Author's note:
This chapter contains a brief scene of terrorism, witnessed from afar. If this bothers you, please stop reading after the sex scene.
As always, thanks for the votes and the comments, both public and private.
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June
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"...between whiskey and you..."
I stood in the crowd, a drink in my hand, watching Jessie croon into a microphone, sitting on the edge of the stage, swinging her legs back and forth like a little girl. She seemed to like to close out watch show with an acoustic number, and I couldn't tell if tonight's song was about a breakup or the death of a loved one.
Sure was morbid, either way.
They'd taken to the stage in Ashley's bar about an hour and a half ago, and I was amazed by the depth their catalog had achieved in just a year. They still sang mostly raunchy or classic rock, but interspersed were a few country tunes, and surprisingly enough, a techno song or two.
The bar seemed to like music, they clapped at the end of each song, and the building, to my untrained eye, was much busier every night that they played.
It could be that they were showing up for the girls.
The guitarist was more front and center than the drummer, but Jessie and McKenna definitely took center stage, and they liked to pick...provocative...outfits. Tonight, the two women were dressed in classic schoolgirl outfits, red and black plaid skirts, midriff-exposing white button-ups with plaid ties, white stockings and black shoes.
They'd even completed the look with pigtails, Jessie's shorter due to her chin-length hair, McKenna's much longer. Honestly, the little programmer slash bassist made me uncomfortable to even look at. Given her already youthful appearance, the costume was just...over the top.
I was looking forward to corrupting my innocent schoolgirl tonight, however.
I grinned at the thought and drained my drink.
The band disbursed from the stage and Jessie ran over and jumped into my arms, wrapping herself around and laughing into my neck. "How'd we do?"
"I thought you did a great job!" I wrapped her in my arms and enjoyed the solidity of her body against mine, the smell of sweat on her from her onstage antics.
"What song was your favorite?" she slipped from my arms, cocked her hip and chewed on a fingernail. I had to restrain myself from dragging her home right then and there.
"I really like the techno. You should pick from some of my running music."
"Maybe next time. Oh hey, Don! How's it going?" She dashed past me to go shake Don's hand as he moved through the crowd towards us. As always, jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt, showing off those perfectly cut arm muscles.
He seemed sheepish to see Jessie in such a state of dress, and very deliberately locked eyes with me after shaking her hand. "Gary, good to see you too." Glancing back to my lover then fixating on me again, "So how was the show?"
"I think we did pretty good. Crowd enjoyed i - "
"Don, you were supposed to show up to actually WATCH!" McKenna walked over and gave him a hug.
"Had to watch my sister's kid and she ran late at work, sorry."
McKenna uncharacteristically didn't say anything bratty in response, just grabbed his hand. "C'mon, I want you to meet the band."
He raised his eyebrows at me, waved at the two of us as he headed back through the crowd.
Jessie gave me a weird look, shrugged, and then dragged me after them.
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We got home late, driving the long way home with the windows open in the cooling-but-still-hot near-summer air. The city was starting to smell like fireworks, whistles and pops in the distance signifying the approach of the Independence Day holiday. The lukewarm wind blew through my hair as we drove, and I could smell smoke and the river and slowly cooling concrete in the air.
Glancing over, I could see Jessie fidgeting in the seat next to me, lit by the green of the console lights and the regular flashes of acidic orange streetlight as we passed under them. She seemed possessed of manic energy, the rush of an athletic performance not anywhere close to burning out.
What a beautiful day to be alive.
I parked in our massive garage, and the truck had barely stopped before Jessie dove out and sprinted inside. I chuckled and followed her inside.
I found her in the barely lit kitchen, having already drained a bottle of water. She passed me in a whirlwind, heading for the liquor cabinet, and I heard glasses clink, watched her pour two fingers of Wild Turkey for each of us. "Grab me a Coke, Gary?"
I grabbed two red cans from the fridge and Jessie brought my drink over. We tapped glasses and she smiled broadly at me, her distinctive feral grin a combination of intelligence and seduction. "Thanks for being there tonight, daddy."
"Wouldn't miss it. You sang your ass off tonight." I gave her a blatant ogle up and down. "And you look like a million bucks."
