Playing with the Both of Them (closed)

[st_fornicate]

Jimmy and Ryan had been best friends for as long as they could remember. They were next-door neighbors, classmates, compatriots, rebels. Closer than brothers, perhaps. When they were 11, Ryan got a drum kit for Christmas, and Jimmy got an electric guitar.

The music never stopped. They've been pushing the blues, electric southern hard fucking rock, as far as they can for as long as they've known the power of a 1-4-5 chord progression matched with an aggressive beat.

Now, Jimmy and Ryan are 21 years old, about to start their senior years in college. They have a crappy, dilapidated house near campus, and one room for rent. They've gotten calls from a couple of weird guys about the room, but, they were weird, so it didn't seem to want to work out. Then, this girl calls. She's a sophomore and can't stand her sorority-bitch roommates on campus in the dorms. She still has time to get out before the school charges her for it. She comes over to checks it out. She's not too thrilled at the prospect of living with two sloppy dudes, until she sees what's in the basement: the drum kit, the amplifiers, and guitars, all manner of gadgets and gizmos for recording...

She plays the bass. They jam, they gel, and she moves in...

They boys always said they would never let some girl come between them. They have no idea how much that is about to be tested...

Jimmy Mitchell

Jimmy Mitchell plays guitar. He's about 5'11", with a mess of long curly brown hair and deep brown eyes, a kind of brooding handsomeness about him. He's introspective and quiet, preferring to observe from the shadows in social situations. He smokes too much dope, too many cigarettes, and puts too many other mind-altering substances into his system. He's supposed to be a history major, but at this point could care less, he's much more interested in making music.


Ryan Conners

Ryan Conners plays drums. He's just over six feet, short spiked blond hair, well-built athletic body, a charming grin and very charismatic. He loves to drink and is often the life of any party he walks into, which means that he and Jimmy are a perfect pair. Ryan benefits from Jimmy's observations, and Jimmy benefits from Ryan's outgoing nature, and nothing could be more true than when it comes to women.

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa had never really fit in with the sorority girls, but she hadn't wanted to rock the boat her freshman year. She was a tall, voluptuous blonde who drew men's lust like honey draws flies, and that put her on the bad side of enough of the other girls, without her straying off the beaten track. The trouble was that she didn't really want to be another bubblehead Sigma Chi whose friends and boyfriends were chosen by a committee of Stepford-Wives-in-training.

She had been driving onto campus when she realized that the reason she had been sleeping badly all summer was because she didn't want to that to be her life. In high school, she had been quiet and kind of shy, and her friends had been creative types, artists and musicians. She had been just as pretty, but she was with people who had known her when she was a chubby, awkward middle-school kid, so it hadn't mattered much. She knew that those same people must have gone to college, but she had never had time to meet any of them, in the rush to be in the right classes and at the right parties and to do everything the right way so she could wear pink sweatpants with greek letters on her ass.

So when she walked into the housing office to give them a check for a room in the sorority house, she made a hard turn and found the bulletin board for off campus housing. She had looked at a few places when she got to the dump that Ryan and Jimmy called home. She hadn't wanted to go knock on the door, the place was so run-down, but the rent was low and she needed a place. Besides, she told herself, if you want everything clean and fixed and perfect, you can go back to the sorority house.

The guys are ... well, college guys. They're messy, the place is trashed, and she's thinking no way, when they pass the door to the basement and she glimpses a kick drum. She stops, almost getting run over by the big blond one ("Ryan?" she asks herself. "Yes. Pretty sure that one's Ryan").

Somehow, hours go by, talking about music as they tour the basement. The two guys might be generic slobs upstairs, but down here, they are in their arena, and they are brilliant. It's past dinner time on campus when she digs her bass out of the back of her old car, and starts to play with them.

"So, um, you need a bass player, too, or just a roommate?" she asks, a little after midnight.

In the morning, she wakes up still dressed in jeans and a tanktop on her unmade bed, to see her stuff piled in the corner of the room, still packed. For a moment, she thinks she must be completely out of her mind, but then she sees what time it is. It's the first night in months that she's just slept straight through, and she smiles. As crazy as it felt, it was the only sane thing for her to do. She opened the door and tip-toed into the kitchen, smelling coffee.

