Jesus, the man was shameless, messing with me in full view of the rest of the band. But did I move away? No. Did I tell him to stop? Fuck no. Instead, I pushed my lower body forward, seeking out more of him, and as I did, the barest hint of amusement crossed Viper’s lips.
“You’re trouble,” he said, and then took another swallow of his beer.
“I’m trouble?” Beneath the surface, I squeezed my thighs shut, trapping his leg between mine. Viper chuckled, but then quickly drew his foot away as Slade and a couple of the girls he’d invited over headed in our direction, most likely to teach them how to cannonball. I sipped my beer, watching as Slade reached for the girls’ hands and they got a running start, aiming again for Jagger, who had enough sense this time to move before he got wet.
“See?” I said. “You keep starting things you can’t finish.”
Viper lowered his sunglasses to look at me, and the scorching heat I saw there told me I was playing with fire. “Don’t think I won’t make a scene in front of every damn one of them.”
“You wouldn’t,” I said.
“No?” Viper set his beer down and lowered himself into the water beside me. He hooked his foot behind my leg and jerked my body forward, bringing me way too close to him. “It’s not me I’m showing restraint for, Angel.”
Shit, I knew he had a point, or at least the logical side of my brain did, but with the way he connected our bodies, and with the look he was giving me, all I wanted to do was grab him right there and kiss that taunting mouth senseless. But that wouldn’t be smart, which meant the rational side of myself would win out, leaving only one thing I could do with Viper so close.
In one quick move, I pushed up off the side of the pool, shoved my hands down on his shoulders, and dunked him completely underwater. Before he could resurface, I was diving away from him, because once Viper came up for air, I had no doubt retaliation would be swift.
“Oh shit,” Jagger said, as Viper broke through the water, sunglasses pushed halfway up his face. “You better run, Halo.”
But dumbass that I was, I’d forgotten that I couldn’t exactly get out of the pool yet, not with the hard-on Viper had stroked to almost full mast. So there I was, stuck on the opposite side from where I’d left Viper with no way to escape unless I wanted to give us away.
“Oh, Angel,” Viper said, calmly removing his sunglasses and setting them off to the side before pinning me with a wicked stare. “That was a big mistake.” Then he dove under the water, kicking off the wall and reaching me faster than I could get away.
Viper’s hand clamped down on my foot, jerking me back, and I heard one of the guys yell, “Fuck, he’s got him now,” before my head went under. As soon as I resurfaced, Viper was there again, pushing me back under, and I had just enough time to grab a breath before he did. His attack on me was relentless, but I gave it back to him just as good, while the other guys cheered me on to “take his ass out.” I did my best, channeling all that sexual frustration he ignited in me into a physical tug-of-war it didn’t look like either of us would win.
“Hey, assholes,” Killian said, pointing his spatula our way. “Maybe you could stop trying to drown each other and come eat.”
I rose to my feet in the shallow end, wiping the water out of my eyes and taking a deep breath. Behind me, I thought I heard Viper do the same, but then his strong arms wrapped around my chest from behind, hauling me off my feet, and then I went crashing back into the water. When I emerged, laughs rang out, and Viper glanced over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs, smirking my way.
Fucker. He may have bested me this time, but I’d get a rematch of my own…later tonight.
But damn, why’d he have to look so good soaking wet? He ran his fingers through his dark hair, rivulets of water running down his broad shoulders and back, and then, as he turned toward me, I couldn’t help but noticed the way they trailed down his chest as well. It made me want to lick them up, and in the back of my mind, I made a note to get Viper in the shower one of these nights.
“About time,” Viper said to Killian as he grabbed a paper plate off the makeshift picnic table we’d set up earlier. “I’m suddenly hungry for a big, thick wiener in my mouth.”
I sputtered out a laugh that came out more like a cough, and Viper looked my way. “Water in your lungs? Sorry about that,” he said, looking not at all sorry about anything. Proud of himself, actually. The fucker, I thought again.
