Archive of Our Own

It started off as a simple discussion between friends. After their gig, the band usually just lazed around the green room for a little while, before heading back to the hotel they’d booked for the night. Texas had been incredible, but after three nights in a row —two in Austin and one in Houston— the urge to go out and visit the city had vanished to leave way to the bone sinking exhaustion they all felt. Which explained the urge to stay inside, huddled together in a hotel room when they originally all had their own. 

Touring was incredible. Very early in their career, the boys and Julie had realized that music came with a lot of downsides they did not care for very much. Label issues, dramas, press, and rumors were their entire life now. But the fans and the love for music made it all worth it. The mildly known high school band Sunset Curve had turned into the most popular Julie and the Phantoms when the boys had met Julie in college, and it had taken one night and the right people to get them signed with the right label —and the rest was history. 

Four years after their first sold-out concert in LA, and here they were. Huddled together in a hotel room after a packed concert, avoiding press by the front door of the hotel and ignoring yet another rumor that their band was going to take a year-long break after this tour and eating sweets in Luke and Reggie’s room. Alex typically shared with Julie, mostly because he’d grown tired of the boys walking around half-naked and talking about their sexacapades all night long. 

“Seriously!” Reggie exclaimed, pulling another laugh from Julie’s throat. He had been going on about his last conquest for almost an hour now, and even though he would surely never see the girl again, there was a certain fondness in the way he raved about their night together. Reggie was delicate like that. “Clara was wild. Like, proper I-will-make-you-forget-everything-else-but-the-way-we-fuck-tonight wild. But she did things with her tongue…” 

“Ah! I told you so,” With a wink, Luke threw a pillow at Reggie. They’d fallen together on the second bed, the bed linens already wrinkled under their weight. “Jules, I told you Reggie would eventually talk about her tongue.”

The man in question rolled his eyes. “It’s not my fault she’s made me seen stars when she licked—“ 

“Okay, okay,” Alex intervened, looking up from the weirdly shaped star he’d drawn on Julie’s pants with his finger. His back was propped against the wall, a pillow supporting the small of his back. “There’s only so much straight sex talk I can take before it gets too much. Hearing about Reggie’s genitals is one of them.” 

The drummer was laying down on the second bed—Reggie’s by the looks of it—with Julie, and he’d taken on playing with the velvet texture of her pajama. Julie had allowed herself a moment to feel bad about lying her legs on Alex’s lap a few minutes before, but the warmth emanating from his palms against her shin felt nice and grounding. Plus, the blonde didn’t seem to mind it in the slightest, and she vaguely remembered a talk they had about weighted blankets and anxiety a few months prior. 

“Fair enough.” 

“You’ve got a weird fascination with tongues, though,” Julie added with a smile. 

Reggie stared at her. “It’s not weird.”

“No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You’re just very obsessed with tongues.”

Luke threw an M&M’s in his open mouth. “Well, can you blame him? Oral sex is neat.” He reached for another one, only to find the package empty. The pout that twisted his lips was almost adorable. (Almost). 

However, the room seemed to still the moment Julie let out a light puff of laughter, shaking her head. 

“Yeah, sure.”

Three pairs of eyes suddenly stared at her, eyes wide and mouth comically gaping wide. For a moment, no one said anything. Then, Alex broke the silence, his voice tentative. 

“What do you mean, ‘sure’? You don’t like oral sex?” 

Julie opened her mouth to reply, eyes finding Luke’s. His shocked expression made something within her belly flutter uncomfortably, and she cleared her throat as discreetly as she could. “Well… it’s fine, I guess?”

“Fine?” Reggie gasped at the same time Luke yelped, “You guess?”

“It’s not groundbreaking, that’s all I’m saying.” With a shrug, Julie laid back against the headboard more comfortably. “It’s never done it for me, so.”

“You never…” Clearing his throat, Alex wriggled on the bed a little uncomfortably. As open and chatty as he was with his own sex life, it was always adorable to see Alex try to find a way to talk about Julie’s and women in general.  “You never had an orgasm with oral sex before?” 

Julie chuckled. “No! I don’t think it’s even possible, honestly. It’s all very underwhelming.”

Luke and Reggie gasped louder. Julie rolled her eyes at their theatrics. 

“It is possible,” Luke said with a firm tone. He munched on another M&M’s with a little more force, jaw working and tensing as he chewed. “Trust me, it is.”

Julie squirmed a little under the attention. “I mean… I don’t know, I guess it’s just not for me then.” 

“I always told you Nick was boring,” Luke whispered from the other bed. Reggie elbowed him, hard. 

With a shrug, Julie offered them both a little smile. “It’s alright. He had the right not to want to do it, you know? And besides, it’s not like men really like giving oral anyway.”

This time, all three boys sat back as one. The scene was almost comical, and Julie would have definitely laughed at loud if she wasn’t busy wondering what she’d said wrong once again. 

“Yes, we do!” Luke exclaimed.  

Reggie nodded his head in emphasis. “Of course we do!” 

The hand on Julie’s shin stopped its wandering against the fabric. When Julie turned her focus to Alex, he looked almost sad. “Obviously, I can’t really speak about women since I’m gay but… Yeah, we do.” 

“Oh.”

The atmosphere had suddenly turned a little awkward, Julie realized when she looked back at the other bed. The boys looked all but scandalized by her revelation, and she squirmed a little under their gazes. 

“I mean, it’s your right not to like it,” Alex pressed, seemingly realizing that a blush had colored her cheeks. “And I totally respect that. We totally respect that.” He threw a look at the boys, and they both nodded in unison. “But if you not liking it has to do with the idea that men don’t like it, then… Julie, you need better boyfriends.”

A laugh burst out of her. “Maybe I do,” she said, and with that, the tension that had filled the room evaporated at once. 

“I can’t believe she thought we hated it,” Reggie fake whispered, making Julie laugh. “After all the months I’ve spent talking about my oral obsession.” 

“All the months we’ve had to suffer through your oral obsession,” Alex corrected with a sigh. 

“Potato, potato.” 

Julie rolled her eyes. “What was I supposed to think? It’s not like I had many exes. Most of the people I’ve slept with were flings here and there, and we didn’t exactly have time for that. And Nick… Well. He didn’t like it, so I assumed it was just something men didn’t particularly like.” 

