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“A new name?” I said. And a TV performance? Shit.
“New band name. TBD’s dead. Try to come up with something a little more original this time, guys.”
With that, Brian slammed the door shut, and a few seconds later, Killian’s front door also slammed shut.
“Man, I fucking hate that guy,” Viper said. “I don’t give a shit if he’s been with us since the beginning. Money’s made him a douchebag.”
“He’s not my favorite either, but he just gave us a decent deal and MGA’s still interested,” Killian said.
I was still focused on the last bit Brian had said. “So you guys were serious about changing our name? We won’t be TBD anymore?”
Killian reached over to squeeze my shoulder. “Startin’ fresh, my man. Any ideas?” He looked at the others. “What about you guys?”
I had a feeling this wouldn’t be an easy decision, considering I heard the guys chose TBD—“to be determined”—as a placeholder while they thought up a name, and it ended up sticking.
“Maybe something that incorporates the first letter of our names?” Jagger said. “What word can we make outta that? We’ve got K…H…V…S…J…” He stopped and frowned. “Not one fuckin’ vowel?”
“Moving on.” Killian drummed his fingers along his thigh in a steady rhythm. “What about something to do with New York, since we all grew up here?”
“Us and millions of others. Really unique there, Kill.” Viper snorted and threw his toothpick in Killian’s direction. When it missed and hit me instead, Viper narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side, studying me. You could practically see the wheels turning in his head, whatever was going on in that brain of his nothing good, and when a wicked smile crossed his lips, I braced myself for whatever was about to come out of his mouth.
“Fine. What have you got?” Killian said.
“Oh, I’ve got somethin’.” Viper didn’t take his eyes off me as he inclined his head in my direction. “Look at our frontman. What does he look like to you?”
When everyone turned toward me, I shot Viper a dirty look, but that only made his smile grow.
“Those golden curls, that angelic face, his name. But underneath lurks a man who writes and sings filthy lyrics. A…fallen angel, wouldn’t you say?”
As the reference to what Viper had called me last night after the epic blow job hit my ears, I glared his way and opened my mouth to disagree with his suggestion, but Killian beat me to it.
“Fallen Angel… Dude, that’s perfect.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Slade and Jagger nodding along.
“He really does look like a fallen angel,” Jagger said. “And being the face of the band, especially after the video? The ladies are gonna go apeshit.”
“The guys too,” Viper said, shooting me a wink that had my stomach flip-flopping, as if everyone knew exactly what he was referring to. But of course they didn’t. How could they? They thought I was straight. They’d never suspect I’d be tempted by our devilish guitarist, or at least not that I’d give in.
“So we’re all in agreement? The band is now Fallen Angel?” Killian looked at the group of us, everyone throwing out a version of yes, and when he got to me, I gave Viper another look. He seemed pretty damn pleased with himself, stretching his hands up over his head and lacing them behind his neck as he smiled my way.
Great. Our new name was forever going to be a reminder of Viper’s lips wrapped around my dick.
“Fallen Angel it is,” I said.
“Damn. That might’ve been the quickest decision we’ve ever made,” Killian said. “Now let’s go practice this shit before we lay it down tomorrow.”
Thirty-Eight
Viper
“OKAY, GUYS, YOU have ten minutes until you’re on, got it?” Brian’s eyes swept around the green room of Late Night with Carly Wilde, which we’d occupied several times over the years back when she had a daytime talk show. And when he realized we were all there except for one, his eyes skidded to a stop on Killian. “Where’s the kid? Why can’t you all ever be in one place, on time?”
God, I hated it when Brian called Halo that. Kid. It was condescending, not to mention really fucking rude, considering that kid was about to be the person who ensured Brian’s paycheck this month.
But before I could voice my opinion, Killian spoke up, likely sensing my desire to rip Brian a new one.
“He just went to hit the head. He’ll be back in a minute.”
Brian glanced at his watch, then looked toward the door Halo had disappeared through five minutes ago and said, “I don’t care if he’s back in eight. As long as he’s here when they come to get you guys.”
“Jesus, Brian. Relax, would you.” Jagger poured a shot of tequila from the fully stocked bar, and then held it up. “You want one of these? Maybe two or three?”
