Chapter 10
As soon as the knock came on the front door, Emmett grinned and tossed aside his phone, having only been mindlessly scrolling while he waited for Rooster. He heard Roni chuckle as he rushed out of the room, but he ignored her, too excited to lay eyes on his daddy to care that she found him amusing.
He didn’t need her snickers to know he was being silly—he already knew that all on his own.
In the month since he and Rooster had reconnected and started dating, they’d spent more time together than apart, especially after their first date at Rooster’s, when Emmett had little time, and then they had sex.
The weeks since had been filled with more dates and little time and cuddles and orgasms. The only bad part—as far as Emmett was concerned—was when Rooster had a shift and they couldn’t see each other for a whole twenty-four hours.
Which, okay, he knew how that sounded.
But he didn’t care. He’d been worried at first about how fast he was falling into a relationship with Rooster, but he just felt… amazing when he was with him. Like he never had to worry about a single thing ever again because his daddy would always be there to help him with anything he needed.
Including the thing he needed to ask Rooster about later that night.
If he could get the stupid words out past the lump that formed in his throat anytime he thought too long about it. He was running out of time though, and he was almost positive Rooster would say yes. It was just that tiny part of him that wasn’t sure that was holding him back.
Throwing open the front door, he was hit with a bit of déjà vu. Rooster was standing on the other side just like that first night he’d shown up with pancakes for Emmett—snowflakes were stuck in his hair, leather vest in place over his ever-present hoodie, and takeout food in hand.
“Sorry I’m late,” Rooster said, grimacing and stepping in as soon as Emmett moved out of the way. “They messed up part of our order, so I had to wait while they remade it.”
“It’s okay.” He couldn’t help but smile as his stomach fluttered. He knew that Rooster was upset about being late because Emmett got upset about it. And that was just… Gracious, he just didn’t have words for how much he adored this man.
“The food is amazing, but Roman is a trip and a half when Tony isn’t working, and that can throw the whole place off,” Roni said as she came up behind Emmett, slipping a coat on over her… tight-fitting blouse and skinny jeans?
“Where are you going dressed like that?” he couldn’t help but ask. Well, demand, more like. She, of course, only rolled her eyes as she grabbed her keys from the hook.
“Emmett,” Rooster chided as he guided him out of her way with a hand on his lower back. “Don’t be rude.”
“But—”
“Emmett.”
His mouth snapped shut at his daddy’s harder tone, but he couldn’t stop himself from studying the way Roni had styled her hair into an edgy pompadour and was wearing dark red lipstick and heeled boots. Was she going on a date?
“Have fun, you two,” she said with a grin. Shooting Emmett a wink, she added, “Don’t wait up.”
Emmett’s mouth dropped open as she slipped out the front door, and he whirled on Rooster. “She didn’t tell me she had a date!”
Chuckling and shaking his head, Rooster turned and headed toward the living room. “Who says she does? Maybe she’s just meeting friends or something.”
Not dressed like that, she wasn’t. He’d only ever seen her look like that a few times since he’d moved in, and it was when she was meeting a woman for dinner or drinks.
He shuffled into the living room, sighing. “I thought she’d be watching the movie with us. I wonder why she didn’t say anything about having plans.”
Smiling, Rooster tugged him down onto the couch next to him as soon as he was close and wrapped him in a hug. “Little boy, you need to let it go. I’m sure she’ll tell you when she’s ready. You two are family, right?”
He smiled at the reminder, even as his stomach twisted at the word. Unfortunately, she wasn’t his only family. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“Of course I am,” he said, pecking a kiss to Emmett’s lips, then releasing him and turning toward the food he’d brought. “I like your sweater, by the way.”
Emmett looked down at himself, grinning at the compliment. His gray knit sweater had a cat on it wearing a Christmas sweater of his own and a Santa hat. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome. Will you go grab some plates and utensils, please?”
He nodded, hurrying from the room to retrieve them.
Once they got settled with their food, he asked Rooster about his shift and then told him about his own day.
It was nice, the way they could just sit quietly and share things with one another.
It was one of his favorite things about being with Rooster.