 

[st_fornicate]

Ryan was sitting at the small folding table in the kitchen, having just poured himself a cup of fresh coffee. He was chewing on a bagel; he had his headphones on, and his head was bouncing to the music streaming from his phone to his ears.

Down the hall, Jimmy was just awakening to the smell of the brewing coffee. He sat up, rubbing his throbbing, hungover head, and stretched out his arms.

Both guys were pondering the events of the day before that had led them to find a new housemate and new bandmate. More so than just that, they were simply amazed at how amazingly sexy she was.

Oh, and she was pretty awesome on that bass guitar, too.

Ryan smiled when he saw her make her way into the kitchen. "Hey!" he said, pulling his headphones down. "Helluva jam last nite," he said to her with a wink. He stood up. "Coffee?" he offered, pulling a mug from a cabinet.

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa smiled and ran her fingers through her hair, giving a weak attempt at straightening it out. If she was going to live here, they were going to have to get used to seeing her as she was.

"Yeah," she said. "It was pretty awesome." She remembered the way the two boys had played together, how they read each other almost like they knew what the other was thinking. It was strange, considering how different they were.

She got the feeling Ryan here had never thought twice about anything in his whole life. He was too happy, too in the moment to suffer from any kind of self doubt, and he was just plain fun to be around. The other seemed like the type to think about everything. There were times last night when he seemed like he wasn't there, but then he'd come out with something so perfect and complex that she had almost fumbled herself.

When they stopped playing, it was about the same. Ryan seemed to do the talking for both of them, but when Jimmy spoke, he always said something. Mostly, Alexa had just been trying to keep up with them musically. She was good, probably almost as good as either of them on their own, but they were fused together into something much more. It would take time, she thought, but there was no reason she couldn't match her talents to theirs and become a part of what they had. No reason, except they would have to let her in, allow her the closeness that they shared, and probably never thought about.

"Coffee sounds great," she said, shaking her head. How long had she been standing there thinking. She shifted some pizza boxes off a chair and sat down. "So do you guys play out ever, or is it still in the basement?"

 

[st_fornicate]

Ryan chuckled as he poured her a cup of coffee and set it in front of her. "Still in the basement for the most part," he replied. "Though we do hit the random open mic nite here and there. We've been the opening act for a couple big frat parties, but nothing serious, you know?" He looked around, suddenly acutely aware of just how messy things were around this house.

He scratched his head. "You sure you're gonna be okay with living with a couple guys like us?" he asked her. "We're not exactly clean freaks."

Meanwhile, Jimmy lay in his bed in his room, staring at the ceiling. Were they really going to bring Alexa into the band, just like that? It seemed like it could work. She was good. Damn good. There had been a chemistry there that they'd never found with any other bassist they'd jammed with.

She had a voice, too; she sang well. She was definitely the real deal. How she wasn't already in a band, he didn't understand.

The sex appeal couldn't hurt either. He knew plenty of guys would show up to a bar to see them play, mostly to see her wearing a tight, cleavage-y shirt and a short skirt.

Jimmy sat up, sparked up his bong and took a rip off what remained of a bowl, let the haze crawl back into his mind for a minute before getting up, pulling on a tee shirt and shorts, and heading after the smell of coffee.

 

[Alexa2please]

She looked around the room and gave a shrug. It was no worse than any other college guy's off campus apartment, which meant it was probably a biohazard. It fit the two guys like a dirty sock, and she could hear the squeals of protest from the girls back at the sorority if they saw where she was living. If they saw that she had ditched them to live here. The thought made her grin.

"I guess I'll either get used to it or hide in my room a lot. As long as the bathroom's not too gross, I'll be ok." She took a sip of coffee and stood up. "Speaking of which...."

It was pretty toxic in the bathroom, but she hoped maybe things would change. She was quick, showering and brushing her teeth and putting on a clean skirt and a tank top. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she caught the thick scent of bong smoke.