Wriggling on a bed a little bit, Reggie propped himself on his elbows as he looked at Julie with a look of intense concentration. “I can’t believe you’re using Nick as an example of men’s courting capacities. We’re talking about the guy who thought Five guys was a good place for a date.”

“Come on, Five guys isn’t that bad.”

“Not when you’re 23!” Luke exclaimed with a frown. “When you’re in high school, at best. Come on, there are a lot of options to pull from that aren’t fast-food restaurants” 

Julie turned to Alex for support, but the blonde only grimaced, raising his hands in front of him in surrender. “I hate to admit it, but they have a point.” 

There wasn’t much Julie kept from the guys at this point. They had spent the better part of the last four years together practically all the time, and such proximity did not leave much room for relationship secrets —or any secrets, for that matter. Julie had seen more of the guys than she would have liked on the bus tours at times, and although the three of them respected her space in a way that warmed her heart every single time, this dynamic they had was hard for anything to stay hidden for too long.

For example, the guys knew exactly when she was on her periods, making sure to stack the bus tour with tampons and leave her enough hot water to ease the burning feeling in her lower back. It was hard to ignore the way she hurt when her period started, and it wasn’t rare for one of them to offer her a massage either. The bus coats were comfortable enough for a few trips, but they were absolute hell when in pain. The guys also made sure to be extremely busy with anything they could think of when she changed in her tiny coat that left no room for much wriggling, and in a very boys-band sort of way, they always included her in every sex talk. As for Julie, she knew exactly what Reggie’s thigh tattoo looked like, and she also had learned that Alex had a nipple piercing he got when he turned 21. She’d caught sight of Luke’s muscular ass more than once when he changed or walked out of the shower in whatever hotel they stayed at on the other end of the country, and Julie had quickly learned that save for Alex, the boys didn’t have much modesty. 

All of this included the extended knowledge of one another’s sex lives. The boys had learned all about Nick’s not-so-great game, and the way he absolutely hated doggy style —which, Reggie insisted, was very telling of his boring nature. Somehow, they had never gotten around to talking about what Nick didn’t do, and the surprise on the boys’ faces made Julie’s heart warm. 

“I guess I just didn’t see what there was to like about it, you know?” Julie finally admitted with a shrug. 

The sentence made Reggie’s eyes bug out even larger if it was even possible. “What do you mean you don’t see what’s there to like about it? Julie, everything .”  

“I feel like this is a tiny bit dramatic.” 

“It’s Reggie,” Luke emphasized. Still, he grabbed his ankle and sat crossed legs on the bed. “Although, he’s got a point. Oral sex is important.” 

Julie chuckled. “Important, really?” 

“Yeah! Of course, it is.” Waving at the boys for emphasis, Luke kept going, “Penetrative sex or handjobs are one thing, yeah. They’re nice, and I’m not gonna lie, I fucking like it. But there are different degrees of intimacy, especially depending on the person you’re sleeping with, and the relationship you have at this moment. For me, oral sex is what really helps me get into the mood and how to play with someone else’s body. I like to learn what my partner likes, and what they don’t, and there’s no better way to do that than with something that helps you focus on the other person entirely. You don’t have to worry about yourself or your pleasure, you’re just here for the other person and I think it’s beautiful.” 

Something within Julie tightened. A warm, fuzzy feeling traveled down her spine, and she fought against every urge to squirm she had. By her side, Alex nodded, unaware of her inner struggle. 

“That’s true. Oral has always been more intimate for me, too. It’s something that allows me to contain my stress, too. Learning about your partner and getting to see what makes them click is important for me.” 

“Exactly.” Running a hand through his hair, Reggie smiled. “Plus, in my experience, oral helps women relax if you’re eventually going to move to penetrative sex. Not that it’s a necessity, of course, but if it happens…” 

Talking about sex with three boys had been eye-opening for Julie. Although she did not always have anything remotely interesting to say —her sex life was rather sad, now that she thought about it— it was always nice to learn what made men tick. For future references, obviously. 

Through the months on the road, he had been amused to find out that Alex had a thing for long-haired boys, something that Julie and Luke alike found incredibly funny. Something about the tips running against his torso when he laid down on the bed made him go absolutely wild, an extremely specific yet comprehensible kink Reggie had confessed to sharing one night in Oklahoma after a gig. Both boys had a thing for hair —not that Julie could judge. Luke was more of an ass person, judging by the way his eyes eventually trailed down the swell of people’s backs when they walked in the streets and the way he talked about his conquests. That newfound knowledge didn’t surprise her in the slightest. (And if she had forced herself not to skip leg day at the gym whenever she went after that, it was no one’s business but her own). Reggie also had an oral fixation, obviously, and he liked his men taller than him. 

She cherished those tiny glimpses of her boys’ lives dearly. Sharing intimate things made them feel closer, and through their years in the band, they had become her second family. Reggie and Alex were the brothers she never had, caring and noisy alike, never letting a day go by without making sure she was included in everything. Julie often missed her brother and father back in Los Angeles, and when the boys had no one to miss really, it wasn’t the case for her. Having two brothers she’d adopted through music by her side every day meant the world. 

And then, there was Luke. 

Luke, with his baby blue eyes and dashing smile. Luke, whom she’d met on her first day of college, and known right away as she looked at this man and his cut-off shirt in the middle of the busy hallway that he would have a huge impact on her life. She remembered him looking like he’d just walked out of the 1990s with his low rise baggy jeans and orange beanie, and she had no idea what had prompted her to introduce herself right here and there. He’d looked surprised to see her in the first place, even more when she walked up to him and held out her hand for him to take. 

Moments later, Luke had stumbled upon his words at least three times and his cheeks had turned five shades of red, but Julie was introduced to the rest of the band. As it turned out, their high school band Sunset Curve already had a pretty steady fanbase, and the boys were campus famous. But the boys had troubles of their own, Julie learned when she stayed over their dorm to eat pastas on Reggie’s bed. The fourth band member and friend had turned their back on them, leaving the group to look for someone else —and the rest was history. Julie’s fear was to be a replacement for Bobby, but the boys had proven her how untrue the statement was by changing the entire group name and reshaping its entire form. 

