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“This was a shit idea,” Viper grumbled, crossing his arms over the strap of his guitar.
Killian, the bassist for Fallen Angel, and usually the voice of reason, rubbed his hand over his face. “What happened to a truce? I thought we’d all cleared the air—”
“You really expect Trent to follow through on anything?” Viper said.
“I swear to God—” Trent started forward again, but lucky me, I blocked him, pushing against his chest with my hand and trying not to notice how built said chest was. Damn.
Behind me, Halo was speaking in a low tone to Viper, trying to calm his boyfriend down, while the other members of Fallen Angel, Slade and Jagger, looked on at the scene with amusement on their faces, like they’d seen this play out before a million times. Now I realized why Trent had walked out on the band and forged his own identity—there was nothing like a clash of egos to make things contentious.
Unfortunately for these guys, I wasn’t putting up with that bullshit.
“If anyone is about to give a beat-down here, it’s gonna be me, you got that?” I took my time giving each guy a withering look—the one my husband, Dawson, said could make a guy’s balls climb up into their body. Useful in times like these.
When no one dared to respond, I continued. “Listen, what I need from you is a couple of songs. A simple collaboration, a handful of minutes to appease the thousands of people paying an insane amount of money to see you come together tomorrow. Surely we don’t need to waste time talking about whose dick is bigger.”
“No, we don’t,” Viper said. “We all know it’s mine.”
“Viper. Jesus.” Halo shook his head as Viper smirked.
“Yes, Jesus agrees.”
“Seriously don’t need to know that,” I said, though I filed away a Google search for Viper nudes for later. Research purposes and all. “Go back to your places and let’s take it from the top.” When the guys all kept standing there exchanging looks, I raised a brow. “Right the fuck now would be fantastic.”
Not daring to leave the stage yet, I walked over to Halo’s setup at the front, a few feet away from Trent’s.
“What’s this about an amp?” I asked.
“It’s fine. It was just unplugged.” Halo adjusted the mic in front of him and shrugged. “Probably an accident.”
“Can I count on you to try to keep the peace? Or do I need to hire some seven-feet-tall babysitters to keep you all in check?”
Halo quirked a smile and ran his hand over his signature blond curls. He was such a stark contrast to the rest of the guys, all of whom were dark and moody (and sexy as hell too, but that was beside the point). No wonder Viper called him an angel. He definitely looked like one all lit up under the stage lights. “I’ll keep him leashed, how about that?”
“Leash, handcuffs, do what you need to.” I headed down the stairs and joined Jasmine.
She leaned in and whispered, “I can’t believe you just talked to them like that.”
“These guys like a strong hand, trust me.”
“A strong hand where?”
I winked. “Exactly.”
As the guys tuned their instruments, I checked my watch and ran through the list of immediate things needing my attention once I got these guys off.
Well…in a manner of speaking.
Halo and Trent looked at each other, counting down as Viper glared at the back of Trent’s head. Once the song began, I breathed a sigh of relief, though we weren’t out of the woods yet. I stayed to watch as Halo and Trent volleyed lyrics back and forth, their voices strong and blending together better than I’d imagined after being at each other’s throats. Well, maybe not the two of them, per se, but it was still a matter of opposites attracting, so maybe that was what had Viper all fired up. Nothing like good chemistry to make someone throw a shitfit.
As the song came to a close, Jasmine and I began to clap, with the rest of the workers in the arena stopping to join in.
“See that?” I said. “Perfect. So can you all just go to your corners now and do that again tomorrow? And try not to kill or maim each other before then? Thanks so much.”
As I backed away from the stage, content to check this incident off my list, a crackle came over my headset and then, “Paige? I need you outside. The ice sculptures are here, and they’re not the candy canes you asked for.”
“No? What did they send instead? Ice presents? Ice trees?”
“Try ice dicks.”
I sighed and grabbed Jasmine’s arm, dragging her across the arena with me.
I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.
Six
Ace
THE WARM SUN slipping through the curtains was the first indication that my sleep was coming to an end. But it was the alarm clock hitting nine thirty and the familiar sound of Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” that really confirmed it.
