Chapter 6
Another day, another gig, and a great one at that.
Gene’s feeling the music, grooving and dancing, and lately he’s been feeling confident, moving around the stage more.
He nods his head to the beat, raises his right arm high after the strum of a long note, lifting the neck of his guitar higher too with his left while he’s at it.
Despite still feeling strange over the situation with Ray and Harriet, Gene’s been trying to get over it.
He’s Ray’s best friend after all, and has still been close to him in other ways.
Nothing can change how he feels when he sings with him.
In fact, they’ve gotten even closer—literally.
As the chorus of their song ‘Fly High’ comes up, instead of Gene singing into his own mic like before, he walks up to Ray and stands next to him, singing the harmony into the same mic.
They’re almost touching like this, their faces so close.
But it makes their voices sound all the more thrilling—two melodies combining into one, on the same wavelength.
It was Ray’s idea to try it out this way, and Gene couldn’t be happier.
His cheeks feel hot, and his chest so light, so filled with bliss.
After that day when Harriet kissed Ray onstage, Ray had actually brought her home to their apartment.
At first Gene was rather irritated—how dare he bring her into our space—but quickly realized he was acting childish.
If Ray wanted to bring a girl home, he had every right to.
Of course, Gene was a bit annoyed that since Ray wanted time alone with her, Ray needed the room all to themselves.
So Gene ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room that night.
But it’s not like Harriet would spend the night every night, so him crashing on the couch every once in a while wouldn’t be so bad.
Ray had such a great time with Harriet, and Gene knows—he heard it all.
It was the first time he’d ever overheard someone getting it on from the other side of the wall, and it stirred up all sorts of strange emotions in his gut.
Even if only faintly, to hear Ray’s voice in such a way, moaning in ecstasy…
Gene rolled onto his stomach while lying on the couch and covered his head and ears with his pillow.
Even though they live together, he’d never seen Ray fully naked, always covered with at least a towel or his underwear. To imagine him completely bare, being intimate, saying sweet nothings so softly…
A pressure rose in Gene’s lower abdomen, between his legs—
He clenched his thighs, decidedly ignoring it.
Goddammit, what’s wrong with me? I can’t be imagining my best friend like that. It’s fucking Ray, for Pete’s sake! On top of it all, he’s a guy! That’s it, I’m going stir crazy. I know it’s because I’ve never gotten laid myself. I need to fix that.
And that’s exactly what Gene plans to do tonight, to hopefully find a nice girl after the show.
He doesn’t think he’d want to jump into a relationship right away—unlike Ray and Harriet, with Ray declaring her now his girlfriend—but just some sex will do.
A full-on relationship seems like too much for him at the moment, given he’ll be starting his second year of art school next month.
Presently they’re playing a show in Lansing, about an hour away from home.
With how successful the Dusty Brooms have become, they’ve started renting motel rooms for the night if they travel outside of Grand Rapids.
They only have two rooms tonight—one he’ll share with Ray and Santi, and the other for Stefan and Pat—but that’s not to say he won’t be able to schedule some alone time in the room if he does manage to find a girl.
Which should be very likely, seeing how after every show there’s usually groups of chicks loitering around, attempting to get backstage.
They don’t even have a record deal yet, but the Dusty Brooms have become the most popular band in their local area. Gene feels famous already.
The final note rings from their guitars, and the crowd goes wild. Cheers and applause fill the club space like the roar of dozens of engines.
“Thank you all for coming!” Ray shouts into the microphone. “Thank you, Lansing!”
The audience is more manageable this time, with club security keeping people back and no one jumping on stage. Gene walks over to Ray’s side and Ray grabs his hand—his and only his—he lifts it up, and then they bend gracefully in a bow. The stage lights dim, giving the Brooms their cue to leave.
Backstage, Gene puts his guitar away in its case—not slamming his hand this time.
At least it healed quickly. If he wants to find a girl, he needs to know where Ray plans to go, so he won’t be in the motel room when the time comes.
Santiago already knows of Gene’s plan; he’d already agreed to help him out.
