Angel (Fallen Angel, #3)(26)
Whistles and catcalls filled the studio again, so loud that I barely heard Slade laughing as Jagger reached forward to shove me in the arm.
I shot the two of them the finger, and as the crowd died down, Jaime said, “So this is pretty serious, then, Halo? Viper says love—what do you say?”
Halo ran his tongue along his lower lip as his eyes found mine again. “That as long as I’ve known him, Viper’s never been wrong.”
A chorus of awws rang out around the room, but for the moment it was like everything faded from view. All I could see was Halo and the way he was looking at me, and before I knew what I was doing, I leaned forward, took his face between my hands, and pressed a kiss full of love and desire to his perfect lips.
How in the hell I’d ended up with someone as amazing as him, I’d never know, but I’d be damned if the whole world didn’t know whom he belonged to by the end of this interview.
“All right, all right,” Jagger said over the crowd. “Get a room, you two.”
Halo pulled away from me and laughed at Jagger, who smirked in our direction. When we all settled back into the couch and looked at Jaime, he said, “Sorry, I forgot I was hosting a show. I was busy getting caught up in the love-fest.”
Killian scoffed. “Yeah, took us a while to wrap our heads around Viper being so sappy too.”
“Sappy?” Jaime said. “I don’t know, man. Like I said, I’ve been listening to Corruption on repeat, and if these lyrics are indicative of Halo and Viper’s love story, then I have a feeling the rest of us are going to be very jealous for a long time.”
Killian nodded as the audience began to applaud. “Halo and Viper were the driving force behind the lyrics on this album for sure. The emotions, passion, and—”
“Frustration,” I growled, and Killian chuckled, looking around Halo at me.
“That too. It’s what makes Corruption such a powerful album. There’s heart and soul in it. Raw feelings you can’t make up but have to experience, and it isn’t only about the developing relationship with these two. ‘Rise Up’ and ‘Better Than Yesterday’ are songs pulled from the worst moment of our professional lives, where we thought our dream had died. And it’s pivotal moments like that that make this album so strong.”
“Well, I can’t disagree with that,” Jaime said. “Corruption is the most anticipated album to drop this month, year—hell, maybe ever. I haven’t seen such buzz about an album in a long time. You guys must be stoked.”
Jagger nodded. “It’s been unreal. The response to this album has been crazy insane, and that’s before it’s even hit stores.”
“So I assume that means a tour?” Jaime said, and Slade nodded, looking out at the crowd.
“A kickass stadium tour.”
“Trust us,” Killian said to the crowd. “We had a meeting about it this week, and it’s better than anything we’ve ever seen, and we’ve been around the block a few times now.”
“It’s on a scale of its own,” I said, just as someone called out from the audience, “We love you, Viper!”
Jaime looked in the direction the shout had come from and wagged his finger. “Didn’t you hear? He’s off the market now.”
“Thanks for that,” Halo said.
Jaime winked at him. “I got your back, man.” Then he pointed at the crowd. “Okay, get out your phones, because you lucky, lucky people are the first to hear that tickets for the Fallen Angel Corruption Tour will go on sale next Saturday. That’s right, and not only that, everyone here tonight is going to receive a copy of the new album, which comes with a special code to be first in line to get your greedy hands on what is bound to be the hottest ticket of the year.”
As the crowd let out a roar of excitement and the show cut to commercial, Jaime stood from behind his desk and came around to us. He thanked each of us for being there and shook our hands, and then he directed us over to where our instruments had been set up.
We each took position, Slade behind his drums, Jagger at his keyboards, and Killian and I flanking Halo, who was front and center, and as the lights went down and Jaime called out, “Here’s Fallen Angel with ‘Dark Angel,’” the five of us launched into the song.
Eighteen
Halo
TWO MONTHS FLEW by in the blink of an eye. We’d been working nonstop in tour rehearsals, and there was always something to do once we’d finished for the day: fittings, recording special segments that would be posted on the screens behind us onstage, doing radio interviews. We’d even managed to squeeze in time to shoot the “Dark Angel” music video, having used Brian’s sneaky footage of our rehearsal for the “Invitation” video that came out a few months earlier.
I never imagined all the work that went on behind the scenes, though I’d been in the music business for years and had seen what my mom went through to get ready for a show. Going on a stadium tour with four other guys and countless crew members? It was a whole different ball game, one that left me exhausted after sixteen-hour days and wondering how the hell I was gonna make it through a months-long tour. Maybe by then adrenaline would kick in and all these gym workouts would pay off.
But for tonight, all thoughts of work and the tour were pushed aside. Because tonight, Viper was taking me out on a proper date, something we hadn’t had much time for lately. Not that I was complaining—I saw him all day, every day, and still spent almost every night in his bed. It wasn’t like we weren’t able to steal away a few private moments here and there, but I was looking forward to an evening of just the two of us.