From there on, Luke and Julie became Luke and Julie , the duet and writing partners that everyone liked to tease. Where Julie went, Luke wasn’t very far behind, even in classes. Soon enough, the guys became her best friends, sliding in her and Flynn’s dynamics as if they’d been childhood best friends all along. Alex and Flynn bonded right away, Reggie loved Carlos like his own brother and spent as much time as he could with him whenever he and her dad came to visit, and Luke and Julie became two pieces of the same puzzle.

It would be a lie to say that Julie had never thought about Luke in a more than friendly way. She often lost herself in the depth of Luke’s eyes when they sang, and the strong embrace of his arms whenever he hugged her —which happened very often, since the boy always ached for physical contact. But things had never been romantic between them, no matter how much Julie had thought it would at some point, back when they formed the band. Luke always seemed driven by an impossible guideline that blindly pulled him back every time they got too close, and Julie had learned to live with it. 

It didn’t mean that she didn’t think about it, sometimes. In the early hours of the night, in her coat, looking at Luke’s side profile as he slept, illuminated by the lights of the streets they drove through. She dreamed of sliding next to him, and feeling his strong body rock against hers with every bump on the road. Sharing a microphone night after night during concerts all over the States was a lot, and both Reggie and Alex liked to tease them as much as they could —which meant: a lot. Her boys had never been slick. 

The heaviness of Luke’s gaze as he stared down at her at this very moment made Julie bite down on her lower lip hard . 

“You have to be the only three men in the world who don’t rave about penetrative sex,” she said in a steady voice, avoiding Luke’s gaze and the turmoil of feelings bubbling inside of her. 

Reggie snickered. “I told you. Oral sex is the shit.” 

Julie almost forgot about the conversation for a little while. They left Texas for New York, and then moved back to the West coast for a San Francisco gig. Las Vegas was their last stop and the two nights they spent there seemed even more exhausting than the rest. By the end of the night, Julie and the boys were drenched in sweat as they rushed to the hotel and showered the grim away. 

Alex and Reggie were buzzing with energy by the time they were back in Luke’s room, begging the rest of the band to stroll around Vegas with them. Julie couldn’t find it in herself to go, and Luke looked about ready to pass out as well. So the two waved at their friends as they walked out, promising to be careful —as much as they could at least— before closing the door behind them. And therefore, Julie and Luke found themselves alone for the first time in… forever. 

It felt nice, to lay together in their respective beds with nothing but silence to keep their company. After such nights, Julie felt like she never had time to properly recharge. So getting a small quiet moment such as this was heaven. That was, until Luke tore Julie from her intense staring moment with the white ceiling with a soft-spoken question. 

“You good?” 

“Mmh?” Turning her head around to look at the man spread out on the other bed, Julie smiled. “Yeah, I’m good. You?” 

The smile on Luke’s face was tired but vibrant. “Yeah. Tonight was incredible.” 

“It really was.” 

Playing in front of a crowd would probably never get old. Julie would never have thought that the buzz of people singing back her lyrics would do it for her, but here she was. 

“Hey, Julie?” 

Humming her assent, she encouraged him to keep going. 

“I was thinking.”

“Wow. Breaking news.” 

“Ar, ar. Hilarious.” Rolling on his side, Luke propped a hand under his head to look at her. The bed dipped a little under his elbow, hiding the tattoo that curled around the inside of his biceps from her view. “As I was saying, I was thinking about what you said last week.” 

There were a lot of things she’d said the week prior, so the revelation didn’t hit Julie right away. 

“About oral sex.” 

“Oh.”

Her voice had dipped slightly lower. It wasn’t uncommon for them to talk about sex when the boys were around, but it certainly never happened with just the two of them. Luke felt the slight change in atmosphere, and he rushed out to keep going. 

“Okay, so I had an idea.” 

“Why am I suddenly afraid?” 

Luke rolled his eyes at her. “Come on, Jules. You know me.”

“Hence why I’m afraid.” 

“Rude. Okay, here goes nothing.” Pressing the flat of his hand against the bedding in front of him, Luke suddenly looked a little nervous. His gaze went from Julie to his own hand, then back to Julie again. “What if you tried, with me?” 

The world stopped spinning on its axis for a second. “What?” 

“Hear me out. You said you didn’t like oral sex, mostly because you feel like men don’t like it. You know I like it, and you know I wouldn’t force myself in any way. Plus, we trust each other, don’t we? I think… I think it’d be perfect. This way, if you still don’t like it, you won’t feel obligated to lie or anything. Because it’s me, you know?”

Of all the things Julie expected to come out of Luke’s mouth, this wasn’t one of them. In the years they’d been friends, Luke Patterson had dropped a few bombshells on her, but this one definitely took the cake. His eyes were still trained on her, awaiting her reaction as he tapped rhythmically against the bedding. And as much as she hated to admit it, the thought of Luke’s head between her legs made Julie’s thighs squeeze together and her breath hitch in her throat. 

“I don’t…” 

“You don’t have to say yes, Julie,” Luke insisted almost too quickly. “I was just… I feel bad, about you not liking something because your past lovers were shit. You deserve… well, you deserve to feel good. And if you ever wanted to try something you’re a little nervous about, you know where to find me, that’s all.” 

The raw sincerity in his eyes made her jaw clench and her eyes twitch. 

“Okay,” she heard herself whisper before she could swallow back the sound. Luke’s eyes bugged out comically wide. 

“Did you… do you mean it? You would trust me with this?” 

Emotions squeezed his throat, and Julie could hear from where she laid on the bed how much the answer had surprised him. But Luke was right. If there was one person in the world she trusted, it was her fellow bandmate, and Luke and Julie’s relationship had always danced on the very edge of professionalism anyway. With the way he had offered things, she was also pretty sure —at least 75% sure— that they could keep things professional outside of this little arrangement. 

If the thought made Julie’s head spin a little bit, it was no one’s business but her own.

“I always trust you, Luke, you know that.” 

