Viper (Fallen Angel #2)(59)

I reached for the doorknob and looked over my shoulder to confirm what I already knew—that no one was following me—and then I stepped out into the night, shutting the door quietly behind me.

My cheeks burned even as a cool breeze greeted me, my hurt at Viper’s obvious dismissal mixing with the anger that had decided to rear its ugly head.

What the hell was his problem tonight? Everything had been fine on the way over here. We’d been joking and laughing, and it’d been all we could do to keep our hands off each other. Hell, I’d even told him he was extraordinary, and—

My feet stopped moving. That. That had been the moment when I sensed a change. When something had passed over Viper’s eyes, something I couldn’t read, and I hadn’t even gotten a chance to think on it, because Wendy had ushered me through the house to give me the full tour. But that was it. I’d bared the slightest bit of feeling, and Viper had freaked. He hadn’t bothered to talk to me about it, just boarded up the windows and put a “closed” sign on the goddamn door.

Jesus, why was he so scared to admit I was any more to him than some casual fuck? He had to know that wasn’t true, not anymore.

Cursing, I shoved my hands in my pockets and began to walk toward the subway, but halfway there I changed my mind and turned back. We needed to talk, and since he wasn’t following me and I wasn’t about to cause a scene in front of his mother, I’d wait.

I’d thought Viper was a lot of things over the time I’d known him: an intimidating rock god, a playboy with a sharp tongue, and an intensely passionate lover.

But I’d never, ever thought of him the way I did now.

As a coward.





Thirty-Seven





Viper





FUCK.

FUCK. FUCK. Fuck. The soft click of the front door shutting might as well have been a slam, as Halo exited my mom’s house and left without trying some of her famous tres leches cake.

I was such a fucking idiot. Wasn’t that what Killian had been telling me? Yeah, well, tonight I had to agree with him, and not only that, I was a giant asshole to boot. As I sat there silently admonishing my shitty attitude, my mom’s voice cut through.

“David?” When I didn’t answer, or look at her, she put a hand on my shoulder and shook me. “David? What’s going on? Why did Angel leave?”

“Halo, Mom,” I said, and shoved my chair back from the table. “His name is Halo.”

But even as I said it, the name got stuck on my tongue. It was so strange how a name made such a difference in how you viewed someone. Ever since I’d met Halo, I’d thought of him as Angel, and the only time that had changed was when I’d forced it. When I’d desperately been trying to create some distance, like now.

I think you’re extraordinary…

I got to my feet and threw the napkin on the table, and my mom grabbed my arm and dug her fingers in, halting me.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young man. What’s going on with you two? One minute you were laughing, joking around, and the next you’re acting like a grizzly bear.”

“Nothing’s going on with us, and nothing can. Okay?” I pulled my arm free, and shoved a hand through my hair, frustrated. “Just leave it,” I said as I brushed by her heading for my jacket and the pack of cigarettes that were in the pocket.

As I got hold of them, I pulled open the door, and at the last moment stopped and turned back to see her looking after me. Her expression was full of hurt and disappointment, the same one that used to make me feel guilty as a kid, and it still did the trick as an adult. But this time there was something else mixed in with that look, something that made me want to shout at the top of my lungs…pity.

I clenched my jaw and held up the cigarettes. “I’ll be back in a few.” She merely shook her head, hating this habit of mine, but there was no way I could sit there in the house now that Halo had left. Yeah, because you made him, asshole.

As I walked onto the porch, I lit up and shut the door behind me, then I looked out onto the street and my feet came to a standstill. Halo was standing on the sidewalk under the streetlight staring up at the house. His hands were jammed in the pockets of his jeans, and the pissed-off expression on his face was one I’d never seen. His mouth was drawn taut, his body tense, and as I made myself move and walk down the stairs, his eyes zeroed in on me. Halo looked seconds away from exploding, and because I was the king of assholes tonight, I opened my mouth and hit the detonator.

“Decide to come back and apologize for being rude, huh?” As I stopped in front of him, I noticed the ticking in Halo’s jaw and told myself that the smart thing to do here was to back the fuck off. But I’d never been really good at doing the smart thing.

“You’ve got some nerve,” Halo finally said, and took a step toward me, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I wanted to be close to him or because I figured he should have a fair shot at punching me if he wanted to, but I didn’t back up.

I raised the cigarette to my lips and took a drag, and as I angled my head and exhaled, I said, “Oh yeah? How you figure?”

Halo’s eyes narrowed as though he were trying to work out who the fuck I was, and where the man he’d known for the past few months had up and disappeared to. But fuck, with the album close to dropping and the band about to explode, it was time to lay all this shit out. Put into perspective what could and couldn’t happen, and him thinking of me as extraordinary could not happen.