We all loaded up our plates and headed for the table, Viper taking the seat on the end beside me. It wasn’t until we were all gathered around that it occurred to me that Viper and I were the only ones without dates.
“Got a call from Marshall,” Killian said, between bites of his hamburger. I hadn’t met the head of MGA yet, but Marshall Gellar had been a big enough presence in our studio sessions from the way the producers talked about him. “He’s diggin’ the new tracks.”
“What the fuck ever.” Viper broke off a piece of my hot dog and popped it in his mouth as Killian narrowed his eyes.
“Anyway,” Killian said. “They got the numbers back for ‘Invitation’’s first week of release, and holy shit. It was streamed over eighty-five million times.”
“What?” I said, my eyes wide, my plastic fork dropping onto my plate.
Killian grinned. “Yep. Eighty-five fuckin’ million. And that’s only the first week.”
“But… We never even hit that high with ‘More Than Enough,’” Slade said, the expression on his face—and all of the guys’ faces, really—one of utter astonishment.
“Damn.” Jagger let out a low whistle and then looked my way. “Hope you’ve got your passport, Halo.”
Under the table, Viper squeezed my leg, the only acknowledgment he made of the news, and then he took a chip from my plate and popped it into his mouth. I could only sit there, dazed, as the guys continued to talk numbers I didn’t understand, but there’d be plenty of time to ask them about it later. For now, I wanted to soak in the fact that “Invitation,” a song that started as a riff in my head, was already a bigger first-week success than anything TBD had done. And damn—it felt good.
Ten
Viper
EIGHTY-FIVE MILLION STREAMS? Fuck me, that was impressive. Not that I was surprised. The first time I’d heard Halo playing that riff in Savannah, I knew it could be something extraordinary. But when that many people agreed with you, it was more than that. We’d had massive hits before with TBD, but for this single, from an “unknown” band, to blow those numbers out of the water and into the musical stratosphere, MGA had to realize that this was something genius—that Halo was a goddamn genius.
“We’re so gonna get the green light for a stadium tour,” Slade said, reaching for the ketchup.
Killian took a bite out his hamburger and nodded. “They’re gonna want to see how some of the other singles hit, but they’re super fucking impressed with the stuff we’ve sent them.”
No shit. It was some of the best music we’d ever made, and all because of the man sitting to my left. Halo had lit a fire under our asses, made us think outside the familiar TBD box, and challenge ourselves, and hell if that didn’t make him even more appealing than I already found him.
I looked over at the angel, who was staring at the rest of the guys in silence as though he were merely an onlooker to the conversation, instead of an integral part of it.
“You okay there, Angel?” I said, bumping his shoulder with mine, and when Halo turned my way, he shook his head.
“He’s in shock.” Jagger slung an arm around his lady’s shoulder and tugged her in close to his side. “Not every day someone finds out his song has had eighty-five million streams in a week.”
“Someone get him a paper bag to breathe into,” Slade joked.
“Or just bend over and put your head between your knees,” Killian suggested.
Or between mine.
“I heard it on the radio this morning,” the woman plastered against Jagger’s side chimed in as she ai
med a flirty smile Halo’s way. “I just love your voice.”
Yeah, I was sure his voice was all she loved.
“Thanks, guys,” Halo said, grabbing another handful of chips for his plate, since I’d eaten most of his. “I’m fine, it’s just a little…wow, is all.”
“You think this is wow?” Slade said, sitting back in his chair. “Wait till we get to start thinking about a tour. The sets. The lights. The pyrotechnics. It’s gonna be off the chain.”
Halo reached for one of the chips on his plate. “I can’t even imagine.”
“You better,” I said, then drained my beer and looked to the cooler to find it empty. “You’re gonna be center stage in a big way, Angel. We have to think up something epic for your virgin flight.”
When Halo’s eyes widened as though he hadn’t thought that far ahead, I chuckled. Maybe it was time to bring out something a little stronger if the guys were going to start talking about stage setups and world tours. Poor guy looked like he was still coming to grips with the fact his music was being listened to…and loved.
