayna winked. “I’m Death.”

  “Oh! Neil Gaiman’s Death?”

  “Of course!” Shayna’s grin grew wider. “I thought you were going to say you’d never heard of it. I figured anyone who knew it would recognize the costume right away.”

  “It’s been a long time since I read it, but I read a lot of comics. Or I used to, when I had time to read. I’m a graphic designer, so comics are good research.”

  “Oh, that sounds cool. You’ll have to tell me all about it, but later.” Shayna grabbed Mindy’s hand.

  The touch made Mindy tingle all over, but she wasn’t about to go after Shayna when she still hadn’t told her what the plans were. “Where are we going?”

  “Well, that depends. Do you still like surprises?”

  Mindy couldn’t help grinning. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Then just follow me.” Shayna, still holding onto Mindy’s hand, started to snake her way through the crowd. Mindy stayed hot on her heels, unwilling to let Shayna out of her sight—or let the crowd break their grip on each other.

  People seemed to be moving in every direction, but once they got past the street corner, the crowd thinned out a bit. Mindy hadn’t paid attention to which way they were going, and she couldn’t see the street signs, so she had no idea where they were now. Still, she was happy to stick with Shayna.

  They ended up at a club she wasn’t familiar with, a small one that didn’t have a line out front. Shayna paid for both of them and dragged Mindy inside.

  The song playing was “The Monster Mash”; everywhere Mindy looked, she saw people in costumes, from the macabre zombie to the cheery fairy princess, the elaborate mermaid to the simple, traditional sheet-ghost. “You like to dance, right?” Shayna shouted in Mindy’s ear.

  Mindy laughed. “Well, of course I do, but what is this? Some kind of nineties throwback Halloween party?”

  “Pretty much,” Shayna said, grinning. “Isn’t it cool?”

  Mindy’s expression must have betrayed how uncool she thought it was, because Shayna grabbed her other hand so they had to face each other. “Just give it a chance. If you hate it, we can go do something else.”

  “I don’t hate it,” Mindy protested. “It just seems a little cheesy.”

  “But that’s half the fun! Come on, let’s dance, or we can go to the bar and get some food. I hear they have eyeballs and brains.”

  “Wh
at, peeled grapes and spaghetti?”

  “Of course! Come on.”

  Mindy hadn’t been about to say no. It wasn’t really her style, but she was certainly ready to give it a chance, if only because it meant spending time with Shayna. But the huge grin on Shayna’s face, the bright pink in her cheeks, told her that this was completely Shayna’s thing.

  She decided right then that she was going to have fun at this cheesy Halloween club, if she had to force herself to do it.

  “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s dance!” She pulled Shayna toward the dance floor, and, laughing, Shayna jogged alongside her until they found a spot. Mindy couldn’t quite figure out how to dance to the Monster Mash, but luckily, that was over—the song changed to something much more recent that was easier to dance to.

  It wasn’t the sort of dance where you held your partner tight and ground together, but that was okay, because Mindy was no good at all at that kind of dance. What she was good at was bopping in place, flinging her arms up in the air, and generally enjoying the beat.

  She was also, as she learned, pretty good at watching Shayna dance. Shayna was getting into it just as much as Mindy was, shaking her whole body. Her lower half was all muscle, barely jiggling at all, but her breasts bounced and swayed with the beat, sending a rush of heat between Mindy’s legs.

  They danced through the next two songs, until Mindy was so sweaty that her shirt was sticking to her, but she was still having fun. There were a lot of hot girls at the club, but she was pretty sure she was already dancing with the hottest one.

  Finally, Shayna said, “I’m thirsty. Let’s go get something, okay?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Mindy said, and followed her to the bar.

  It had been done up in high cheesy style, too; it covered an entire wall, and the whole length of it had been draped in black fabric, with black ribbon swags over the front. On the wall behind the bar, above the bottles, were red and purple neon signs advertising the various specials of the night—the brains and eyeballs Shayna had mentioned, as well as “monster cookies,” “blood for the vampires (type AB-positive and O-negative),” deviled eggs, and “Sanderson sisters soda.”

  Shayna hopped up onto a stool and leaned over the bar. Her cleavage quickly drew a butch bartender dressed as Frankenstein’s monster. “Can my friend and I each get a soda?” she said. “What’s in the blood?”

  “Sure thing,” the bartender said as Mindy sat down on the stool next to Shayna. “The AB-positive is beer with a Fireball jello shot, and the O-negative is just beer.”

  “Is there any real food?” Mindy asked.

  “Just what’s on the menu,” the bartender said, giving her a less-than-friendly look as she turned away to pour the sodas.

  “Hungry?” Shayna asked.

  “Yeah.” Mindy tried and failed to remember the last thing she’d had to eat. She usually kept snacks in the pantry and fridge at ArriveSpace—had she eaten any of her pretzels or yogurts today? She’d kind of been in the zone.

  “Well, get whatever you want,” Shayna said. “It’s on me tonight.” She pointed out another sign that listed what Mindy hoped were more substantial burgers with cutesy names.

  “Are you sure?” Mindy said, raising her eyebrows and reaching for her soda. “I have the metabolism of a teenage boy, you know.”

  “If you eat me out of house and home, I just won’t see you again,” Shayna deadpanned.

  “Ouch. I’ll be careful. Can I have a Munsters Burger, please?”

  “There’s cheese on that,” the bartender said, her voice flat.

  “Yeah, I figured. Thanks.” Mindy took a long drink of her soda, relieved at how cool and sweet it felt on her parched throat.

  “Not exactly kosher,” Shayna teased.

  Mindy shrugged. “I only eat kosher around Bubbe, to remind her that we’re not complete screw-ups.”

