No One Likes the Bass Player
There was one reason and one reason only girls like bass players. They liked the vibration the bass made when I played it, they liked to feel it throughout their bodies as I plucked the thick strings. I could see what they were feeling on their faces plain as day as I strummed the lowest string, open. They weren’t here for me. They were here for my instrument. Girls don’t like bass players.And this bass player doesn’t like girls.I’d realized this not too long ago. After shows, girls would come up to me and ask me if they could see my bass. Less and less often they asked for hugs, for pictures, for autographs. Hell, they didn’t even look me in the eye anymore. Fuck them. I don’t need them. I have all I ever wanted right here.I stopped bringing groupies on the bus after shows. I had no desire to be with girls anymore. I was a disenchanted bass player. When I met new girls, I no longer introduced myself as a bassist. I was simply Paul. No one wanted to talk to simply Paul. No one found him interesting. Finally, I stopped going to parties and trying to find people, girls or boys, interested in me. No one really cared about the chubby short guy with half-blonde, half-black hair.Except for him.I’d suspected for a while Benjamin was bored with girls, too, but I didn’t have any proof. And I didn’t feel comfortable asking him outright. Then, one night, when I was all alone on the bus in my bunk reading the notes Billy’s girlfriend had sent him—he didn’t keep them very well hidden—and laughing at them, I heard the door slam open. I heard drunken, raucous laughter. I froze. I had been caught in the act. I quickly pulled my curtain shut and lay totally still. The rest of the band had gone off to a party somewhere, and I hadn’t expected them back for at least another hour. “Maybe you should have Cash lick your cock,” I heard someone slur. I knew immediately it was Tony, with Benji. He was slurring heavily, and I could barely make out what he was saying.“Maybe you should lick my cock,” I heard Benji reply. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Then there was silence. I took a chance and peeked out of a crack in the curtains. There they were, arms flung about each other, their lips and tongues pressing up against each other. My eyes widened. I had only suspected up to this point, but now I knew for sure.Tony’s hands fell from Benji’s face down to his belt buckle. I couldn’t look away. Hell, I was getting turned on by watching them. “Not here,” Benji said quietly. They moved over toward the couch…Out of my sight. I opened the curtain a bit more and leaned out of my bunk. Tony was straddling Benji, his hand down his pants. I gasped quietly. This was beautiful. Benji had his hands on Tony’s hips, his thumbs making small circles on them. He was saying something—I couldn’t hear him. I leaned further. My hand slipped on the edge of the bunk, I lost my balance and fell to the floor. Loudly.They stopped, both of their heads whipping toward me. I didn’t move. Neither did they. After a long, long moment of nothing, I saw a smile creep across Tony’s face. “Hey Paul, what’s up?” he asked. I noticed his hand was still in Benji’s pants.“Uh, nothing,” I answered, still on my side. I had landed on my arm and it hurt. Billy’s love notes were scattered on the floor around me. I scrambled to pick them up as Tony asked me what they were. “Love letters from Billy’s girlfriend,” I answered sheepishly. I’d been caught in two acts. Tony leaped off Benji and stumbled toward me, falling to his knees beside me and picked up a note. He began to read it, squinting a little as he struggled to focus. That smile crossed his face again. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the couch. He plopped down on Benji’s lap and I heard him groan in protest. I sat on the edge of the couch, a little nervous.“Come on Paul, let’s have a little fun,” Ton y said. “I’ll read this out loud and you and Benji act it out for me.” His hand fell into my lap and I jumped a little. “Do you want to be the girl or the boy?” As I had not yet really been with anyone except the bass-loving girls, I went for what I knew best. I’d play the guy’s part. Then I caught myself. I told Tony I wasn’t really sure about this. “It’s just pretend Paul. It doesn’t mean anything.” Tony’s hand slid up my thigh as his lips met mine. He tasted like tequila. “You ready?” he asked as we pulled apart. My lips were craving more. I nodded. “Okay, let’s see…” His eyes scanned the note. “All right, you’re in the bedroom, there are candies, no, wait—candles lit. You,” he said, looking at me, “walk in naked, a single rose in your hand.” He pulled a Sharpie from Benji’s pocket and told me it was my flower. “Now strip.” That evil, fucking hot-as-hell smile.I stood and removed my shirt, then my pants. No problem. My underwear, however… Tony ripped them down before I had a chance to. “Nice,” he said in appreciation, eyeing my naked body.