By the time she had finished her sentence, Luke was sitting on his bed, looking ready to jump and join her on the other mattress. Something held him back, however, and Julie smiled at the thought of her over-confident friend hesitating for once in his life. 

“I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t pushing you to do anything you wouldn’t do.” With a slight tilt of his head, Luke bore his eyes into hers. “I offered, but it doesn’t mean you have to accept. You know that, right?”

The boys had always been very adamant about consent. They were always touchy and cuddly, with everyone including Julie, but they also always made sure to verbally ask before doing anything that might make someone uncomfortable. It wasn’t unusual for Luke to voice his need for a hug to Reggie or Alex before curling by their side on the couch or ridiculously small bus tour coat. Him asking for her consent at this very moment felt both familiar and grounding, and Julie smiled. 

“I know, Luke.” she sat up as well, curling her fingers into the bedding. “And this is part of the reason why I said yes.” 

The air filled with tension, thick and heavy. Luke was ready to bounce, yet he kept his eyes riveted on Julie’s. 

“Do you want to… Do you want to wait?” 

In any other circumstance, Julie would have said yes. She was bone-tired, and she dreamt of a good night’s sleep. But fire had started coursing through her veins the moment Luke had opened his mouth and talked about putting his mouth on her , and Julie couldn’t ignore the way her body had lit up like a Christmas tree at the very idea. 

“I mean… the boys will be out for a while, yeah?” she asked casually. Luke’s eyes darkened immediately, but he kept his cool as he nodded. 

“Yeah. Alex wanted to go to some club, so it means they won’t be back until at least 2 am. Knowing Reg, I’d bet on 3.” 

It was barely past midnight. Julie hated how much her heart squeezed excitedly at the sight of the reassuring numbers on the hotel room’s bedside clock. 

She bit her lower lip. “So… On a scale of one to ten, how opposed would you be to trying out that theory tonight?” 

Somehow, Julie didn’t need a straight answer. The press of Luke’s lips against hers was enough to make her mind blank out entirely —and her lips parted in surprise. Luke pulled back after the first, hesitant kiss, looking back at her with evident wonder in his eyes. There was an unanswered question in his pupils, and Julie brought their mouths back together hard . 

If she was honest with herself, Julie had definitely thought about kissing Luke before. How could she not? The man was a tease, and a sexy one on top of that. They shared a microphone almost every day, on stage and out, and she could feel his warm breath on her lips every time they sang together. He wasn’t shy in the way he looked at her when they did either, eyes very often falling on her mouth and eyes shimmering with something she didn’t like to think about too hard. But no amount of fantasies could have prepared her for the way his mouth felt against her own, and the way her entire body lit up at the contact. 

Pure lava coursed through her veins, making her moan in his mouth. Luke kissed as he sang, with passion and rage alike, and soon enough he had pushed her back on the bed and hovered above her. His tongue was plunging in her mouth, leaving no place for anything but the pleasure that curled Julie’s toes on the bedding. Here and there, Julie suddenly realized how anyone would want that tongue against their most private parts. The things he did to her mouth should have been illegal, and shivers of anticipation crawled up and down her entire body. 

“Perfect,” Luke muttered against her cupid’s bow when they broke the kiss, aching for her. He was panting hard, and Julie hadn’t missed the hard press of his cock against her lower stomach. She wanted to push his pajama pants down so badly her fingers tingled with it. 

But Luke pulled back, sitting back on his heels as he looked down at her. At this moment, he was the picture of pure sin. His —sleeveless— sleep shirt was barely covering his torso with the way Julie had messed it up, big arms gaps letting her see a rock-hard nipple and the flush that had taken over his chest and neck. His jaw was working hard as squeezed his teeth together, and the bulge in his sleep pants was almost obscene. The scene could have freaked out Julie. It could have been weird, to see her friend and bandmate like this. But Julie couldn’t help but think about how right it felt, more than anything else in the world. 

 “Julie, I’m going to need words.” Luke brought her back to the present with those six little words, and she blinked. 

“Uh?” 

“How do you want this?” he asked, his fingers finding her ankle. His touch was soft and grounding as he curled his hand around her flesh, craving contact. “How far do you want to go?” 

She had no idea how to reply to this. “What do you want?” 

“This is not about me, Julie.” With a firm shake of his head, Luke smiled. “I’m yours, and I want you to tell me exactly what you want.” 

Voicing her desires in bed had not always been Julie’s strongest suit. Most men didn’t care much about what she wanted anyway, and faced with such a choice, she felt herself panic a little.

“Hey.” The soft-touch against her ankle made itself more insistent. “There is no right or wrong answer, Jules. I just want to make sure you’re okay with everything we’re doing tonight, that’s all.” 

Julie nodded. “I would rather have you take the lead if it’s alright with you. I don’t…. it’s been a little while, for me, and I don’t know what I’m dealing with anyway.”  

Luke kept his eyes trained on her for a moment as if looking for unspoken things in the brown of her eyes. Eventually, he nodded. 

“Do you mind taking off your clothes?” he asked. 

Julie nodded. That, she could do. She had never been overly confident about herself or her body in general, but she had also learned to appreciate her shapes in the years that had passed since High School. She wasn’t immune to people’s appreciative glares, and she had also caught Luke’s gaze drifting to her thighs or breasts more than once. Shrugging off her sleep shirts and letting Luke take off her shorts and panties wasn’t the most nerve-wracking thing she’d do in the night, anyway.  

The lights of the hotel room bathed her body in a soft yellowish glow when she finally settled down on the bed, looking up at Luke. The man had stopped talking altogether, staring down at her with nothing but awe and pure adoration in his gaze. 

“Holy shit, Jules,” Luke whispered, catching her eyes. A small blush had taken over his cheeks. “You really are a dream come true.” 

Julie felt her heart do a little flip in her chest. She wasn’t craving validation per se, but hearing this from Luke of all people made her insides clench pleasantly. 

“Can you take off your shirt?” She asked in lieu of a reply. She did not trust herself to speak much, anyway.

He did, in a swift movement that should not have been this sexy. She had half the mind to ask her to take off the pants, too, but she wasn’t sure she could be able to prevent herself from just asking him to fuck her if he did. It had been a while, okay. 

