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“Is that—”
“Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger? Mhmm. Wanna go say hello?”
I began shaking my head before the words came out of my mouth. “No way.” Then I almost slapped myself, because when would I get the chance to meet two legends again? “Okay, yes. But later, once I drink this.” I reached for my glass again and took a long swallow as the room dimmed and everyone still roaming around took their seats.
The lights on stage began to flash, and then the screens came alive with a montage of music video hits over the last year. With each one shown, you could hear the screams of fans in the balconies, and when a clip of Fallen Angel popped up, the screams went from loud to thunderous.
Killian looked down the row at us and grinned. I knew exactly what that look said: we’d come so far, and tonight we should enjoy every second of our hard work paying off. And I, for one, planned to do just that.
Thirty-Three
Viper
ONE OF THE best things about this show compared to all the other bullshit award shows was that you could drink, which meant any mind-numbing part became tolerable with enough alcohol in your system. But tonight I had something far more entertaining to watch than whoever was on stage. Or someone, rather.
Beside me, Halo sat enraptured, his light eyes taking in everything. It was all so exciting for him, and that, in turn, made it exciting for me. He’d never met any of these people, had no idea who the douchebags were or who was so fucked on drugs that they wouldn’t remember you the next time you saw them. To Halo, everything and everyone was amazing, and that was one of my favorite things about watching the angel—his rose-colored view of the world.
The first half of the ceremony had come and gone by the time our first nomination of the night came up, and to Halo’s utter horror, it was Jennifer Aniston who presented the award. His reaction to one of the most famous women in the world had me chuckling, because it was the complete opposite of what most people would be thinking. Most would climb over their friends to get close to someone like that, but Halo? If we won, I’d probably have to drag him onstage.
She read off the list of nominations, and when she opened the envelope, there was a long, silent pause when I don’t think any of us breathed. But then Jennifer smiled and said, “Fallen Angel!”
Slade and Jagger were on their feet high-fiving in a hot second, Killian shook the hands of a couple of friends who moved to the end of the row where he stood, but my attention was on Halo, who wore a stunned expression and didn’t move.
“We won. Come on, Angel,” I said, but when I stood up and he still didn’t move, I held my hand out for his. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Levi clapping over our win and watching us intently, but fuck it. If he wanted Halo on that stage, it looked like I’d be the one to make that happen. At least until his shock wore off.
Halo took my hand, and I moved past him in the row so I could lead him down the aisle, Slade and Jagger bringing up the rear. He looked dazed as he seemed to finally clue in to the enormity of what was happening, and as we climbed the stairs, I squeezed his fingers, and he finally looked my way and grinned.
When we reached the podium, Jennifer was handing Killian the award. Then she turned to the rest of us and said, “Congratulations. I love ‘Invitation,’” and I was pretty sure my boyfriend’s head was about to spin right off.
As she walked by, Halo stared at her with wide eyes, and when she passed him, she patted his arm before standing off to the side to give us our moment.
Halo gaped after her and then looked at me. “Fuck. She likes my song.”
I chuckled. “You sound so surprised, Angel. You do remember what a kickass song it is, right? Aniston’s a smart woman.”
“No shit,” he said, still dazed. I could only imagine what was going through his head right now.
Killian looked back at the rest of us, and when we nodded for him to do the honors, he stepped up to the microphone to accept the award for us. But as my eyes swept across the auditorium, they landed on Trent, and suddenly, I had something to say after all.
I squeezed Halo’s hand before letting go and then stepped up beside Killian, who wrapped up the thank-yous and handed me the award. It was heavy in my hand, with a globe that sat on top of a triangular sculpture.
