As Josh walked down the street, to his regular busking spot, he smiled at the few shopkeepers who acknowledged his existence. Having struggled to get a decent meal inside him for several days, he just hoped that, as it was Friday, the kind old dear who usually dropped a fiver in his guitar case would be appearing again today.
He removed his guitar from his back and sat down on his “spot”, leaving his guitar case open for any donations. He sprinkled the few coins he had in his pocket in the case and started playing; it was still early and passers-by were few and far between but he liked to start early, warm his fingers up and greet the early morning commuters.
After about forty minutes of playing, his face brightened when he saw his regular benefactor using the cash machine at the bank across the street. He started playing “Beautiful Day”, a song he knew she enjoyed, as he waited anxiously to see if she would detour to his side of the street. When she started to cross, he smiled and averted his eyes, not wanting her to know that he had been watching her the whole time. As she deposited her regular fiver into the guitar case, he smiled and thanked her.
The morning went slowly; other than the five pound note he had only received a few coins and a button into his guitar case. Lunch-time was approaching for most people and though his stomach was rumbling, he knew he had to delay lunch as more people were on the street and this was a time he needed to be about, in the hope that more people might take pity on him.
As he played his usual repertoire of songs, he allowed his mind to wander back to the circumstances that had led to him ending up homeless. He had had a good childhood, happy and contented – his dad a banker, who had ensured that the family always had everything they needed. He had fallen in love in his mid-teens – Lucy – he could picture her now and if he tried hard enough, he could still remember the smell of her hair. They had made all sorts of plans for their life together before they went their separate ways to Uni – promising to stay faithful and to visit each other as often as they could.
It had been during Freshers Week that his life had fallen apart; he had been summoned to the Student Wellbeing Officer’s office on the Thursday. As he hurried to the office in the admin block, he worried about what he had done. After knocking on the door and being told to enter, he looked into the face of the lady behind the desk, who was looking back at him with a sorrowful face. To her left stood Mr Chambers, the head of his course in ecology and environmental issues. The lady, Ms Grantham he later found out, explained to him that both his parents had died in a road accident.
The next few weeks were a blur, everything happened so fast. He had returned home, to find that his uncle, who loathed him, had made the funeral arrangements and then that the family home was being repossessed by the bank as his father had a secret gambling addiction and had borrowed heavily with the house as security. He was allowed to remove his personal possessions but anything of value belonging to his parents was sold to help pay off his dad’s debts. Having no means of transport and nowhere for storage, he took a duffel bag and stuffed as many of his clothes in as he could, slinging his guitar across his back before saying his final goodbye to the house he had grown up in. He visited the undertakers to say goodbye to his parents, slipping his mum’s wedding and engagement rings off of her fingers before kissing her goodbye; he felt he could barely look at his father who had landed him in this mess.
Unable to concentrate on anything and without any financial support, he decided against returning to Uni. He started to sleep on the common ground until he heard about a group of teenagers going around attacking and robbing down and outs. He found some people who were living rough and started talking to them; he soon discovered that a group of them looked out for each other and slept under the railway arches. Fairly soon he was an accepted member of the group, with his own set sleeping area; playing his guitar to entertain his new band of friends.
While his phone was still active, he received a few attempted calls from Lucy; he almost answered the first ones, opting against, as he couldn’t think what to say, how to react to her, no doubt, sympathetic words. Eventually the problem disappeared as his phone died and he could not afford to get it charged up or to continue paying his contract.
He re-focused his mind on his current situation, checking his guitar case and happy to see that a few more coins had been added to his little kitty. The lunch-time rush was almost over and he was toying with the idea of seeing if the bakers had any of yesterday’s sandwiches left over to either give away or at least sell cheaply, when his attention was captured by a stunning pair of legs headed in his direction. Sex was something that had almost disappeared off his radar – sure, one of the women in his “group” had made it plain to him that she would let him fuck her and there was an old guy who had offered to blow him but he had refused their advances. The legs approaching were eye-capturing, he followed them up her body, to the mid-thigh skirt, the shapely hips and the nice-looking breasts contained inside the figure-hugging blouse. When his eyes reached her face, his mouth fell open; it was Lucy – all dressed up in business clothes and looking every part the successful business woman.
He quickly lowered his face in the hope that she wouldn’t notice him, playing the closing bars of “Streets of London” as he heard her heels click clack past. Glancing up when he was sure she had passed him, he was admiring the view from the rear when she reached into her pocket and turned around to drop some coins into his case. Her eyes met his and she gasped in shock.
“Josh? Josh, is that you? What the fuck are you doing?”
“Just go Lucy – pretend you didn’t see me – you have a different life to mine now”
“No – I can’t see you like this Josh – after all we meant to each other! Hell, I spent months trying to contact you, to find you – you never returned my calls!”
He looked at her rather sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry about that – I just couldn’t speak to anyone – I was low and didn’t want to put my troubles on you – and then my phone died and I – well, I found myself a new road to follow.”
“I can’t leave you like this Josh – look, I’m on my lunch break – come and have some lunch with me – get a decent meal inside you and we can talk.”
“I don’t know Lucy – I mean some food would be good but I don’t want to burden you – you have your own life now – good job by the look of it – I’m just another down and out.”
“Nonsense – now pack your stuff up and come with me,” she demanded, tapping her foot like an angry schoolteacher.
Realising she wouldn’t take no for an answer, he picked up his mornings takings and stuffed them in his pocket, packing away his guitar and getting to his feet.
“You know a place that will allow me in looking like this?” he asked.
“Sure,” she smiled, “my sister and her husband run a small café at the end of the road – they won’t say no to me.”
She led Josh to her sister’s place, “The Salsa Café”, he noted as they went in the door. Behind the counter, Sally – Lucy’s sister, greeted her with a loud “Hi sis”, before her eyes focused on the figure of Josh. “Umm – couldn’t you just buy him something to take away?” she suggested, as she noticed that Lucy was leading Josh to a table.
Telling Josh to take a seat, Lucy hurried to the counter and had a quiet conversation with her older sister, whose eyes, Josh couldn’t help but notice, kept glancing in his direction. Eventually the conversation ended and Lucy returned with two cups of tea.
“I’ve ordered you the full English,” she advised him, “I remember how much you used to enjoy a fry-up.”
“Is your sister okay about this?” he asked nervously, “I don’t want to cause any trouble between you.”
“She’s fine Josh,” said Lucy, as she reached across the table and took his hand in hers, “When she heard it was you, she was shocked – obviously – but my whole family were concerned about you, her included.”
Only half listening to what Lucy was saying, his gaze was focused on her hand – or more precisely on the third finger of her left hand – on which sat an expensive looking, what he assumed to be, engagement ring.
Catching his gaze, Lucy pulled her hand away, “Oh – yeah – umm, I was going to tell you over lunch. I’ve met someone, well – I guess that much is obvious – his name is Tom and, well, as you can see – we’re engaged.” She picked up her cup and sipped her tea nervously, waiting for his response.
He looked into her eyes, “I guess it was always going to happen – a gorgeous girl like you was probably surrounded by would-be suitors as soon as I was off the scene – congratulations, I hope he makes you very happy.”
As he got up to leave, Lucy begged him to stay; telling him she wanted to help him get back on his feet and start afresh – but most of the words were directed at his back as he was heading for the door. Tears welled up in her eyes and she grabbed a hanky from her bag and dabbed at them.
For the next few weeks, during her lunch break, Lucy patrolled the spot she had seen Josh at; changing her lunch from 12 o’clock to 1 o’clock as she realised that he must be avoiding her. Eventually, she took a day’s leave, arriving early at a café just across the road from where Josh had been playing that day, sitting at a table by the window, sipping a cappuccino and watching the early morning commuters on their way to the station. About twenty minutes after she had sat down, he arrived, setting his guitar case on the ground and starting to play. She sat there watching him for a while, listening to him play; her mind filling up with the memories of their good times together.
Wiping a tear from her eye, she got up and crossed the road, reaching him before he could spot her and react.
“You’ve been avoiding me Josh – all I want to do is help you! So, I got engaged – what did you expect? Me to remain single my whole life because you just upped and disappeared?”
He looked at her sheepishly, “I’m sorry Lucy – it was just such a shock.”
“I can appreciate that Josh but you have to realise that after a while, when no-one could find you – not even the police – well, I was distressed and Tom was so kind and caring and……….well, one thing led to another and, yeah, we became lovers and decided to get married. There is still a place in my heart for you Josh but………….well, it’s just so complicated – I love Tom now.”
“So, where do we go from here? You going to buy me the odd meal? It might be better if we just didn’t see any more of each other Lucy.”
“No Josh – I’m not leaving you to live like this! I’ve spoken with Tom and he is happy for you to use our spare bedroom until you are back on your feet. Come on – pack up your things, we’re going back to the house.”
