The Mechanic Pt. 03

"I thought it was worth one more shot, just to see what would happen," she said vaguely.

"Sounds familiar."

"What do you mean?" Riley glanced up. Rowan was smiling.

"It's something Megan would say... has been saying... to me." She lifted her sunglasses and caught Riley's eyes.

She knew, Riley realised. She knew Riley had been talking to Megan. "Okay, fine. I met up with Megan. We chatted."

"I know."

"She told you?" She could have told Riley that too. It would have saved her this awkward moment.

"I figured it out and asked her. It was too much of a coincidence, you calling me a few days after we bumped into your friend with his drunken confessions. And I saw Meg pick up your phone number. The whole thing had her name written all over it."

Riley bit her lip uncomfortably. She didn't know what to say.

"You two are getting quite good at ganging up on me, aren't you?" Rowan winked and put her sunglasses back on. Clearly, she wasn't upset then.

"And when has that not worked out for the best for you? We have your best interests at heart," Riley countered.

Rowan laughed. "Okay Megan II... So she convinced you to call me?"

She really wasn't going to let this go then? She had to know the details. Riley reflected on what Megan had told her. It was true that Megan had convinced her, but it wasn't like Riley didn't want to. She'd been desperate to see Rowan, but had thought Rowan would not want this. Megan had rekindled her hope that she might. She decided to be honest about this.

"She convinced me I may have a shot at seeing you again... And that I deserved a chance. That was enough to convince me to call you."

Rowan didn't say anything for a while, leaving Riley to simmer in her nerves. What was Rowan thinking now?

"So? How do you feel about that?" Riley couldn't help but ask, after what felt like a lifetime of silence.

"Well... I'm here, ain't I?" Rowan draped her arm over Riley's body and gave her an awkward side hug, leaving her hand resting on Riley's waist. Riley put her hand on Rowan's and intertwined their fingers. Yes, she was here.

After another long pause, Rowan asked: "What else did she tell you?"

Either Megan hadn't told her much about their conversation at all, or Rowan was trying to corroborate her account. Riley saw no reason to lie. She didn't think there were many secrets between Megan and Rowan.

"She told me you had some bad experiences with relationships."

"She told you about Diana, didn't she?"

"She gave me a summary..." Riley was surprised by Rowan's openness. She had been quite secretive about anything personal in the past, often saying she may answer Riley's questions 'sometime'. Would she tell her more about Diana now? Riley still had so many questions about the business woman who had swept a younger, more impressionable Rowan off her feet and had held her attention for years.

"Ah yeah, it's such a long story... And certainly not one we need to ruin this moment with."

It didn't look like she'd be getting more than that. "Is she the reason you don't date?" Riley tried, although she already knew the answer. "Oh, you didn't date, I should say," she corrected.

Rowan laughed softly. "Ah, touché. I guess I am dating now, aren't I?"

Riley thought she was going to avoid the question, but she continued: "Yeah, since being with her, I guess I've just been disillusioned by the idea of romance and relationships. I really thought what her and I had meant something, you know. And for her to just throw it away like that. Or maybe she never took it serious to begin with..." She paused. "I don't ever want to do that to another person."

Touched by the personal nature of the statement, Riley turned to look at Rowan. She was still staring at the sky. Riley rolled onto her side so she could face her, resting her cheek on Rowan's stomach.

"What makes you think you will?"

Rowan sighed. "Because I can't give a girl love or affection I don't feel. It just wouldn't be real. It would be the same as what she did to me. In that case I think it's better to not start anything at all. And I just haven't felt anything beyond friendship or... you know, sheer horniness, until..." She suddenly stopped, before concluding: "... for a long time."

Riley's heart had stopped with Rowan's sentence. Until what?

It seemed Rowan wanted to move on quickly, glide over her misstep: "I nearly lost Megan like that too."

"What happened with Megan?" As much as Riley wanted to go back to that careless earlier comment, she was too curious about this to let this pass her by.

"She didn't tell you?"

"Not so much. She just said you guys were friends with benefits for a while."

Rowan chuckled. "Typical Megan: she'll talk about anything but herself... I met Megan again when I moved back to town. She was already working at Velvet then - that's the lesbian bar, she still works there. I knew her from back at uni but we'd lost touch. She was two years behind me at uni but we'd become friends. She spilt a drink on me in the student bar; I tried to get into her pants. She didn't realise she was gay or what I was trying to do, so we ended up being friends. You know how it goes."

