"How come we don't have boyfriends?" Charity asked Brie, as they snuggled in bed together with softly snoring Richie.
"I guess we don't really need one, with work and all our friends and everything."
"Don't we? Wouldn't it be nice?"
"What if they didn't like what we're into? Most boys aren't Austin."
"Yeah, but Richie fit right in. There must be others."
"If Richie was living at home with his mom and dad and Abby was here, lying between two guys, would he still be cool with it?"
"Maybe not..."
"God, he sleeps like a baby, doesn't he?" Brie said. The two girls looked at his innocent looking face. "I wonder what he's dreamin' about?"
"Kel's tits," Charity said. She and Brie smiled and giggled softly. "So you've had boyfriends before. How does it work?"
"What do you mean how does it work?" Brie said. "What about Brian? You know how it works."
"That was just a work fling. I've never had a real boyfriend."
"Yeah, well that's just wrong. You deserve a nice guy. So...how does it work..." Brie pondered. "I guess first you need to find one. You need to know your type, and go hang out where they do. What's your type?"
"You kinda already know that. Kelsey's father, your father, Craig back home. He's even older."
"Do you really want an older guy as your boyfriend? I mean it's cool and everything. I'm just wondering."
"I guess I'm open to anything, but I just kinda gravitate toward those guys."
"You could join a gym. That's where old guys who don't wanna get old hang out. Or, like, go to that bar downtown where they have those jazz and blues shows. There's always lots of older guys there."
"I wanna do this together," Charity said. "I want us both to have boyfriends."
"So...let's go to that bar then. We'll talk to some guys and see what's what."
β
An electric guitar loud enough to make ears bleed shredded the stale, humid air in the dimly lit bar. Drums and bass throbbed and pounded, locked in an insistent, driving rhythm. Charity and Brie stood just inside the door, waiting for Kelsey and Austin to catch up after parking. They'd arrived in separate cars, in case the girls got lucky.
"This place is fun!" Charity yelled. "How come we've never been here before?"
"Yeah, we should come once in a while," Brie yelled. "They do jazz, too. See the sign? Tomorrow night it's probably a whole different thing. There might be more older guys."
Charity looked at the sign with the coming attractions. A female vocalist was on the schedule, hosting an open mic night called Jaynie's Jazz Jam. "That sounds cool," Charity yelled.
"Fuck! This place is rockin'!" Kelsey yelled when she walked in. "We doin' manies?"
Everyone nodded. Kelsey wiggled her way through the three-deep throng at the bar and ordered four double manhattans. The bartender looked at her funny β it wasn't a drink a twenty-three-year-old asked for very often.
"We gotta get some cherries to put in ours at home. It makes 'em classy," Kelsey said, when they all clicked glasses and took a sip. "So, did you guys spot your prey yet?"
Charity nudged Brie's elbow and pointed through the crowd. Everyone was facing the stage, watching the wildly talented guitarist do his thing.
"The two gray haired ones?" Brie asked.
"Yeah," Charity said. "They're like in their forties, right? They look nice."
"Hey, it's your project," Brie said. "Go for it if you want."
Charity smiled and was gone, snaking her way through the tight crowd. Brie shook her head, wondering what was in store.
"Char gotta pee already?" Kelsey asked.
"Boyfriend material," Brie said, smiling as she pointed out Charity, already chatting it up with one of the men.
"Fuckin' A!" Kelsey said. "I love that girl!"
"They're kinda cute," Brie said.
"Yeah they are!" Kelsey said. "Is she gonna ask to see there cocks before she chooses?"
"She's the tighter one, so she should leave the bigger guy to me, right?" Brie smiled.
"Good luck with that!" Kelsey laughed. "Maybe they're both hung. Sometimes I think she's got a sixth sense for that kind of shit."
"You're the one with dick-dar. You and your mom."
Austin smiled as he sipped his drink. The music was loud and the girls were yelling in order to converse. Plenty of what they were saying was audible to the nearby crowd. Some of the nearby men's expressions and body language were amusing.
Of course some of it had to do with the girls' braless tits making their jiggley selves known under their snug fitting shirts. It was January in upstate New York, but you'd never know it looking at the three girls. Their coats were left in the cars for the mad dash through the slush piles on the side of the road outside the club. Inside the warm bar, their summery little tops looked slightly more at home, but their collective nippliness turned plenty of heads.
"You guys, this is Ronnie and Mick," Charity said.
The men shook Austin's hand, and then Kelsey's and Brie's.
"Brie, Mick's a proofreader at a print shop," Charity said.
"Among other things," he said.
"I did that at college," Brie said. "For the school paper and some other things."
The pairings were made. Charity and Ronnie, and Brie and Mick. The two men looked happier than pigs in shit.
When the band finished playing it was still an hour until last call at the bar, so the gang sat at a big booth and talked. They'd all had a few drinks by that time, and the quiet let them have an actual conversation.
"So are you guys married, or what?" Charity asked. "Be honest."
"Divorced."
"Widowed," Mick said. "We're both single dads. I've got two, Ronnie's got three. We don't get out too often, so we always try and catch a good band."
"How'd this one measure up?" Brie asked.
"Too loud. I think the soundman's going deaf, but that guitar player can sure play."
"The drummer's outstanding," Ronnie said. "I used to play."
Charity liked Ronnie, but she didn't want a boyfriend with three kids. She was pretty sure Brie felt the same way.
"So here's the story," she said. "Were all horny, right. Can you guys stay out a while? Let's go somewhere and play."
Ronnie choked on his beer. He looked at Mick and smiled. "My sitter's flexible. I'll text her and tell her I'm out for a while."
"I gotta get back," Mick said, "but...my kids are young. Once they're asleep they're out for the night. It's about a fifteen minute drive from here if you guys wanna..."
"Partyyyy!" Kelsey whooped. "Single fathers! This is so hot! When's the last time you guys had a good fuck?"