Josh looked at her, unsure how to react. He wanted to spend more time with her, his heartstrings were pulling hard but she was in a new relationship – hell, she was engaged to be married! He eventually agreed to take her up on her offer and packed his guitar away in its case.
When they arrived at Lucy and Tom’s place, she showed him to the spare room, advising him that the shower was across the hallway and that he needed to jump into it pronto, while she prepared some food for them both. After putting his guitar case in a corner of the room, Josh made his way to the bathroom and stripped off while waiting for the shower to warm up. He was soon lathering his body in sweet smelling shower gel, before washing his hair and beard. When he was finished, he put his clothes back on and made his way downstairs to the kitchen where Lucy was just serving up pork souvlaki for them both.
She looked at him and said “You should smell better but you don’t – it must be those damn clothes! After we eat, we’ll go out and buy you some new outfits – and we should get you a haircut and a shave!”
As they ate, they exchanged small talk; Lucy enquiring about his life on the streets and Josh trying to answer without giving too much detail about the horrors he had encountered – avoiding the subject of the three mates he had lost to alcoholism.
After loading the dishwasher, Lucy pulled him out of the house and led him to a nearby, reasonably priced clothing store where she bought him several new outfits, including a new suit for job interviews, a pair of shoes and a pair of trainers. She then took him to the local barbers, where she had to pay up-front for a haircut and a shave; sitting in the waiting seats as she watched her former boyfriend being transformed into a decent-looking man who could attend job interviews.
Once they left the barbers, she led him back to the house. Pulling out her laptop, she set up a new profile for him and told him to check out the situations vacant, while she went to make him a cup of tea.
“Now, what about a phone, Josh? Do you still have your old mobile?” she asked, as she returned with the steaming hot brew.
He looked at her a bit sheepishly, “No – I sold it when I ran out of data – only got a couple of quid for it – but I guess it paid for my lunch for that day.”
“I’ll get you a cheap one tomorrow – you need a phone to provide a mobile number to prospective employers.”
Having made sure he had all he needed, Lucy went upstairs and showered; her mind recalling her former time with Josh, before his world fell apart.
As she dried off and got dressed, she heard the front door open and the sound of Tom coming home. Feeling the need to act as a buffer between her current and former lovers, she rushed downstairs to introduce the guys, hoping that they would get along.
Reaching the bottom step just as Tom was opening the door to the kitchen/diner, she called out to him, “Tom, hold up a minute.” She rushed over to him and kissed him before advising him that Josh had taken her up on her offer to help and that he was currently searching for jobs. Opening the door, she called out to Josh, who was busy trolling through job agency web-sites, to introduce him to Tom. Turning around in his chair, Josh took in the muscular frame of his former girlfriend’s fiancé as he slowly got to his feet to meet the new love of her life. They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries before Tom went upstairs to change out of his suit.
“You should pack up for the night and start afresh in the morning,” suggested Lucy, “Any luck so far?”
“Yeah, I applied for a few posts but I’d appreciate it, if you have a moment, if you’d look over my cv,” he responded, “it seems a bit weak on the “missing” years – you know, five years unexplained – it looks like I’ve been inside or something.”
“Sure, I’ll do it first thing tomorrow – I’ll go in a bit late to work – it won’t matter, I’m owed a few hours. Now, go into the living room and watch some tv while I prepare dinner.”
“Would it be okay if I took a shower first? It’s such a luxury being able to keep clean after all those years.”
“Sure – just make sure Tom’s not in there,” she smiled at him as she watched him leave, before starting to peel the potatoes.
As he passed Tom on the stairs, there was an uncomfortable acknowledgement of each other but at least Josh knew he had the bathroom to himself. He locked the door after him, before stripping off and starting the water running. As he waited for the water to reach the required temperature he glanced around the bathroom; out of the corner of his eye he spotted Lucy’s discarded panties. He tried to ignore them but the pull was too much; he picked them up and inhaled deeply, the scent of her filled his nostrils and his hand dropped to his cock, starting to stroke it as his mind flooded with memories of tasting her, licking and sucking on her pussy before he would ultimately make love to her. Before he knew what he was doing, he had her panties wrapped around his cock and his orgasm came almost immediately, spraying his load into the silky blue material.
Panicking, he took the lid off of the laundry basket and buried the panties under a pile of clothes. He stepped into the shower and washed himself clean, thinking about what he had done but also remembering how sweet the panties had smelt before he had soiled them. He turned the shower off and towelled himself dry, taking his time drying his cock as he thought again about Lucy and their previous times together. How they had discovered sex together, been each other’s first lovers, the awkwardness of neither knowing exactly what to do, their fun in discovering new positions, new things – like the first time they had performed oral on each other. Soon he felt another orgasm approaching but this time he held his cock over the toilet and ejaculated into the bowl, before wiping his cock with toilet paper and flushing the evidence away.
Once dressed in some of the new casual clothes Lucy had bought him, he went downstairs to find Tom and Lucy cuddled up on the couch in the living room. He sat in an armchair, facing the tv but he couldn’t help but watch the pair of them out of his peripheral vision as they snuggled together watching the quiz show on the screen. He was mightily relieved when a timer went off in the kitchen and Lucy announced that dinner would be served in five minutes; she left the pair of them and went to serve up, while the boys continued to watch the programme in silence.
At dinner, Lucy updated Tom on what her and Josh had done that day and advised him that she wouldn’t be going to the office first thing with him as she was going to cast her eye over Josh’s CV. It was only at this point that Josh realised that Lucy and Tom worked for the same firm of solicitors and that his father was one of the senior partners; she had really landed on her feet!
“So, when do you think you’ll be getting your own place, Josh?” asked Tom, as Lucy poured the coffee.
“Tom!” admonished Lucy, “How do you expect him to answer that when he has no money and no job! He’ll be staying with us till he can stand on his own two feet, however long that takes!”
“Just that…” started Tom.
“Just nothing Tom,” said Lucy, cutting him off, “You of all people should understand his situation! As a human rights lawyer you must have seen plenty of cases like Josh – where is that compassionate side of you I fell in love with.”
“Look, if it’s gonna cause problems, I’ll contact my uncle and see if he’ll put me up,” interjected Josh.
“You’ll do no such thing!” exclaimed Lucy, “You go there, you’ll be treated worse than Harry Potter by the Dursley’s – don’t forget I’ve met your uncle.”
“Okay, okay – sorry Josh – no harm intended – you can stay as long as Lucy thinks fit,” stated Tom, “Now, forget the coffee Lucy – I want a beer, the football is on in ten minutes.”
“Oh, sorry – I’d forgotten there was a match on tonight. Why don’t you watch it with Josh while I sort a wash-load out – I’ll join you in about ten minutes,” said Lucy.
“Do you want a beer?” asked Tom, almost begrudgingly.
“No – I’ll pass thanks,” responded Josh, sensing the lack of warmth in the offer.
After Tom had poured himself a beer, he and Josh went to the living room to watch the match. Making her way to the bathroom, Lucy picked up her bra from earlier and searched for her panties, eventually giving up. She started to empty items of clothing from the laundry basket, stopping dead in her tracks as she saw the panties she had been searching for. She picked them up and immediately noticed that they were damp; as she held them to her nose, she detected the unmistakable smell of semen. Fuming, she added the panties to her wash-load, returning downstairs to put the load in the washing machine. Counting to ten while pouring herself a glass of wine, she eventually made her way to the living room, having resolved not to say anything in front of Tom.
She sat next to Tom but couldn’t help glancing at Josh from time to time, wondering if she was doing the right thing in letting him share their house. For his part, Josh was aware of regular looks from Lucy and, though he couldn’t be certain, he was worried that his indiscretion had been discovered. At half-time, Josh made his excuses and retired to his room.
Being a light sleeper, a habit he had developed from sleeping rough, Josh awoke in the night to sounds emerging from the main bedroom; he strained his ears and realised he was eavesdropping on the sound of Tom and Lucy’s love-making. He pulled the covers over his head and endeavoured to get back to sleep.
In the morning he was awoken by a knock on his door. After he confirmed he was decent, the door was opened by Lucy brandishing a cup of tea. She set it down on the bedside table before brusquely telling him they needed to talk once he was up and dressed. He drank his tea while contemplating the discussion that was to follow – from Lucy’s attitude and tone, he knew she had discovered the panties. He quickly showered and got dressed before descending the stairs in dread of what was to come.
He found Lucy waiting for him sitting at the kitchen table – the pair of lacy blue panties lying on the table in front of her.
“You recognise these, I take it?” she stated as he entered the room.
“Christ – I’m so sorry Lucy – I don’t know what came over me – I’m so sorry, especially after everything you’ve done for me. Do you…… do you want me to leave?”