Rowan smiled fondly. Riley had no idea how this went; she was from a completely different world, but she loved that Rowan was opening up to her.

"Anyway, when I did bump into her again she was out and proud. She actually had a Mohawk at the time; can you imagine? We got drunk that night after her shift and shared memories of uni days until the early hours of the morning. One thing led to another and we ended up going out for a while. She was the first person I was with after Diana. Meg and I were both in turbulent places in our lives and we were just having fun, blowing off some steam. That was a great time actually." She sighed reminiscently.

"Oi!" Riley said, feeling jealous now. "Snap out of it!" She poked Rowan's side, causing her to double up and squish Riley's head.

"Ah, okay, okay! It didn't last anyway. Things changed for Megan. She started to want things I couldn't give her. I didn't want anything serious. I didn't want to hurt her, but I could see her disappointment grow every time we were together. So we split up. Didn't see each other at all for a while. We had to, but it nearly broke our friendship..." Another sigh, a sad one this time. "That's when I realised... dating, relationships: it's just not for me."

Somehow, that wasn't the conclusion Riley had reached after all these confessions. "Yet, here you are...," she said, more to herself than to Rowan.

"Yet, here I am...," Rowan repeated pensively.

"Why?" Riley asked, after a pause in which both of them were deep in thought. As she'd asked it, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Why, what?" Rowan sounded like she was trying to buy time.

"Why are you here? Why did you say yes to going on a date with me?" Riley pressed on. There was no point backing down now. It was clearly a day for laying bare their most personal feelings.

"I guess I agreed with you and Megan that you deserved a chance..."

There was another long pause, in which Riley held her breath and willed Rowan to go on. This was promising.

"You took me by surprise: calling me, then showing up dressed like that, in that car, the music... You really pulled out all the stops, didn't you?"

"I tried to," Riley confessed. "Did it work?" She wasn't sure what she expected Rowan to say; to admit it had worked and to confess her undying love?

"It really meant a lot to me, what you did, playing that music for me..."

Riley felt her heart glow, despite the slightly evasive answer. She propped her head up, leaning on her elbow so she could look at Rowan when she asked:

"Then why did you take so long to see me again?"

Rowan sighed. It seemed she was reaching the limits of what she was willing to disclose. She didn't look at Riley when she replied: "I... had some things to work out. I still do... Things in my head..."

"Okay..." Riley didn't know what to say. These were positive things she was talking about, right? At least for Riley - things that had made her want to see Riley again?

Rowan flung her arm across her forehead as if she was trying to hide behind it. "Like I said, you surprised me. You have done, every time. I'm not usually such a big fan of surprises, but yours... I don't mind them, somehow..."

"You don't mind them? Oh, I am glad, that was exactly what I was aiming for," Riley teased, her insides jumping with glee.

Rowan laughed. "Okay, fine. I like them. Now enough with the questions!" She tickled Riley's side, who couldn't suppress a giggling fit. She hated that she was so ticklish; she loved that Rowan remembered.

"Enough about me. What about you?" Rowan asked, after Riley had calmed down. "When did you break up with your boyfriend?"

"What? How did you know that?" Had she mentioned Dan to Rowan? Why would she have done that?

"Oh, just something you said when we met, about not being a happy couple anymore."

"You remember a lot more than you like to let on, don't you?" Riley marvelled.

"I remember everything. About some people, anyway." Rowan winked and gave her a flirtatious grin. Riley couldn't fault herself for getting gooey all over again. How could a girl ever resist that?

"So? When was it?" Rowan urged.

"About six months ago... But we'd kind of grown apart before then." After all that Rowan had shared about herself, the least Riley could do was answer her questions in return.

"What happened?"

"I guess we weren't on the same page. We hadn't been for a while. He was gearing towards settling down: marriage, buy a house, kids..."

"And that wasn't what you were looking for?" Rowan's eyes were full of curiosity, and something else. Full of hope. Clearly, this was more up her alley.

"I thought it was...," Riley answered truthfully. "But when he asked me to marry him, I panicked."

Rowan nodded understandingly, as if to say she would have panicked too.

