Viper (Fallen Angel #2)(60)

“Because you invited me out here tonight to meet your mom and then turned into a total dick. That’s how I figure.”

“A little bit touchy, aren’t you?” I said, bringing the cigarette back to my lips. But before I could take a drag, Halo reached out, snatched it from my hand, and threw it on the ground. Then he got all up in my face.

“I’d rather be touchy than a fucking coward.”

I reared back, the blow a low one, and as the impact of it slammed into me, I gritted my teeth and let my frustration at the situation rise to the surface.

I hadn’t wanted this. I hadn’t wanted all these complicated emotions pulling at me every time Halo was near. But as I stood there reeling from his blow, I did what I always did when someone backed me into a corner: I punched back with no thought other than landing a winning blow.

“I’m not a coward,” I said, my voice low. “I’m just smart enough to know when things have run their course. And this is one of them.”

“Is that right?” Halo let out a disgusted sound. Whether it was with himself for ever having touched me or me because I was being a piece of shit was anyone’s guess.

“You know it is. Bringing you here tonight was no different than bringing Killian or Jagger here. But then you had to go and make it something more in your head. Sorry, Angel, it’s just not like that for me. I told you. I don’t do love. I don’t do relationships—”

“You just do fucking.”

“That’s right.”

“And that’s all this was to you. That’s all I was to you? A fuck?” Halo spat the word at me, and I made myself stand still and not react to his emotions, because if I did that, I would likely grab him. Grab him and kiss his snarling, pissed-off lips, and the whole point of this shitshow was to end things. I hadn’t planned it to happen tonight, but we’d both known this thing had had a time limit, and Halo sure as fuck wouldn’t be the one to end it—so okay, I’d be the asshole. It was a role I was familiar with.

“A really hot fuck,” I said. “Don’t forget that part.”

Halo stumbled back a step, the anger now replaced with hurt from the blow I’d just landed, and he blinked several times and then slowly shook his head. I balled my fists by my sides and ordered myself to stay put. This was what had to happen—he knew it, and so did I.

“I’m such a fucking idiot,” Halo said under his breath, and as he took another step away, he shook his head. “I thought… I…” When his words stopped, he looked up, and those light eyes were wide and full of disbelief and betrayal.

“You knew how this was going to end,” I said, as though that would make things any better. “You’re the frontman, Angel. Your career, our career is about to explode, and this can’t be more than what it’s been. So it needs to be done. I told you this already.”

Halo’s eyes flashed, and the anger from a second ago reignited. “And I told you I won’t be someone I’m not.”

I shrugged. “That’s fine. But whoever you are has to be without me. I won’t be the reason this band comes to a grinding halt.”

Halo’s mouth fell open as he walked back the couple of steps he needed so we were toe to toe.

“There it is,” Halo said, his annoyance now spreading to his cheeks in a red flush. “The real reason here. It’s got nothing to do with me. It’s everything to do with you. You’ve been so closed off to anyone giving a shit about you that you don’t know how to actually trust someone anymore. I’m not Owen. I’m not going to fuck you over or exploit you if this doesn’t work out. And I’m not about to walk out on something I’ve been working my ass off for because I’m no longer allowed to fuck the Viper. So why don’t you get the fuck over yourself already.”





Thirty-Eight





Halo





WOW. SO IT had come to this. I should’ve known better than to expect a warning before Viper decided he was done with me. The change in his mood had flipped on a dime, giving me whiplash, and worse, he’d done it in front of his mom.

And it was all because I’d told him I thought he was extraordinary? Was he fucking kidding with that shit? He was extraordinary, all right. An extraordinary jackass.

“What, nothing to say?” I asked when Viper shoved his hands in his pockets, looking entirely unaffected by what was happening, and that was fucking infuriating.

I knew better than to think I meant nothing to him. He could tell me I was just a fuck all day until he was blue in the face, but his actions spoke louder than his words, and it was the little things he did that showed me he cared more than he’d ever let on. So all this bullshit? This cement wall going back up around him? It was because he was scared. Viper was so scared of letting anyone in, because God forbid the man be vulnerable and put himself out there.

“Why can’t you admit it, huh?” I said. “For one second why can’t you admit this shit’s got you running scared?”

Viper pulled his hands out of his pockets and spread his arms wide. “Look at me. You see me runnin’? Do I look scared to you?”

“Riiight. Big, bad Viper,” I sneered. “Gotta maintain your image of not giving a shit about anyone or anything. What a miserable existence.”