When Luke settled back on his shins and looked down at her body with the same awe he’d shown moments before, Julie felt confident enough to spread her legs a little bit on each side of him. Her previously closed legs found a place on each side of Luke, and his gaze fell between her legs automatically. She looked at his throat bobbed when he swallowed, his gaze finding hers for a minute. 

“Bare, uh?”

“Easier to keep that way when on the road. I don’t exactly have a trimmer in my bag.” 

The conversation felt so mundane and intimate at the same time, that Julie couldn’t help but smile. 

“I’m gonna have so much fun with you tonight,” Luke confessed with a smirk. 

She had no idea what he meant by that, but the thought made her squirm all the same. Then, Luke pushed herself onto his hands and knees, wrists digging in the mattress by her head, and kissed her again. Tension Julie didn’t even know she had eased its way out of her shoulders, and she relaxed into the kiss. She let herself be swept off her metaphorical feet by his mouth on hers, then his lips trailing down her jaw and neck. The moment her tongue made contact with her taut nipple, Julie’s hips rose off the bed in surprise. Pleasure coursed through her body as he lavished her flesh with his mouth, covering her second breasts with his hands. Luke let out small whimpers of pleasure as he ravished her, and Julie found the back of his head with grabby fingers that twisted in his locks. 

“Still okay?” Luke asked, as if her core aching and the way she wriggled in his arms wasn’t enough of a proof that she was definitely okay.   

“Keep going!” 

The way down her body was rhythmed with kisses peppered all over her flesh. Her belly fluttered under the attention, Luke’s day-old stubble rubbing delicately right under her belly button when he stopped and looked up at her, his chin grazing her flesh. Julie would never admit it to his face, but Luke had already turned on more than sex with her exes ever did, and she didn’t know what to make of this knowledge. She was so turned on she could feel it on the inside of her legs, Luke’s fingers grazing the junction between her thigh and ass to spread her around him. 

The vision of Luke settling between her spread legs should have somehow been weirder, but there was nothing but pure lust in Julie’s eyes when she watched him settle her calves on his broad shoulders delicately. He pressed a kiss against the inside of her thigh, blue eyes never leaving hers, before slightly nipping at the skin there. Julie’s left leg twitched a little bit, and Luke eased the bite with a chuckle.

“Remember what we said?” he whispered, stopping for a moment. “Anything you don’t like…”

“I tell you. Yes.” 

“Nice.” The words were muffled against her skin this time, and Julie exhaled in surprise. 

The featherlight touches of his lips against her clit made Julie squirm on the bed. She had always been very sensitive to touches, but there was something about the way Luke played with her as he did behind a microphone that made her head spin. 

“Luke,” she whispered. Looking down, she was prepared to chastise him, but the next thing she knew, he had licked a steady path from her opening to her sensitive pleasure button. 

Her head fell back on the bed, and Julie let out a slow but shaky exhale. The sensation was not different from any other time she had had Nick between her legs. It was wet, a little tickly, but she still felt exposed and extremely vulnerable right now. No matter how much she trusted Luke, the exposure didn’t help her mind from spiraling. Would Luke think less of her if she didn’t like it? Julie was aware that the whole point of this experiment was for her to be honest, but if there was one thing she had learned about Luke Patterson very early on, it was that disappointing him was not pleasant. The man had a very treacherous puppy face. 

“Julie.” 

Luke’s voice tore her from her mind storm. 

“Relax,” he said. He didn’t look annoyed when she looked down at her, patient eyes gazing at her. “You’re supposed to be trusting me completely, yeah?”

Julie bit her lip. Her head fell back down on the pillowcase, and she huffed out a frustrated breath. “I know.”

“There’s no pressure. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. I will still have had a great time, and you will be able to cross that off your list for sure this time.”

Her mind reeled on the ‘great time’ part. Without thinking much about it, Julie looked down at him again. “You really do like this?” 

This time, his expression turned a little incredulous. “I’m literally shoving my tongue between your legs right now, Molina. You think I would do that if I wasn’t into it?” 

He had a point. Still, she relented. “I don’t know. You… You like to give back to people. You like making them happy.” 

“Yeah, but I usually don’t go around asking if I could eat their pussies just because I wanna make them happy.” 

Julie flushed bright red. “Okay, okay. Point taken.” 

 “Good. Now relax, and focus on telling me what you like. I wanna do this right .” 

There was the same intensity Julie heard whenever Luke wrote a new song in his notebook in his tone, and it made Julie’s toes curl on Luke’s shoulders. Gradually, her thighs relaxed, and Luke hummed his approval in response. This time when his lips connected with her feverish skin, she was more prepared and her eyes slipped shut automatically. 

Luke seemed to move around tentatively. His lips and tongue moved up and down her lips, around her entrance only to tease her clit last. Little sparks of pleasure burst behind her closed eyelids, and Julie’s breath caught in her throat. Luke seemed to realize it, because his entire attention turned to that very spot. His fingers dug a little harder in her thighs when they tensed, and Julie reached out between her legs to wrap her fingers around Luke’s hair. His tongue flickered against her once, twice, three times before she tensed, hissing in displeasure. Pulling on Luke’s hair, she detached his lips from her. 

“Too much,” she whispered when he looked up. “I’m… sensitive.” 

It felt weird, to admit this out loud. It was the first time she voiced her needs and especially what she didn’t like. Luke didn’t look phased in the slightest, nodding in understanding. When he kissed her again, it was softer this time. He didn’t spend too much time teasing her clit, alternating between kisses and slow licks before focusing on her other heterogeneous zones. It was nice, Julie thought. But it wasn’t tipping her over the edge, either. 

“Luke?” she asked eventually, the tip of his tongue finding her clit and sending strings of pleasure down her spine.

He pulled back, licking his lips. His cheeks were flushed, and Julie ached to trace it with her thumb. “Yeah?” 

“Do you think you could…” Exhaling slowly, Julie focused on what she knew. Luke had always loved her input, both when writing and performing. Why would this time be any different? 

A small kiss pressed against the inside of her thigh brought her back to the present. “Tell me what you need, Julie.”

“Fingers. I need… I don’t think I can come from this alone.” 

