Three Part Harmony (The Road to Rocktoberfest 2024)

19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Mike

I was pretty sure I was no longer alive. Sometime during our tantric sex I’d died and gone to heaven where I’d met this amazing angel named Griffin, who made me fall in love with him from nothing more than a smile. But having him moving inside me had every last one of the protective walls I’d built around myself crumbling into a pile of rubble at my feet.

I knew I was in good hands, though. If anyone could glue my pieces back together, it was Griffin. His name implied as much, since the meaning behind the name was a mythical creature, symbolic for divine power and heavenly protection. Griffin was my protector. He came into my life unexpectedly and changed me in ways I was still discovering. I felt renewed on every level and I wanted to share my new sense of self with Griffin. Maybe in time he’d find his way to loving me as much as I already loved him.

I started falling asleep almost as soon as my breathing returned to normal, draped haphazardly over Griffin’s broad chest and lap. Our clean-up was going to have to wait because I was losing the battle of staying awake. I barely remembered Griffin easing his softening cock from me and discarding the condom. Next thing I was aware of were his strong arms curling around my waist again to tug me back against his chest. This was quickly becoming my favorite place to be and one I didn’t want to leave any time soon.

“Michael, you’re making me feel crazy things,” he whispered beside my ear.

“Like what?” I asked sounding so groggy. I was willing myself to stay awake long enough to hear what was on his mind.

“I just… I want this to be something—for us to mean something. I don’t know how to properly explain it except to say, I just want any piece of you you’re willing to share with me.” He hugged me impossibly tighter. “See? I told you it was crazy.”

“And if I said I want that, too, and that more than anything I want to share my full self with you, how would you feel?”

“I’d be the happiest motherfucker on the planet,” I admitted.

“I’m glad because that’s what I want.” I was grinning like a goof but that’s what Griffin did to me. I snuggled my backside deeper against him and held his arms in place against my chest. “I imagine this must feel a little scary for you since you’ve never been in a relationship with a man. But I haven’t either. I mean, not really, so I figured we can just fumble through the newness of this together. Right?”

A few seconds ticked by and when Griffin remained silent I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he was sleeping peacefully. I’d worn him out but he’d done the same to me which made us even. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. The calm seeping into my bones pulled me into sleep to join Griffin. For the first time in my life I was the one tangled up in the arms of a lover after sex and I wouldn’t be waking up on the opposite side of the bed alone in the morning.

I fell asleep after that, curled up against him in the middle of his big bed. Hours later when we finally woke up, I felt like I was still floating on a cloud of happiness, and as sappy as that sounded, I knew it to be true. That’s how powerful Griffin was to my system. He was the best high I’d ever had.

I was still smiling later that day when Griffin brought me to the rehearsal studio. I crossed the room to approach my band and felt somehow lighter in spirit. Gone were the worries and burdens of life and in its place was a new kind of peace I wasn’t used to feeling. I wasn’t sure where this was coming from but I liked it. It was hard to believe having sex with Griffin just one time would make me feel so different—content was the word that kept circling around in my brain.

Fletcher was the first to approach me. He was looking at me funny, like I had something on my face. I ran a hand over my cheeks and mouth to be sure I was presentable and then my gaze connected with his again. I waited for him to say something but he just stood there and gaped at me.

“What?” I finally asked Fletcher. I figured we might as well get into this conversation since he obviously had something on his mind. A quick glance over my shoulder showed our other two band brothers were busy plugging in their equipment and were far enough away that I knew they wouldn’t be able to hear us talking.

“You totally fucked him last night, didn’t you?” he finally asked in a hushed tone. I scoffed at him but ultimately did a shitty job of denying his accusation. “No wait… he was the one who fucked you stupid. That’s what happened! Am I right?”

Fletcher was just about giddy that he’d cracked the secret on his first guess. “Are you ten years old?” I teased him.

“More importantly, is he a hard ten?” Fletcher asked and doubled over in laughter.

“Not quite ten but definitely at least eight or nine,” I said to shock him. I may have been embellishing a tiny bit, too—or maybe I wasn’t? A true gentleman never told but I was capable of acting like a gentleman when I felt like it.

Fletcher quickly stood up straight. “Are you serious? Nine fucking inches? How does something like that even fit?”

“I haven’t measured him, so I’m not sure how big he is but one thing I’m certain about is he wouldn’t want me talking about the size of his dick with you, or anyone else,” I said. “But I will say this, he is fucking amazing. Best I’ve ever had. ”

“Jesus, fuck. I’m so jealous,” Fletcher said. “Lately my only late night companion has been my fist and it’s getting old. I don’t know how I’m going to survive several more weeks of this hell.”

“It’ll go by fast,” I retorted.

“Says the man regularly riding a nine-inch cock!”

I wrapped my arms around Fletcher and pulled him close so I could cover up his mouth with my palm. “Shhh! Not everyone in this room needs to know the dick size of the guy I’m banging,” I stage whispered.

“Who’s banging a dick?” Dixon asked. “I mean, we all know how much you two just lovvveee the big D.”

“Our club is always looking for new members,” I tossed to Dixon and winked.

“Yeah, watch out,” Fletcher goaded. “There’s another membership drive soon and you could recruited.”

“Did I just hear the word banging ?” Potts asked from a few feet away where he rolled out a section of electrical cord on the floor. “If so, then who is the lucky bastard riding the high eight? Or was it nine? Sorry, I was late to the conversation.”

“No one was riding anything!” I practically shouted.

“Liars—each and every one of you!” Potts hollered.

