Above the Noise Read Online Free

with me. The space under the door wasn’t big enough to slip a key through from the outside. So, I couldn’t leave without waking her up to lock the door behind me. I didn’t want to wake her.
    I chuckled to myself and flopped down into the well-worn, oddly shaped, pink overstuffed chair in the corner. I covered up with what looked to be a ‘Made by Grandma’ afghan and watched Becki sleep until my eyes forced themselves closed.
    The sun pouring through her windows woke me the next morning. Becki was in the exact same position she’d been in when my eyes closed. It was daylight, so I felt better about leaving her alone with her door unlocked. Folding up the afghan and placing it carefully over the back of the chair, I knew she’d never know I’d stayed, which was fine. I’d stayed to keep watch over her, not to get credit for doing something thoughtful. My only intention had been to keep her safe.

 
     
    CALON AND I stumbled out of the bar and headed toward the elevators. I’d been hot for Calon for years. Gracie, Stacy, and I were technically Alternate Tragedy’s first groupies. We’d been going to see them play at Mitchell’s since the night we first tried our fake IDs. Stacy and I even lied to our parents and drove to Chicago to see them once.
    Gracie and Calon’s musical connection had Calon closer to me than arm’s length for the entire summer. He and I started something the moment he winked at me back in June. I couldn’t explain our connection then, but there was no doubt we both felt it.
    I liked music and all, I just didn’t ‘get it’ like Calon and Gracie did. I simply hung out with them to enjoy the view. There were times they’d speak in their special music lingo and discuss things like motif and tempo. Whatever . I just sat there thinking, blah, blah, blah, lick those lips one more time, Rock Star, and I will be in your lap.
    It felt like Calon and I had known each other longer than a couple months. Not to mention, I’d just travelled half-way across the country with him and the band. And now I was headed toward an empty hotel room with Calon Fucking Ridge. The thought made me dizzy.
    “Let’s race, but no running.” Calon took off like an Olympic speed walker, wiggling his ass like a pro. It was all I could do to not piss myself laughing at how ridiculous he looked. I was so fucking tired I could’ve probably fallen asleep standing up, but I’d have to be able to stop giggling at the dork in front of me to do that.
    We were exhausted. Spider had driven the last leg of the trip, which was the longest. We’d met with Greystar Management and checked into one of their hotels in Los Angeles. Mr. Barnes was a cheapskate and, much to our chagrin, put us all up in one room. We’d been down at the hotel bar since Happy Hour, and when it comes to drinking, I have a hard time with moderation. It’s usually balls to the wall for me, which was another reason why Calon should’ve gotten us our own room.
    “Becks, shh!” Calon swiped the key card and aimed one finger toward his lips but completely missed, which made me giggle even harder. He turned toward me.
    “Go! Dork!” I pushed him through the doorway, making him stumble backwards. When he fell, I tripped and landed right on top of him.
    Oh, damn. Our noses touched, and if we hadn’t already been out of breath from our race, we would have been at that point. His body felt hot against the weight of mine. His hair was splayed out under his head, and his hands were on my ass. Fuck! As much as I enjoyed our lengthy and sometimes deep conversations, I’d wanted to move past talking and, well, just fuck for a while. There was no doubt it would be mind-blowing. No man could be as panty-melting sexy as Calon Ridge and not know what he was doing in bed.
    “Calon?” I tried to catch my breath.
    “Becks?” He raised one eyebrow and started to smirk. I loved when he called me that. There’s no way he hadn’t pick up on how sexually