Halo (Fallen Angel, #1)(13)

“Surprising. I thought a guy like you would say variety is the spice of life,” I joked.

Viper’s eyebrow arched. “A guy like me?”

Okay, that didn’t come out like I meant it. “Just that you seem like someone who enjoys life’s pleasures. You know, not getting bogged down by the same old thing.”

“Oh, I do enjoy life’s pleasures, Angel. You’ve got that part right.”

Jesus, it was like everything out of the guy’s mouth sounded sexual. I didn’t even know what to say to that, so I took another swallow of the liquor, and this time, it didn’t scorch my insides. Much.

“Careful there,” Viper said. “That stuff packs a punch.”

“You don’t think I can hold my liquor?”

“I hope not. I’d like to see what a drunk Angel looks like.”

I suddenly felt too warm in my jacket and shrugged out of it. The alcohol must’ve hit already—that or embarrassment from the way Viper seemed to enjoy teasing the shit out of me. As I looked around the room, all eyes were still on the man in front of me, and I leaned across the table. “Everyone’s still staring at you. Does this happen every time you go out?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’d ever leave my house if I were you.”

“You’re gonna have to get used to it if you want to be our frontman. It’ll only be worse for you.”

Worse? Worse than everyone in the room watching your every move? I hadn’t really thought about that side of being in a band, but since I wasn’t technically in the band, it didn’t seem like something I’d need to worry about.

That train of thought was interrupted when Li came back to get our orders. He asked for Viper’s even though he apparently ordered the same almond chicken combo every time, and once he was gone, Viper rubbed his chin.

“So how’d it feel today?” he asked.

I thought about how to describe the way every second of today’s rehearsal had felt like a dream, but it all sounded so cheesy and not something I wanted to admit. So I went with “Perfect.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Because we’d like you to join us.”

The chatter in the room seemed to go silent, the whole world disappearing as I focused in on Viper’s words and tried to make sense of them. Join them? I was already joining them for another rehearsal tomorrow, so did he mean—

Oh fuck. Surely he didn’t mean…for good?

“Uh…” My throat seized, and I reached for my water, chugging half the contents before I could speak again. “Join you where, exactly?”

Viper snorted, shaking his head. “Join the band. On a permanent basis.”

I opened my mouth, shut it, opened it again, and all that came out was: “Holy shit. Holy shit.” They wanted me as part of TBD after one rehearsal? Was he pulling my chain, or was this for real? “You’re not bullshitting me right now?”

Viper lifted the glass to his lips. “Not bullshitting you. What do you say?”

“Uh, fuck yes,” I blurted, practically jumping out of my chair as Viper chuckled at my reaction.

“You’ll need to fill out a bunch of boring-as-shit paperwork in the next few days, but the job’s yours if you want it.”

If I want it? Twist my fucking arm. I dropped my head in my hands, hiding the way I was smiling so hard my cheeks ached. I was in the band. I was the lead singer of TB-fucking-D.

“Cheers,” Viper said, and when I lifted my head, I saw him holding up his glass.

I raised mine to his and downed the rest of the liquor, and all I could think was how completely life-changing this year was already starting out.





Ten





Viper





WHEN I VOLUNTEERED to be the one to break the news to Halo that we wanted him on a permanent basis, it had been for purely selfish reasons. What better way to get the guy in a one-on-one situation where I could get a better gauge on him than taking him out to dinner and delivering the best fucking news he’d received in his life?

But as I sat across from him at the decades-old table and watched the pure elation spread across his face, the last thing I felt was selfish. Halo looked as though he wanted to jump up on the table and scream out his good fortune to anyone who wanted to listen, and judging by the curious eyes that had been glued to us since our arrival, that would be every single person in the place.

These days, I rarely noticed the prying eyes, the intrusive stares that came along with the kind of fame TBD had acquired. It was something I’d became accustomed to and learned how to deal with as we’d clawed our way to the top of the charts through hard work, sweat, and perseverance. But experiencing it all over again through Halo’s eyes tonight was a stark reminder of just how green this guy was—how green we had been. The difference was that we’d all had a minute to come to terms with it. Years. Halo? He was going to get a week.

TBD had a charity gig coming up in Savannah. It was a smaller event than we usually played, but it’d been booked for over a year now—before Trent had decided to fuck off. That was one of the reasons the record company had been riding our asses so hard over the last couple of months, and Killian and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to see how Halo was going to handle the stage, handle us, and, more importantly, handle a crowd.