Something dark and primal shone in Luke’s eyes. There was no verbal answer, but by the time he was back to business, one of his hands sneaked its way under his chin and he eased his way inside of her with two steady fingers. Julie let out a soft sigh, slowly getting used to the old familiar feeling. She hadn’t lied when she told Luke that it had been a while. The flutter of her around his fingers made Luke stop once he was all the way in, waiting for her to get used to the stretch while he kissed his way around his fingers. 

“Good?” he asked. 

Julie nodded, wriggling a little on the bed. “You can… yeah.” 

Curling his fingers delicately inside of her, Luke earned himself a gasp. That was more like it. As it turned out, Julie’s body was more receptive to his licks and kisses when coupled with his fingers, and Luke relished in the feeling of her milking his fingers and gasping through her teeth. It had been a while for him too, and the sight of Julie Molina wriggling out of pure pleasure on the bed made something in his chest tighten. 

One particularly well-placed lick against her bundle of nerves got Julie gasping out in the hotel room, her thighs clenching around Luke’s ears out of pure instinct. Well aware of her sensitivity, Luke coupled his touch with a delicate curl of his fingers inside of her, just the way that seemed to make her moan the loudest.   

“So rough,” Julie whispered between clenched teeth. Her body shuddered violently, clenching so tight around him that Luke felt part of his soul leave his body. 

“Hmm?”

“Your calluses. It feels… ugh. So good.”

Luke had played the guitar from the moment he’d turned eight and his parents had offered him one without thinking too much about it on his birthday. His hands were marked by years of practice, fingers hardened by the chords and carved by the songs he’d played for years. 

He had never thought much about the repercussions of it, though. Some girls he’d held hands with in high school had commented on the hardness of his fingers, and he hadn’t paid much mind to the way they frowned when he reached out to hold their hand. For him, his fingers had always been a sign of his involvement in the band, and he’d never really cared about the altered skin. Not until Julie arched her beautiful body off the bed and let out a sound of pure pleasure when the pad of his fingers crazed her G spot. 

If his mouth hadn’t been busy trying to make her come, it would probably have been hanging open. Luke couldn’t take his eyes off Julie voicing her pleasure as he elicited the reactions he’d been dying to get from her from the start. Her body seemed to be lightened by pleasure all at once, and he doubled his efforts. His tongue and fingers worked as one, following each of Julie’s cries and shakes of her body until he felt her thighs tense around his head. 

“Luke, I’m going to…” Those four little words which almost sent him over the edge, and he pressed his hips harder into the mattress. 

When Julie felt herself tip over the edge, her hand tightened in his hair and her thigh tensed around his ears. She was aware that her heels were digging into the curve of his back and shoulders, but Luke didn’t seem annoyed in the slightest. His tongue and fingers were relentless, and for a moment she had the presence of mind to be grateful for his expertise with guitar strings —and behind a microphone.

“Oh shit,” Julie whispered right before she was forced into the most intense orgasm of her life. Her body shook on the sheets, the soft fabric sticking to her sweaty back. Her body seemed to find a life of its own as pleasure raced through her, eyes closing and mouth dropping open around a silent scream.

She had no idea how long it lasted, but the next thing Julie was aware of was the gentle way Luke pulled his fingers out of her. When she cracked an eye open, she watched as he licked them clean and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before falling down next to her on the mattress. 

“Did you… like this?”

Luke’s voice was almost hesitant. For the life of her, Julie couldn’t figure out why.

“Wasn’t my orgasm proof enough?” she teased. 

Luke wrinkled his nose. “I coaxed your body into an orgasm physically, but it doesn’t mean your mind liked it as much. It’s okay, if you’d rather not do this ever again.” 

Lying there next to her with his baby blue eyes almost swallowed by the black of his desire, Luke had never looked sexier. His tattoos moved as he waved around in emphasis, and Julie felt the aching need between her legs return full force. 

“Luke?”

“Mmh?”

“Fuck me.” 

His eyes bulged comically wide. “What?” 

“I loved it. I really, really did. But I really need you to fuck me, now. Because this made me ache for so much more” 

Through the fog that was his brain and her words reverberating inside of it, Luke somehow found the strength to follow her instructions. His sleep pants and boxer briefs were thrown on the floor in no time, and Julie was finally faced with the naked glory that was her best friend and bandmate naked. Any fantasy she could have had before paled in comparison to the way Luke Patterson looked when he hovered over her, drinking her in. His hard cock nudged her lower belly when he bent over and kissed her lips with passion, letting Julie taste herself. The sour but sweet taste of her orgasm only spurred Julie into action, and she wrapped her thighs around his hips firmly. 

“Condom?” he asked, tearing her from her trance. 

“Shit. I don’t have any.”

“Neither.” His face contorted in a grimace. “Oh, wait. I’m sure Reggie has some.” 

She had no idea how they’d even be able to explain this to their bandmates, but the thought was lost as soon as Luke jumped from the bed in search of a plastic fold. She giggled as he walked around the bed, hard cock bobbing with the movement of his hips, running a hand through his hair to get it off his eyes. 

“Come on, Molina. Don’t you laugh at me when I’m on a perilous mission like this.” 

He jumped back on the bed seconds later with the precious plastic square, slicing it open with two steady fingers. Julie watched as he rolled it onto himself with a hiss, pumping himself a few times to release some pressure. 

“You know you could always say no,” Luke said, crawling back on the bed. “Just because I did this doesn’t mean—”

She placed a hand against his mouth. “It’s just like you said, Luke. We trust each other, and there’s no one else I would trust to do this with tonight.” She looked at him then, taking the time to trace the soft features of his face for the first time of the night. His overgrown hair fell in front of his eyes a little, courtesy of the new haircut he’d adopted. A shadow obscured his jaw, witness of a stubble he would surely have in the morning if he didn’t shave carefully like he always did. There was nothing but the same honesty she had previously seen in his eyes, and Julie felt her insides melt a little. “Now, if you don’t want to…”

“I do. I do.” Rushing in to explain himself, Luke’s gaze fell on her lips. “I trust you, too.” 