"Morning Jimmy," she said as he drifted past, apparently oblivious to anything but the smell of coffee. It would take some getting used to, she thought. There was going to be friction, but if things went on like they began last night, it would be worth it. There was musical chemistry here, and suddenly the idea of actually going for it didn't seem so outrageous.

She went back to the kitchen and looked at the clock.

"I have to go sort all this out with the housing office before I register for classes," she said. "Anyone going to campus?"

 

[st_fornicate]

"I'm headed that way," Jimmy said, pouring a long draft of Bailey's in his coffee. "Ryan's already left." He was wearing a faded Allman Brothers tee shirt that was probably older than either of them, and frayed, ripped jeans.

He took a drink and looked at Alexa thoughtfully.

He wasn't sure just what to make of her yet. The jam last night had been hot, for sure; he'd definitely felt a certain chemistry with her. She could keep up with them, and skillfully, too. He'd felt her pushing him to new heights, just as much as he was pushing her. He couldn't help but wonder if that particular chemistry would translate to anything in the bedroom...

"All I've got to do is register and pick up books," he said. "Not that I'll use them much..." He chuckled to himself a bit, took another drink, draining the alcohol-infused coffee. "It's a short walk, but I'll let you drive if you want," he said, grabbing his bag and winking at her. "Ready when you are."

 

[Alexa2please]

She watched him doctoring his coffee and shrugged, wondering if he was playing the badboy for her benefit, or if this was his usual routine. Was he just a fuckup, or was there something in there that needed to be numbed. She shook her head. He didn't seem to need or want help. As long as he was able to function, she didn't figure it was any of her business.

"Guess we may as well walk. It's probably about the same distance to the bookstore from here as the student parking lot anyway." She pulled on a pair of boots and grabbed an empty backpack. She felt him watching her and tried not to think about it. Ryan had watched her, too, but he was the kind of guy that you never had to wonder what he was thinking. With Jimmy, she knew she'd have to be careful. He kept a mask on, and he probably was so accustomed to it he didn't even realize it.

 

[st_fornicate]

They headed off to campus. Jimmy found himself drawn to her, and something in her personality opened him up. Their conversation flowed naturally, and it was probably more than Jimmy had talked to anyone (save Ryan) in years.

They took care of registration and their books and were heading back towards the house when they ran into Ryan out on the Quad. There was a big stage going up at one end. "What's going on here?" Jimmy asked as Ryan came up to him. Ryan was holding a green flyer, with a sly grin on his face. He handed it to Jimmy, and Jimmy and Alexa looked it over.

"Battle of the Bands on Saturday dude! All day long man. Sign us up."

Jimmy looked over the flyer. He looked over at Alexa and then at Ryan. The local Guitar Center was sponsoring the whole thing. The winning band would get $5,000 in store credit for new gear and a day in a studio with an unnamed, major-label producer.

"C'mon man, we got this," Ryan said.

Jimmy looked back and forth between the two of them, before his eyes settled on Alexa.

"You ready to jump in the deep end?" Jimmy asked her.

 

[Alexa2please]

"By Saturday, we'll only have practiced together like four times," she said, dismissing the idea, but as soon as she heard the words, she wanted to take them back. That was the same attitude that had made last year a misery of sorority nonsense and people she couldn't stand. Also, if she was honest with herself, everyone she had just abandoned would be there. It would be a very public way to announce her change of heart.

It didn't seem likely that they'd win. As good as the chemistry they had was, the guys were still practically strangers to her. There would be bands there that had been honing their stuff for years, and bands that the audience had been listening to, and loving, for years. Still, she thought. They didn't need to win. They just needed to show up and kick some ass.

"Oh, what the hell?" she said. "What is there to lose, really?" Besides her old, fake friends and the respect of people she despised and that whole life that it wasn't quite too late to go back to. She gave a wry smile. "As long as we get it right. What songs are you thinking?"

 

[st_fornicate]

"We'll figure it out in practice," Jimmy said. It wouldn't take much to teach Alexa a handful of their songs. The way they jammed out, they were more than likely to just write new ones! "Classes don't start til Monday, so we got today, tomorrow, and Friday to get it all together."

"I don't have any plans," Ryan said.

"Me neither," Jimmy replied. They both turned and looked at Alexa. "You sure you're ready for this? Last chance to back out."