To Lucy, he suddenly looked a pathetic shadow of the boy she had known. It dawned on her that what he had endured over the last five years had changed him considerably – he was no longer the boy she had fallen in love with. She had been seriously considering chucking him out but seeing his remorse and with her realisation about how life on the streets had changed him, she decided to give him a second chance.
“Take a seat Josh. I can’t say that I’m not shocked and disappointed in your behaviour but if you promise nothing like it will ever happen again, I’m prepared to give you a second chance.”
“You have my word Lucy – I can only apologise and assure you that nothing like this will happen again. You have been so good to me, taken me in, fed me, clothed me – I owe you so much and I’ll repay every penny as soon as I get employment.”
“Okay – we’ll put this incident behind us – switch the laptop on, let me have a look at your cv,” she said.
An hour later, Lucy had been through his cv, making several amendments and enlarging on the gap in his cv between his school years and the current day.
“You have to be honest about it, Josh,” she explained, “If you try to come up with some cock-and-bull story to fill in the missing years you are leaving yourself open to being found out and proven to be a liar. I imagine most employers would be quite sympathetic to what happened to you and the fact that you have turned things around and are now seeking employment could come across as quite impressive. Plus, let’s not forget, you have great grades from school which prove you are intelligent and hard-working.”
With that, she got up and left him to his job search, as she gathered her things together to go to work.
He split his day up, spending two hours going through the various posts advertised, registering with agencies, doing some on-line skills tests – thank God he had been a natural when it came to IT he thought. He took a break, helping himself to some juice from the fridge and sitting down in the living-room, watching some daytime tv, till he got bored with the junk that was on offer. Then he went back to the laptop and continued his job-search.
That night when Lucy came home, she checked that he was okay before announcing that she was going up for a shower. As she undressed, she deliberately left her pink, silky panties in plain view on the floor before she showered, towelled herself dry and went to the bedroom to put fresh clothes on. Returning downstairs, she went into the kitchen to prepare dinner – “Should be Tom’s night,” she told Josh – “but he has been asked to work late on his current case.” She suggested Josh take a shower and that a glass of wine would be waiting for him once he had freshened up.
Entering the bathroom, Tom immediately spotted the panties and knew that Lucy was testing him. He picked them up, resisting the temptation to sniff them and placed them on top of the laundry basket. He showered quickly, not wanting his urges to get the better of him and wrapped a towel around himself to dry off in his own room.
Returning downstairs, sure enough, there was a nice cold glass of Pinot Grigio awaiting him. He picked it up, thanked Lucy and went into the living room, switching on the tv. About three-quarters of an hour later, the front door opened and Tom walked in.
“Wow – something smells good,” he announced.
As Josh turned in his chair to look out into the hallway, he saw Lucy walk into Tom’s arms, “And it wasn’t the food I was talking about,” he continued, as he buried his face into her neck and started to kiss her. Josh quickly turned away, slightly embarrassed to be eavesdropping on their show of affection.
When Tom disappeared upstairs to change, Josh got up from his seat and took his empty glass into the kitchen.
“I’m happy to take turns at the cooking if you want. I know I haven’t had the chance over the last few years but it’s one of those skills you never forget and who could forget my beans on toast?” he joked, smiling at Lucy, who seemed to have forgiven his indiscretion.
“Well, if you’re sure Tom – that would be nice. Let me show you where everything is and you can surprise us tomorrow with your culinary skills.”
As she gave him a tour of the kitchen cupboards, they frequently brushed against each other. Uncertain whether he was doing it deliberately or not, Lucy tried to steer wide of Josh whenever she could, but she couldn’t deny the little sparks that shot through her body when his hand accidentally grazed her breast as she turned suddenly to show him where the plates were kept.
For his part, Tom was wondering whether Lucy was deliberately manoeuvring around the kitchen to ensure that their bodies came into contact. He was aware of the growing lump in his jeans but tried to keep it out of Lucy’s view in case she took umbrage at the sight of it. When the tour was over, he swiftly left the kitchen and went to his room to masturbate, the relief flowing through his body as he shot his load into a tissue from his bedside table.
Returning downstairs, he found Tom in the living room and offered to get him a drink.
“Sure, a nice cold beer would be great,” responded Tom, “Have one yourself, if you want.”
There seemed a difference in Tom’s attitude, much to Josh’s relief.
“Nah – thanks but I’ve had a glass of wine already – got the taste for that – maybe another night,” he answered, as he went to the kitchen, returning shortly after with a cold bottle of Budweiser.
Sitting down in the armchair that he had been using, he was pleasantly surprised as Tom showed interest in his day’s job-hunting endeavours and even suggested a few smaller “boutique” job-agencies that Josh had neither heard of nor seen any sight of on-line. He made a note of them on a scrap of paper and thanked Tom profusely for the suggestions.
Soon, Lucy was calling them into dinner and the two guys joined her at the dining table where a lovely beef stew with mashed potatoes was awaiting them. A glass of Pinot Grigio was awaiting Josh and a fresh bottle of Bud was sitting on the table for Tom; Lucy was already sipping at her glass of Pinot as the men sat down.
This meal was far more amicable than the previous night and Lucy smiled as she watched her current and former lovers getting on so well. She was glad that she had given Josh a second chance – this thought reminded her to check on her panties in the bathroom after dinner – and she hoped this was evidence that the three of them could live together harmoniously for as long as it took Josh to get on his feet.
When the meal was over, Josh offered to load the dishwasher and clean the saucepans – an offer which Lucy gladly accepted. Moving with Tom towards the living-room, Lucy told Tom there was something she needed to do upstairs and would join him shortly. She made her way up the stairs, praying that she would not encounter a repeat situation from last night. Looking at the floor where she had left her panties, she noticed that they had been moved; getting concerned, she turned to the laundry basket to see them sitting on the top of it. Picking them up, she felt them and sniffed at them; satisfied that they were in the same condition as when she had taken them off, she returned downstairs, a huge sense of relief washing over her.
As she reached the bottom step, she almost bumped into Josh who was about to ascend the stairs.
“Why don’t you join us and watch some tv?” she enquired.
“Thanks, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend some time practicing some new tunes on my guitar. You know how much I like to play,” he responded.
“Sure – I hope one evening you’ll play for me and Tom – you sounded really good from what I heard on the street – even better than I remembered.”
“Yeah – maybe when I get to know him a bit better. Tonight was good but we are still virtually strangers – I’d like us to become friends if possible.”
In his room Tom took his guitar in hand and, sitting on the bed, started to play some tunes he had been meaning to learn over the last few weeks. He went over and over the difficult sections until he had them down to a tee, then he started to play a string of songs as if he were still on the street entertaining the passers-by. It had only been two days but he missed playing guitar for the public, even for the pittance that he got back in return.
Time had flown and he was still playing his tunes as Tom and Lucy ascended the stairs on their way to bed. Stopping in her tracks, Lucy grabbed Tom’s arm and made him wait for a while on the landing as they listened to Josh’s playing. After a couple of songs, Lucy knocked on Josh’s door, advising him that they were off to bed and asking him to stop playing.
The next few days followed a similar pattern for Josh; job applications, checking his emails for responses – which were few and far between – some down-time as a break from the computer screen and honing his guitar skills. On the Friday, he got excited when he was invited for a job interview; he polished his shoes, ironed a shirt and dressed in his new suit. He found the interview difficult, not having had one since he applied to university and struggled with some of the questions. When he left, he felt quite deflated and checked his pockets for what money he had left over from his days of busking. He calculated that he had sufficient for a drink and decided to console himself with a pint in one of the many pubs.
The first one he came across looked a bit rough and ready but, he reasoned, having been a “down and out” till quite recently, who was he to be choosy. He went through the main doors and approached the bar, ordering a pint of lager from the attractive barmaid. While he was waiting for his pint to be poured, he read a poster behind the bar about live music every Friday and Saturday evenings. He took the pint from the barmaid, who introduced herself as Amy, and paid her, before enquiring about whether they were looking for any new acts for their live music evenings.
“You’ll have to speak with the manager,” she informed him, before she called through a doorway behind her “Geoff – there’s a guy here wants to know if you want any new acts.”
Moments later, a giant of a man came through to the bar. He was, Josh estimated, at least six foot six, broad chested and with arms that looked like they could lift three beer barrels each. He had a rugged face, with a ginger beard and moustache.
“So, young man, what is it you do? You part of a band or a solo act?” he asked.
Taking a sip of his pint, Josh introduced himself and told the manager that he played guitar, as a solo act and that he had quite a wide repertoire.
“Bring your guitar this afternoon – can you make three o’clock? We’ll have a listen to you, see if you are what we’re looking for.”
After finishing his pint, Josh hurried home, his spirits lifted. Although the job interview hadn’t gone well, he was looking forward to the audition. Once indoors, he rushed up to his bedroom and started practicing the numbers he was going to play. At half past two, he put his guitar in its case and walked to the pub. When he arrived, the door was locked and he had to knock to gain entry.
