“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.