Getting to my feet, I looked around the table and said, “How about we crack open something a little stronger than beer, yeah?”
When the rest of the guys nodded, I glanced down to Halo, who said, “Vodka?”
I reached across him for another chip from his plate and popped it in my mouth, and Halo’s lips tugged up at the corners. “Maybe another bag of chips, too,” he suggested.
“Anything you want, Angel,” I said, and winked before I stepped around him and headed inside.
As I rummaged through the walk-in pantry, trying to find a flavor of potato chip I liked, the sound of one of the terrace doors opening and closing had me sticking my head out to see Killian walking across to the kitchen.
I went back to the task at hand, and when I spotted a package of salt and vinegar chips on the top shelf, I reached for them.
“Couldn’t keep your hands off him, huh?”
Chips now in hand, I turned to see Killian standing in the pantry’s doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and his shoulder up against the doorjamb, and I knew I could play this one of two ways.
One, I could pretend I had no idea who he was talking about, or two, I could just own that shit—and with the way I’d had Halo groaning under me last night, there was no doubt in my mind who I owned.
I opened up the bag of chips and stuffed my hand inside, and as I brought one up to my mouth, I stopped and looked Killian in the eye. “I told you I wouldn’t be able to.” Then I crunched down into it.
“Fuckin’ hell.” Killian laughed, shaking his head as he shoved off the door and walked inside the pantry. “I should’ve known better. If anyone could get a straight guy to fuck him, it’d be you.”
I shrugged. “Who said I was the one getting fucked?”
Killian’s feet came to a stop, his mouth falling open, as I shoved my hand back into the bag of chips.
“You’re kidding.”
I shook my head, enjoying this a little more than I probably should’ve. “I’m not.”
Killian looked as though I’d smacked him over the back of the head with a two-by-four, and when he finally regained use of his motor skills, he managed, “Jesus.”
Not shocked or bothered by Killian’s response, I shoved the bag of chips against his chest and then looked around the pantry again. “Here, hold these, I’m trying to find the barbecue ones.”
“Uh, don’t try and change the subject, V.”
“I’m not. I’m just trying to find the fuckin’ chips.”
“So that’s the reason you were in a shit mood the other day. What’d Halo do, tell you no?” Killian reached behind my right shoulder and pulled a package of barbecue off the shelf, and then held them out to me.
As I snatched them out of his hand, I shot him the finger. “How about none of your fucking business.”
“Okay, okay.” Killian glanced over his shoulder out the pantry door. “So, you and Halo, huh? That’s a severe case of opposites attract.”
“It’s a severe case of sexual fucking chemistry is what it is. And really, it’s your own fault. You put him in front of me.”
“Uh huh. Well, I’m glad the two of you worked your shit out, because I was about to kick your ass the other day.”
“Whatever. You know I can take you any day of the week.”
“And you know I won’t let anything fuck with this band. You included.”
I rolled my eyes, but knew Killian wasn’t bullshitting. If he thought for a minute this thing with me and Halo could fuck shit up, he’d call us out in a hot second.
“Right,” Killian said. “Well, you gonna come back outside and eat with the rest of us? Or do you need Halo to come in here and feed you?”
“You know, you almost sound jealous, Kill. That’s sweet.”
Killian flipped me off as I brushed by him and headed back out to the kitchen area to track down drinks. As I began looking through the cupboards, first the top and then the bottom, Killian came up to lean against the counter beside me.
“Jealous? Uh, no, I stopped thinking you were hot back in middle school when you hung my underwear up the flagpole. But you do know that the two of you aren’t foolin’ anyone, right?”
I glanced up at him from where I was crouched down by his feet. “Um, news flash, we weren’t trying to.”
“No?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We just weren’t telling you.”
“That’s the same thing, moron.”
After locating a bottle of Ketel One, I got to my feet. “Not really. I could’ve lied right now.”