They had no idea what this meant for the both of them. But a little selfishly, neither of them wanted to talk about it at the moment. Their embrace was more intimate than anything they had ever done before, and both singers knew there was no going back after this. Julie would never be able to erase the sight of Luke's naked form from her mind, and she would never be able to forget the way he brought her to complexion like no one before, either. 

When Julie brought a hand between their bodies to guide him inside of her, they both hissed at the feeling. The first push inside of her body made Julie gasp, and Luke bit back a sigh of his own. There was no word strong enough to describe how perfect it felt to have Luke on top of her, inside of her, and Julie had to close her eyes momentarily. 

“Fucking hell, Julie.”

The words were muffled against the side of her neck, where Luke had pressed his face. Their bodies were now flushed together, and waves of pleasure from Julie’s previous orgasm tingled through her lower section at the feeling of Luke’s hips pressing against her still sensitive clit. Neither of them moved for a handful of seconds, getting used to the feeling of the other’s body for the first time. Then, Julie let her foot slide up his legs and rest against the back of his ass to urge him on.  

The change of angle made Luke groan, muscles flexing at the contact. “Juile?” he asked, voice rough and muffled by her feverish skin.

“I thought we talked about fucking?” 

Luke’s arms muscles moved when he found purchase on his wrists, putting some distance between their bodies to be able to look at her in the eyes. “As you wish, boss.” 

Julie barely had time to yelp in surprise before he was pulling back and thrusting inside of her hard and deep , pushing inside of her again and again in a punishing rhythm that had her gasping for air around her moans. When picturing this exact situation —not that she’d done that a lot, but Julie had sometimes indulged in a few fantasies of her own— she had never quite imagined Luke as a dominant lover. Passionate, for sure. This man wrote love songs with such devotion that it wasn’t surprising to find the same passion under the sheets. But there was a fierceness in the gleam of his eyes that Julie had never seen before. 

Balancing his weight on one arm, Luke wrapped his hand around Julie’s thigh to anchor her right where he wanted her. The angle he created made Julie mewl in pleasure, as sudden bursts of light flashed under her closed eyelids. 

“Luke.” Raising one hand to cradle his head, she forced him down just long enough to steal a kiss from his lips. 

His thrusts were hard and sharp, and Julie felt dizzy with the feeling of it. At 27, she was pretty sure she had nothing else to learn from sex. Yet here came Luke Patterson, proving her wrong. She had no idea her body could even react like this to penetrative sex, and she didn’t even know missionary could do it for her. But each thrust tore a new whine from her throat, and Julie became a rag doll in Luke’s arms. 

Soon enough, Luke was panting against the side of her mouth. “I can’t… Julie.” 

His hips faltered a little, and Julie raised the hand she had used to grab his bicep to ease the frown between his brows. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I’m…” Sliding one knee higher on the bed, Luke gently rocked their bodies up and down the mattress, keeping their hips connected all the while. “I’m embarrassingly close already.” 

Which wasn’t at all surprising, considering the rhythm he’d kept right before that. But there was a certain frustration behind his confession. Julie recognized it as the same frustration that took over him whenever he couldn’t find exactly what was missing between the lyrics he’d laid on paper. Luke was nothing if not driven by perfection and great achievements, but sometimes the rush to complexion only added to the general anxiety of a situation he put himself in. 

“And that’s okay,” Julie whispered with a soft smile. “You made me come already, remember?” 

“Yeah, but—”

“What did you say when we started this? No judgment, only trust.” 

The line between his brows eased a little bit, much to Julie’s contempt. 

“I wanna try something,” she said, pushing steadily against the flat of his torso to get him off her. He followed her lead immediately, even though she could see the confusion in his eyes when he slipped out of her and left them both aching for one another. “Lie down on the bed.” 

He did diligently, eyes following her when she swung one leg above his hips and straddled him. 

“Oh.” 

Julie didn’t miss the way his eyes glazed over when her breasts swung in front of his eyes, fingers twisting on the bed sheets. 

“How is that supposed to help me not to come?” He asked finally when Julie reached out to guide him inside of her again, sliding down his cock slowly. 

“It’s not.” 

Her muscles fluttered around him, and Luke hissed his pleasure, head pressing in the pillow underneath him. His eyes were blown completely black when he looked up at her.  

“I want you,” Julie drawled out as she moved, keeping her hips movements short but deep, “to let go. I want to see you come, Luke.”

“Jules…”

“Can you do that for me?” Her fingers caressed the skin of his bare torso, playing with the short hair there. He hadn’t shaved it in at least a few days, judging by the coarse feeling under he palms. “Just like you do on stage. Just trust me, and follow my lead.” 

She realized he was done for the moment the words slipped past her lips. Music, Luke understood. He lived and breathed for music, and their relationship on stage had always been one they nailed down to perfection. He called her ‘boss’ not only because it made him laugh, but also because she was the boss of the band. She was the fourth element that brought them all together in harmony, who contained everyone and pushed them to greatness. 

And when she asked him to follow her lead, Luke always did. 

Gazing upon his face as he came was something Julie would keep in her memory forever. She had always thought Luke was gorgeous —she had eyes, and so did everyone around— but there was something beautifully captivating in the pleasure that twisted his face. His brows drew tight, his mouth fell open in a silent ‘o’ and his cheeks flushed brighter than she had ever seen as if all the blood in his body had gathered there. A string of poetic lyrics flooded Julie’s mind instantly. 

“Fuck,” Luke gasped. His hands found Julie’s hips, digging into her flesh. “Fuckkkk.” 

The tendon on his neck jumped in time with the somersaults of his hips. Julie rode it out with him, letting her hands press firmly against his chest to follow the wild beating of his heart. She idly wondered if it beat that erratically when they were on stage, giving their everything to the crowd in front of them. Maybe she was the only one who got to feel this, Julie thought, and she kept the wild thought dear to her heart. 

Luke grew quiet after an orgasm, Julie noted. His body shagged on the sheets like a rag doll, eyes closing out and breaths steadying slowly but surely. 

“That was intense,” Julie eventually whispered in a chuckle. 

She let herself fall down next to him, grimacing at the feeling of the slightly damp sheets against her sweaty skin. So much for showering before that. 

“That was the best sex of my life,” Luke confessed without opening his eyes. “If I had known that from the start, we would have done that a lot sooner.”