 

[Alexa2please]

"No," she said. She knew it was a long shot, a roll of the dice, but that was the point. "I'm not sure at all. But what's life without taking a few risks? I'm not going to back out."

She glanced up at the clock on the main administration building and sighed. "OK. I have to go in there and cancel my housing application, and then talk to this professor about a class I'm trying to get into. How about we meet back at the house in an hour and start getting our shit together for this thing?"

 

[st_fornicate]

"Sounds good," Jimmy and Ryan said in unison. They laughed at each other, bid her adieu, and headed back to the house. On the way, Jimmy called the Guitar Center to register their band for the competition.

"Yeah, we're called 'The Guardians'," he told them before hanging up. They were on. They wouldn't find out what time they were playing til the day of.

The guys headed down to the basement. "You think this will really work?" Ryan asked him.

"Dude, yes. Yes. Absolutely. She's good. She's fucking hot. Sex sells. Sex wins. She plays awesome with us. Oh, we get twenty minutes on stage to make an impression."

"That's what, three songs?"

"Four. Two short ones, a four-minute one and something fucking epic."

"The crowd is not gonna go for a crazy jam, dude," Ryan said, grabbing his sticks as Jimmy tuned his Les Paul.

"Yeah they will. Half the crowd will be stoned. College kids love experimental shit. Let's knock 'em on their asses," Jimmy replied.

"Originals or covers?" Ryan asked.

"Three originals. One cover. But we'll need to have a few different ones ready in case someone else plays it first."

"Word."

"Why Don't We Do It In The Road?"

"Fuck yes!" Jimmy said, letting his guitar scream for a moment. The guys looked at each other. "Hey, don't fuck this all up by going and getting in Alexa's pants," Jimmy said.

Ryan laughed. "Same to you!"

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa got home and heard the boys in the basement, warming up, and smiled. All her uncertainty about what they were leaping into seemed to fade away as she remembered how right it had felt playing with them. She sighed as she looked around the trashed living room, but that was just the price she had to pay for right now. Nothing good came easy, she reminded herself. She went into her room and let out a little groan. All her stuff was still piled in a corner, nothing unpacked or remotely settled. Even her bed was still unmade.

She would deal with it later, she thought. She dug through a duffle bag stuffed with clothes and found a little pair of shorts and a little t shirt that would do for practicing with the guys, and changed clothes. She let her hair loose and slipped on a pair of flip flops as she headed downstairs, just in time to hear Ryan laughing.

"You better not be talking about me," she said. The shorts and t shirt hugged her figure comfortably, but didn't cover much, and she felt the guys checking her out as she plugged in. It was a bad idea to get involved with either of them, she knew. Bandmates and roommates was enough, without going to bed with one of them too. Which, she admitted to herself, was kind of a shame. She picked out a line that they had been fooling with last night, and finally raised her eyes to them.

"So I was thinking we'd start fast and hard, get people's attention, then take it slow and sexy, and finish out with something bouncy that we can play with." She shrugged. "How's that sound?"

 

[st_fornicate]

The guys had to tear their eyes off her.

Jimmy smiled and Ryan nodded. "I like it," Ryan said.

"Yeah, that was kinda what we were thinking... Except we're gonna end with something epic, after the something bouncy," he said, winking at her as she slung her bass guitar over her shoulder.

"Maybe not Free Bird, but definitely something that will make everyone remember us," Ryan said.

They got down to business. Business, though, wasn't really the right word. Yes, they were focused, but they were also having a lot of fun. It wasn't long before the alcohol started flowing, either. Nothing too crazy, just a few beers in them to loosen them up even more, and they were on fire.

By the end of the night, they had half a dozen songs figured out. It would be a piece of cake to iron them out over the next couple days and put their own signature on the tunes.

It was around nine o'clock when they were setting down their instruments. Ryan checked his cell phone. "Hey guys, I'm gonna meet Amanda over at Patrick's Pub, you guys wanna come?"

"I'm good," Jimmy said, sparking up a joint as he sat down on an old sofa. He puffed on it as he grabbed an acoustic guitar.

"Dude, you need a break."