“Yeah, and like I would’ve believed you. You’ve been feeling him up every chance you’ve had in the fucking pool. Not to mention disappearing at the same times, eating off his plate, getting his refills. What’s next, V? You gonna take him on a date?” Killian scoffed, but then shoved me in the arm. “Wait—you already took him on a date. The Nothing…”
I screwed my face up at the thought. Killian had lost his damn mind. I didn’t do dates. “That wasn’t a date. We’re fucking, not dating,” I told him, as I also grabbed a bottle of whiskey. “You’re an idiot.”
Killian let out a loud bark of laughter. “No, you are, V. Oh my God. You are so fucking stupid, my friend.”
Killian snatched up the chips and walked by me toward the glass doors, and with the alcohol in hand, I followed, calling out to the smug bastard, “Whaddya mean I’m stupid?”
Eleven
Halo
“THE RULES ARE simple,” Killian said, standing in front of the movie screen in the mansion’s decked-out home theater. Each of us had a drink of our choice with a refill jug beside us, and that alone told me this was no ordinary movie night. “This is an Ace Locke classic, so you have to take a drink every time one of the following happens: whenever Ace takes his shirt off, whenever he saves a woman, makes out with her, or has sex with her, and whenever he says, ‘The name’s Sinclair. Beckett Sinclair.’”
From memory, Ace was shirtless through most of the movie, so that meant we’d all be stumbling out of here in a couple of hours.
“We are gonna be so fucked,” Slade said. He and Jagger had taken up recliners a couple of rows in front of me, and as Killian joined them, I looked toward the door, waiting for Viper. After the pool day and barbecue, we’d all ventured off to our separate corners of the house—me for a nap after a day in the sun, and the others to spend some one-on-one time with their guests. By the time nightfall came, it was just the five of us, and when someone suggested a movie night, I resigned myself to having to wait another couple of hours before heading to Viper’s guesthouse.
“If you don’t take a drink when you’re supposed to and you get called out for it, you have to chug,” Killian continued. “Everyone understand?”
As we all nodded, Viper came back with an armful of snacks. “Catch,” he said, before tossing the packages out to each of us. I ripped open the bag of pretzels and inhaled
a few, since it seemed like I’d be drinking my weight in Long Islands tonight.
Killian ran through the rules again for Viper’s benefit, and then Viper grabbed his drink of choice and looked over the rows of chairs. When he looked at me and I raised my brows in an “aren’t you sitting here with me?” way, his lips curved.
“Where to sit…” Viper said, and when I sent another pointed look at the recliner beside me, Jagger called out, “You know where you wanna sit, man.”
“Yeah, Halo even saved you a seat,” Slade said through a mouthful of popcorn.
Killian smirked at Viper. “Told you.”
There was a snort from one of the guys, and then Jagger turned in his chair. “You thought we didn’t know?” He threw back his head and laughed. “Please. You’re not that stealth.”
“Yeah, I busted Halo sneaking out of his room a couple of nights ago,” Slade said. “Don’t think he was going to the bathroom.”
My skin warmed, and I resisted the urge to duck down in my seat. They all knew? I’d had a feeling Killian did because of the looks he’d given me before, but I thought my late-night trips and early-morning comings had been under the radar. Shit, what else did they know?
“Hey, I ain’t complaining,” Jagger said. “Ladies like that pretty boy look you got, know what I’m sayin’? This just means more for me.”
Viper rolled his eyes and took the recliner beside mine, setting his drink in the cupholder. He didn’t seem upset at the turn of events, only annoyed at the ribbing. “Start the damn movie,” he said.
“Hey, Halo, you got somethin’ in common with the actor in this one,” Slade said, as Killian hit play on the remote.
“And what’s that? More game than you could ever have?” Viper snapped, and the guys laughed.
Jagger recovered first and winked at me. “Ace was the ultimate ladies’ man. A smooth fucking operator who bagged all the hottest actresses, lucky bastard. But then out of nowhere he’s with the new Calvin Klein male model, and everyone loses their shit.”
VIPER (Fallen Angel Book 2) Page 5
