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.”
“It’s always the hot ones who turn,” Killian said, nodding.
Viper leaned back in his chair, throwing up the foot rest, and then he grinned. “And isn’t that a fuckin’ bonus.” His eyes glinted at me in the dark, and I could only shake my head. I didn’t know whether I should feel relieved that the guys knew or whether this opened up a whole new can of worms. After all, I was the new guy, but now I was the new guy messing around with Viper.
“Oh shit, he’s already half-naked in the damn opening credits?” Jagger said, groaning. That was our cue to take the first drink, and as the liquor made its way down my throat, I kicked myself for not grabbing a bucket of lemons to chase the taste away. Killian had made this one strong.
I felt like I should say something to the guys, address the situation somehow, but I didn’t know what to say. They didn’t seem to care one way or another that Viper and I were hooking up, and that was when it hit me—this was the first time I’d “come out,” in a sense, even though I wasn’t sure that was the right term for it. Did my attraction to Viper mean I was gay? Or bisexual? I’d still never looked at another man the way I did Viper, so what the hell did that mean? Maybe I didn’t have to put a label on it. After all, we weren’t dating, we weren’t together, and outside the people in this room, no one else would know. Granted, I told my sister everything, but there was no point in shocking the shit out of her over a casual thing.
“Let the chugging commence for the angel in the back who completely spaced during the make-out scene,” Jagger said, and when I realized he meant me, I cursed.
After sucking down every bit of the Long Island, Viper leaned over and whispered, “Looks like I’m gonna get to see a drunk angel after all.” The back of his hand brushed against the back of mine, sending an electric shock up my arm before he settled back in his seat. How was it that he could affect me like that by barely touching me?
I looked back at the screen just in time for Ace to introduce himself as Beckett Sinclair, and I barely had time to refill my drink before I was taking another sip. Already my head buzzed, and I had the thought that I’d been wrong earlier—I wouldn’t be stumbling out of here. I’d be lucky if I could crawl.
The words were out of my mouth before I realized I was going to say them: “You guys really don’t care?”
Killian popped his head up over his chair, and the other two followed suit.
“About what? This?” Jagger pointed between Viper and me and shook his head.