“What’s next on your agenda?” Gene asks Ray, guitar in its case strapped onto his back.
“You wanna grab a bite to eat? I think there’s a Denny’s nearby. Used up a lot of energy during that show,” Ray chuckles.
As much as he would love to accept the invitation from Ray, Gene has other things in mind.
“Nah, I’m sorry. Santi wants to stay here and go to the bar, and I was gonna go with him.
How about you ask Pat? I think she’d appreciate it, especially since she’s so new to the band, y’know. Get to know her better, Stefan too.”
Ray juts his lower lip out, and taps his chin with his pointer finger. “Aw, fine. But I guess that’s a good idea. I still don’t really know Pat all that well.”
“See? Alright, I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Ray gives him a smile. “See ya later.”
Gene stuffs his guitar in a metal locker for safekeeping in the meantime until he’s ready to leave the venue, and he grabs his wallet from there.
Resting in his wallet are a few simple small square somethings, just to be prepared.
The band had already checked into their motel earlier in the day before the show, so he doesn’t need to worry about that. He can head straight to the bar.
He believes his outfit is rather sexy and appropriate for tonight; he’s wearing a silky long-sleeve shirt only buttoned up halfway, showing a bit of his hairy chest at the top.
He’s got on tight bell-bottom jeans to go with it, along with some heeled boots.
Also recently, he’d asked Ray to pierce his left ear, now sporting a tiny golden hoop.
His straight black hair has grown out a bit longer too, reaching a little past his shoulders.
Santiago pops up behind him as he shuts the locker door and locks it. “So, are you ready?” Santi asks.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” Gene smiles with a shrug, looking up at his taller friend.
It’s close to midnight now as they head into the club.
Many of the show attendees have already left, but even so, Gene guesses there’s still about a hundred people here scattered about just hanging out.
In fact, much to his relief, a group of three girls are loitering rather close to the ‘Employees Only’ door Gene and Santiago step out from.
The girls don’t say anything to them, instead just giggling and whispering to themselves.
Gene figures they’re probably rather shy, much like himself.
He gives them all a smile and a wave, in turn making them giggle more. Fuck, this is my chance. What do I say?
“Hello lovely ladies,” Santiago says. Thank you, Santi, Gene sighs. “Were you here for our show?”
“Y-yes, we were,” one of the girls says. She has long blonde hair and undeniably luscious lips. “I’ve seen you guys a couple times before, but it’s my friends’ first time hearing you guys. You’re… Gene and Santiago, aren’t you?”
Good, maybe that’ll make it easier if they already know who we are. “Yeah, that’s us,” Santi says. He elbows Gene, as if saying, hey! It’s your turn to talk!
“Y-yeah!” Gene laughs nervously. “Care to, um, come over to the bar and have a drink with us?”
The blonde girl’s blue eyes light up. They remind him of Ray’s. “Uh—wh-why yes, we’d love to! Right, girls?” She looks to her friends, and they both nod excitedly.
Gene smiles. “Well then, right this way.” He motions his arm outward to the bar.
As they walk together along the wall past the thinning crowds of people, the blonde girl stays by his side, while the other two linger more near Santiago.
Any of these chicks would be fine with me.
Doesn’t matter, it’s not like I’m looking for a relationship anyway.
They’re all very pretty. Whoever’s into me the most gets dibs, I guess.
And by the looks of it, the one into him the most is the blonde.
She picks the stool next to his as they sit at the bar, while Santiago and the two others stand as there’s not enough open seats for all of them.
But he knows Santi doesn’t mind—he winks at Gene, signaling he’s doing great.
It also seems like Santi lucked out himself, having two girls fawning over him. One’s enough for me.
After getting their drinks, Gene learns the blonde girl’s name is Linda.
She lives here in Lansing, much to Gene’s relief, as he doesn’t need to worry about potentially bumping into her again once back home.
She’s also a year older than Gene, which is sort of relieving, but it makes him nervous.
She likely has more experience than me. What if I fuck it all up?
He realizes that he needs to calm down if he’s going to get anywhere with this. He orders another drink for both him and Linda, downing his own rather quickly.