Authors: Jessa Hawke
"She seems interesting," said Rachel as they all watched her leave.
"I don't know if that's the word I'd use," said Carrie.
"I know what word I'd use to describe her," said Jake.
"Oh, I think we can all pretty much guess what that word is," said Pete.
"Well, I'll let you all know how interesting she is come Saturday," said Danny with a cocky grin.
"You're disgusting," Carrie told him
"I'm glad you noticed," answered Danny, but he was still staring at Taylor, who appeared to have forgotten about all of them. With that, they all sat down to have lunch, each of them still thinking about Taylor.
*****
Friday's rehearsal went much better. Everyone agreed they seemed back to where they needed to be. Jason and Pete sent Rachel and Carrie off to shop at the local mall and Danny and Jake managed to put Taylor out of their minds as they got ready for the upcoming show. No woman, no matter how sexy, could come between the two of them and their music.
It was for that reason, in fact, that Jake decided to let Danny have Taylor. Danny was his best friend, the one person he counted on most in the world. If anything, especially a potential fight over one hot woman, was to come between them, it would be too devastating. Danny and the music the two of them created was worth more to Jake then a piece of ass.
What Jake had no way of knowing is that Danny had reached the same conclusion as Jake. Women would come and go, and even one as potentially freaky as Taylor wasn't worth causing any friction between the two of them. There would be at least a dozen women at the club that night that would be begging to let him show just how freaky they could get. Besides, one woman had gotten boring. Danny knew that one on one, no matter how creative, wasn't going to cut it.
Eight o'clock came and people started to roll in. The band wouldn't start for another hour, so it was only a few at first. Danny and Jake both found themselves looking for Taylor, even though both still swore they were going to let the other one have her. Eight thirty came and still she didn't show. Carrie and Rachel had arrived, and grabbed a table right up next to the dance floor. As the band ran through their sound check, Jake idly wondered what Jason and Pete would do if other guys started hitting on their girlfriends. After all, just because they were annoying didn't mean they weren't hot. He only had a minute or two to consider before spotting Taylor.
Just like the day before, her hair was down and hanging loose and wild. She was wearing the t-shirt they had given her Sunday, but with enticing alterations. She had cut a "V" in the collar to create a plunging neck line that barely contained her near-perfect breasts. Also, she cut the bottom of the shirt so that it exposed her midriff. Her stomach was tight and flat, and Jake thought it was almost as sexy as those breasts. She had on a black leather mini skirt and thigh high boots to complete the ensemble. As hot as she looked in that outfit, Jake wanted nothing more than to take her in the back alley and tear it off of her. He was not surprised when he looked over and saw that Danny had noticed her, too. He could tell by the look on his friend's face that their thoughts were identical. After a minute or two she made her way up the stage.
"It's going to be a great night boys," she said to them. Pete and Jason had gone off to say something to Rachel and Carrie.
"You know it," said Danny. "I thought you were bringing friends?"
"Oh they'll be here."
"You look amazing," Jake told her.
"Thanks," she said with a smile, and did a little twirl. "The two of you look pretty hot yourselves. Good enough to eat." Danny and Jake both grinned. At that moment they were rethinking their decision to let the other have Taylor. "Well, have a good show."
"Thanks, we hope you have a great time tonight," said Jake.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you guys will make sure of that." Without another word, she turned around and went back to her table.
Before Danny or Jake could spend too much time thinking about what she had said, Pete and Jason returned and announced that it was nine o'clock and time to start. After completing their pre-show ritual of a brief prayer and a group high-five, they grabbed their instruments.
"ONE, TWO, THEE, FOUR!" shouted Jake into the relative stillness, banging his drumsticks together over his head to set the beat, and they could all feel the energy in the room rise to a fever pitch. In the next instant they began their first song, a hard driving tune Danny had written called "Take it like a man." Jason sang lead with Pete and Danny providing backing vocals. As soon as the music started Carrie and Rachel rushed to the dance floor. That, and the music, was the all it took to get half the rest of the bar on their feet as well.
The stage had a riser for Jake's drum set behind the rest of the band, and from his vantage point he could see pretty much the entire bar. As they began their second song, the first one Danny and Jake ever wrote together, called "Big man on campus," Jake saw a big, muscular, biker-type ask Taylor to dance. She was on her feet in an instant, but Jake noticed she never looked at the dude even once. Her eyes were glued to the stage. She made eye contact with him a handful of times, and he could also see her looking at Danny a lot. While it seemed clear that the biker was just an excuse to get up on the dance floor, Jake couldn't be sure if she was showing interest in him or Danny.
She stayed on the floor with the biker for the rest of the set. Like Jake, Danny saw her and realized right off she was just using the guy as an excuse to get up and dance. She watched as her hips gyrated, her shoulders rolled and her head tossed from side to side to the beat. Her arms moved back and forth in time to the music. Her eyes never left the stage. They only shifted from Danny to Jake and back again, and the hunger was unmistakable. Danny just couldn't tell if that hunger was directed at him or Jake.
"Don't go away, we're gonna take a quick ten minute break and then come back and rock your world some more!" Jason shouted into the mike as their first set ended. As everyone applauded and the dance floor started to clear, Taylor made her way over to the stage.
"You guys are on fire tonight!" she shouted, a huge smile on her face.
"Thanks!" said Danny. "You're lookin' pretty hot yourself."
"Well that's all because of you guys. The question is, what are you prepared to do about it?" Before either of them could say anything, she disappeared back towards the bar.