He was guided through to a room at the back of the pub, where there was a stage and a microphone. There were four other people in the room, excluding himself and Geoff, the manager. Geoff told him to go on stage and start his audition, after which Geoff joined the other on-lookers.
Feeling slightly nervous for the first time since he had arranged the audition, Josh took his guitar out and opened with “The Streets of London”, running through You’re so Vain, Yesterday and Killing Me Softly before Geoff held his hand up to stop him.
“You don’t sing, lad?” he asked.
“Only if you want the bar emptied,” responded Josh.
“Okay, hold on a moment.”
As Josh watched, Geoff turned and spoke with a young woman behind him. The next thing he knew, she was walking towards the stage.
She stood next to where he was sitting, “I’m Shannon, what you playing next?”
“I was going to do “Sultans of Swing” – that’s if he wants me to continue,” said Josh, as he eyed up the newcomer. Her shapely legs, encased in a mini-skirt, her flat stomach on show underneath her tight black belly top. His eyes noted her nipples prominent under the thin material, making it obvious that she was not wearing a bra – finally, his eyes reached her face – pretty with dyed blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.
“Well, it took you a while but you finally found my face,” her tone mocking him as she looked down at him, “Geoff wants me to accompany you vocally – the punters hear like to hear singing – especially if the singer is as sexy as I am.”
“Do you know the words of “Sultans”?” asked Josh.
“I know most of them – I’ll get them up on my phone and wing what I don’t know; just give me a moment.”
As she searched on her phone, Josh took the opportunity to appraise her again. He found her incredibly attractive physically but her attitude, her personality, was somewhat off-putting. He classified her as one of those girls who thought too highly of themselves and the song “Love Yourself” immediately sprang to his mind. His chain of thought was broken when he heard her voice.
“I said I’m ready – come on, start playing before Geoff dies of boredom!” she said.
“Oh – sorry – my mind had wandered elsewhere,” following which Josh started playing the opening chords of “Sultans of Swing.”
He was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Shannon’s voice, which differed widely from her speaking voice and Josh noticed that the watchers were soon tapping their feet and smiling at the pair of them on stage. He played a couple more numbers, with Shannon accompanying him, before Geoff said, “Okay – I’ve heard enough. A slot has come up next Saturday at short notice; the lead singer of the band that was booked has caught covid – are you free then? And I mean the pair of you – so either you both are available or neither of you gets the slot.”
Getting down from the stage, the pair of them approached Geoff.
“I can make it,” said Josh, full of smiles.
“Wait a minute tiger, we haven’t heard how much he’s offering yet,” said Shannon.
“Well – the going rate is £100 for a three-hour slot,” said Geoff.
“You bastard,” said Shannon, “I know only too well you were going to pay the band £300!”
“Well, yeah, but there’s four of them to split it between – and they’ve played here before, so I know the punters like them – I’m taking a gamble with you two.”
“Okay, so four of them – two of us – we should get at least £150,” argued Shannon, “You know we’re good together – you just heard us and that was without any time to practice together.”
“But…” started Geoff.
Before he could continue, Shannon started up again, “And their lead singer is a guy – you think the boys are gonna prefer his singing to mine?” With that, she placed her foot on a chair, her skirt riding up her thigh exposing the gusset of her panties.
“Okay, okay £150 it is, but you better be good or this will be your first and last gig,” agreed Geoff.
As they turned away, Shannon followed Josh to the stage where he was going to retrieve his guitar.
“So, as you were happy to settle for £100, I think the extra £50 should be mine – as I’m the one who negotiated it,” she said to him, “Oh – and if any of the punters throw money at the stage, that’s mine as well – no-one is going to throw money at you.”
Happy to have a gig – hell, he’d have played for nothing – Josh agreed to her demands.
“Do you want to rehearse together before Saturday,” he asked, “time is tight but we should be able to fit something in hopefully.”
“Stuff that,” said Shannon, “I’d rather be out enjoying myself. You send me a list of the songs that you intend playing – it’s a three-hour slot – though we do get a half-hour break halfway through and I’ll learn the words of any I don’t already know. Here’s my mobile number,” she grabbed a bar mat from a nearby table and wrote her number on it.
“Cool,” said Josh, “I’ll send you the list tomorrow if that’s okay.”
“Sure, tiger – if there are any I don’t like, I’ll let you know.”
With that she turned on her heels and made her way out of the bar. Josh watched her till she was out of sight, admiring her figure more than he admired her character.
As he packed his guitar into its case, Geoff approached him.
“I wouldn’t even dream about it, son,” he said, “Her last boyfriend is a wreck, the way she played him – getting him to spend all his money on her, cheating on him, leaving him destitute as she moved on to her next conquest. Sure, the scenery is nice but it’s a dangerous descent from the summit.”
“I don’t think I even like her,” said Josh, “she seems a bit materialistic for my liking but there’s no harm enjoying the view is there?”
“No, no harm at all,” smiled Geoff, “Just don’t let her play you.”
“I won’t,” stated Josh, “She’s definitely not my sort.”
Returning “home”, Josh checked the time as soon as he walked in the front door.
“Jeez!” he exclaimed.
He only just remembered that he had offered to do dinner that evening. He only had about an hour till Lucy and Tom were due home from work. He cursed, having forgotten about it, he had nothing planned. He checked the contents of the cupboards and then got on the internet, checking for easy preparation meals. He settled on Sausage Bolognese, which he reckoned he should have ready shortly after they had arrived home.
Just over an hour later, the front door opened and he heard laughing as Tom and Lucy entered arm in arm.
“Hi Josh,” called out Lucy, “What’s that lovely smell?”
“It’s just Sausage Bolognese,” he responded, “sorry, I was going to do something a bit more fancy but I went for an audition in a pub this afternoon. Guess what? I’ve got a gig Saturday night – it’s not just me – there’s this singer – a girl called Shannon – so, if you’ve nothing better to do, it would be nice to have a couple of friendly faces in the audience.”
“Wow – you have been a busy boy. That reminds me, how’d the interview go?” she asked.
“Oh – that – yeah, I think the less said, the better,” replied Josh; his spirits momentarily lowered.
“Oh well – I’m sure there will be plenty of others. You just need to get back into the practice of interviews,” said Lucy, approaching him and kissing his cheek.
Blushing, as he felt Lucy’s lips on his skin for the first time in years, Josh backed away.
“Anyway, it should be ready in fifteen – if that suits?” said Josh.
“Could you maybe make it closer to twenty? I’d love a quick shower before I eat,” said Lucy.
“Sure, I’ll just lower the heat a bit – it won’t spoil,” answered Josh, as he watched the second nice arse of the day walk away from him.
She was replaced by Tom, who entered the kitchen to get a beer.
“You want one, buddy?” enquired Tom.
“Sure, I’ll join you,” responded Josh, “So, are you free on Saturday?”
“As far as I’m aware – but I’ll have to check with the missus,” stated Tom, “She keeps all our arrangements in her calendar. I never know from one week to the next what social engagements we have.”
With that, Tom grabbed two beers from the fridge, handing one to Josh, before he went to the living room.
As he swigged from the bottle, Josh laid the table and kept an eye on the dinner. When Lucy and Tom walked into the kitchen and took their places at the table, he served up the food and the three of them spoke about their days between mouthfuls.
When the subject of the gig came up again, Lucy checked her phone and confirmed that they were free Saturday evening.
“So, what’s this Shannon like?” enquired Lucy, “Possible girlfriend material?”
“Oh – she’s a looker – nice figure, great legs but she’s not my type,” said Josh.
“Not your type?” blurted out Tom, “What – you like them fat and ugly now do you?” He gasped as he received a dig in the ribs from Lucy’s elbow.
“It’s her personality – she’s a money grabber and thinks a lot of herself. I like girls who are a bit more modest, friendly, girls who aren’t after a guy for their money,” responded Josh.
“Well, you certainly wouldn’t attract girls who are after a guy with money, that’s for sure,” laughed Tom; his laugh brought to a sudden end by a second dig in the ribs.
With the meal finished, Josh offered to do the dishes but Lucy advised him that the cook never did the washing-up. He followed Tom into the living room and they watched a quiz show on the telly, Tom digging for more information on Shannon until Lucy entered the room.
Realising that time was getting on, Josh advised the other two that he was going to his room to work on the gig, choosing the songs and the order of them. He spent a couple of hours picking songs, then discarding them, replacing them with others, changing the order until he was satisfied that he had a good show arranged. He decided that, given his recent background, he would always start his gigs with “Streets of London”; that would be his signature tune.
