Is This Love or Merely Lust?

“Well Bam Bam... Why’d you pick out a bunch of hotties for us?” I joked, trying to break the silence, and everyone laughed. Although, it wasn’t a complete joke... They were totally rocking their bad boy rocker look...

“Yeah well... I know how much you girls love men... But that’s not the point! They’ve got some music for you guys to listen to, to see if you’re interested in them,” Bam explained.

“Oh, we’re interested alright...” Jane mumbled so only I heard her. I flashed her a smile, agreeing with her that they were hot, before leading the men to a different room which was more like a lounge. There, we crashed on the couches and Dad put their CD in the good sound system we had there. He pressed play and a strong catchy guitar started up, the rest of the instruments soon joining in. I walked over to the couch Bam was on when a very loud grunt came over the song. Though having heard some of their songs before and knowing the singer did that sometimes, I still stopped walking for a moment, pausing and thinking about the noise. I must have had a funny expression on my face because Bam cracked up laughing at me.

“It’s Jyrki’s thing,” he said in between laughs as I sat down next to him. “A signature sound.”

“His signature sound is how he sounds in bed?” I giggled and Bam’s mouth dropped.

“Oh you wish you knew!” he retorted and we laughed some more. Gosh I had missed talking to him. He was always so much fun! But unfortunately, he had been so busy lately it was insane! “Gosh, you’ve only just met him and you’re already trying to get into his pants!”

“I am not!” I attempted to defend myself but I knew Bam wouldn’t buy it. I looked around to find Jane and saw she was surrounded by the band, talking to all of them at once, somehow. I noticed that my father was sitting by himself, concentrating hard on the music to figure out whether or not these guys were good enough for his business. I had completely forgotten that this was about business, not making friends. Although, these guys did seem pretty darn cool... I listened in to the music as Bam tapped along to the beat on the couch, both of us enjoying what we were hearing. I had listened to a few of The 69 Eyes’ songs and enjoyed them, but I’d never bought any of their CDs or anything. I just sort of knew who they were. I glanced back over at my sister who was being overwhelmed with questions from all of the guys at once, but I could tell that she was enjoying the attention. Suddenly, there was a commotion of Finnish and Jane met my eye. She was confused and I knew she felt awkward. Jyrki caught my eye and we exchanged warm friendly smiles before he went back to talking to Jane in English. Jussi stood and came over to me and Bam.

“Uh, Jessica, right?” he asked, not seeming even the slightest bit shy of meeting someone new, and I nodded. “Could you show me where the bathroom is please?”

“Sure. Follow me,” I said. As I stood, I noticed Bam was giving me a strange look.

“If you two aren’t back after 5 minutes, I’m coming looking for you!” he joked. If anything, he should be saying that to Jane when she disappeared with men, not me!

“He’s not even the singer!” I said back, also joking. I walked out of the lounge room with Jussi hot on my tail. “Gotta love Bam’s teasing...”

“He’s a good person deep down,” Jussi replied with a smile, his accent stronger than I thought it would be. “You know, you girls are really good singers.”

“Oh thank you,” I said, beaming at his compliment. It was always good to hear those things.

“Are you two related?” he continued to question me as we rounded a corner, nearly at the male’s restroom. “Bam hardly told us anything about you two.”

“Yeah, we’re sisters. I’m older by 3 years,” I answered as I came to a stop at the obviously marked men’s room. I nodded at the door and Jussi approached it, pausing before he pushed the door open.

“Are you two seeing anyone?” he asked casually.

“No...” I replied cautiously, wondering what he was getting at. He gave me another smile before disappearing into the room, leaving me outside to ponder on his words. Was Jussi asking about me or about my sister? He had changed the conversation so easily onto me and Jane... Hmmm... Definitely have to talk to her about that over dinner tonight... Jussi soon came out of the room and we headed back to where everyone else was, making small talk on the way. Jussi seemed like a cool guy and was a smooth talker in his second language. When we returned, the demo must have finished because Dad was talking to Timo-Timo, Archzie and Bazie, no doubt checking them out to see if they were worthy of a deal with him. He only employed people who were good musicians and nice people in person. Bam and Jane were talking to Jyrki, Jyrki seeming like he was in a flirty, happy mood from afar. Jussi and I went to join them, me standing between Jussi and Jyrki.

“Watch out, Jyrki, Jess is coming for ya!” Bam said cheekily and I poked my tongue out at him. I so wasn’t... Yet...

“Oh really?” Jyrki asked while raising his eyebrows. Oh jeez, his voice was deep and his accent was so sexy... That was a huge attraction for me... I glanced up him to meet his eyes which were full of naughtiness. I blushed and looked away, feeling like a teenager again. I hadn’t had a man make me feel like that for so long...

“Now look what you’ve started, Bam,” Jane complained, giggling at my childish reaction. I sighed, trying to compose myself.

“Jussi!” Timo-Timo called out, then said something in Finnish to him.

“Excuse me,” Jussi said politely, before leaving the group and heading over to talk to my father. I caught the smile that he passed over to Jane before he left. I guess he was interested in her. I doubt he could keep up with her, though. He seemed too nice for her crazy party lifestyle... We made casual chat in our little group, mainly Jane and I catching up with Bam. Jyrki soon got called over to my Dad’s group, and shortly after Dad called the meeting off. I guess he had all he needed. I watched as he excused himself from the group and came over to me and Jane.

“Thank God you know Bam, girls. He knows some good musicians. And they’ve got themselves a deal,” he told us happily before leaving.

“Ha! I knew bringing them to you girls would be a good idea!” Bam shouted with happiness, giving Jane a hug soon after.

“Yeah... As soon as he sees that his daughters and their friends like a band, he wants them signed,” she said, beaming as the band came back over to us. Bam gave me a quick ‘thank you’ hug too.

“You guys ready to go?” Bam asked the band. “I’ve got a small skateboarding show in half an hour.”

“Yeah, uh, can we ask you lovely ladies something first?” Jyrki questioned, looking at me. I saw Bam sniggering out of the corner of my eye, but ignored him and his mischievousness. I glanced at Jane before we nodded cautiously, wondering what the hell was on their minds. “Can we have your numbers?” My tense smile relaxed into a more natural one when I realised all he wanted was our cell phone numbers. There was going to be no awkward questions... We gave them out to everyone in the band and then led them back to the front door where their limo was waiting. Everyone received hugs goodbye before they piled into the limo together. Jane and I waved goodbye before turning to each other, both kind of speechless as to what had just happened. I think Jane was a bit more shocked than me, but then again, I don’t know what had happened when I had gone with Jussi.

“Ok, we go back inside and help Dad out with his work, then we talk about this over dinner tonight?” I suggested.

“Oh, that’s a deal!” Jane agreed as we headed back inside. This new band had already shaken things up and made life a lot more interesting...