Tension filled the air at the joke. 

“I’m kidding, Julie.” Cracking an eye open, Luke grimaced when he looked down at himself. “Let me… I’m gonna take care of the condom, I’ll be right back.” 

She watched him leave without a word, following his disappearance into the bathroom. From where she lay on the bed, she caught a glimpse of him in the bathroom mirror. His eyes flexed as he disposed of the condom with a boyish frown, washing his hands in the sink thoughtfully. She didn’t miss the way he shoved a few sheets of toilet paper into the bin to mask any evidence of their activities, catching her eyes in the reflection right after he’d done so.

For a moment, Julie and Luke looked at each other through the mirror, a small smile that they couldn’t quite contain curling the corner of their respective mouths. 

“So,” Luke said after breaking their eye contact, turning around and leaving the bathroom with the characteristic ‘clic’ of the light being turned off from the inside. “Maybe we should talk about this.” 

Whatever ‘this’ was, it had been… nice. Great, even. Julie didn’t remember ever feeling this good after sex. She was properly worn out and well fucked, and her body tingled with the aftermath of her pleasure. Luke had been passionate and tender at the same time, and she knew she would ache with the ghost of his body inside of her the next day. 

“I don’t regret it.” The words had barely left her mouth before Luke’s head snapped up. 

“Me neither.”

Silence followed their declaration. For a handful of seconds, Julie entirely forgot what they had just done. It was just her and Luke, laying on a bed together after a show and enjoying one another’s presence in the vast quietness of the hotel room. But reality hit as soon as she trailed her gaze down the length of Luke’s body, the sight of his soft member resting against his thigh oddly domestic. 

“I need to pee,” she said, sending Luke an apologetic look. 

“Okay.”

She felt his eyes on him when she disappeared in the bathroom, closing the door behind her. ‘Always pee after sex’ , Flynn would repeatedly tell her in college, as if Julie slept with the whole campus. Having an open-minded best friend was nice, but Flynn always had more faith in Julie’s capacities than she should have. Flushing the toilets and washing her hands, Julie threw a look at herself in the bathroom mirror before walking out. Her hair was a mess of curls that she would have to tie the next morning, but her face was flushed with a pleasant glow she hadn’t seen in a very long time. 

“So this happened,” Julie repeated when she walked out of the bathroom, finding Luke standing next to the bed. He had pulled a pair of fresh sheets from the built-in dresser in the corner of the room, and she realized that he had slid his sleeping pants back on. They hung low enough on his hips to show a few pubic hair, and the knowledge that he had no boxer briefs on made Julie’s cheeks flame a little. 

A breeze of fresh air caressed her naked form, and a look at the window told her that he had also cracked it open for a few minutes. 

With a nod, Luke echoed. “This happened.” 

“And we both had fun.” 

“Definitely.” 

With a hum, Julie reached for her panties and shirt, dressing up just as Luke finished changing the sheets. He had brought his overnight bag closer to the bed to claim it before Reggie walked back inside the room. 

“We’re both consenting adults,” she said slowly, drawing the words out. Luke looked at her through his long lashes, fluffing the pillows with a steady hand. (Hand that had been between her legs not that long ago, Julie remembered). “And we both had fun.”

“What are you implying, Julie?” 

“I’m implying… well.” A look at him told her that he was hanging to her lips, and Julie straightened her shoulders confidently. “I’m implying that this wasn’t such a bad idea. After all, we both have a bit of troubles entertaining a private life with concerts and song writing sessions, don’t we? When was the last time you even had time for a fling?” 

She knew the answer to that question, but the face Luke made told her she’d hit him right where she needed to. 

“I don’t remember.”

“Exactly.” 

“So what do you wanna do, Julie?” Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Luke let his hands fall between his thighs. Haunched like this, his shoulders looked even bigger than they usually did. “You want us to have a casual, no strings attached relationship?”

Words seemed to dry up in her throat. “Well. We know and trust each other enough to be honest with one another, just like we’ve proven tonight. We’ve also known each other for years now, and there’s no one I’d trust with literally every other aspect of my life. So why not sex, right?”

Luke seemed lost in his thoughts for a moment. His thumbs worked absent-minded shapes on the inside of his thighs, the way he did whenever he was deep in thoughts. 

“Makes sense,” he said finally. His tone was neutral, and his face gave none of his thoughts away. For a moment there, Julie wondered if she hadn’t proposed the wrong thing. 

“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.” 

His eyes flickered to her. “What exactly in my attitude tonight made you think I didn’t want to, Julie?”

The simple question made Julie shiver. Images of Luke’s hungry eyes as he thrust into her flashed into her mind, and she averted her gaze. “Okay, yeah.” Sitting down on the other bed, right in front of Luke, Julie nodded once more. “So. Sex.” 

“Convenient sex,” Luke emphasized. “No feelings involved, because it’s just us, right? And of course, only if both of us agree, and as long as the guys don’t know.” 

The guys. Taking a peak at the clock on the bedside table, Julie’s shoulders shagged in relief. “Agreed. I don’t feel comfortable putting them in the middle of this.” 

She did not want to voice the disappointment that had seized her stomach when he had uttered the words ‘no feelings involved’. An ugly little voice at the back of Julie’s head screamed that her feelings already were involved, but she ignored it pointedly. 

“So it’s settled then.” The playful smirk was back on Luke’s face, as if it had never left. “Should we shake hands or something?”

Julie rolled her eyes. “You had your tongue up my pussy, I think we’ve already agreed to whatever that was in a more meaningful way.” 

Luke only laughed in response, strong shoulders shaking with the force of it. For a moment, it was if nothing had changed. Luke was still Luke, and she was still Julie. She was confident they could do this, and a thrill ran down her spine at the idea of getting more of this Luke she had only partially glimpsed at on the bed sheets. 

“Hey Julie?” he said when she got up and walked past him, bidding him good night to walk towards the door connecting Reggie and Luke’s room to hers and Alex’s. 

“Yeah?”

“I made you like oral sex,” he sang childishly. 

To Julie, the look of pure contempt on his face truly was worth all the eyerolls and ‘I told you so’s of the world.