"The music never stops bro. Go have fun."

"Whatever." Ryan turned to Alexa. "What about you, you in?"

Jimmy gave her a curious look as he puffed on his joint, and Ryan gave her that playboy smile. "First drink's on me," Ryan offered.

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa blushed at the way Ryan looked at her. Not that Jimmy was much better, but he didn't have that hundred-watt smile that said "I know you want it. Come and get it." If she hadn't seen Ryan turn it on practically every girl they passed the few minutes she saw him on campus, she would have thought he was actually into her. Jimmy didn't smile, or do much of anything, but whenever she looked his way, his eyes were on her. At least it didn't seem to stop him from playing well.

She flexed her fingers, making a fist and then relaxing. They had played for hours, and she hadn't played that hard or that long ... ever. Not that she minded, but she didn't want her hand to be too sore to play on the day.

"I don't want to cramp your style," she said, teasingly at Ryan. Then she flashed him a grin to let him know it was just tonight. "Plus, I don't really feel like getting all dressed up to go out, when I still haven't begun to unpack. In fact..."

"If you want to bring that upstairs," she said to Jimmy, her vague gesture including himself and his acoustic guitar, the joint and the notebook he had been scribbling on when they paused to breathe as they played. "Maybe I can get some music to help me get settled in?"

 

[st_fornicate]

"It's all good," Ryan replied, bounding up the stairs and to his room to get ready to go out. Jimmy smirked at Alexa as he took a drag on the smoking joint.

"I'd be happy to," was his reply, before quickly strumming a few chords and then standing up. He offered the joint to Alexa. "Take it, I've got plenty more."

"Hell, maybe I'll even get some cleaning done around here tonite," he said, pondering. "I may need a little extra energy boost for that though," he chuckled to himself. "But we can't be living in a dump if we expect you to stick around for long!"

Upstairs, they heard Ryan's heavy feet through the house, and then the door open and shut. Jimmy looked at Alexa, doing his best to keep his eyes from straying to her cleavage, like they'd done all day.

"So, you got a boyfriend you haven't told us about yet?"

 

[Alexa2please]

"Have fun," Alexa said to Ryan. "You earned it." We all did, she thought. It had been a good night. Still, she had to get unpacked. Just the thought of trying to find clothes for a night out was ugly, and it wouldn't get any easier til things were put away.

She headed upstairs, the half-smoked joint held in her fingers like a cigarette. She took a few small drags as she stood in the doorway to her room. The only furniture was a narrow bed and a beat up dresser that were probably rescued from the trash, but there was a nice, big closet. She took one last hit and handed the still smoldering joint back to Jimmy.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "That helps." Any more and she'd get too giggly to function.

She opened the first bag, and began hanging clothes. For a few minutes, Ryan was banging around, getting ready to go out, and then he was gone, and she was all alone with Jimmy. She turned to look at him and saw his impenetrable smile, and for the thousandth time she asked herself what the hell she was doing moving in with these two guys she hardly knew. Especially two guys who were dangerously cute and were cool enough to actually talk and play music with her, instead of just trying to get in her panties.

As she thought it, she opened the bag that held her panties, and the rest of her lingerie. She looked over her shoulder at Jimmy and blushed a little, but she was going to finish unpacking, no matter what. She started transferring things from the bag to the drawer. There were panties and bras, mostly simple, plain cotton, but also some silky, lacy, sexy ones, a couple of corsets and a garter belt, flimsy lace and silk nighties and tiny little g strings.

She giggled and blushed harder, looking over her shoulder. It was too bad they were roommates, she thought.

 

[st_fornicate]

Jimmy smirked and took the joint back, sitting down on the bed and absently strumming the guitar as he puffed on the joint and watched Alexa unpack her things. He had to chuckle a bit to himself as he saw her blush when she started pulling out her undergarments.

He snuffed out the joint in an ashtray and already had another one out to spark up when he saw her pull out the corsets. At this point, he was fighting a bit of a hard-on, but it was safely hidden by his guitar.

