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Throughout the room, eyes traveled over Viper, who walked with an air of confidence—even if you didn’t know who he was, you knew he was someone. Then the gazes would travel to me, and if they hadn’t put two and two together already, they usually did when they saw me with him. I didn’t know if they recognized me from the band because they knew who Viper was and assumed, or if it was from the music videos we’d shot, or from photos in the tabloids and magazines, but it was clear as day in their eyes when recognition hit.
“Thank you,” Viper said as we all took our seats, me and Viper across from my folks.
“The usual to drink?” the hostess asked Viper.
“Not tonight. I think we’ll have a bottle of the Ganevat ‘Marguerite’ Côtes du Jura 2012, if that works for everyone?” Viper glanced around the table, and he must’ve chosen well, because surprise lit my parents’ faces.
“That would be wonderful,” Mom said, smiling warmly at Viper, who gave me a squeeze of thanks beneath the table. I might’ve mentioned my parents’ penchant for a good Chardonnay when we were planning this evening, and though neither of us were big on white wine, I knew how important it was to Viper to make a good impression. But my man didn’t have to try—he already had them in the palm of his hand.
Twenty-Five
Viper
I ORDERED A few appetizers for the table, along with the wine, and as the hostess left to pass on our order and we began to peruse the menus, Larry said, “I think you boys caught the attention of everyone in this place.”
“We come here a lot,” I said, attempting to downplay the curious stares Halo and I received whenever we went out in public.
“No, I don’t think that’s it. More like they’re all wondering if they can come talk to you.” Larry’s lips quirked. “You don’t have to play modest. We know what big superstars you two are.”
“Daaad.” Halo groaned.
“What? We’re proud of you, son.”
“I appreciate that, but can you not use the word ‘superstar’? That makes me feel like a douchebag.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Cheryl reached across the table and covered Halo’s hand with hers. “You could never be a douchebag.”
I chuckled, watching the dynamics of Halo and his parents’ relationship playing out in front of me. He’d always told me they were a tight-knit group, the four of them, including Imogen, but you could really feel it, like a tangible thing.
“So are you two excited about the tour?” Cheryl asked. “Where’s the first stop?”
Halo looked to me to answer.
“Atlanta,” I said, as a waiter approached with our bottle of wine, and when I nodded, he uncorked it and Larry did the tasting honors. “And yeah, it’s gonna be somethin’, all right. Halo’s gonna blow everyone away.”
“We can’t wait to see it.” Cheryl took a sip of her Chardonnay, and both my and Halo’s eyes bugged out.
“You can’t come see the show,” Halo blurted out.
“Why not?”
“Because…” He glanced sideways at me, but hell no was I about to tell his parents it would be an inappropriate show. Instead, I took a long gulp of wine. “It’s not really your thing,” he finished.
“Sure it is,” Larry said. “We listened to the album—”
“Oh God.” Halo slumped in his seat.
“It’s fantastic. I like that song… Which one was it, Cheryl? The one with the moon and stars?”
“‘Dark Angel,’” Cheryl said. “So catchy. We heard it playing on the way here, didn’t we, Larry?”
He nodded. “We did.”
“But don’t worry,” she continued. “We didn’t listen to the ones that said ‘explicit content’ beside them.”
Fuck me. I never even considered that Halo’s parents—fucking Cheryl Olsen—would ever listen to our shit, but at least it seemed like she hadn’t heard the song I wrote about her son making me hard.
I suddenly needed something stronger than white wine.
“Well, we’ll be playing that explicit content, so maybe you and Dad could sit this tour out.” Halo’s face had turned a gorgeous shade of red, and my fingers itched to feel the heat of his skin under my hands.
“That’s ridiculous,” Cheryl said at the same time Larry muttered, “We’re going whether you like it or not.”
When Halo’s head dropped into his hands, I swallowed, not sure what the fuck to say. They definitely didn’t need to see the show, but when they both looked my way expectantly, I said, “We can make sure you’ve got passes for the show here.”
Halo’s head shot up. “What?”
I felt my face heat, and not from the wine. Shit, what had I just offered? Fucking tickets?
Before I could say anything, Cheryl sent a victorious smile my way. “Thank you, Viper. Halo never used to tell us where he was performing, so it’s not often we get to see one of his shows.”
Christ, and their first glimpse was gonna be Halo singing about my blue balls. Motherfucker.