He took the bar mat from his pocket and typed the list of songs into his new phone before sending it to Shannon. As he stripped off, getting ready for bed, his phone pinged – he looked at it – it was a message from Shannon. She was happy with most of the songs selected but wanted to change a few, providing suggested replacements – one of the ones she wanted to get rid of was “Streets of London”. Getting back to her almost immediately, Josh accepted all of her changes with the exception of “Streets of London,” which, he insisted, must open the show. She relented and they had an agreed schedule for the evening.
As the week wore on, Josh became more and more depressed about his lack of success in the job market; he was an educated, intelligent man, his cv was good – he could only put it down to his years of living rough. The only thing that kept his spirits up was the thought of the gig on Saturday night.
When Saturday rolled around, he was up early – showering, getting dressed and helping himself to breakfast. He didn’t want to disturb Lucy and Tom, so he practiced the chords on his guitar for some of the less familiar songs, without actually plucking the strings. As soon as he heard them awaken – well, making love – he started to play for real; selecting songs that he thought would not disturb their sex too much, if at all. About ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Lucy walked in, her hair dishevelled and a thin dressing gown wrapped around her luscious curves.
“Sounds good, Josh,” she said, “Are they some of the songs you’re going to be playing tonight?”
“Yeah – the ones I felt I needed more practice with,” he responded, unable to keep his eyes from roving over Lucy’s figure.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it then,” said Lucy, noticing his eyes on her body, “Would you like a cup of tea brought up?”
“Sure, that would be good, thanks,” answered Josh, as she left the room.
As she made her way downstairs, Lucy realised that her body still responded to the way Josh looked at her; she was still tingling between her thighs at the thought of him looking at her in that way, despite only fifteen minutes ago being in bed and having sex with her fiancé.
She put the kettle on, trying to push thoughts of Josh out of her head; telling herself she was being stupid, that she loved Tom and that Josh was just an old flame, long since extinguished. She made the tea and, with the aid of a tray, carried three cups upstairs. She took Josh his, first, hurriedly exiting the room before she got entangled in a conversation and then returned to Tom in their bedroom.
As the weather was good, Tom and Lucy decided to go for a walk in the park. They invited Josh to join them but he declined, advising them that he wanted to spend the rest of the day practicing for that evening. Whilst strolling through the park, Tom noticed that Lucy seemed to be preoccupied – he was about to ask her what was on her mind when they bumped into two of their work colleagues, Megan and Ryan, who everyone knew where an item even though they had tried to keep it secret.
As they greeted each other, Tom ran his eyes over Megan; he had always found her long legs and dusky skin incredibly attractive – now, seeing her in a casual off-the-shoulder top, clearly bra-less underneath, he was struggling to keep his urges under control. He was nodding his head and occasionally speaking as Ryan was chatting to him but his eyes kept returning to the dark-skinned beauty deep in conversation with Lucy.
He was broken from his almost trance-like state when Lucy said, “That sounds a great idea, Meg – doesn’t it, Tom?”
“Umm – what’s that Lucy? Sorry, I was listening to Ryan,” he responded.
“The four of us having lunch together – it’ll save me having to cook a big meal tonight and give me more time to prepare for our trip to the pub.”
“Oooh, where are you off to tonight?” enquired Megan, as she held Ryan’s arm tightly.
As they walked to a restaurant together, Lucy explained to Megan and Ryan all about Josh and the fact that he was playing a gig at one of the pubs in the High Street. When she had finished, Megan asked if it would be okay if they joined them, as they were at a loose end that evening. Over lunch they made arrangements to meet up in a wine bar about a hundred yards from the pub Josh was performing in and to go together to the venue.
When Lucy and Tom returned home, Josh had already left. A note was waiting for them on the kitchen table, which read “Couldn’t bear the suspense of hanging around any longer – gone to the pub early in the hope that Shannon might be there and we can practice together.”
“Well -we have the place to ourselves Lucy – what say we carry on from where we left off this morning?” suggested Tom, running his fingers down Lucy’s spine, before finally cupping an arse cheek.
She giggled and squirmed a bit under his touch, “Sorry Tom – I want a shower before we go out tonight – why don’t you put the telly on and check what’s happening with the football?”
He watched her go upstairs before going to the living room and switching the tv on. He switched to the Sky Sports News channel and tried to concentrate on the scores flashing before his eyes but his mind was elsewhere, peeling that sexy top off of Megan and lowering his mouth to her nipples. He undid his zip and pulled his cock out, stroking his already hard shaft as he closed his eyes and tried to imagine Megan on her knees sucking on his tool. Deciding that he needed relief, he put his cock away and went to the bedroom, stripping naked before making his way to the bathroom, where he opened the shower door and joined Lucy, whose body was covered in soapy lather.
“What……,” began Lucy, but before she could continue, Tom had her pinned against the shower wall, her back towards him and her legs spread, as he guided his cock into her pussy. He gripped her waist and pressed against her, making sure she could not escape his clutches as he began to slide his needy cock in and out – his eyes closed, imagining the woman in front of him was Megan. He reached around with both hands and grabbed her breasts, squeezing them as he fucked her deep and hard, groaning as he thought of the dusky-skinned beauty that was out of reach.
It didn’t take long for Tom to climax, his earlier wanking had got him close and the feel of Lucy’s wet, warm pussy clenching on his shaft sent him over the edge. He grunted as he felt his seed shoot up his shaft and deposit itself deep inside Lucy, continuing to pump his cock until every last drop of cum had been released into her pussy.
When he pulled out, Lucy turned around.
“Well – that was hot – you need to surprise me more often – you were like a caveman then, claiming your woman!” she exclaimed, before pulling him to her and kissing him passionately. “Now, leave me alone – I definitely need to wash again now!”
As Tom exited the shower and began to dry himself off, Lucy thought to herself what a fool she was to even think about Josh when she had such a loving fiancé in her life.
Later that evening the two of them sat in the wine bar awaiting Megan and Ryan’s arrival. Looking at her watch, Lucy said, “They’re late – do you think they’ve changed their minds?”
“Nah,” said Tom, “they’d have texted us if that was the case – we’ll give them another ten minutes and if they aren’t here by then we’ll go ahead on our own.”
They were just finishing up their drinks when the door opened and Megan and Ryan walked in. As they walked towards them, Tom’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. Dressed in an incredibly short, turquoise, silk cocktail dress with a scooped neckline that gave an ample view of her cleavage, Megan looked like a goddess.
“Sorry we’re late,” apologised Ryan, “that must be the tenth dress Megan tried on.”
As Lucy laughed, Tom said, “No problems – the wait was well worth it.”
The dig in the ribs from Lucy’s elbow reminded him that he was spoken for and he turned and smiled at her, “Just saying that Megan looks nice, maybe a bit overdressed for the pub but in here she looks right in place.”
After Tom and Lucy finished their drinks, the four of them made their way to The Saracen’s Head, a pub which none of them had frequented before. Opening the door, Tom entered first to lead the way, the girl behind the bar directing them to the back room for the live music. They found a table near the front and Tom stood up to go to the bar; standing close to Megan, he glanced down her dress, getting a birds-eye view of her cleavage; Megan glanced up at him and smiled, her eyes twinkling. Once he had everyone’s orders he went to the bar with Ryan in tow to help him carry them back.
They were about half way through their drinks when Josh appeared on stage, setting up the microphones and removing his guitar from its case. He strummed a few notes, adjusting the tuning pegs until he was satisfied that it was properly tuned. About two minutes before the performance was due to begin, he was joined on stage by Shannon. Wearing a micro-mini that barely reached below her panty line together with a black mesh top, underneath which was a black lacy bra, Lucy almost coughed her latest mouthful of drink back up.
“Well, she’s a bit of alright, isn’t she?” whispered Tom to Ryan; both men’s eyes staring hungrily at the pretty blonde. Tom realised that he had not whispered quietly enough when he felt Lucy’s foot kick his shin under the table.
“I meant for Josh, if he wanted to get a bit of romance in his life,” stated Tom, defensively, reaching under the table and rubbing his shin where Lucy had kicked him.
Soon Josh was standing up on stage to introduce himself and Shannon; he looked a little nervous as he surveyed the crowd assembled to hear him play and Lucy smiled warmly at him and mouthed “Good luck” when he looked at her. The chords of “Streets of London” were soon echoing through the room and Lucy was pleasantly surprised at the quality of Shannon’s voice. At the end of the song, there was some loud applause as well as a few rumbunctious comments about Shannon and what some of the men in the room would like to do with her.
The evening went quite fast with Josh and Shannon’s performance going down well. When Megan went to the bar to get some drinks in, Tom offered to help her and, as she stood at the bar, Tom stood behind her, pressing his groin against her curvy butt.
She smiled at him and whispered, “I thought you and Lucy were serious.”
To which he responded, “Oh we are – we’re engaged but I’m a firm believer in the words of that George Michael song “I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me” – I’m hoping we can have an open marriage as I can’t see myself ignoring sexy women for the rest of my life.”
