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“Just pointing out some facts.”
“About dating?”
“Mhmm. It’s the least I can do, since you’ve never been on one before.”
“Keep it up, Angel, and I’m gonna—”
“Good evening, guys. Welcome to The Rusty Pelican.” Kyle, presumably, came to stop by our table just in time to save Halo’s fine ass. “Have you decided what you’d like to eat tonight? To drink?”
Luckily for us, it seemed Kyle had been informed in advance as to who we were and we didn’t have to go through the whole oh wow, you’re so-and-so moment, because right then all I wanted was to be alone with Halo. Shit, maybe I did want to be on a date with the angel—a really fucking private one.
I hadn’t even looked at the menu, but I liked anything seafood, and before I could say a word, Halo was talking.
“We’d like to share the three-tiered seafood tower, thanks.”
“Got it,” Kyle said. “And to drink?”
Finally locating my tongue, I said, “The best whiskey you have on hand for me.”
“Vodka for me, thanks,” Halo added, then Kyle vanished, and I heard myself say, “Is it also customary for one party of the date to order for the other?”
“Are you finally admitting that’s what this is?”
“You’re pushing awfully hard tonight, Angel, for someone who told me he was cool with things being as is.” I watched him closely, not quite sure what it was I expected to see. Denial, indifference, humor? But what I got was an intensity I didn’t have a clue what to do with.
I’d been looked at many ways in my life, with awe, lust, hunger, and power. And as Halo’s eyes ran over my face, I saw all those things, but when they finally settled and locked on mine, there was also a fierce interest in getting to know the person sitting opposite him—and that was a first.
“And you’re avoiding the question,” Halo said. “Look, I know what I said, and if that’s still all you want, then I guess that’s cool—”
“You guess?” I chuckled.
Halo rolled his eyes. “Well, yeah. It’s not like anyone could make you do anything.”
I rubbed my hand over my jaw. “Oh I don’t know, Angel. I find myself doing all kinds of things for you. Things I never thought I’d do.”
Halo’s cheeks colored, and fuck, something in my stomach flipped from knowing I’d caused that reaction. The same way it had from the very beginning.
“Like opening restaurant doors?” Halo asked.
And finally I gave in and nodded. “Like opening restaurant doors.”
“So it is a date?”
“Jesus.” I laughed and ran a hand over my face. “It’s a fucking date. Happy?”
“Delirious.”
As Halo crossed his arms, I muttered, “Smug fucker.”
“Hey, don’t even try to take this away from me. How many firsts have you given me over the past month?”
I touched the tip of my tongue to my top lip, thinking about each and every one of them. “A lot. I’ve enjoyed every damn one of them, too.”
“Mhmm. And this is me giving you a first. Your first date. Aww, welcome to being an adult, Viper. How’s it feel?”
“Right now? Pretty fucking painful.”
A booming laugh that made me want to grab him left his lips.
“Seriously.”
“Seriously,” I said, sitting forward in my chair. “It feels…right. You feel right.”
Halo’s grinning lips clamped shut, but before he could respond, Kyle showed up with a tray and the most delicious-looking tower of seafood I’d ever seen. A second waiter put our drinks down in front of us, then, without any further lingering, they disappeared back inside.
“So this is what you thought we should eat tonight, huh? What if I don’t like seafood?”
Halo arched a brow at me. “Yeah, okay. You brought me to a seafood restaurant. And even if you don’t, too bad. Live a little. You always eat off my plate anyway.”
I’d like to eat off you right this second, I thought, and as though Halo knew exactly what I was thinking, his lips kicked up at the sides.
“I also saw a dessert on the menu that I thought we could order to go. It had three sauces, ice creams, and things you dip in it before you suck it off. I’ll share that with you too. If you’re nice to me.”
I reached for some lobster and shrimp, as Halo took some sushi.
“Not sure I know how to be nice, Angel,” I said, finding that I actually meant it. What if we did this thing, dated, and I fucked it up because I was an asshole? The probability of that was pretty damn high, and—
What the hell? Since when have I been so goddamn insecure?
Halo dipped his sushi in a bit of soy sauce before eating the whole thing in one bite. Once he’d swallowed, he licked a drop of sauce off his finger and said, “Yeah, but by nice I mean bad. Come on, Viper. You said earlier that you know who I am, so how about you give me a bit of credit here, huh? I’m not exactly naive when it comes to you.”