“Um, thanks.”“Benji, you get naked too,” Tony commanded, still looking at the note. Benji shoved Tony off his lap and complied. “You’re nice too, baby,” Tony grinned, placing a soft kiss on Benji’s forehead. He then fell into the chair across the room. “Paul, you walk in and tell her how beautiful she is. Benji, you take the rose from him, then start tracing your name all over his body with it.”Here we go, I mouthed. Benji licked his lips. I was a little scared but I wanted to keep this game going. I walked slowly toward Benji, the Sharpie held like a flower in my left hand. I swallowed once then said quietly, “You’re so beautiful.” He crooked his finger, gesturing for me to come closer. I did so clumsily, tripping over my own feet. He sat up as I sat down and I shyly handed him “the rose.” He took it from me and pulled the cap off with his teeth. I watched him as he slowly, agonizingly slowly began to write his full name over my arms, my legs, my chest, my stomach… I felt him do it all over my back. I couldn’t say a word. This alone felt better than anything I’d ever done with a girl. From the base to the head of my erect member he wrote his nickname in capital letters: BENJI. I was covered in dark black ink, but I didn’t care. I wanted him so badly.He saw me as more than the bass player.I heard Tony moan softly across the room. He had his hand down his own pants now. He continued to give us directions from the note and we obeyed. I gently kissed Benji’s neck, nipped at his earlobes, and suckled on his nipples. He seemed to enjoy receiving it as much as I enjoyed giving it. I kissed my way down his body, pausing momentarily at his belly button, licking a halo around it. I laid my lips upon his hips, my fingers running up and down his smooth back. I could almost feel the tattoos. I lie back on the couch as he did the same exact thing for me and I started to perspire, the heat from our bodies making me hot. I was afraid the ink would run but it didn’t.The rest of the night was simply amazing. Benji batted his eyes at me and I laughed lightly as I climbed on top of him. Tony told us now was the time. “I need to feel you in me, I need to feel you everywhere,” he read from the letter. I pushed my aching cock carefully into Benji’s opening. He was so dry, but he smiled at me and told me to go ahead. He bit his lip as I pushed in and I leaned down and bit it myself. His open eyes stared into mine. I began to pump in and out and all three of us were moaning loudly. It didn’t take long for me to come. Benji came too, his warm seed spreading upward between us, covering both our chests. I collapsed onto him. I was sticky, sweaty, smelly, and exhausted but I was the happiest I had been in a long time. Benji kissed me once, quickly, on the cheek before shoving me off him. I fell to the floor once more.“Go take a shower,” he said. I was stunned. That was it? I stared at him from my position on the floor.“Game over, Paul,” Tony said, throwing the note to the floor and tripping over me on his way to Benji. Confused, I did get up and take a shower. I tried to scrub his name off me, but Sharpie is semi-permanent. I could still see him everywhere. When I was finished rubbing my skin raw, I pulled on clean sweatpants and a Pixies t-shirt. When I came back up front, they were making out once more. I was completely forgotten.The door burst open again and Joel, Billy, and Chris stormed into the bus, making as much noise as Benji and Tony had. They totally ignored the fact that Benji was naked and underneath Tony instead focusing on me. “Paul, why do you have Benjamin Levi Madden written all over you?” Joel asked, his speech slurred as well.“And what are my letters doing all over the floor?!” Billy shouted, gathering up the ones I had forgotten. Which was all of them. I didn’t try to explain anything. They were all too drunk to understand. Maybe I’d tell them in the morning. From the looks on their faces now, though, I could tell none of them were too happy with me. I wasn’t too happy with myself to tell the truth.No one likes the bass player. The bass player is alone in the world. Maybe I’d just have to find another lonely bassist who could connect with me. Adam from Home Grown? Maybe. Ian from New Found Glory? Uh…no. Maybe I’d just have to be lonely the rest of my life.Joel wrapped his arms around me from behind. I felt his lips on my neck. “You know, Joel Reuben Madden is much better than Benjamin Levi Madden,” he whispered in my ear. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the back bedroom. He might not like the bass player right now, but I’d make him. I would make him love me.
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