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“Don’t be nervous,” Viper said, then took a sip of his coffee as he surveyed the chaos.
“I’m not.”
He snorted and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah, okay. Because I can’t read you like a fuckin’ book.”
“You don’t read books.”
With a chuckle, Viper shook his head. “Someone woke up a smartass. Care to use that mouth on me while we wait?”
I jerked around to make sure no one was within earshot, and when I saw the coast was clear, I said, “You can’t say that shit to me today. Not with all these people around.”
“Relax, Angel. No one’s paying us any attention…yet.”
Yet was the operative word, because soon the spotlight would be directed our way, and who knew what kind of questions would be lobbed at me. The only saving grace was that Viper and the other guys would have my back, since we’d be doing the interview and photo shoot together.
“Can I get Fallen Angel to gather on the outside patio, please?” the director of today’s shoot called out over the noise.
“You ready?” Viper flipped on the faucet and rinsed his cup out, and after I downed the rest of my coffee, I did the same.
“Do I have a choice? Can I sit this one out?”
“Gotta come out sometime, Angel.” Viper shot me a wink to go along with the double entendre, and I rolled my eyes.
“Wasn’t planning on it today.” I followed him out onto the patio, where Killian, Slade, and Jagger had already gathered around a small woman with bright fuchsia hair that was shaved on one side and flipped over on the other in a punk-rock style. As we stopped beside her, she peered up at us, her eyes rimmed heavy with purple liner, and then she put her hand out.
“You must be Halo. I’m Imelda Wainwright. I’ll be the one interviewing you guys today and making sure everything runs smoothly. If you need anything, anything at all, you come to me, got it?”
I nodded and forced a smile as I shook her hand, her grip surprisingly fierce in spite of her petite stature.
“Thanks, Imelda,” I said, hoping I’d somehow charm the pants off this woman and the rest of America. Well, not literally.
As Viper shook Imelda’s hand, he lifted his chin toward me. “Take it easy on this guy. It’s his first time.”
“A virgin, huh?” Imelda’s eyes glittered as she looked back at me. “Can’t say I’ll take it easy. He looks angelic, but I bet he’s a guy who doesn’t mind it rough.”
It was too damn early in the morning for the heat to hit my cheeks, but it did anyway, especially as I heard Viper cough out a laugh and Jagger say, “As someone who rooms a few doors down from Halo, I can confirm the headboard banging.”
My eyes practically flew out of my head as I stared at my soon-to-be-dead bandmate, but Jagger only grinned.
“Breaking hearts already,” Imelda said. “You guys are gonna be fun.”
She told us to hang out and grab some food and drinks from the catering table while she checked on the setups happening inside, and after we’d piled our plates high, we sat beneath the open umbrella. The sun was already beating down, and combined with the humidity from an overnight shower, it was stifling at the early morning hour.
“Sorry, Halo,” Jagger said, pulling apart a croissant. “You know I gotta give you shit.”
“Long as you know payback’s a bitch.”
Jagger spread his hands. “Hey, I didn’t say who.”
“Good fuckin’ thing,” Viper said. “I’d hate to have to drown our best keyboardist.”
“I’m your only damn keyboardist,” Jagger protested.
Viper sent a pointed look in my direction. “Halo’s pretty good on the keyboard. You can be replaced.”
“Fine.” Jagger held his hands up. “My mouth is zipped.”
When Imelda came back out again, she took the open seat beside Killian, set her phone in the center of the table to record the conversation, and then settled back with a pen and a binder of notes.
“All right, guys, go around the table and say your name so when I play it back I know who’s who,” she said.
Slade started things off, and once we’d done our introductions, Imelda dove into the questions.
“Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” she said. “When Halo joined the band, you guys were still reeling from the departure of former frontman Trent Knox from TBD—”
Viper mumbled something rude as Jagger sighed and Slade rolled his eyes. Only Killian kept a professional stance, but the reactions didn’t slip by Imelda.
“I’m guessing that’s a sore topic for you?” she said.
Viper crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Just an in the past fuckin’ topic.”
“Well, I need to give the readers a bit of background, though I know many are familiar with your story.” Imelda looked at Killian, the only one who didn’t seem bothered by the line of questioning, and directed her focus his way. “Killian, had the plan to bring Halo in always been to replace Trent in TBD, or was the goal to form a new band?”
