Page 18 of Viper (Fallen Angel 2)

“Uh, don’t try and change the subject, V.”

“I’m not. I’m just trying to find the fuckin’ chips.”

“So that’s the reason you were in a shit mood the other day. What’d Halo do, tell you no?” Killian reached behind my right shoulder and pulled a package of barbecue off the shelf, and then held them out to me.

As I snatched them out of his hand, I shot him the finger. “How about none of your fucking business.”

“Okay, okay.” Killian glanced over his shoulder out the pantry door. “So, you and Halo, huh? That’s a severe case of opposites attract.”

“It’s a severe case of sexual fucking chemistry is what it is. And really, it’s your own fault. You put him in front of me.”

“Uh huh. Well, I’m glad the two of you worked your shit out, because I was about to kick your ass the other day.”

“Whatever. You know I can take you any day of the week.”

“And you know I won’t let anything fuck with this band. You included.”

I rolled my eyes, but knew Killian wasn’t bullshitting. If he thought for a minute this thing with me and Halo could fuck shit up, he’d call us out in a hot second.

“Right,” Killian said. “Well, you gonna come back outside and eat with the rest of us? Or do you need Halo to come in here and feed you?”

“You know, you almost sound jealous, Kill. That’s sweet.”

Killian flipped me off as I brushed by him and headed back out to the kitchen area to track down drinks. As I began looking through the cupboards, first the top and then the bottom, Killian came up to lean against the counter beside me.

“Jealous? Uh, no, I stopped thinking you were hot back in middle school when you hung my underwear up the flagpole. But you do know that the two of you aren’t foolin’ anyone, right?”

I glanced up at him from where I was crouched down by his feet. “Um, news flash, we weren’t trying to.”

“No?”

I shook my head. “Nope. We just weren’t telling you.”

“That’s the same thing, moron.”

After locating a bottle of Ketel One, I got to my feet. “Not really. I could’ve lied right now.”

“Yeah, and like I would’ve believed you. You’ve been feeling him up every chance you’ve had in the fucking pool. Not to mention disappearing at the same times, eating off his plate, getting his refills. What’s next, V? You gonna take him on a date?” Killian scoffed, but then shoved me in the arm. “Wait—you already took him on a date. The Nothing…”

I screwed my face up at the thought. Killian had lost his damn mind. I didn’t do dates. “That wasn’t a date. We’re fucking, not dating,” I told him, as I also grabbed a bottle of whiskey. “You’re an idiot.”

Killian let out a loud bark of laughter. “No, you are, V. Oh my God. You are so fucking stupid, my friend.”

Killian snatched up the chips and walked by me toward the glass doors, and with the alcohol in hand, I followed, calling out to the smug bastard, “Whaddya mean I’m stupid?”

Eleven

Halo

“THE RULES ARE simple,” Killian said, standing in front of the movie screen in the mansion’s decked-out home theater. Each of us had a drink of our choice with a refill jug beside us, and that alone told me this was no ordinary movie night. “This is an Ace Locke classic, so you have to take a drink every time one of the following happens: whenever Ace takes his shirt off, whenever he saves a woman, makes out with her, or has sex with her, and whenever he says, ‘The name’s Sinclair. Beckett Sinclair.’”

From memory, Ace was shirtless through most of the movie, so that meant we’d all be stumbling out of here in a couple of hours.

“We are gonna be so fucked,” Slade said. He and Jagger had taken up recliners a couple of rows in front of me, and as Killian joined them, I looked toward the door, waiting for Viper. After the pool day and barbecue, we’d all ventured off to our separate corners of the house—me for a nap after a day in the sun, and the others to spend some one-on-one time with their guests. By the time nightfall came, it was just the five of us, and when someone suggested a movie night, I resigned myself to having to wait another couple of hours before heading to Viper’s guesthouse.

“If you don’t take a drink when you’re supposed to and you get called out for it, you have to chug,” Killian continued. “Everyone understand?”

As we all nodded, Viper came back with an armful of snacks. “Catch,” he said, before tossing the packages out to each of us. I ripped open the bag of pretzels and inhaled a few, since it seemed like I’d be drinking my weight in Long Islands tonight.

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