She stepped in close to nibble my neck. "I'm worth a lot more than that. And I fuck like even more."
"What'd I mi - oh, sorry guys."
Jessie stepped away and I turned to see Sienna exiting the stairwell. Clad in flannel pants and a t-shirt, she looked like she'd just stepped out of the shower, hair clinging to her scalp, patches of damp on her clothes.
My schoolgirl-dressed lover ran over and gave the blonde a hug. "No worries, we just got back from the show and were having a drink. You want one?"
"Sure. How'd it go? You were playing three new songs tonight, right?"
"It went great, we sounded awesome!" Jessie dug in the freezer for ice cubes, dropped several into each of our glasses and poured some liquor for Sienna.
"Was there, can confirm. They sounded awesome." I said.
"That's great!" Sienna sipped at the amber liquid, made a face, and swirled the ice. "I woulda been there, but it wasn't my shift and I didn't want Jane out that late if she didn't have to be. And besides, Mike wasn't around to babysit."
"No, she was not." The gothic woman's eyes widened conspiratorially. "She was hanging all over Don's arm after the show."
"Don, Don... That construction worker friend of yours that was here for Thanksgiving?"
"The very same," I replied. "He's been giving her private shooting lessons, and I'm guessing she wants him to give her something else in private soon."
Sienna looked shocked at my allusion, then burst out laughing. "I hope she gets some, that man is gorgeous! His arms..." she trailed off dreamily.
"He does like to show them off." Jessie splashed more bourbon into her glass and mine. "Is Jane asleep?"
The blonde nodded. "Yeah. Got her to bed around nine, was doing some, uh, reading. Didn't want to disturb you two when you got home."
"We're gonna go sit out on the front porch," Jessie told her. "You wanna join us?"
"Sure."
We tread quietly through the darkened house, opened the front door, and I took the top step of the porch, Jessie sitting between my knees one step down, sienna on the same step a few feet away. The night air had cooled a little more but was still pleasantly warm. Off to the left, the Milwaukee metro area polluted the night sky with its harsh downtown lights, but closer to us, the stars were visible, the only light being streetlights and porches. Shadowed hulks of trees shifted in the soft wind, darker still against the dark above.
"Beautiful night," I said to no one in particular.
"Yes, it is." There was a hint of melancholy in Sienna's voice.
"What did you do today, See?" Jessie asked. Her head was resting against my abdomen and she very delicately shifted it back and forth, making me aware of her proximity to my privates.
Tease.
Sienna sighed. "Shift at the store this morning. Jane and I cleaned this afternoon. She likes spraying Windex on the windows."
I chuckled at the thought of the tiny girl dousing the panes of glass. The spray bottle was almost as big as she was.
"We'll do laundry tomorrow, and then I'd like to take her to the park. Jess, you want to play some basketball?"
"That sounds lovely."
"I'll go and entertain the kiddo on the slides if you two want to get a couple games in."
The blonde raised her tumbler in my direction. "I will take you up on that."
We clinked glasses and Jessie reached out with the bottle to give us all a refill.
This was a beautiful night. Good company, good drink, beautiful view, soft breeze. I closed my eyes and relaxed.
"What do you guys have planned besides going to the park with us?" Sienna inquired. "Just so I know, like, when I can get in and get the laundry."
I shrugged. "Lift and a run sounds nice. Might take a swim out back if the weather holds."
"Show me how to check the filter and pump on that and I'll add it to my list."
"Gotcha."
Between my knees, Jessie turned and gave me a yearning look. "We'll probably be getting up around ten or so. I plan on staying in bed late, and I'm so wired, I don't think there's much sleeping gonna happen tonight."
I chuckled again, stroked her hair. She damn near purred. Then my gothic lover straightened, turned, and straddled my lap. "We should go upstairs," she whispered in my ear.
"Another drink and then we will. It's a nice night, I want to stay out a bit longer."
She leaned back, her slight frame barely registering as weight on my lap, and refilled my glass.
Sienna looked at us slightly uncomfortably and drained her glass, rose to standing. "I think that's my cue to go to bed. You guys have a nice night. Thanks for the drink."
"You want to join us?"
