Viper (Fallen Angel #2)(57)

“It better fucking not be.”

Halo swayed closer to me, and as he tipped his face up, the streetlight caught on his beautiful skin, casting an iridescent glow around him. Never in my entire life had I wanted to touch a person more, yet as we stood there, I made myself keep my hands where they were, safely tucked away from the man in front of me. Safely tucked away from temptation.

If you like the guy, stop with the “it’s just fucking” business, or you’re gonna lose him. Killian’s words from earlier crept in the periphery of my mind, and while I’d denied it at the time, I knew what was going on with Halo was more than fucking. That it was something that had the potential to end in disaster if we didn’t pull back from it. If we didn’t put a stop to it, and soon. But that was a problem for another time—not tonight.

“So, which house is yours?” Halo asked as he dragged his eyes away from mine and took a step back.

Damn, how did he do that? Know when to stop pushing me? When to give me my space? It was like he saw clear through me, and while most pushed until I snapped, Halo seemed to have this sixth sense when it came with how to deal with me.

I inclined my head toward the small semi-detached on the corner of the street and started walking again, reminding myself that this was no different than bringing the rest of the guys home to meet my mom. But as we got closer to the house and my hands began to sweat and my pulse sped up, I knew it for the lie it was. I was nervous, and that was what made this different.

Totally fucking different.

As always, Mom had left the light on for me, and as we walked up the cracked pavers to the steps leading to the porch, Halo hung back a couple of feet, letting me lead the way. When my feet hit the landing, the front door swung wide and Mom pushed open the security door.

Earlier this morning I’d called to ask if it was okay if I brought a “friend” to dinner, so she wouldn’t get caught out in her robe and want to kill me, and as she stepped onto the porch to greet us, I could tell she’d dressed for company.

She’d curled her glossy black hair and “put her face on,” as she would say, and was wearing a tailored pair of black slacks and a cream cowl-neck sweater. When her eyes found mine, they lit with pleasure as she put her hands on my arms and looked me over.

“David, don’t you look handsome tonight,” she said as she leaned up to kiss my cheek, and when I returned the gesture, she grinned, patted the left side of my face, and then looked past my shoulder. “But not as handsome as this young man.”

When I turned around to see Halo had now moved up to stand on the porch, I couldn’t have agreed with her more. He was fucking handsome. Beautiful, really, and when he flashed that heart-stopping smile our way, my mom whacked me in the chest with the back of her hand.

“Well, aren’t you going to introduce me?” she said, jarring me out of my moment of stupid.

“Oh, right,” I said, and cleared my throat. “Mom, this is Halo. Our new singer.”

Halo took the two steps he needed so he could hold his hand out to my mom, and as she took it, my heart rate accelerated to the point I thought they both might look at me and ask me what that thumping noise was.

“Angel, isn’t it?” At the use of my nickname for him, Halo looked in my direction, and I felt my cheeks heat. Shit. Now I’m fucking blushing? Okay, this was getting out of hand.

“Yes, that’s right,” Halo said, a smug grin curving his lips. “I mean, that’s what Vi—David calls me.”

Jesus, he was enjoying this a little too much. Not that I could blame him—I’d totally do the same thing, and he knew it. As he turned back to my mom, he continued on like the lovely young man he was no doubt raised to be.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms.—” Halo cut his words off and started to chuckle. “I’m sorry. I just realized I don’t know what to call you. Ms. Viper doesn’t seem right.”

My mom laughed along with him. “Oh, you are a total heartbreaker, aren’t you? Our last name is Neil, but you can call me Wendy.”

“Then thank you for having me over for dinner tonight, Wendy.”

“It’s my pleasure,” she said, and as they dropped hands, she turned back to me and said, “I hope you’re both hungry.”

“Starving,” I told her, and winked as she headed inside the house, leaving us to follow.

As I held the security door wide for Halo, he walked forward and then stopped before entering and said, “Thanks, David.”

“Having fun with that?”

“Mhmm. Although, I have to admit, you definitely seem more like a Viper to me.”

“Is that right?” We stepped inside and shrugged out of our jackets. I hung them on the hook in the foyer.

“Yeah. David seems too, I don’t know, normal for you.”

“And I’m not normal?”

Halo grinned, and it took every ounce of self-restraint I possessed not to grab him and kiss him. “No way. You’re—”

“Careful,” I said, and the expression in Halo’s eyes went from mischievous to something much deeper in a split second.

“I think you’re extraordinary.”

I couldn’t move. I could barely even breathe as I stared into a face I now knew by heart. And as we stood there in my mom’s foyer, I realized what a monumentally stupid move it had been for me to bring the angel here.