“Owen came to every show, followed TBD across the country. He knew every secret I had, knew everyfuckingthing about me. And then one day an agent from MGA came to one of our shows in New York. He watched us play at one of the local dive bars, and the day after we got a call to come in for a meeting. To MG fucking A. We were so excited, Jesus. I mean, you get it.” I looked at him, and Halo nodded, but the smile on his lips was strained.
“I’d never been so fucking pumped about anything in my life. This was what Trent, Kill, and I had been waiting for. We’d been dreaming about this our whole damn life, and when we got in there and they started talking songs, albums, and tours, the shit you never think is going to happen to you, there was no hesitation from us. We signed those contracts in a fucking heartbeat. Our careers went from the bottom of the barrel to swimming with the big fish overnight. It was insane. But while my career took off, Owen continued to struggle.”
Halo’s expression softened, even as his eyes narrowed, and I made myself look away from him before I decided to just end things there.
“I don’t really remember much about the days before the story broke, or if I maybe missed something with Owen. But I do remember waking up to Killian on the phone telling me that there were photographs of me and Owen on Entertainment Daily.” I paused and cocked my head, looking at Halo. “Do you remember those?”
I wondered what Halo would say to that. If he was a true TBD fan he would know about those photos—and he’d also know that was the day I told everyone I was gay, and if they didn’t like it, they could go fuck themselves. But instead of turning the media off, it had ended up earning me my nickname. When he nodded, I smirked.
“Yeah, well, Owen had decided if I was going to make it big, then he would too. Who cares if it wasn’t due to any talent but by selling private fucking moments between us to the highest bidder? As long as he got his cut too, then it was fair, right?”
I ran a hand over my face, and when Halo said, “That’s so fucked up,” I nodded.
“I won’t ever let anyone have that kind of power over me again. Not ever. So now I make sure anyone I’m involved with knows the deal upfront. One of the hardest things about becoming the person you’re about to become”—I raised Halo’s hand to my mouth, pressed a kiss to the back of it, and closed my eyes—“is that you never know who is with you for the right reason and who you can trust. Millions of people out there are going to want you because of everything you can give them.”
Halo cupped my cheek with his other hand, and when I was looking him in the eye, he said, “That might be true. But I don’t want a million people. I just want the one who’s already here.”
As my words from earlier lingered between us, I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t what he wanted or needed. That I was, in fact, the exact opposite. But before I could get a word out, Halo leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine, and just as he’d said earlier, the second he kissed me, he didn’t stop—and the scary part about that was that I didn’t want him to.
Twenty-Seven
Viper
“THAT’S A WRAP.” Jared’s voice came through the headphones each of us had on in the sound booth, but when none of us reacted, the mic opened up again and he said, “Hey, guys? Did you hear me? That’s a wrap.” When he added two thumbs up, the five of us gathered around the mic and looked at each other as though someone had just pinched us all on the ass.
“Hell fuckin’ yes,” Killian said. “I can’t believe we’re done.”
I flashed a smile in Halo’s direction, who was standing between Killian and me with a megawatt grin on his face, and it was all I could do not to grab a handful of his shirt, haul him in, and kiss him.
It was Friday afternoon, and the only time we’d been able to find alone lately was at night after spending hours in the recording studio with the other guys, and while that would usually be enough to take the edge off for me, I found that with the angel, I always wanted more.
More time.
More attention.
More. More. More. Fuck.
Maybe getting back to New York would be a good thing. It would give a little space, bring me back to reality. We’d all busted our asses these past two weeks finishing up the background vocals for “Corruption,” “Dark Angel,” and “Invitation,” and it seemed our hard work had paid off. We were done, and I should’ve been over the fucking moon. Sure, there might be minor changes needed once we got back home, but for now we were free, and all I could think about was the fact that once I got back to New York, Halo wasn’t going to be in such close proximity to me.