Viper (Fallen Angel #2)(43)
Halo’s expression softened, even as his eyes narrowed, and I made myself look away from him before I decided to just end things there.
“I don’t really remember much about the days before the story broke, or if I maybe missed something with Owen. But I do remember waking up to Killian on the phone telling me that there were photographs of me and Owen on Entertainment Daily.” I paused and cocked my head, looking at Halo. “Do you remember those?”
I wondered what Halo would say to that. If he was a true TBD fan he would know about those photos—and he’d also know that was the day I told everyone I was gay, and if they didn’t like it, they could go fuck themselves. But instead of turning the media off, it had ended up earning me my nickname. When he nodded, I smirked.
“Yeah, well, Owen had decided if I was going to make it big, then he would too. Who cares if it wasn’t due to any talent but by selling private fucking moments between us to the highest bidder? As long as he got his cut too, then it was fair, right?”
I ran a hand over my face, and when Halo said, “That’s so fucked up,” I nodded.
“I won’t ever let anyone have that kind of power over me again. Not ever. So now I make sure anyone I’m involved with knows the deal upfront. One of the hardest things about becoming the person you’re about to become”—I raised Halo’s hand to my mouth, pressed a kiss to the back of it, and closed my eyes—“is that you never know who is with you for the right reason and who you can trust. Millions of people out there are going to want you because of everything you can give them.”
Halo cupped my cheek with his other hand, and when I was looking him in the eye, he said, “That might be true. But I don’t want a million people. I just want the one who’s already here.”
As my words from earlier lingered between us, I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t what he wanted or needed. That I was, in fact, the exact opposite. But before I could get a word out, Halo leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine, and just as he’d said earlier, the second he kissed me, he didn’t stop—and the scary part about that was that I didn’t want him to.
Twenty-Seven
Viper
“THAT’S A WRAP.” Jared’s voice came through the headphones each of us had on in the sound booth, but when none of us reacted, the mic opened up again and he said, “Hey, guys? Did you hear me? That’s a wrap.” When he added two thumbs up, the five of us gathered around the mic and looked at each other as though someone had just pinched us all on the ass.
“Hell fuckin’ yes,” Killian said. “I can’t believe we’re done.”
I flashed a smile in Halo’s direction, who was standing between Killian and me with a megawatt grin on his face, and it was all I could do not to grab a handful of his shirt, haul him in, and kiss him.
It was Friday afternoon, and the only time we’d been able to find alone lately was at night after spending hours in the recording studio with the other guys, and while that would usually be enough to take the edge off for me, I found that with the angel, I always wanted more.
More time.
More attention.
More. More. More. Fuck.
Maybe getting back to New York would be a good thing. It would give a little space, bring me back to reality. We’d all busted our asses these past two weeks finishing up the background vocals for “Corruption,” “Dark Angel,” and “Invitation,” and it seemed our hard work had paid off. We were done, and I should’ve been over the fucking moon. Sure, there might be minor changes needed once we got back home, but for now we were free, and all I could think about was the fact that once I got back to New York, Halo wasn’t going to be in such close proximity to me.
Again…fuck. There was no reason I should be feeling this wave of disappointment that was washing over me, but there it was. We’d been in Miami for nearly two and a half months, and it had definitely lived up to the promise of paradise. There’d been sun, sex, booze, and music, and while I was pumped to be wrapping up an album that I knew was going to blow everyone’s mind, I couldn’t shake the less excited feelings too.
“Damn.” Jagger let out a low whistle. “We came in before deadline, too. That has to be some record.”
“No shit,” Slade said.
I glanced at the two of them. “If that doesn’t make Brian hard, I don’t know what will.”
“Uh, no offense, but the last thing I want to think about is Brian hard,” Killian said as he hung his headphones on the hook along the back wall. “I want to think about the serious celebrating that’s gonna happen tonight. We’re still going with tradition, right?”
“MGA’s yacht?” I said, thinking back to the other times we’d taken to the ocean after wrapping an album.
“Mhmm. What do you all say?” Killian asked, as the rest of the guys hung their headphones.
“As if anyone’s gonna say no to that,” Slade responded, and when we all turned to Halo, we found him still standing over by the mic, silent.
We all faced him and cocked our heads to the side.
“Aww, look, our little boy’s all grown up,” Jagger said. “Want us to take a photo of you by the mic to send to your mom?”