“And I fall into that category, do I?” she wiggled her arse against his groin, before turning and looking into his eyes.
“You are the sexiest woman here Megan – and you probably know it. How about we nip outside for some fresh air and get the drinks in a while? We can tell the other two that the queue at the bar was horrendous.”
As he took her hand in his, Megan felt a tingle go through her body – she recognised the feeling instantly – it was the same way she felt whenever she was about to do something naughty, something exciting – something almost forbidden. She glanced into the back room briefly, before squeezing Tom’s hand and walking to the door with him.
Once outside, Tom led her down a side alley, stopping about ten yards down, he grabbed her and pinned her against the wall, pressing his lips to hers as his hands moved to her breasts, squeezing them through her dress.
Her hand moved down to his groin; “Impressive,” she murmured, “A lot bigger than Ryan.” She dropped to her knees and undid his zip, freeing his cock from his trousers. Looking up at him as she ran her tongue over the tip of his cock, she smiled as she opened her mouth wide and took the first two inches of his cock in. He groaned at the feel of her wet tongue sliding the length of his cock, his fingers stroking her hair as her mouth moved along the length of him. He was amazed when he felt her lips brush against the base of his cock; Lucy could only take the first five inches at best, here was Megan bottoming out on his thick, seven-inch member. He groaned again and thrust his hips, even though there was no more cock to push in, he loved to feel in control and wanted to fuck her mouth so badly.
To his surprise, Megan removed her mouth from his cock and just started to wank him; staring constantly into his eyes as her tongue licked at the tip of his cock, lapping up the pre-cum as it leaked from his pee-hole. He couldn’t take his eyes from her breasts, which were quite visible from the angle he was looking and knew that it wouldn’t be long before he would orgasm. He reached down and pushed a hand inside her dress, cupping a breast and flicking at her nipple; whether it was the feel of her warm breast or the latest flick of her tongue over his cock he didn’t know for sure, but his cock began to spurt cum out, hitting her cheek before she closed her mouth around the tip and swallowed his load, her throat swallowing furiously as his balls emptied into her.
When he had finally finished emptying his load, she removed her mouth, “That was a tasty starter – I do hope we can get together again so that you can fuck me,” she stated as she rose to her feet.
“Hold still,” said Tom, moving his fingers across her face, wiping the line of cum from her cheek, before offering it to her mouth. She sucked the cum from his fingers while, at the same time, taking his hand and placing it up her dress.
“Feel how wet I am – Ryan is in for such a good night thanks to you Tom, when his tiny cock is in me, I’ll try to imagine it is your lovely hunk of meat.”
“Fuck Megan, you are one sexy bitch,” he moaned as she removed his hand and held it to his nose. Before he said, “We need to get those drinks before they send out a search party.”
She straightened her dress and turned away from him, making the short trip to the door of the pub and disappearing inside. After doing his zip up, Tom followed on – standing behind her at the bar and letting his hands roam over her arse. He noticed, just in time, Ryan approaching the bar and removed his hands from her arse, turning to Ryan “Thus place is murder to get a drink, mate – everyone rushed to the bar at the same time!”
Ryan told Tom to go back to their table and that he would help Megan with the drinks. Wondering if Ryan suspected anything, Tom returned to the table and sat down, enjoying Josh and Shannon’s rendition of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”. When Megan and Ryan returned with the drinks, everything seemed fine – the two of them were joking about something and no mention was made of the fact that Tom and Megan had been gone a long time.
During the performance interval, Josh joined them at their table, getting some appreciative comments from those sitting nearby. As he took a sip of the pint that Tom had got in for him, he looked around for Shannon, spotting her move from table to table, chatting to the audience and accepting cash tips, tucking them into her bra. He smiled to himself, wondering how much additional money she made with her flirting but as one man tried to pull her onto his lap, despite her protests, Josh walked across and grabbed his hands, removing them from her waist. The situation looked like escalating but as the man got up to confront Josh, two bouncers arrived at the table and escorted the man out. Those seated at the same table chose to leave at the same time; some of them glaring at Josh as they left.
“Wow, my knight in shining armour!” exclaimed Shannon, grabbing him by the arm, “Why don’t you introduce me to your friends? – don’t worry, I won’t try to get money out of them.”
As he led her to the table, he felt a glow inside. He realised that he was attracted to Shannon despite her brash exterior and she was talented, that much was certain. He introduced her to the group, noticing how Tom held onto her hand for a longer period than considered normal, his thumb grazing the back of her hand. Shannon seemed not to notice, or maybe simply ignored it, pulling up an empty chair and sitting down, chatting freely to anyone and everyone.
Their break was soon over and they were back on stage, completing their set for the night. The crowd were getting into the music and two couples started dancing in the tiny space between tables. As the evening reached its end, Geoff walked in and surveyed the room, noting the number of customers and the drinks on the tables. After the show ended, he went on stage and took the mic, thanking Shannon and Josh for a fine evening’s entertainment and asking the crowd to show their appreciation. After this he turned to the pair of them and offered them a regular spot, every week at the same time. As Josh opened his mouth to accept, Shannon put her finger to his lips.
“You saw how the crowd loved us, Geoff,” she started, “I think we are in need of a pay rise before we agree to anything – I was thinking £200 per night for now, see how we go – you never know, we could get scouted by one of the up-market pubs, then you’ll need to pay us even more.”
His mouth agape, Geoff looked from Shannon to Josh and back again.
“Let me check the night’s takings,” he responded, “If they are sufficiently up, you have a deal. I’ll call you both sometime tomorrow.”
After Geoff left, Josh turned to Shannon, “You got away with it tonight, but in future I want 50% of whatever Geoff pays or I’m breaking up this little arrangement. Tonight proved to me that I can do this and, if necessary, I can find another singer.”
“My, my – haven’t you grown up all of a sudden!” exclaimed Shannon, “I thought you needed your mum to fight your battles for you! Okay, fifty-fifty on the pub fee but any money I collect from the audience is mine, agreed?” She held out her hand to him. The mention of his mother was like a kick in the stomach to Josh but he gritted his teeth and took her hand, “Agreed” he said, before packing away his guitar and going to the bar, just in time for last orders.
“I’ll get that,” said Tom, as both he and Lucy joined him at the bar, soon followed by Megan, Ryan and Shannon, “What’s everybody having?”
“Do they do Sex on the Beach?” enquired Megan, her eyes shining as she looked into Tom’s eyes
“Umm – we don’t do cocktails, there’s not much call for them,” stated Amy, the barmaid.
“I can rustle you up one of those,” interjected Geoff, realising the opportunity to make some more money, “Used to work at a cocktail bar in my early career.”
They soon all had their drinks, Shannon joining Megan with a Sex on the Beach, and sat down at a table in the bar area.
“You two were really good,” stated Ryan, “You should be able to gig in better places than this!”
“Oh – if we stick together, we will,” responded Shannon, “this is just a stepping-stone – all performers have to start out at dives like this and wait till they get noticed.”
They chatted animatedly as they drank their drinks, Tom doing his best to flirt with Megan when Lucy and Ryan were not paying attention; his hand on her thigh, stroking her bare leg. He didn’t realise that Josh was watching him out of the corner of his eye as his hand wandered over the soft, smooth skin.
“Drink up!” came the voice of Geoff, “Closing time – I don’t know about you lot but my bed is calling me.”
They finished their drinks and exited the pub, Shannon pulling Josh to her as they were about to go their separate ways.
“Send me next week’s playlist as soon as possible,” she said to him, huskily, her mouth close to his ear as if she were whispering her deepest desires to him. Then, to his utmost surprise, she kissed his cheek before whispering “You and I could be really good together.”
He watched in a state of confusion and arousal as she quickly left, hailing a cab and climbing in, her panties on view as she slid into the back, smiling in his direction.
As they separated, Ryan and Megan also hailing a cab while Lucy, Tom and Josh strolled back to the house, Josh kept thinking about Shannon’s last words – what did she mean? Good together as a duet or good together as a couple? He had initially written off the idea of forming a relationship with her; Geoff’s warning words playing on his mind. Tonight, however, he had seen a different Shannon – when she had let her guard slip, sitting at the table during the interval, she came across as a totally different person; considerate, thoughtful and, yes, even caring to an extent. Then she had uttered those words and kissed his cheek!
Seeing him deep in thought and with Tom distracted on his phone, Lucy asked what was on his mind.
He looked at her with his, now familiar, sheepish face; “It’s Shannon,” he started, before telling her about what she had whispered to him and the peck on the cheek.
Reaching out to hold his hand, Lucy looked into his eyes, “I thought you’d already decided she wasn’t your type? First impressions are usually a good thing.” Inside, she wasn’t convinced that it wasn’t a tinge of jealousy causing her to try to advise Josh off of Shannon.
