Page 42 of Misadventures And Ms. Demeanor

"But I haven't found where I belong yet," I countered, looking up at her through my lashes.

"You're never going tofindit. You need tomakeit. Make the place where you belong."

"Like build a house or something?"

"Did Velma hit you in the head after that one time in fifth grade?" Goldie asked, shaking her head in disappointment. "Rent an apartment, buy a house, build one. Whatever.Just come home."

Esther and Aunt Velmahad brought me some food while Goldie went off with JT to grab a bite themselves, then settle in their seats. I tried not to think about what Goldie had said, her words hitting pretty close to home. Had I been looking for a place I belonged all this time? Yes. Was I ever going to find it? Up until last week, I'd held out hope that I would. Now, I wasn't so sure. Now, Brazil sounded far away. Like if I went, I'd just long to be back in Montana. I'd never really felt this way before, doing everything I could to stay away from the state instead.

Why now? Why the sudden change? JT was certainly part of it, but we'd only known each other such a short time to say we'd have that white picket fence he wanted. But I'd slept with him, shared myself with him in ways I hadn't with anyone else before. And this road trip. God. I'd known it would be an adventure, but it had been insane. It made me realize thatlifewas insane, not just Aunt Velma. What you did when it got crazy was what mattered.

When things got crazy, I got myself a man. A hot, cranky, lust-filled man.

"Nervous?" Aunt Velma asked.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, but I don't want to let you two down."

"All we want is for you to try your best," Esther said, surprising me.

"You don't care that I might make a fool out of myself or the team?"

"This is roller derby, Daphne, you're supposed to make a fool out of yourself," Aunt Velma said. "Just kick some ass while you're doing it."

"Damn straight," added Esther. "Here." She held out a game jersey for me.

I held it up. It was a red and white striped t-shirt that looked like it would fit a twelve-year-old girl, but the fabric was stretchy. I turned it around to look at the back. "You've got to be kidding me," I ground out. "Sixty-nine?"

My number, sure enough, was sixty-nine. Both women grinned. And above the number was the name Silky.

"That's my roller derby name?"

"If the shoe fits," Esther said.

The women leftme so I could change into the full Roller Dolls uniform: the sixty-nine shirt, a red skirt just like the field hockey players wore with little red bike shorts beneath, red knee highs. I felt like a cross between a candy striper and a waitress at a fifties drive-in restaurant.

When JT saw me in the outfit, his eyes widened in surprise before narrowing. "Holy shit, Daphne." He took my hand and tugged me along—easy to do since I was back on wheels, trying different doors on the lower level of the facility until he found one that was not only unlocked, but opened on a room that was empty. It turned out to be a storage room for the concession stand supplies. He shut the door behind him and pushed the button on the knob to lock it.

He didn't waste a moment and kissed me, pressing me against the cinder block wall. "You're really tall in those skates," he said, coming up for air. His hands started roaming over me, finding places that made me pant for him.

"I've never done it in skates before," I whispered as he licked and kissed my neck. "Oh, thanks for the hickey, by the way."

He pulled back and stared at me. Grinned wickedly. "My pleasure."

I rolled my eyes.

"How are we going to do this?"

He lifted me up off the ground, my ankles going around his waist, but there was no way I was going to get key articles of clothing off with the skates on.

"Shit," he muttered. Lowering me to the ground, he spun me around. With the wheels, I had to put my hands on the wall to keep from spinning all the way back.

"I've never done it with someone in skates before either, but I'm willing to give it a whirl." His hands started to work the little bike shorts down my legs. When he grabbed my hips and pulled back, I heard the crinkling of a condom wrapper, and knew I was in for one hell of a whirl.

12

"There you two are!" Goldie called to us as we were working our way back to the ring to join the Roller Dolls. The stands were beginning to fill, music blared from the loudspeakers and an announcer was starting to amp up the crowd. It was time for the teams to warm up and skater introductions to be made. "Where have you been?" she asked, although the way she looked us both over, I had the distinct impression she knew.

"You have even less angst than before. What the hell is wrong with you?" Esther asked. In my roller skates, I was over a foot taller than she was.