Chapter Twenty-One
Wilder
HE SHIFTED on the couch, laying his arm across the backrest to hold up the book he was reading.
He’d finished the last of his work in the gym an hour earlier, and when he’d gone to annoy Emmett, he’d been directed to the couch and told to do anything but disturb him.
He’d picked up Emmett’s fantasy book and had been drawn in immediately.
It wasn’t quite enough to fully distract him from the fact that Emmett was in the room with him, but at least it kept his mouth shut and his hands busy while Emmett worked.
He tried to keep reading, but with Emmett moving around the room, clearly finishing up for the day, the words started to flow together until his gaze inevitably found Emmett again. He turned, putting the book down on the ground by Emmett’s bag.
Emmett put his things away, then disappeared into the toilet to wash his hands, returning moments later to head across the room toward Wilder.
“Thank you,” Emmett signed before dropping onto the couch with a groan, one hand running through his hair. He looked scrumptious and absolutely adorable with his hair sticking up and his skin flushed light pink.
“How did you like the book?”
“It’s quite good, actually.”
“Actually?” Emmett rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips gave him away. “You doubt my taste in books?”
He leaned back on the couch. “Never.”
Emmett shook his head, gaze going distant as he picked at his lower lip.
“Something on your mind?”
He’d seemed rather distracted all day. At least when they’d interacted with each other. He’d seemed fine painting, though, so he hadn’t brought it up before, not wanting to throw him off his game.
“Uh. You don’t have to answer, obviously, but I just…”
He watched Emmett swallow and wring his hands, unease creeping in.
“Why are you so pissed at Solo and Jane?”
The question threw him for a loop, and he clenched his jaw shut, not wanting to curse at Emmett. He didn’t deserve that.
Blue eyes widened.
“No, I… I just want you to know that you can talk to me. If you want,” Emmett said with a shrug, his expression open and that soft look in his eyes drawing Wilder in.
“They went behind my back and lied to me for years.”
“Have you talked to them about it?”
“We mostly yell at each other.”
Emmett’s lips pressed into a thin line. He obviously thought them immature, and while he couldn’t quite disagree, there was just so much more to it than that.
He shifted to face Emmett more, considering how best to explain the hurt that had burrowed into his heart.
That ache left behind by their betrayal. The hole where trust had been.
“You think of Emma and Miles as your family, right?”
“Of course,” Emmett said, brows furrowing.
“Imagine if one of them were fucking your brother.”
Emmett cocked his head to the side, his brows scrunching in confusion. “One of them is.”
Wilder blanched, his brain screeching to a halt.
“Miles…?”
Emmett’s eyes went wide, and he exclaimed, “No! Why would you―You didn’t see my brother and Emma together last night?”
Wilder dropped his head into his hand with a curse. The only one he’d noticed last night was Emmett. Those sapphire eyes had captured his full attention even from across the backyard. He’d wanted to throw Emmett over his shoulder and marched right out of there. Right into his bedroom.
“Just shoot me,” he mumbled.
A hand on his arm had him looking up at Emmett, his blue eyes soft with understanding.
“I get it’s a different situation, but they kept it a secret, too.
It wasn’t exactly hard to see because they’ve pretty much been in love since they were kids, but they’ve been best friends for as long as I can remember, and going from that to more is…
terrifying. What if you mess up? What if you lose your best friend? ”
There was something in Emmett’s voice. There was a certain kind of fear in those words as if Emmett…
He dropped his gaze to the hand on his arm, then slowly raised it to Emmett’s face.
Whatever Emmett saw in his eyes had his pupils flaring, lips parting as his breathing became increasingly more rapid.
“Wild―”
He stood, dragging Emmett with him. He slipped a hand to the small of Emmett’s back, pushing him closer against his body. Emmett’s eyes were pure darkness now.
Fingers dug into his arm, eliciting a low hiss that had Emmett gasping.
“This is a bad idea,” Emmett said, his voice low and unsure.
“I know.”
That didn’t stop him from pressing his lips to Emmett’s. The first taste of Emmett had him groaning, the second had him sliding a hand into Emmett’s hair to jerk his head back and deepen the kiss.