“Yeah, I know, I know,” he muttered, “It’s just I saw a different side to her tonight. What was your impression of her? You always were good at judging people.”
Pausing, trying to evaluate her feelings, both of Shannon and her feelings for Josh, she finally spoke. “She dresses like a tart, she acts like a tart – ergo she either is, or wants to be seen as a tart. A girl like that doesn’t deserve you Josh – you deserve someone kinder, more loving. But,” here she paused again, “if you just want to get your leg over – I guess it’s been a while for you – then I guess she could be perfect.” Her face blushed at what she had just said, knowing deep down that she didn’t want Josh anywhere near that trollop.
They ambled home, the three of them lost in their own thoughts. Once through the front door, Josh made his excuses and went to his room, taking out his phone, on which he had taken a couple of secretive pictures of Shannon. He looked at the pictures of her longingly, his groin aching at the sight of her in her short mini and the lacy top. He took his cock out of his jeans and stroked furiously as he imagined being on top of her, plunging his dick deep into her wet, warm, welcoming pussy. As he came, he decided that he would chance his arm and see how far, if anywhere, he could get with Shannon.
He slept fitfully, his dreams punctuated with images of Shannon and then Lucy, both of them sucking hungrily on his cock. Throughout the night he kept touching himself, stroking, imagining and then slipping back off to sleep. He awoke in the morning feeling almost as tired as when he had gone to bed; his cock like a tentpole in his boxers.
Getting out of bed for a piss, he walked onto the landing, almost bumping into Lucy. Her eyes travelled down to his bulge, “I think we need to get you a dressing gown” she commented, as she made her way downstairs.
Embarrassed, Josh continued to the bathroom where, after taking a piss, he stroked himself to ejaculation, before returning to his room. Shortly afterwards, there was a knock on his door and after he acknowledged it, Lucy entered with a cup of tea.
“Sorry if I embarrassed you earlier,” she stated, “I was just – well – a bit surprised to see you like that.” Her eyes strayed to his groin, hidden by the bed covers as she spoke.
“No – my fault – sorry that I startled you,” responded Josh, not feeling the slightest regret that Lucy had seen his bulge – the bulge that had satisfied her pussy so many times. He smiled at her as her eyes returned to his face, “Anyway, not like it’s anything you haven’t seen before.”
This had the effect of causing Lucy to blush. “Yeah, well – probably not appropriate now – what with things being as they are,” she answered, before placing the tea on the bedside table and hastily exiting the room.
As he sipped at the tea, Josh considered confiding in Lucy what he had seen in the pub the previous night. His mind was in a state of turmoil, wanting to cause a divide between her and Tom but wanting nothing more than for Lucy to be happy. “Could she be happy with a man like that though?” he wondered, before deciding that, as he had no evidence other than what he had witnessed, which could be construed as the rantings of a jealous ex-boyfriend, he should keep quiet, for now.
His thoughts were soon interrupted by a ping on his phone. He picked it up and saw it was a message from Shannon “Great news, Geoff has agreed the £200 – fancy a coffee to celebrate?”
He hastily pressed the call button on his phone and, when Shannon answered, said “Wow – that’s great – I’d love to meet for a coffee – my treat as it was you who negotiated the increase!”
They arranged to meet at a coffee shop close to the Saracen’s Head and Josh was there ten minutes before the agreed time, wearing what he considered to be his best tee-shirt and a clean pair of jeans. When Shannon walked in, he rose to his feet and pulled out a chair for her, his eyes taking in, once again, her goddess like body. She was dressed similarly to him; her tee bearing a picture of the Ramones, her jeans looking like they had been painted on her arse.
“So, that your preferred taste in music?” he enquired.
She glanced down at her tee and then back at Josh. “And there I was thinking you were admiring my breasts,” she laughed, “No – not really – I just admire their spunk, their get up and go attitude. I like what we play, maybe something a bit up tempo at times, I guess my taste is quite eclectic.”
He smiled, “If I was, would that be a problem?”
Her eyes burned into his, “You want to play with fire, you might get burned. Geoff told me he had warned you off me, don’t you think you might be better off taking his advice?” After she finished speaking, she ran a finger against her lips, which parted slightly and the tip of her tongue grazed against her finger.
“Christ!” exclaimed Josh, then, after regaining his composure, “I’m a big boy, I think I can decide for myself what is good or bad for me.”
Her eyes dropped to his crotch, “I like big boys – maybe I’ll find out just how big you are. Now, you promised me a coffee – I’ll have an espresso macchiato with vanilla and a millionaire’s shortbread.”
When Josh returned from the counter, he placed the coffee and shortbread in front of Shannon and placed his cappuccino in front of his seat. “So – you free today? Want to go over next week’s songs? Maybe decide what we’re playing?” he asked, as he took his seat.
He could feel the tension building between them – well, he could feel the tension building in him at least – she had definitely been flirting with him and his desire for her had grown uncontrollably, to the extent that his cock was uncomfortable in his jeans.
Slowly, Shannon playfully scooped some froth from her coffee and sucked it from her spoon, “You got somewhere we could practice in private?” she asked, “My room-mate’s home all day, so my place is out.”
“We could go to my place – Lucy and Tom are at work all day – we’ll have the place to ourselves” he blurted out, his eagerness all too evident.
“Sure tiger, we can do that – see whether those fingers can get a tune from something other than a guitar,” she placed the shortbread to her mouth and bit into it, using her tongue to clear the crumbs from the corners of her mouth in a slow, languorous way. Her eyes glued to his as she teased him constantly.
As they drank their coffees, Josh could barely concentrate on what Shannon was saying. His mind racing ahead to his bedroom and getting Shannon naked and underneath him. Fully aware of his lack of focus, Shannon merely talked music, songs they should try, getting an occasional grunt from Josh in response. When she finished her coffee, she raised her foot under the table to his crotch and pressed hard, “You ready to go and play, tiger?” she asked.
Josh got up so fast, he almost knocked the table over. Apologising for his clumsiness, he led Shannon from the café out to the street and walked her to Lucy’s place. The nearer he got, the more he felt he was on the verge of cheating on Lucy. With Shannon’s arm around his waist, he knew he couldn’t turn back. However, this was his chance to have some fun – Lucy had Tom now, he had no reason to feel guilty. Once inside the door, he led Shannon to his bedroom.
“Wow – you don’t hang about do you?” she remarked, “Straight to the bedroom – would my master like to undress me or would he like a little striptease?”
Turning to face her, Josh was bright red in the face, “I thought – I – we agreed in the café.”
“What did we agree Josh? I thought we came here to practice for next Saturday – have you lured me here with ulterior motives?”
“But you said about me being a big boy and my hands playing a tune on something,” he stammered, his voice unsure, his desires making his heart beat faster and faster.
Placing a finger to his lips, “Sssh,” she said, “You seem confused Josh – let me show you what is going to happen now.”
She moved towards him and replaced her finger with her lips, kissing him, forcing her tongue into his mouth as her hands grabbed the sides of his tee and pulled it up. Her hands caressed his pecs, feeling his nipples, before she broke the kiss and pulled the tee over his head.
“Your turn,” she murmured, as she held her hands above her head.
Feeling a sense of relief that he hadn’t read the signs wrong, Josh hurriedly grabbed at her tee and pulled it over her head, freeing her naked breasts. As soon as he saw them, Josh lowered his mouth and sucked hungrily on a nipple, switching between her breasts every few seconds.
“Easy tiger. Anyone would think you’ve been inside for ten years,” she whispered, her hands stroking his hair.
Josh grunted as he continued to feed on her breasts, his hands undoing the button on her jeans before sliding the zip down. Unable to force his hand inside, due to the tightness of them, he contented himself with stroking her mons as she thrust towards him. Suddenly Shannon pulled away, looking intently at him as she wriggled out of her jeans, leaving her in a pair of black lacy panties. Following her lead, Josh slid his jeans down and off, quickly followed by his briefs, his cock springing out and pointing straight at Shannon.
“Mmm – not bad, not bad,” said Shannon, as she lowered herself to her knees and grabbed his cock, rubbing it against her cheek before running it over her lips. To her surprise and shock, Josh came immediately, his creamy mess landing on her nose and mouth.
“Oh fuck, I’m sorry!” exclaimed Josh.
“What the fuck? Are you a virgin or something?” she exclaimed, her voice raised in a mixture of shock and anger.
“No – no – I swear – it’s just that I haven’t for about five years – the excitement was all too much,” his eyes looking pleadingly at her as she glared at him.
“Well, you’re going to be no good to me now, are you?” she muttered, as she rose to her feet and grabbed her jeans, laying on his bed to slide them back up her legs, “So, you been inside or taken a vow of celibacy?”
“Neither – I was,” Josh looked at her, “I’ve been homeless for five years, since my parents died – been living on the street – not much opportunities for sex there unless I wanted to be a rent boy and even then, the state I was in, you’d have had to have been desperate.”
