Page 41 of The Sound of Us

Dante started to play Kenny Rogers’s “Coward of the County” and I shot to my feet. “Are you kidding me? I’m no coward. Someone take away his guitar before I smash it over his head. Are you guys listening to this?”

“Babe…” Isla shook her head. “We don’t speak music the way you do, but whatever he’s saying, I don’t think you need to worry. I was in there and it all looked structurally fine. If someone sees us, at worst they’ll tell us to get out. Lighten up.”

“Every time you tell me to lighten up, bad things happen,” I reminded her, thinking of our visit to the frat house.

“Every time you choose the straight path, you miss out on all the fun,” she retorted. “Can’t you feel your heart pumping already? We’ll have an entire building to ourselves.”

“I’ve been in there recently, too,” Dante said. “The university is planning to renovate all the empty buildings as student residences and Noah got permission for me to check them out. He’s planning to argue that they’ll have more than enough additional space without including this building in the mix. I wouldn’t let us all in if it was dangerous.”

“Are you sure?” I looked over, only to find Dante’s steady gaze on me.

“I would never let anything happen to you,” he said. “Trust me.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN“Bad Girls” by M.I.A.DANTE

Everything I did had a purpose. My degree, the summer internship, and my legal research job were stepping stones to becoming a lawyer. Music—both the band and the radio show—was my escape; it fed my soul. I had no room in my life for anything else—relationships, friendships, sports, or even recreation. So, what was I doing breaking into the social science building with the WJPK crew late at night? At first, I told myself it was for Noah and the station—I was being part of the team. And then it was to keep everyone safe.

I didn’t expect to have fun.

Racing through the empty corridors of a three-story building at night with only the glow of streetlamps through the windows to light the hallways and my phone to illuminate darker corners was nothing short of exhilarating. I couldn’t remember the last time I had done something for the sheer enjoyment of it, to feel my heart pound and my cheeks ache from smiling. I also couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Skye, but now that I knew Nick was the seeker, I was desperate to find her.

I heard shouts, a slam, the pounding of feet. I caught a glimpse of Nick heading in my direction through the glass door and ducked into a dark alcove under the stairs. A minute later, I heard footsteps, a gasp, and then Skye barreled into the alcove and slammed into me.

“Skye!” Nick bellowed. “I saw you.”

It wouldn’t take Nick long to find us under the stairs. I grabbed Skye’s hand and we ran down the hallway, checking door handles along the way.

“Here,” she called out. “This one is open.”

We made it into the storage closet and closed the door only moments before Nick’s heavy footsteps rang down the hallway. It was almost pitch-black inside, save for the faint light spilling under the door from the hallway. The air was stale and musty and heavy with the scent of cleaning supplies. Skye turned the lock and then pressed her ear to the door.

“He’s not moving,” she whispered. “I think he knows we’re here.”

I heard the rattle of a doorknob and then another and another. My pulse raced as if the danger were real. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt such an adrenaline rush. Nick’s shoes squeaked and suddenly the doorknob rattled. Skye jerked back and spun around into my arms.

We held each other, hearts pounding together, until his footsteps faded away in the distance. Skye let out a ragged breath. “I think he’s gone.”

That was my cue to release her, but I didn’t want to let her go and she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave. I could feel every inch of her soft body against mine. So close. Too close. There was zero chance she didn’t know what she was doing to me.

“Dante.” Her voice was soft and smooth like whiskey, with a ragged edge that I felt in my core.

Zero chance.

I couldn’t kiss her—shouldn’t kiss her—just like I shouldn’t have kissed her in the basement. I needed to stop the freight train of desire that was taking away my power of rational thought. I’d made a promise to Noah. The risks were too high.

“So…” I swallowed hard. “You and Ethan.” I’d wanted to punch Ethan when I saw the way he’d been looking at her, his gaze roving over her body, mentally stripping away her clothes. I knew that look. I knew the thoughts. I was that man when I met an attractive woman. But Skye wasn’t any woman, and Ethan’s blatant hotdog seduction had flipped some kind of switch in me that I didn’t know I had, and all I could think wasmine.

She let out a rough breath. “What?”

“Ethan said you guys went out.” She was still locked tight in the circle of my arms and every time she shifted her weight, the brush of her hips against my cock was an exquisitely painful pleasure. “Are you going out again? Was tonight supposed to be the night you and Ethan—?”

“Shut up, Dante.” She pressed her lips to mine and kissed me.

Every shred of conscience I possessed disappeared the moment I tasted those sweet lips.Fuck Ethan.Fuck not wanting to get between her and someone who wasn’t bound by a promise to stay away. Fuck being a gentleman and not wanting to risk being caught.

She kissed me with an enthusiasm that wiped my mind clean of everything except her. The bittersweet taste of vodka on her tongue as it tangled with mine. The fresh scent of flowers as I brushed back her hair. The pillowy softness of her lips and the sound of her desire as she groaned into my mouth.Damn.The girl could kiss.

We were both desperately out of breath. She whispered my name again and this time I took control, threading my hand through her hair to hold her in place. Our mouths crashed together, lips hard and demanding. We kissed like we were desperate, ravenous, possessed. I backed her up against the wall, running my hands up her sides and under her shirt to touch her warm skin.

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