"I pictured us together: living the suburban life, with the children and the pets and the mortgage and I realised I wasn't ready for that. Or at least, I couldn't see myself doing that forever after with him... He was very understanding. I think he knew. He'd been waiting for me to get there with him. The proposal was sort of a last attempt, but I don't think he was surprised when I said no. He's such a sweet guy and the whole thing would have been perfect for any other girl..."

"But it wasn't for you." It wasn't a question. Riley still sometimes wondered why it hadn't been perfect for her, but she had no doubt she'd made the right decision. She shook her head.

"I realised I couldn't make him wait for me any longer. He needed to move on and find someone who wanted all those things. So we decided to go our separate ways. It was a bit of a shock to our friends; no one saw that coming."

"How long had you been together?"

"Almost five years."

Rowan whistled between her teeth. "That's a long time."

"Yeah... And there's all the expectations that come with being together that long. You start to be complacent and stop questioning things; stop wondering if you really are where you need to be in life." That sounded so philosophical. Riley smiled ruefully.

"I bet... Can't say that I've been there - I've never been with anyone that long," Rowan said pensively. Then she grinned cheekily and said: "Do I need to be worried I am just a rebound to you?"

Riley smiled at Rowan's attempt of lightening the mood. "Would you care?" She teased.

"Hmmm maybe... I have feelings, you know."

"Do you?"

"One or two..." Another wink. "Hey, you never did tell me how you felt about your first lesbian experience."

Riley sensed that this was something Rowan genuinely wanted to hear from her, just like she'd asked Riley's opinion on their date. She would have thought the confident woman would be more than happy just assuming that obviously she'd blown Riley out of the water with her skills in the bedroom. It was little surprises like these that made Riley more and more lost to the mechanic.

"Well... I'm here, ain't I?" Riley loved the rare opportunities when she could turn the tables.

Rowan laughed. "True. Back for more then?"

She lifted herself up suddenly and pulled Riley on top of her. Then her lips were on Riley's, her hands on her back, applying gentle yet determined pressure. Clearly, talking time was over. Riley knew she should stop but her body was responding strongly to Rowan's touch. Her temperature rose, radiating towards her lower body. How could it be wrong, if it felt this good?

Rowan prised her legs open slightly and pulled Riley firmly onto her thigh. Her hands moved to Riley's buttocks, while her kisses grew even more passionate. Riley's head was swimming. She shouldn't be doing this. She pressed herself into Rowan's thigh, squeezing it between her legs. Her hand moved to Rowan's chest and then under her shirt as if it had a life of its own. She stroked the thin fabric of Rowan's sports bra, feeling her nipple strain against the other side, eager to meet her touch. She should stop. Now. Stop. She fought to gain control over her senses, over her limbs.

"Stop!" She panted, breaking loose from Rowan lips and retreating her hand from her shirt.

Rowan looked at her in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't..."

Now that the impossible mission of interrupting their passionate embrace was accomplished, Riley felt her brain kick back into action. She slid off Rowan with great reluctance and settled down on her side next to the mechanic.

"Why not?" Rowan turned on her side too and faced her.

Riley couldn't stop her hand from reaching out to Rowan's flat belly, which was exposed now that her shirt had ridden up. She traced the outline of Rowan's abs and avoided Rowan's eyes when she said: "I don't trust myself around you."

Rowan chuckled. "I don't trust you around me either, but why should you?"

Riley didn't reply. She'd already said too much. Rowan leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. When Riley didn't respond, she kissed her again, this time letting her tongue slip into Riley's mouth again. Now, Riley stopped her and uttered in desperation: "Because you never sleep with the same girl twice!"

Rowan sighed. "Megan..." Then she muttered, as if speaking more to herself than to Riley: "It wouldn't be the first time you made me break one of my rules..." She seemed to respect Riley's reluctance, though; slightly increasing the distance between their bodies.

"What if you get bored of me?" Riley mumbled, feeling all her insecurities rush back at her. Rowan must have slept with hundreds of women, many probably much more beautiful and much more interesting than her.

Rowan looked at her kindly. "I doubt that... Besides, I have some ideas for keeping things interesting." She could never keep the sleazy grin off her face for very long. It made Riley smile, despite her shaky confidence.

"Like what?"