As they neared the end of their meal and he still hadn’t brought up what he wanted to talk to Rooster about though, his enjoyment began to wane, and his anxiety ticked up. He needed to just spit it out and get it over with so they could have a nice night together.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
Surprised, he looked over to find Rooster staring at Emmett’s lap… where he was tearing his napkin into tiny pieces. Oh, snickerdoodle. So much for his poker face.
“Um.” He gathered up the little bits of napkin and dumped them onto his empty plate. “I wanted to ask you something…”
Rooster wiped his mouth, brow furrowed, then turned toward him on the couch and grabbed his nervous fingers. “Did something happen?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s just…” Taking a deep breath, he gripped Rooster’s hands tighter and reminded himself that Rooster cared about him and wanted to take care of him. “Would you come with me to my family’s Christmas?”
They always celebrated on Christmas Eve, now that his siblings had kids of their own and wanted to do the whole Christmas morning thing at home.
But after what had happened at Thanksgiving, Emmett just wasn’t sure he had it in him to go by himself.
He knew it was only two days away, but asking Rooster had felt so…
momentous. What if he wasn’t ready to tell Erik that they were together?
What if he had plans with his own family? What if—
“Of course. Was that it? You seemed really agitated.” A smile creased Rooster’s handsome face, and he didn’t loosen his hold on Emmett’s hands.
Of course he’d noticed that.
Emmett took a moment to take another slow breath. “I guess I was just worried about asking you.”
“You were worried I’d say no?” Rooster raised his brows.
He shook his head. “Not… Not exactly.”
“Then what, baby?”
“I guess I just… wasn’t sure if we were there yet.” Emmett glanced away from Rooster’s knowing, sympathetic eyes. “I’ve never brought anyone home before, and with you being friends with Erik… I wasn’t sure if I even should ask.”
He saw Rooster nod slowly out of the corner of his eye. “I’m glad you did. Can you look at me?” As soon as he tilted his chin up, Rooster cupped his face. “You are more important to me than what Erik or anyone else thinks. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy,” he said, voice low and full of emotion.
Some days, it was still hard for him to accept that someone—especially someone as sweet and amazing as Rooster—cared so much about him.
Actually thinking about him and putting his needs first. It was…
overwhelming, but in the best possible way.
When he thought too hard about it, his stomach would swoop, and he’d have the urge to tell Rooster three little words that he knew it was too soon for.
“As for if we’re at the part of our relationship where we meet each other’s families… Little boy, the club is my family, so as far as I’m concerned, they’ve already met and love you.”
Emmett could feel his cheeks getting a little warm, but he just smiled, thinking about how miffed Roni was that his daddy had gotten him to do things like hang out with other club members when she hadn’t been able to.
“It’s not too soon to spend Christmas Eve with my family?” he whispered, unable to help himself.
“Too soon for who? Us? Fuck no.” Rooster leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the nose, making him laugh.
“The kind of relationship we have, the trust we put in each other, means we move faster than vanilla schmucks. We follow our own timeline. So if you want me there, then I want to be there. End of story.”
Why did “end of story” sound so sexy when he growled it at Emmett? “Okay, Daddy.”
“Good. Now, how long have you been worrying about this?” he asked as he gave Emmett’s cheeks a gentle caress with his thumbs before letting him go and leaning back against the arm of the couch.
Emmett shrugged, not sure he wanted to say. He stood, starting to gather their dishes, but paused when Rooster said his name in that you better behave, little boy way that always made his knees weak. Sighing, he said, “Since my mom called me last week.”
Rooster tsked. “Are you supposed to be worrying about things behind my back, baby?”
Whoops.
“No, Daddy.”
He put their plates and garbage back on the coffee table when he felt Rooster stand behind him.
They hadn’t talked about what would happen if he disobeyed since that wasn’t really what their dynamic had developed into.
And had he even really broken a rule? Sure, they both liked when Rooster made decisions, and he maybe, sort of asked that Emmett come to him if he ever needed anything or had a problem…
Spinning around, he twisted his fingers in front of him. “Am I in trouble?”
Rooster was smiling, the crooked, indulgent one that made his little side push toward the surface. “No. I’m very proud of you for sharing your concerns with me and for asking me to come with you, even though you weren’t sure how I’d react.”