Dangerous Kiss (Dangerous Noise 1)

All mine.

Forever.

"Shit, Ethan. Are the blue balls frying your brain or something?" Joel nudges me then motions to the scores on screen—mine is pitiful compared to his. Joel looks to Kit for confirmation.

Kit, our bassist, is intense, with dark eyes, piercings, and tattoos that make panties drop. Girls go apeshit for the troubled bad boy vibes he gives off, but lately he's been keeping to himself.

Which is good—Piper is one of the girls who wants her love to heal his broken heart. She thinks I don't know she has a crush on him, but it's obvious to everyone, including Kit.

The man is my friend, but he's also a heartbreaker. He's not getting anywhere near Piper.

Nobody is breaking my baby sister's heart on my watch.

He and Joel are old friends—of course they are, they've both been in Dangerous Noise since the beginning—and they share a language I can't begin to understand.

Kit raises his eyebrows suggestively.

Joel shakes his head.

Kit looks to Joel. "Maybe the man wants to save his dexterity for his guitar."

"Yeah, his guitar. Right." Joel looks to Violet an

d nods hello. After she nods back, he turns to me. "You really going for this?"

Fuck yes, I'm going for this. But Joel doesn't need those details. My entire life, I've had an older brother watching over my every move, telling me what I should or shouldn't do. Now that I'm in Dangerous Noise, I have two extra older brothers. I get that I'm younger than everyone else. I get that I've fucked up shit and let people down in the past.

But I've been devoted to music since I turned shit around. I've been devoted to this band since the day I joined. I never let anything get in the way of our future.

It's about time people stop looking at me like they're expecting me to let them down.

Last thing I need is Joel and Kit getting involved.

They'll only fuck this up. It's better if I play cool.

"You really going to keep being obnoxious?" I tease.

"Of course," he says. "It's my favorite pastime. That a yes or a no?"

"Time will tell."

Joel laughs. "That's such a load." He looks to Kit. "You buying that?"

Kit shakes his head. "You're gonna fuck this up for him."

"No, he's gonna fuck it up for himself." Joel waves Violet over. "Hey, Violet. You finished with work?"

She stops chewing on her pen to pull her headphones off her ears. "What?"

"Still working?" Joel looks to me, raises a brow as if to say watch this, and looks back to Violet. "Get your sexy ass over here and take a break."

"You're the second drummer to compliment my ass today." Her voice is playful, especially given the tension that hung in the air when Joel walked in on our kiss.

"Tom Steele was moving in on my territory?" Joel shakes his head.

"You'd have to ask him that." Violet pushes herself from her seat. She doesn't move closer yet. She goes to the kitchen and grabs a water bottle from the fridge. "You want anything?"

"Man's already got fame and fortune," Joel says. "And now he's trying to win your favor too. That hurts me, Violet. That hurts me real bad."