“Fuck – how come you’re here now?” she indicated their present surroundings, as she pulled her tee shirt back over her head.
He moved to the bed and sat beside her, slowly revealing the story of his present situation; she was shocked that Tom was prepared to let his fiancé’s ex live in the same house and was soon comforting him as his voice started to tremble.
“Sounds like you’ve landed on your feet – you didn’t pick up any nasty diseases from the street, did you?” her hand pulling away from his thigh as she thought about the rough life he must have been leading.
He looked at her, “No, no, I swear – never did drugs, no alcohol – couldn’t afford them if I wanted to eat. I just busked my way through the day and spent whatever I made on some food – if I had a good day, I even took some back to the arches to share with the others.”
She studied him, finally deciding that he was telling the truth, then she smiled.
“Oh well, how about you get dressed and we practice for our next gig then, as your cock is currently about as useful as a chocolate teapot?”
After getting back into his clothes, Josh grabbed his guitar, “You want to practice here or downstairs?” he asked.
“Might as well stay here, you never know, your cock might come in useful later,” she patted the bed next to her.
Sitting down, Josh strummed a few chords on his treasured guitar, “What do you want to start with?” he enquired.
A small smile crossed her face, “How about Stutter? It was by Elastica – do you know it?”
“Weren’t they a punk band?” he responded, “Not really my thing.”
He took out his phone and googled the song, reading through the lyrics, “Oh, very funny – look, I said I was sorry – you should take it as a compliment about how sexy you are.” He dropped his phone on the bed beside him, “Now, any serious suggestions?”
“Okay, seriously, how about ‘While my guitar gently weeps?'” she suggested.
“That is an awesome song but I’ve always had trouble with some of the chords; maybe I should practice some more – it’s a good suggestion.”
“Okay – well you play what you can and I’ll sing even if you can’t play the whole thing,” she was smiling now and he felt more at ease again.
He started the first few chords and she started to sing; his eyes looked at her whenever he wasn’t needing to follow the music on his phone and he noticed how she radiated pure pleasure as she sang. “She’s just like me,” he thought, “she totally loves performing.”
They ran through several other songs they hadn’t performed that first night – Yesterday, The Look of Love and With a Little Help from My Friends amongst them, before trying to sort out the order of play. Josh still insisted that they open with Streets of London with Shannon stating that “With a Little Help” would be a good closing song. The time had flown past and they were both thirsty and peckish.
“Why don’t you nip to the kitchen and get us a drink and something to nibble on?” she suggested.
“Sure, sorry I didn’t offer earlier,” he apologized.
“No worries, we both got into the rehearsal so much, it didn’t hit me till we stopped. Now, off you go, like a good boy.”
He smiled at her before he left, unsure where their relationship stood now. As soon as the door closed behind him, Shannon wriggled out of her jeans and panties and removed her tee, laying naked on the bed, fingering her pussy. When Josh returned, he almost dropped the bottles in his hand, “Oh fuck,” he moaned, quickly placing the bottles on the bedside cabinet and undoing his jeans, dropping them to the floor.
“Try not to get too excited,” she whispered, as she watched him strip before her. When he was naked, she beckoned him with her finger “Come to me baby and try not to cum too soon.”
He climbed on the bed on top of her and went to kiss her lips. She responded briefly to his kiss before pushing his face to her breasts.
He followed her lead, lowering his mouth and starting to kiss her breasts and suck on her nipples again.
“Get your damn cock inside me before you cum early again, I want you to cum inside me even if you only last a short while,” she demanded.
As he manoeuvred between her parted thighs, Josh tried to remember the chords to “While my Guitar”, reasoning that if his mind was distracted, he might not explode as soon as he entered her. She was so wet, he slid in easily, enjoying the feel of a pussy on his cock again. He took it slowly, savouring every moment, not wanting to rush the fuck, wanting to commit it to memory so that he could lay in bed and think about it again and again when he masturbated.
“Fuck, you feel so good, so tight,” he moaned.
“After five years, I reckon an eighty-year-old cunt would feel good to you,” she responded, letting out a sigh as he pushed deeper into her.
Ignoring her comment, Josh began to thrust, trying to think about chords to songs, about his life on the streets – anything to delay his orgasm. Shannon’s hands moved to his butt and started to squeeze his cheeks as she raised her head and bit on his nipple.
He moaned as he felt her teeth, his mind immediately going back to his days with Lucy and how they had introduced biting into their love-making. At the thought of Lucy, his cock started to throb and he was soon pumping his seed into Shannon’s warm, wet pussy. Grunting as he continued to plunge into her until his ball sacks were empty.
“Fuck, I needed that, I haven’t had a good shag for a week,” she gasped as Josh collapsed on top of her, “Now, get your fucking cock out of me so I can drink my beer.”
Feeling like he had been used, Josh pulled out of Shannon and rolled off of her, moving up the bed so that he could sit upright against the headboard. He grabbed the two beers and handed one to Shannon who was now beside him.
“Not bad lover but I hope you can last longer in future, if we do this again,” she stated, as she took the bottle and glugged about half of the contents down.
“If? I thought we’d definitely see each other again,” he replied.
“Oh, I never usually mix business with pleasure, Joshy,” she ruffled his hair as she spoke, “but I decided to make an exception in your case. I usually go for the bad boys so I thought I would try a good boy for a change.”
“What makes you so sure I’m a good boy?” he asked, reaching over and tweaking her nipple.
She smiled, “I have a nose for these things and what you’ve told me has confirmed it. I mean, what down-and-out buys his fellow vagrants food with their hard-earned cash?” She reached over and patted his thigh, her eyes looking at his spent cock, before moving her hand to stroke it. “You’re not bad; I’ve had bigger and better but maybe you’ll improve once you get back in the saddle.”
Their conversation moved back to music and the approaching gig with Shannon advising Josh that she had used her contacts to spread the word about them; she told him she was hopeful that a few managers from other bars might attend to provide some competition for their services.
Finishing his beer, Josh put the bottle down and pulled Shannon towards him for a kiss but as she pushed him away, they heard the front door open and Lucy’s voice as she called out, “Josh, are you home?”
“Christ, is that the flaming time?” he groaned, as he clambered off the bed and started to dress. “Quick, get your clothes on – I don’t know how she’ll react to this.”
“What is she? Your fucking mother?” asked Shannon, as she swigged the last of her beer, before she languidly got off the bed and retrieved her panties, slowly sliding them up her legs.
There were footsteps coming up the stairs as Lucy’s voice came closer, “Josh? Josh, is that you?”
“Yes Lucy – yeah it’s me and Shannon – we were practicing some new songs,” he answered as he opened the door and slid out before closing it again.
Stopping on the landing, Lucy looked at him, “Your top is on back-to-front Josh – practicing huh? Just how undressed do you need to be to practice?” Her eyes glanced past Josh as the door behind him opened and Shannon emerged, pulling up the zip of her jeans as she did. “In future Josh, ask before you bring,” she paused, she had been going to use the word whore but realised that this might sound like jealousy, “before you bring guests home. You know we want you to be comfortable here but this is our home first and foremost.”
When she had finished speaking, Lucy turned to make her way downstairs, choosing to ignore the, “Hi, Josh’s mum” comment that Shannon had made. At that moment the front door opened and Tom walked in, removing his jacket and waiting at the foot of the stairs for Lucy. When he saw Josh and Shannon following her down, he grinned.
“Been having some fun, have we?” His eyes stripping Shannon as she descended the stairs. He kissed Lucy and patted her arse before turning his attention to Shannon, “I hope you made our Josh a happy boy.” He pulled her in for a hug, inhaling at her neck to smell her scent, pulling her chest against his, holding on for a bit too long for Josh’s liking before releasing her. “I hope we see a lot more of you Shannon,” he smiled at her as he spoke.
“Well, apparently Joshy here has to get a note from his mum before he’s allowed visitors,” retorted Shannon.
Looking puzzled, Tom looked at Josh who made eyes towards the kitchen were Lucy was busy preparing dinner, “Lucy say’s I should have asked,” he explained.
“Nonsense,” stated Tom, “You either live here or you don’t – as long as you live here you can have any guests you want over – even stay the night if they want,” he winked at Shannon, “just no wild parties unless it’s an orgy and I’m invited.” He laughed after saying this and squeezed Shannon’s hand, “I’ll sort Lucy out – you two lovebirds have fun.”
As Tom entered the kitchen, he closed the door behind him, leaving Josh and Shannon in the hallway. Ill at ease, Josh went to put his arms around Shannon to kiss her but she moved her face around so that he kissed her cheek, “I’ll message you,” he stated, as he opened the door for her to leave. He watched her sexy arse till it disappeared from sight and then closed the door behind him.