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Feeling as though I were intruding on something that was highly personal, I slowly backed out of the bar area to the door, my eyes not leaving Halo as he continued to play. He was mesmerizing, and I couldn’t help but think that if the rest of the world would give him a chance, if they got to see him like this, to hear him play like this, there’d be no way they’d ever boo him off a damn stage again.
Fifteen
Halo
AFTER HAVING A few days to cool off, Killian called for a band meeting at his place.
I knew what that meant—I was out.
It wasn’t something they’d want to do over the phone, so inviting me over, getting us all together so they could break it to me that I was no longer needed, was the most logical way. And even though my head knew what was coming, most of me stayed firmly in denial.
I took a spot on one of the leather couches in Killian’s great room, where the rest of the band had gathered. The furniture had been moved into a semicircle so we could all face each other.
Great. Bring on the firing.
Killian looked around the room, nodding, and then rubbed his hands together. “Since we’re all here, we can get started.”
Yes, please make it quick and as painless as possible, I thought, as I shifted on the couch.
“We can all agree that what happened last weekend was a total shitfest,” Killian said. Curses rang out, everyone nodding in agreement. “So the question is now, what the hell do we do about it?”
Here it was. I braced myself for impact.
“It’s fairly obvious that Halo isn’t the right frontman for TBD—”
My stomach dropped.
“But it’s also apparent that unless Trent comes running through that door right now, no one’s going to be who the fans want.”
“Not like we’d take his fucking ass back anyway,” Viper muttered, as the others nodded.
“Before we discuss options, I need to know if we’re all in this. Whatever direction we go, we go together.” Killian looked around the room, and when his eyes landed on me, he said, “So? You in this with us?”
My brows knitted together as I tried to understand what he was asking me. “So…hold up. You’re not firing me?”
A hint of a smile quirked Killian’s lips. “Hell no.”
“But…” Had they lost their minds? Did they want a repeat of last week’s show? Maybe that was it. They were masochists. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re not goin’ anywhere, Angel,” Viper said, pinning me with a fierce look.
“That’s right.” Killian sat on the couch beside me. “The problem’s not you, Halo. It’s not us, either. But the combination? With the songs Trent’s known for? It’s not sitting well with the fans. So that means we need a new direction. A new sound, new everything.”
“As long as it’s not some country shit, I’m down,” Slade said, eliciting a groan from Viper.
Killian smirked. “I think we can all agree on that. But we do need to find a new sound that fits all of us, so that’s why I called us here today.”
As the room plunged into silence, I watched as the other guys avoided Killian’s gaze, looking everywhere but in his direction.
I was still wondering how the hell I wasn’t already out the door.
“Anyone? Ideas?” Killian said, as the silence dragged on. After a few minutes, he began to whistle the Jeopardy theme song. “Seriously, nothin’? What’d you guys do the past few days?”
“Nicole,” Jagger said.
“Drank a couple bottles of tequila and Netflixed five seasons of The Great British Baking Show.” When we all jerked our heads in Slade’s direction, he frowned. “What?”
“And I thought I was the gay one,” Killian said, rolling his eyes. “All right, so no one’s given it any thought. Good start, guys. MGA will be so impressed.”
“Fuck those guys,” Viper muttered.
“Those guys pay our bills,” Killian pointed out. “Without a record company, we’re not getting very far, so maybe throw out a few ideas, yeah?”
Viper’s mouth snapped shut, and we all resumed the quiet game.
Half an hour passed. An hour. Two hours later, and we were all still sitting around with nothing to show for it. I sure as hell wasn’t about to throw out an idea first, especially since I still felt like the reason we were in this mess in the first place.
“All right. Let’s take a break, grab a drink, smoke, whatever.” Killian stretched his legs and then got to his feet. He and Slade headed downstairs while Jagger stepped out to make a call, leaving me and Viper alone in the vast space.
“I don’t know about you, but I could do with some food.” Viper made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of bags of potato chips and a package of cookies out of the pantry, then set them on the counter.
