Dangerous Rock (Dangerous Noise 3)

I can't fall for Joel.

Which means I need to be careful about sleeping with Joel.

Even if he's near impossible to resist.

Ahem. "Where am I staying?"

"Over here." Joel leads me to the bedroom and opens the door for me.

The room is decorated with a mix of cool jewel tones—red, purple, blue, teal. White string lights line the walls.

There are framed posters here too, but they're all for classic video games. Or at least older video games. I'm not really a gamer. All my free time goes to reading.

"The bed's yours as long as you want it," he says.

"And you?"

"You're more than welcome to invite me to spend the night with you. Until then, I'll take the couch."

"Aren't we having fun?"

He gives me a funny look. "Would it be fun if I pushed you into fucking me just 'cause I only have one bed?"

"No, I mean…"

"I want to fuck you, Bella. I want to make you come until you forget your name. But I want you to be there, in that moment."

"I didn't mean—"

He nods. "I know." He motions to the bed. "But you should know, that I'm not going to fuck you until you ask."

I swallow hard. "Verbally?"

He nods. "I'm not going to fuck you until you beg me to do it." His pupils dilate. His tongue slides over his lips. "Fuck, I'm getting distracted here. What was I talking about?"

"Sex."

He laughs. "You're not helping." He nods to the sound system in the corner. "You can plug in your phone if the record player doesn't do it for you." He sets my suitcase next to the bed then turns to me. "Have you ever listened to vinyl?"

"I'm not really into music. I mostly listen to Top 40." I cringe anticipating his response.

"What's with that look?"

"I feel like an asshole, telling a rock drummer I don't like music."

"Better than bullshitting me. Besides, you told me last night." He smiles. "You apologized for it a dozen times."

"Really?"

He nods. "It wasn't like you. I get it now. When you're sober, you're a lot more—"

"Polite—"

"Fixated on pleasing other people."

My cheeks flush. "Are you saying that because I made all those demands last night?"

"No, but thank you for reminding me about that." He winks then motions come here. "Not everyone is into music. It's fine. But you should still try listening to an original vinyl."