"Ah, wouldn't you like to know? Maybe I'll show you sometime." The 'sometime' had by now become a running joke between them, both of them teasingly firing it at the other to indicate a tantalising experience would be had at some point later in time - never quite making it clear if and when this would take place.

"Right now I should take you home, though. You're clearly getting a bit too frisky. And no groping me on the way home!"

Rowan was right. The sun had set and they had a fair ride ahead of them. So at that, they were off, back onto the bike and onto the road. Riley passed the ride back in a haze, replaying their conversation and reflecting on what all of it meant. She couldn't help but feel that there had been a change in Rowan. She had opened up a lot more and had even come close to admitting some personal feelings for their situation, for Riley.

Riley guided Rowan to her house, where they shared a final goodnight kiss. Riley had to stop herself from asking Rowan to come inside. Not yet. It was still too early. "Thank you for a lovely date," she said instead.

"You're up for the next one," was Rowan's reply, as always accompanied by a wink.

* * * * *

Riley had to admit she was in a bit of a state. She had been ever since her second date with Rowan. If she'd had a mad crush on the mechanic before, she was now hopelessly in love. And hopelessly in lust. There had been something about their conversation, about Rowan admitting that she was starting to question things - whatever those things were - that set Riley's whole being on fire. She couldn't stop thinking about Rowan: the way she'd looked at Riley, the things she'd said, the way she'd kissed her.

Riley knew the ball was in her court. She could initiate another date whenever she wanted. Rowan was expecting it. But it had only been three days now - three long, lonely days. Surely that was too soon? Despite her increased confidence that Rowan was receptive to dating her now, she still didn't want to go all needy on her. There was still a very real chance that that would chase Rowan away.

Therefore, she kept telling herself she had to be patient. If this was anyone else, she'd send them a quick message, just to let them know she was thinking about them. But Rowan didn't use her phone and still hadn't volunteered her number. Frustratingly, there was no light-weight way of getting in touch with her. It was all or nothing.

That didn't take away all the ways in which Riley got in touch with Rowan in her mind. And the ways in which she got in touch with herself when doing so. She felt like a teenager who had just discovered masturbation; she was horny all day long. She even had to rush into the bathroom at work a few times to relieve some of her tension when Rowan had popped into her mind again.

Deep in the sensible part of her mind, she knew there was a reason she was intent on not sleeping with Rowan yet, but she struggled more and more to remember that reason. Rowan had already shown that she was interested in seeing more of her. She'd even said she didn't think she'd get bored of her anytime soon. So why shouldn't Riley jump her bones?

Sure enough, Rowan's track record with sticking with girls wasn't great and 'Don't sleep with her' had been Megan's most pressing advice. That had to count for something, but honestly, Riley wasn't sure how long she could keep up this no sex thing with Rowan. Absence made the heart fonder, so much fonder. And certainly not only her heart.

It couldn't hurt to be prepared, Riley decided, for when the time came. She got behind her laptop to do some research. All she knew about lesbian sex was what she'd learnt from Rowan. She wanted to be good for Rowan, though, perhaps even surprise her with her knowledge and skills.

As expected, her search resulted in a lot of graphic material. Interested, Riley scrolled through some pictures and clicked on a few videos - this wasn't a bad way to learn stuff. She surprised herself by getting turned on watching two girls have oral sex in the 69 position. She was such a lesbian. Watching gay porn now? What was next?

She recalled Rowan eating her out on her sofa, and in her bed, and in the kitchen. The mechanic couldn't get enough of it. And she was so good at it, Riley remembered, as she slipped her hand into her trousers for the umpteenth time today. Especially compared to her ex Dan's clumsy attempts at pleasing her, Rowan's art had been exquisite; her tongue creating miracles like Michelangelo's paint brush. Riley chuckled to herself. That would make her pussy the Sistine Chapel. To Rowan it had certainly seemed like it was.

As Riley's fingers expertly made their way around her sex, she relived the moment where Rowan had pressed her into the kitchen counter, kneeling in front of her to 'have her breakfast'. She gently slid a finger inside her hot pussy and spread her wetness. She started gently rubbing the area around her clit, it being too sensitive to touch directly. She pictured Rowan now picking her up and laying her down on the breakfast bar in her kitchen, firmly prising her legs open and lowering her head between Riley's thighs.