  “I’m kidding. I don’t go out of my way to eat kosher, either. I guess I wouldn’t have taken you to a place like this if I cared.”

  Mindy sipped her soda and grinned at Shayna, her heart beating hard. “Maybe next time I’ll take you to a nice Jewish deli and feed you the best kosher food.”

  Shayna raised her eyebrows. Her lips were pinched together, as though she were trying to keep from either frowning or smiling. “Next time? Making a lot of assumptions there.”

  “I prefer to expect the best in my life, and seeing you again would definitely be the best thing to happen to me.”

  When the bartender returned with Mindy’s burger, Shayna ordered a cookie and some eyeballs. The eyeballs were immediately delivered in a bowl, and Shayna popped one of the peeled grapes into her mouth. “How do you know you even want to see me again? We’ve hardly talked.”

  “Well, besides the obvious reasons I want to keep looking at you,” Mindy said with a pointed glance toward Shayna’s chest, “you’re clearly the type of person I want to get to know better. You insisted on surprising me even when I kept asking what your plans were, and your idea of a surprise is to take me to a dance club. It might be a dance club that isn’t really my style, but it’s yours, and I can respect that.”

  “What if I tell you that going to a dance club is not my usual thing at all, and that I’m just pushing myself out of my comfort zone for the sake of Halloween and a cute girl?”

  Mindy felt herself blushing. Was she cute? “I’d say that if you’re willing to go to such lengths to push yourself out of your comfort zone, you’re definitely the kind of girl for me.” Shayna’s cookie finally arrived, and Mindy took the opportunity to chow down on her burger so they could both stop talking for a few minutes.

  “All right, I’ll agree to the second date, so we can talk and get to know each other a little better,” Shayna said. “But only if you promise not to actually take me to a Jewish deli.”

  Mindy snorted with laughter, delighted Shayna had already agreed to a second date. “Never. I’ll come up with something much better.”

  “Be warned, I have high standards, as you can see.” Shayna indicated the club with a sweep of her arm. “I’m really not sure you’ll be able to live up to them.”

  “No? Then why agree to a second date?”

  “I’m giving you a chance to subvert my expectations. If you can do that, then I’ll know you’re the kind of girl for me.”

  “I do like a challenge.” Mindy’s mind was already spinning with ideas for where to take Shayna on their next date—and when it should be. Did Shayna have an ordinary work schedule? Mindy had an around-the-clock work schedule, so it was hard to think of what was a good time of day for a date.

  She would just have to propose a time, and if Shayna didn’t like it, suggest an alternative. Or maybe she could actually ask Shayna what she did for a living. Imagine that.

  However, before she could say anything else, Shayna was bouncing, bopping in her seat to the song that was playing. Mindy quickly shoved the last of her fries down her throat, wiped her hands off on a napkin, and jumped off her stool. She held her hand out to Shayna. “Come on, let’s dance!”

  “Are you sure? You didn’t…” Shayna trailed off as she turned to look at Mindy’s plate, empty but for the pickle spear. “You really do have the metabolism of a teenage boy.”

  “Not anymore, alas,” Mindy said. “So I need to go dancing to burn off that burger.”

  Shayna laughed, took Mindy’s hand, and practically ran with her back to the dance floor. “Well, you have great timing. I love this song.”

  “I figured,” Mindy said, hanging onto her hand as they swung wildly in and out, flinging themselves to the beat. The others on the dance floor were all moving crazily around, so Mindy figured they weren’t going to stand out. If anything was going to make them stand out, actually, it was Mindy’s simple costume—not their dancing.

  “What? How did you know?”

  “You were dancing in your seat!”

  “I was?” Shayna’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think it was so obvious.”
r />   Mindy took advantage of a change in beat to pull Shayna close, pressing their bodies against each other. She whispered in Shayna’s ear, “If someone’s been staring at your chest all day, they notice. Your boobs were bouncing to the beat.”

  Shayna gasped, managing to turn it into a giggle, but that just pressed her tits harder against Mindy’s chest, enflaming her lust even further. She wasn’t usually one to sleep with a girl on a first date, but Shayna was testing that habit.

  Actually, who was she kidding? Of all the dates she’d been on since she and Hannah split, she’d only slept with half of them, and one or two of those had been on the first date. She didn’t have any habits, good or bad, to break. She was going to do what she liked with Shayna—always assuming, of course, that it was what Shayna liked, too.

  A new song came on, the beat switching to a slow one, and Shayna let go of Mindy’s hand. Mindy released her reluctantly, thinking that she was actually turned off by Mindy’s vulgarity, but Shayna lifted her arms and wrapped them around Mindy’s neck, molding her body to Mindy’s.

  Mindy licked suddenly dry lips and slid her arms around Shayna’s waist. She might be top-heavy, but she had the curves of a goddess, sliding smoothly from a slim waist to a padded ass. Mindy resisted the urge to squeeze that ass and find out just how padded it was. They were in public.

  “If you’ve been paying that much attention to my chest,” Shayna said, “I don’t think you’re just coveting my ankh.” She swayed in place, her hips pushing against Mindy’s thighs with each small movement.

  Mindy had to swallow before she could respond. “It’s not real silver anyway. What’s behind it is real.”

  “How do you know they’re not fake, too?”

  “I don’t care if they’re made of saline, silicone, or flesh,” Mindy said. “They’re part of you, and that makes them real enough for me.” More important, the way they were pressed against her, it was hard to think of anything else right now.

  “Mmm, give me all those sexy medical details,” Shayna cooed, pressing herself even closer against Mindy. “You know just how to get a girl hot.”