I glanced around at our little family of misfits and smiled. We weren’t a perfect family connected by DNA. We were together because we chose to be—and because deep down we shared a mutual love and respect for each other. A few days ago I was concerned the growing gap between me and Fletcher could ruin the family dynamic we’d forged over the years. But now that we’d spent hours sorting through our emotions and admitting truths about ourselves, we were closer than ever. We’d never be a flawless union of four band brothers but we were damn good together—all of us. I had no doubts that we’d continue to bicker and fight going forward but we’d be able to work through anything life threw at us.

“That’s enough dick talk for one afternoon,” Fletcher grumbled. “Especially since I’m the only one who isn’t getting any these days.”

“Hold on there, cowboy,” Dixon said. “I’m not getting dicked by anyone! Pussy is all this boy needs or craves.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Potts said. “You protest far too loudly for a straight dude, and you know what they say about that.”

“That’s right!” Fletcher agreed. “Those who proclaim something the loudest are the ones who secretly want it the most.”

“Ahhh, nope!” Dixon replied. “You’re thinking of someone else—maybe it’s you, Potts. I believe you’ve hit the D before, but I’m still dick-free and loving it!”

“Whatever,” I said and shook my head. “That just leaves more cock for the rest of us who have a higher, more sophisticated taste palate.”

“What about more cock?” Dagger asked as he crossed the floor to where we were almost done setting up.

“NOTHING!” we all chimed in unison.

“Fletcher and Mike were talking about wanting all the cock for themselves,” Dixon explained .

“We were not talking about that,” I clarified. “Fletcher has his one and only and I have…”

“You have what?” Dagger asked with a lifted brow.

“I have an amazing band family and one helluva rockstar mentor guiding our ship of success,” I said.

“Fucking-A,” Dagger cheered and clapped his hands together. “Listen up! You’re headlining on Saturday night at The Asylum on Sunset. You go on at ten while your buddies, Oliver and Sebastian and their bands are the opening acts.”

“Buddies?” Potts asked. “I think Mike is the one who is friendly with them—very friendly, from what I heard.”

“Fuck off,” I chided. “You heard nothing.”

“Regardless of who is friends with them, I want you to spend the next few practices going through your set list for Saturday night,” Dagger directed. “Your set is one hour with a fifteen minute allowance for an encore, so plan your song list accordingly. Got it?”

“On it!” Fletcher said.

Dagger let us be and we got busy adjusting our equipment, then we talked about the songs we should showcase at The Asylum. After that we worked on a couple of the newer songs we’d been working on and did two full run-throughs of our entire set. We played for hours and didn’t come up for air until our stomachs reminded us we hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

It was while we were wiping the sweat off our instruments when Potts picked up on something Fletcher had said earlier. I was kind of surprised no one had said anything sooner .

“Hey, Fletch,” Potts said. “You mentioned something before we started playing—about you being the only one not getting any action. What about Dallas? Aren’t you two still together?”

My attention bounced to Fletcher, wondering how in the hell he was going to answer Pott’s pointed question. Even Dixon paused to hear what Fletcher was going to say.

“Well, I suppose you should all know that Dallas enlisted in the Army,” he explained. “He left for boot camp about a month or so ago.”

“A month, and you’re just telling us now?” Dixon asked.

Fletcher shrugged. “Yeah, well, I had things to sort out in my head first before I felt ready to share the news with you.”

Potts slung an arm loosely around Fletcher’s shoulders. “Are you okay, man?”

Fletcher nodded and seemed to swallow hard, judging by the slow bob of his Adam’s apple. “It hasn’t been easy and in some ways it feels like we broke up,” Fletcher said with honesty.

“No way would you two break up,” I chimed in.

“We might as well have, since it will be such a long fucking time before we can see, or even talk to each other,” Fletcher spouted.

“Why the hell did he enlist?” Dixon questioned next.

“His father pushed him to do it,” Fletcher said.

“That’s fucking crazy,” Dixon said and shook his head. “The military these days is a dangerous place to be.”

Me, Fletcher and Potts glared at Dixon.

“Way to point that out, Dix,” I grumbled .

“What? I’m sure Dallas will be fine,” Dixon backpedaled. “Since he’s a new recruit, I doubt he’ll even leave the states.”

Fletcher tossed one of his guitars into a case sitting on the floor next to the stage and missed the intended target, sending the instrument crashing to the floor instead. Fletcher immediately hurried over to pick up his baby. I followed right behind him and helped check for damage. Thankfully the only thing I saw was a slight scratch on the back of the neck piece. Once the instrument was safely tucked into its case, I pulled Fletcher into a hug.

“Don’t listen to Dix,” I whispered beside Fletcher’s ear. “Dallas is going to be fine and he’ll come home to you all ripped with muscles and brawn. The reunion sex you’ll have will be loud and epic.”

Fletcher laughed at that and fisted the back of my shirt in his hands. “I hope you’re right. I can’t imagine my future without Dallas being part of it.”

“That’ll never happen because you are two halves that make a whole,” I said convincingly. “Besides, I fully intend on being the best man at your wedding—right after he’s stateside again.”

“Funny how you hear wedding bells and I don’t,” Fletcher chuckles.

“You telling me you don’t want to put a ring on it and lock that down?” I teased.

Fletcher sat on the edge of the short stage and sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, I love him with everything I am but we’re too young to make a commitment like that. Aren’t we? ”

“Age shouldn’t factor into this—unless the parties involved are underage, in which case that’s some sick shit,” I pointed out. “But you two are both in your twenties. That’s definitely old enough to get married.”

It only took me a couple of minutes to wipe down my skins and finish putting my gear away, then I was ready to go eat. I should have been too mentally and physically exhausted to even think about dinner, but instead I felt invigorated, like I was just getting warmed up. Things were just kind of clicking into place for me, and as much as I didn’t want to ever become complacent about it, I was blissfully content for the first time in…well, forever. I had Griffin to thank for most of this and I had every intention of thanking him every day—in various ways, some too scandalously dirty to mention.