"What you think she's talking about?" Jake asked Danny, remembering what she had said earlier, that she expected the two of them to make sure she had a great time tonight."
"I don't know and I don't care," said Danny truthfully. Once the show started, he was all about the music and nothing else. Jake was the same way, but something about Taylor's words and the way she said them had him intrigued. Still, right then, because he was so focused on the show, he didn't spend much time worrying about it. He barely had enough time to throw back a quick glass of water and then it was time for the second set.
By the time the second set started, the bar was packed. The audience didn't wait for Carrie and Rachel to get the dancing started this time around. Almost as soon as the music started, the floor was packed. It stayed that way until the band took their second break, and it filled up again as soon as they started up again. The band fed off the energy of the crowd, and in turn fueled their excitement even more. By midway through their second set, it seemed to Danny and Jake that everyone in Peoria was dancing to their music.
Taylor had abandoned the biker, and spent most of the rest of the night dancing alone. A few times she slid over to the middle of the floor and danced with Carrie and Rachel, but most of the time she stayed at the right corner of the stage, her gaze continuing to shift from Jake to Danny and back again. Both men noticed her looking at them, and they equally aware she was checking out the other as well.
It wasn't as if Taylor was the only hot woman in the bar. Everywhere Danny and Jake looked they saw gorgeous women checking them out. From blond to brunettes and even a couple of redheads besides Taylor, it was clear that they could have their pick. Jason and Pete could have, too. There were plenty of women checking them out, too. Danny and Jake knew it didn't matter, though. Even if Carrie and Rachel weren't in attendance, the guitar players wouldn't even consider hooking up with other women.
Even though Danny and Jake noticed all the other women, neither could manage to focus on any other woman but Taylor. The way her wild red hair flew, and the way her sexy body swayed and gyrated to their music was intoxicating. Before they had started playing, each man had made the decision to allow his friend to spend the night with Taylor. Before they had finished the second set, both had forgotten that vow entirely. All either could think about, other than their music of course, was all the creative things they wanted to do with Taylor. It was clear to them that she wanted the same thing, but they both had to privately admit that they couldn't be sure which of them she preferred.
As the show approached its finale, they were still no closer to figuring it out. As the last song was ending and the crowd was screaming for one more, Taylor was still dancing alone at the corner of the stage and still watching both Danny and Jake like a lioness stalking her prey.
After two encores the crowd was still urging them to keep playing. Last call came and went, and the bar staff was trying their best to get the place cleaned up. The guys still knew about half a dozen covers they could play, and each of them had to admit it was tempting to keep going. They all had their own reasons for deciding to call it a night, however, and the truth was that they were all amazingly similar. Pete and Jason were eager to be alone with their girlfriends, and Danny and Jake were eager to be alone with Taylor. By this point neither had considered the possibility of leaving without her and neither devised any sort of backup plan in case she chose the other.
With the show over, the bar staff began slowly but surely ushering everyone out the door. Since they had live music every weekend, all the waitresses and bartenders knew there would be more than a few ladies hanging around trying to hook up with the band, and they knew enough not to tell any of them to leave until it was clear who was leaving with whom. There wasn't much cleanup they needed to do since they had another show the following night, so Danny and Jake were quick to tell Pete and Jason to go have fun with Rachel and Carrie and they would finish up with the gear. As the guitar players and their girlfriends left, Taylor made her way onto the stage.
"So," Danny said as he watched her approach, "did we entertain you?"
"That was okay, but I'm really more of a country girl," she told him.
"Then why did you come?" asked Jake, amused.
"Isn't it obvious? I came for you."
"Okay, but which one of us?" asked Jake. He was suddenly uncomfortable but wasn't sure why.
"Oh you are cute," she said, looking him up and down with a leer.
"So it is me," said Jake.
"It's a good thing you're cute because you sure aren't very smart," answered Taylor, licking her lips.
"So it's me then?" asked Danny, but for some reason he wasn't entirely confident.
"You guys really don't get it, do you?" Taylor asked looking from Danny to Jake. When they just stared back without replying, she told them what she thought should have been obvious from the start.
"I want you both."
*****
"You're not serious?" asked Danny.
"Oh come on," Taylor teased. "You can't tell me you've never fantasized about two women."
"We've done more than fantasize about it," Jake admitted proudly. "We've lived it."
"Well, I've always had a fantasy about having two men, and from the moment I saw the two of you I knew you were going to be the ones."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Danny.
"I saw how comfortable you two are together," she told them. "I find it hard to believe you guys never pulled a train on someone."
"Well we haven't," said Jake, feeling more uncomfortable than ever.
"Then tonight's your lucky night."
"What do you mean by THAT?"
"Just that I'm willing to bet the two of have always wanted to be part of something like this. Think about it, you get compete to see who can pleasure me the most. It's the ultimate bragging rights."
"Taylor, I don't know about this," said Jake. I think I'll just step out and let you and Danny enjoy yourselves."
"Sorry, but no thanks," she said with a firm shake of her head. "It's both or neither. I'll go wait out by your van while you decide."
"Taylor wait," said Danny, but she didn't wait. They watched her disappear through the backdoor. It was a long moment before they look at each other, much less speak.
"So, what do you think?" Jake asked finally. "You said you were looking for some two on one action this weekend."
"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind," said Danny, still looking at the door Taylor had just exited. "I can't believe you're considering this."
"You also said you were looking for something really freaky," Jake reminded him. "I'd say this qualifies."