Angel (Fallen Angel, #3)(8)

Oh shit. I hadn’t even thought about that. In Florida we’d been free to explore this relationship without having to explain ourselves to anyone. The guys hadn’t cared, and we’d become so comfortable with one another that it hadn’t even occurred to me that Halo not only had the public to come out to, but also his family.

I was such an asshole. How could I have taken that choice away from him?

“Hey,” Halo said, recapturing my attention by pushing strands of my hair behind my ear. “Where’d you just go?”

“I was just—” I shook my head and looked over his shoulder. “I didn’t even think about that last night, and I should’ve. Fuck. I’m such an idiot. What if you didn’t want to—”

“Viper,” Halo said as he took hold of my face and drew it closer to his. “I wanted to tell you how I felt that night at your mom’s house. Trust me, I said exactly what I wanted to tonight, and I loved that you did too. It was spontaneous, unrehearsed, and the single best moment of my fucking life. Don’t you dare feel bad for that.”

Jesus. How did he always know the right things to say to calm me down? To stop my brain from spiraling out of control, and coming up with all the reasons I might use to potentially fuck this thing up? I was so far gone for this guy, and the funny thing was that I couldn’t remember a time since Halo had walked into my life that I hadn’t been. “Still, I all but shoved you out of the closet with no choice. That’s a dick move.”

Halo bumped his hips up against mine and waggled his eyebrows. “Mmm, a nice big dick.”

“Seriously?” I said, arching an eyebrow.

“Seriously. And I should know. I’ve spent many hours looking at it. “

I scoffed and moved off him to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, my self-disgust still lingering as I thought about how I’d feel if the roles had been reversed.

Halo rolled to his side, facing me, and propped his head up on his palm. “Is this the exact way I wanted to tell my parents?” he said. “No. But I was going to if this turned into more.”

I turned my head on the pillow until my eyes found his. “It should’ve been your choice to decide when.”

“It is my choice. I’m choosing to tell them now.” Halo grinned as he looked down at our naked bodies. “Well, not right now. But tomorrow. I’ll take the train and be back by the afternoon.”

“The train?” I said, and shook my head. “I don’t think so. You’ll be lucky if you can get out the front door of the building tomorrow morning after what happened tonight.”

“Really?”

“Reporters know my address, Angel. It’s gonna be a circus out there. I’ll call for a car.”

Halo nodded, and when he remained silent, I did something else I’d never done before. I offered to go and meet his parents.

The smile that lit Halo’s face was worth the awkwardness I felt, and then he leaned in and kissed the corner of my lips.

“I do,” Halo said, and I felt my pulse speed up. “But I think this is something I should do on my own.”

I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding, and the relief that washed over me was instant and must’ve shown, because Halo laughed.

“Relieved?”

“No. Whatever you wanted was cool with me.”

“Sure it was. But don’t think that means you won’t ever meet them.”

I thought about how that might play out and felt a lump form in the back of my throat. The classical pianist, the music professor, their straight son, and the bad-boy rocker who hadn’t been able to keep his hands to himself.

Yeah, maybe that could happen later. Like, way fucking later. “How about we do that after they get used to the idea of all…this?”

“This?” Halo said, a mischievous light entering his eyes. He was enjoying this sudden, and unheard of, nervous side that I couldn’t apparently hide.

“Us. You, me. Together.”

“Oh, okay,” Halo said, and placed a hand on my chest as he leaned back down to flick his tongue over my lower lip. “But just so you know, they’re going to love you.”

I scoffed, seriously doubting that.

“They will. And you know why?” he said, as he slid his hand up to my chin and angled my face back to his. “Because I love you.”

“Angel…”

“Viper,” he whispered into the night, and that was it. I knew right then and there that I was done for. I was all in with the angel, and when he took my lips in the sweetest fucking kiss I’d ever received, I knew he felt the exact same way.

He might’ve been mine, that was true. But it had never been clearer than in that moment that I was forever going to be his.





Seven





Halo





AS THE CAR Viper had insisted I take pulled up to my parents’ home in Oyster Bay, a good forty-five minutes outside the city, the tangle of knots in my stomach tightened. I hadn’t expected to have this conversation with them—ever—but after the events of last night, I needed to make sure I was the one telling them about Viper instead of them hearing about it through the press. If I’d had any doubts about Viper and me being newsworthy—because that seemed ludicrous—they were thrown out the damn window when I’d made my way out of his building this morning to be greeted by throngs of reporters.