"You know, a little sex appeal might put us over the top at the competition..." He said, winking at her. "Think you can play the bass while you're wearing that?" It was a brazen comment, to be sure. "I mean, don't take that the wrong way. You play great, we sound great together... But I bet you look amazing in that thing."

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa rolled her eyes and pushed the corset into a drawer, but after a moment she turned to look at him, blushing. She couldn't let him get away with saying that kind of thing and just get away with it, but at the same time, she felt it tickle low in her belly. Or maybe that was just the weed.

"You just want to see me wearing it," she said, half accusing, half teasing. Was that such a bad thing? she wondered. The weed had her thoughts jumbled, and the next thing she thought was that she knew exactly what she'd wear with it on stage. She giggled and shook her head, turning away from him so he wouldn't see her smiling. "You'd probably be too distracted to play anyway."

As she finished unpacking her lingerie, she reached her sheets and blankets. She shooed him off the bed and looked him up and down.

"Tell you what," she said. "You wear a suit on Saturday, and I'll wear the corset. And it has to be a real, no-bullshit suit."

 

[st_fornicate]

"Maybe I do want to see you in it," he said as she shooed him off the bed. "What's so wrong with that? But I could definitely still play."

Their eyes locked as she offered up a deal. He smirked. "Be right back," he said, leaning his guitar against the wall. He headed for his room, rifled through his closet, and found what he was looking for. It didn't take but a few moments to change, and then he headed back to Alexa's room.

"Something like this?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe and lighting a cigarette.

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa had just finished making the bed when Jimmy came back in the room. She slipped her pillow into the pillowcase and turned to look at him and froze, holding the pillow. The joint had made her spacey and she couldn't think why he was standing there dressed like that for a moment, but she liked it.

"Blue's a good color for you," she said softly, and then she blinked, remembering. Her cheeks flushed red and she gave in. "Yeah. You wear that on Saturday, and I'll wear the corset."

She hugged the pillow for a moment, wondering again what she had gotten herself into. It was only her second night here, and already she was regretting moving in with these two guys. If she didn't live with them, if she weren't in the band with them, she could date them, kiss them, fool around with them to her heart's content.

She dropped the pillow on the bed and took a step towards him. It was a terrible idea, and she hesitated, but she couldn't help wanting to kiss him.

 

[st_fornicate]

Jimmy smirked as she approached him. He could tell what the look on her face meant: she wanted him. Oh, this was a bad idea! Nothing good could possibly come from this!

He stepped towards her. God but he wanted her. Wanted her bouncing on his cock. Wanted her screaming his name as he railed her hard from behind. Wanted her clinging to him with all her limbs as her pussy spasmed in orgasm on his throbbing dick.

He stopped her before they could come together.

"So let's see how that corset looks on you," he said, his eyes locked with hers. The way he'd phrased... it wasn't really a question. Or even a request. It was a matter of fact.

 

[Alexa2please]

Alexa bit her lip and looked at him. Just the sight of him excited her, and the way that he looked at her, she knew. He wasn't thinking about the battle of the bands and how she'd look on stage when he told her to put on the corset. He was just being another horny, gorgeous, irresistible guy. The trouble was, he was her roommate, and her bandmate, and it was just too risky.

She was thinking those things, but there was a wicked smile on her face and she turned her back to him. She peeled her t shirt off and looked over her shoulder at him. God he looked fucking good in that suit.

The corset buttoned up the front, and when it was on her breasts were lifted up almost high enough that she could lean down and kiss them. She blushed a little when she turned to face him, leaning back on the dresser with a smile.

"Think it'll swing the vote our way?"

 

[st_fornicate]

"Yeah, that might influence the vote a bit," Jimmy smirked, looking her up and down. It was clear he was eye-fucking her right there, and the growing bulge in his dress slacks attested to his current state of arousal.

He knew this was taking things too far. She was their roommate, their bandmate now; sex would make everything weird.

Or would it?

Could they achieve a new level of musical connection by sharing an intimate bond like that? Jimmy knew sex was never truly "casual". There would always be an emotional connection, a new level of bonding involved.

But gazing upon her now... That was all he wanted. He stepped towards her, his hands reached out to her bodice...

"This is a terrible idea," he whispered, before his lips found hers and kissed her deeply.